Aubrey Philosophy

Play-based learning offers the best start for your child

Our Approach is play-based, child led learning with a high teacher to child ratio

Children have wonderful areas to explore indoors and outdoors

Our programme is underpinned by Te Whariki and the Treaty of Waitangi

Aubrey ELC is located at Stillwater, just off East Coast Road and welcomes families from Stillwater, Dairy Flat and Silverdale as well as the wider North Shore, Rodney and Hibiscus Coast Areas

Aubrey Philosophy combines play-based learning with supportive hands-on teaching

At Aubrey ELC, we believe in the potential of every child. We see them as capable, confident learners who thrive in child-led play. Our indoor and outdoor kindergarten classrooms are designed to inspire curiosity and exploration, reflecting the Reggio Emilia philosophy that values each child's unique voice.

We focus on building strong relationships, self-esteem, and social skills like sharing and taking turns. Our early childhood education teachers work alongside children, providing resources and support to extend their learning and interests. We think learning should be fun, and we encourage children to contribute and participate in engaging activities.

Every child deserves equal opportunities to learn and grow, regardless of age, ability, gender, ethnicity, or background. We're committed to providing a fair and inclusive environment that fosters a love of learning.

The rural setting of our unique country daycare with natural surroundings plays a vital role in our curriculum. We teach children to respect the environment, its inhabitants, and the people who care for it. This setting provides endless opportunities for exploration, discovery, and growth.

If you think our preschool at Aubrey ELC is the right fit for your family, we'd love to hear from you. Get in touch to discuss enrolment and learn more about our community.

Our curriculum is underpinned by Te Whariki, the national ECE curriculum and the Treaty of Waitangi

While we carefully consider each child's personality and development, strengths and interests, our preschool teaching is also closely tied to the NZ Early Childhood Curriculum, Te Whariki, which guides us in empowering the children to become enthusiastic lifelong learners

The four principles of Te Whariki which underpin our programme are:

Holistic Development

We foster the holistic way children learn and grow.

We develop warm, consistent relationships between children, staff and family / whanau.
We have teachers who role model and demonstrate to children how to use the equipment and resources appropriately.
We provide a safe yet exploratory environment.
Children are encouraged to take responsibility for their learning environment.

Family and Community

The wider world of family and community is an integral part of our early childhood centre

We foster commmunication withfamily / whanau on a daily basis and support all cultural backgrounds.
A variety of formal and informal observations are completed for each child.
Children have individual portfolios, recording their learning and development - these can be viewed electronically

Relationships

Children learn through responsive and recipricol relationships with people, place and things

We believe children learn lifelong skills through positive relationships
We foster the extension of children's ideas and actions

Empowerment

We empower children to learn and grow

We provide a variety of resources that enable children to extend their ideas and social interactions.
Our environment is rich in creativity to give children the opportunity to experience and experiment.
Our 4-year-old extension programme prepares children for school.

A Bicultural Environment.....

We also embrace the Treaty of Waitangi by providing a bicultural environment where we encourage all children to work with and alongside each other, regardless of ethnicity or culture. We work in partnership with parents, children and whanau to create a 'community of learners' and an inclusive early childhood education.

Our teaching team regularly upskill to ensure the best outcomes for your children

The teaching team at Aubrey ELC understands that early childhood teaching is a constantly changing environment and we are committed to continually reflecting on how we are teaching, what we are teaching and what our children are learning. These reflections, along with cues from the children themselves, are continually used to assess and improve our teaching programme and learning environment.

As teachers, we recognise that we are also life-long learners and accordingly we learn and incorporate new teaching and learning strategies as they become available through professional development.