Our Rooms
Lollipops Paraparaumu has four separate areas, designed to allow for smooth, worry-free transitioning for the children.
Kiwi Room – Under two year olds
Kiwi Room Philosophy
We, the Kiwi room Kaiako, are committed to creating a warm, welcoming and inclusive environment for our tamariki and whānau. We pride ourselves in creating strong, reciprocal relationships with our tamariki. We create a ‘home away from home’ connection through experiences and the relationships we build throughout the room. We guide and support our tamariki with developing a strong sense of belonging, wellbeing and understanding of their place in the world.
Our teaching approach is influenced and inspired by aspects of both Magda Gerber’s RIE Philosophy and Penny Brownlee’s Respectful practices. We offer primary caregiving as our way of strengthening our relationships with the tamariki. Our classroom atmosphere is warm, unhurried, respectful and calm. The tamariki are encouraged to explore and make choices about their own learning through free play. We offer group experiences and activities where children can come and go, join and explore at their own pace. Our tamariki enjoy predictable routines, spontaneous play with open ended learning resources, natural materials and a range of sensory activities.
We believe in fostering independence and resilience, providing opportunities to support language development and communication skills. We encourage the children to create and form relationships with their peers as well as Kaiako, encouraging strong bonds that will grow and develop throughout their time as part of the Lollipops whānau.
Fantail Room – 2-3 year olds
Fantail Room Philosophy
As The Fantail Room we aspire for a calm environment where children's voices are heard, understood, and appreciated. We believe in equality and instilling a sense of belonging in our fantail whanau; so, children know they have a place here and are celebrated as individuals.
Toddlers are incredible learners and we provide children with autonomy and agency over their own learning. Toddlers are amazingly capable: and we love showing them they are capable and watching their confidence grow. We demonstrate and support them in developing good self-management, able to undertake simple tasks such as getting a drink, washing hands, and taking their jumper off. When children feel confident exploring their surrounding environment this can positively influence them to develop relationships with other tamariki and their kaiako.
Relationships are crucial for the learning and development of toddlers which is why we nurture and foster all our relationships in the Fantail Room. Relationships should be respectful and reciprocal and we support children in gaining the skills to build and maintain these. The children are taught about emotional competency and identifying and expressing how they are feeling. They are encouraged to share their feelings and point of view with both the teachers and other children. It is important that all these aspects of a child’s holistic well-being are nurtured, enabling learning and growth in further areas.
We believe that children should be able to take risks and explore our outdoor environment. We encourage children to find their own interests and provide activities and resources to further these areas. The fantails love playing outside, watching the walking track, and finding the pukeko, farm animals, birds and dogs who appear there. These experiences help our tamariki make sense of the way the world works while exploring the four seasons and different weather conditions together.
Tui Room – 3-4 year olds
Tui Room Philosophy
We believe that each child is an individual and as educators we will value and develop each individual child’s strengths, interests, skills, abilities, and knowledge to extend their learning. It is a fundamental belief of ours that children learn through play. Therefore, we provide opportunities for children to explore and discover and encourage the development of their creativity and imagination. We also strongly believe that through respectful and reciprocal relationships, children are empowered to learn, develop, and construct their own identity.
We celebrate the centre community and cultural diversity within our classroom . This enables us to recognize the individual child and encourage them to understand and acknowledge differences.
The years of a child’s life are constantly evolving. We believe learning is happening all the time and is interwoven through all developmental domains. These include social, emotional, cognitive, and communication. Therefore, our program’s objective is to ensure that learning experiences occur within a safe, positive, and nurturing environment. We strive to guide children into the next stage of their development with confidence in themselves and an excitement for continual learning. Therefore, fostering each child’s independence and autonomy is vital to ensuring a successful transition into their next developmental level. Children lead the way, and the kaiako support them and their choices.
Teaching children is our passion and we are excited to work with you and your children.
Kea Room – 4-5 year olds
Kea Class Philosophy
Here in the Kea Class we believe each child is a taonga, unique in their own way and secure in their place as “citizens of Aotearoa New Zealand” (Te Whāriki, 2017). We see children as “competent and confident learners and communicators”.
We believe in providing an inclusive environment with strong relationships and respect at the heart of every interaction.
We support children to master lifelong skills of responsibility, independence, and leadership through strong relationships with kaiako and a respectful environment led by the children’s interests and personal learning needs. We encourage a love of learning through allowing tamariki autonomy over their learning.
We recognise Māori and tangata whenua and we work with a Te Ao Māori lens where we understand each child is an individual, learning through their own methods. We work to support their learning through adapting our own teaching strategies to best fit each tamaiti. We believe children are the experts of their own selves and we encourage tamariki to share this knowledge and expertise with their hoa and kaiako. We also believe it is our shared responsibility to protect te reo Māori, te reo me ngā tikanga Māori and our beautiful environment to support educational success of Māori learners and all tamariki as global citizens (Te Whāriki, 2017).
We recognise the fundamental importance of supporting children on their journey from Early Childhood Education to School/Kura and firmly believe relationships are at the heart of this. We work alongside local schools and whanau, as well as using up-to-date research to support our curriculum design. We organically incorporate numeracy and literacy into our daily activities through play-based learning. Our group times are rich in language and communication, providing opportunities for children to share their thoughts, enjoy song and listen to stories. We explore science and art using a variety of mediums giving tamariki a range of ways to communicate and express themselves.
An important part of our centre wide philosophy is recognising the value in natural resources and loose parts. These provide a wide variety of learning opportunities to tamariki and a never-ending possibility of learning outcomes, extending from literacy and numeracy to creativity and curiosity. We also enjoy regular excursions out into the community where tamariki can deepen their sense of belonging in the wider community as well as developing their knowledge of their home.
