Quality Early Childhood Care & Education in Stratford, Taranaki

Kia ora, welcome to The Nest

The Nest is committed to providing high quality care and education, which is based on trusting and respectful relationships with our families and whānau. We believe communication between management, kaiako, tamariki and whānau is paramount.

We are a friendly, family orientated Early Childhood centre that values the ideas, beliefs, and customs of all of our families and whānau. We provide an inclusive environment, where all tamariki are nurtured and feel secure and comfortable all while gaining confidence and learning through an interest focussed and play based environment. We can't wait to see all of our tamariki grow and develop into lifelong learners.

Relationships

We believe in forming strong relationships with our tamariki and whānau. These relationships are paramount to building a foundation that creates and forms trust and lines of communication, all important when dropping your child off for the day, knowing your precious taonga will be well cared for at the centre.
Inclusive

We understand the needs and diversities of every individual who comes to our service, and provide an inclusive learning environment and program for all tamariki and whānau who attend.
Respect

Respect is a component of our philosophy and can be seen in our practice as kaiako working alongside tamariki, guiding, supporting and scaffolding as they learn, grow and develop. We believe in respectful reciprocal relationships.

At The Nest

We have a licence for 60 children, from birth to the age of six, within our purpose-built building. Our centre has two separate areas for both the younger and older children. The nursery (our Tui Room) caters to children aged 0-2.5yrs and our preschool (Kereru) caters for children aged 2.5-6 years of age. A transition from the nursery to preschool for our tamariki occurs when we deem the child is ready and not necessarily at a specific age. We believe every child reaches stages differently and we take into consideration the differences of situations and development in every individual. In both rooms, we have 80-100% qualified and registered kaiako.

Our beautiful new and purpose built facility is well equipped with resources, thought out learning and sleeping spaces, a beautiful and spacious natural outdoor environment and underfloor heating for those chilly Stratford winters.

Our Philosophy

At The Nest we value relationships and believe they are paramount especially between whānau, kaiako and tamariki. Through these relationships we create a positive, respectful and inclusive centre and environment, which enables families/whānau and children to trust and have confidence in their Kaiako and peers. We believe in diversity and support culture within our centre, whānau and community. Our beliefs at The Nest enable and support all tamariki to reach their full potential whilst learning, growing and flourishing during their time here.

Our Program for Learning

Our programme is designed and based around the New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum, Te Whāriki. It is our commitment to children and their families to ensure our programme is inclusive of not only the aspirations of our kaiako and whānau, but also of each child’s voice being present in their learning and development. We understand that through the stages of a child’s development there is a variety of learning dependent on many factors. This is considered in each individual room, where both planning and implementation of the programme is specific to the ages and stages of children attending, whilst integrating the curriculum within each learning environment.
We believe in a play based program and offer a curriculum alongside Te Whariki that supports and drives this. We do our best with sustainable practices and are always looking for new ways to implement new and different approaches.
At The Nest we thrive on seeing our tamariki learning, growing and developing in all ways possible. For our tamariki to flourish we provide well equipped rooms that have appropriate age ranged resources for tamariki to explore, learn, play, be imaginative and creative. Our kaiako are very passionate and ensure they provide experiences and opportunities that encourage not only learning, but ensuring skills that a child requires in their world, are acquired.
Our kaiako take the time to get to know our children and whānau personally, discovering their interests, strengths, and abilities. With this information, kaiako can create and support learning opportunities and experiences that will ensure tamariki become confident and competent learners.
A typical day at The Nest consists of child led discoveries, teacher directed experiences, mat/hui times, shared kai times, the choice of indoor and outdoor play, and the time and place for children to just have fun and explore their space as they wish. Our teaching practices relate to the strands, goals and learning outcomes of our Early Childhood curriculum – Te Whāriki. Through this we are able to see our children develop their communication through exploration and play, a sense of well-being and belonging both in our space and the world around them and contribute to their own and others learning. We have a passion for ensuring tamariki develop empathy, kindness, care for others, respect and compassion while recognising the importance of fun and play.

Activities & Excursions

The Nest teaching and management team supports and encourages Tamariki to engage in all opportunities to partake in extra activities and excursions offered that may arise. Our centre is nestled next to the Arboretum where we often take groups for walks and to play, explore and investigate in this natural space.

We encourage children to explore and discover whilst out and about in the community as we believe the importance of Tamariki having learning opportunities to be competent contributors of society. Our regular excursions include trips to the library, the local bike park and events in the community to name a few.

We provide activities within the centre – currently we have PlayBall with Coach Mike for our preschoolers and in term2 we will have Yoga, these activities enable our children to gain physical and social skills alongside their peers.

Information for Parents

At The Nest we offer a half-day session in the Nursery (morning or afternoon) for under 2’s, with a daily minimum attendance of 3-5 hours. And then a day at 6.5 hours, leading to a full day of 10 hours. Depending on what care you require we have a structure to fit.
In the Preschool we ask for a daily minimum attendance of 6.5 hours per day or the option of 10 hours. We have a minimum enrolment of two days in the Preschool.
Ask our team about the Free Fees Scheme at enrolment.
The Ministry of Social Development provides a subsidy for families who meet the household income threshold. Please enquire about an application upon enrolment. The threshold is currently quite high, meaning many more families are entitled to a form of subsidy towards their child/s fees.
We look forward to being able to implement the Family Rebate Boost once the Government finalises this, in the near future. This will enable plenty of families to seek care and education for their Tamariki.
Once your child turns 3 you are eligible for the government’s ECE initiative which provides a subsidy for up to 20 hours per week per child. The 20 hours is included in our fee structure.
We use StoryPark as our learning and assessment platform. You will be able to see learning stories, snippets and photos of what your child is learning and doing during their time at The Nest. We also use facebook as a platform to document and showcase what our Tamariki are up to.

Get in touch

If you have any queries, questions or would like to discuss enrolling your tamaiti (child) at The Nest Stratford, please complete the form, email or call us.

office@theneststratford.co.nz