Community Ownership: Parents likely have a strong say in how the service operates and what happens to children, all money earnt stays within it, and teachers may be paid better and childcare charges may be lower compared to most (but not necessarily all) private and corporate owned services. (Ask: Is it an Incorporated Society? Does it also have charitable status?)
Small Boutique Centre: Centres with 50 or fewer children make it easier for staff to provide a warm and nurturing environment, for children to have their individual needs met and skills, knowledge, and competencies extended. (Ask: For continuity of care and relationships, do children stay with the same group of children and teachers throughout their time at the service?)
100% Qualified Teacher Funded: All staff counted toward meeting the minimum adult-child ratio requirement must hold a practising certificate as a teacher if the service receives this level of Ministry of Education funding. (Ask: Does the service count teachers trained in the ECE of children birth to 5 years and not primary or secondary school trained teachers?)
Men Included on Teaching Staff (as at last year): There are strong benefits of having both men and women on the teaching team for the quality of care and education a service provides to children. Additionally, gender bias in staff recruitment and employment is not generally acceptable in society today. (Ask: How many teaching staff are employed and what proportion are men?)
(as at last year):
Clean Licence Record (last year and the year before): To be licensed a service must comply with regulations that help ensure children’s safety, care, and a suitable standard of education. When requirements are breached the Ministry of Education may downgrade a service’s licence to provisional or issue a suspension. (Check the lists of services placed on a provisional or suspended licence https://oece.nz/public/information/standards/ published each year)
(last year and year before):
Recommended Highly by 80% or More Families: At least 80% of families recommend the service and rate it as being very good to excellent on a range of aspects of quality. (Note that a response rate of at least 51% families on the OECE parent survey https://oece.nz/public/information/resources/parent-survey/ research instrument within the last three years is necessary here)
7 Reviews on “Ponsonby Community Preschool”
This is one of the most well run centres filled with genuine and authentic teachers who are passionate about making a positive impact to young children and their first experience with education. We cannot recommend them highly enough!
This is such a lovely preschool. The teachers are genuinely caring for children taking an interest in knowing each child personally which optimizes their care, and correspondence with parents. I love that little ones and older kids get to spend time together and learn from each other. Every day lots of activities are set up encouraging a learning and play mindset. The other families are lovely and all the children feel very settled and happy. They are often busy and engaged in a task or each other or with teachers. Both of my children have blossomed here, through a strong foundation of attachment, stability, and kindness that the long serving teachers provide (there is very little staff turnover) which is a rare find.
This is a wonderful community preschool. Our daughter was here for 2.5 years and has many lovely memories here. The teachers are dedicated and caring, and given most of them have been there for many years, that shows how well the teaching team work together and care about this centre and the children. It was always like dropping our daughter to family. The space was always clean, well ordered and thoughtfully curated and changed up each day. A very special place.
We absolutely adore this preschool. The teachers feel like family, and go above and beyond to make it a fun and nurturing environment for the kids. Love the smaller numbers and the awesome extra activities they offer – like music, sport, and snow day. We love it so much we’ve sent our second child there even though we are living further away now.
Best teachers ever, caring and loving environment, lots of activities, toys, learning recources there
A wonderful environment for our 3 year old boy. He’s stimulated, well cared for and never wants to leave. The teachers go above and beyond, and have the children’s best interests at heart. A place that is very special to our whole family.
An absolutely fantastic preschool. The love, care and consistency of the teachers is outstanding and incomparable to other centres we have attended in the area. We always feel so welcome and supported here as parents and our children. The activity stations that are set up every morning are so inviting and considered and provide so much discovery for the children daily and allow them to be very imaginative. The centre is always so clean and organised. Our sons are very happy here.