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)
17 Reviews on “Ponsonby Community Preschool”
We highly recommend this centre. Both our sons love attending and we equally love hearing what they get up to each day – it’s always different! Indoor, outdoor, music, crafts, sport … you name it. Teachers are very good at communicating the kids’ progress and keeping us all involved via their various communication channels too. Highly recommend
A safe and very caring environment, where children receive care and stimulation tailored to their unique needs and preferences. The teachers know and care deeply about all the children and the place feels like a genuine second home and lives up to the use of “community” in its name. The curriculum is varied and lots of experts and external resources are brought in to supplement the day to day activities. We are incredibly happy this place was recommended to us.
We could not be happier with Ponsonby community preschool. The culture of inclusion and individual nurturing and encouragement sets children up to grow, develop, learn and socialise. The teachers are outstanding – they are genuinely interested in each child, getting to know and understand the children and their backgrounds, and their needs. The preschool is so loved by our son, every day that is a ‘ponsy’ day he is happy, excited and bursting with enthusiasm. The varied mix of activities, self play, indoors and outdoors, keeps our son stimulated and learning, yet routines and ‘good habits’ are learned too, providing structure and guidance. We have complete confidence and trust in the team truly caring for our son, and will be very sad when our son’s time at ponsy ends.
Attending this preschool has been amazing for the happiness, development and growth of our daughter. The staff are incredibly engaged with the kids and provide them with a brilliant experience. Our daughter is extremely happy here and, as parents, we couldn’t be more pleased with the service.
Attending Ponsonby Community Preschool is the highlight of my daughter’s week, every week. I would put this down to the teachers being genuinely warm, inclusive and interested in the child’s strengths and talents. The activity stations are well thought out and vary day-to-day. Extra resources are voluntarily provided to children who show special interest in an activity. They are also encouraged to borrow books from the library. Sport and music are included too. Even when we bump into the teachers outside centre hours, we’re always greeted enthusiastically!
My kids are really happy and comfortable there, they are always calm and relaxed after the day they spent at the PK preschool. The ratio is amazing, space is always clean and warm and there are various set ups every day, different activities to be involved in – music, outdoor sport. The effort that teachers make there is colossal – they are nice and supportive people overall to chat. Can’t recommend better place than PK preschool.
We absolutely love this preschool. I have 3 children and have attended many childcare centres and this one is top!! My son is incredibly happy here and asks to go. The teachers are longstanding and have lovely relationships with each other, which in turn trickles down to the children. It is a calm and inviting environment with individual needs of the children very well met. There are amazing activities pro-actively set up each day that captivate the children and also create lovely moments for parents on drop off. There are extra activities planned like playball and music, which are above and beyond the standard level of care, highlighting how the centre focuses on the wellbeing of the children and getting the most out of their time there. Communication is fantastic and teachers have a lot of time for parents. I am extremely happy and feel very fortunate to be part of this community. I would 100% recommend this preschool to parents and caregivers.
Ari has never been happier at a preschool and we couldn’t speak highly enough about the staff, how it is run, and how happy our child is attending. Thanks!
We absolutely adore the preschool. The teachers and staff are sincere and always prioritize the children’s best interests in their actions. Each morning at drop-off, I’m greeted by a chorus of welcomes from everyone. The preschool is prepared with various activities to help the children (and adults) ease into the day and alleviate any separation anxieties. Even after relocating from the area, we continue to send our child to Ponsonby Community Preschool because of our deep affection for it.
The teachers and environment at Ponsonby community preschool is second to none. I’ve had two children there, with one still attending and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
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.