Gaynor Archer
Centre Manager

Karori  Infants & Toddlers

Our Childspace Karori centre provides high quality care and education for infants and toddlers in a nurturing, respectful environment.

We are located at 81 Old Karori Road and cater for both part and full time spaces. The centre is licensed for 22 infants and toddlers per day, and has a team of 6 teachers. We also have a centre cook who spends her days preparing nutritious and tasty meals for all of the children.

The centre is divided into three spaces. One is designed for free movement and floor time for infants and very young children. The second is designed to meet the specific developmental needs of toddlers. The third space is our outdoor area which provides a safe but challenging environment for infants and toddlers to explore.

The teachers at Childspace Karori have been inspired by the work of Emmi Pikler and Magda Gerber. They strongly believe in providing a peaceful child-centered approach, cherishing and respecting children’s individual interests and routine. They achieve this by having a primary caregiver for each child.

The primary caregiving system provides children with the comfort of knowing a familiar adult is close by and fully present, sensitively observing their cues and gestures. The child looks forward to the next care moment where they will be engaged in an intimate dance of co-operation and togetherness with their caregiver.

 We offer an innovative programming system which celebrates individual children’s interests and strengths in their journey of learning and development. Each child has a profile book which their primary caregiver adds to with stories about their interests and development. We also use an online system called Educa which means that parents have a choice if they would like to be able to access stories and photos of their children through an online system, a great way to stay in touch!

 Our families are guaranteed a place at Childspace Wilton around their second birthday and there is a smooth and gradual process in place for the children and their familes when they transition. The Wilton centre is a short drive from Karori, the teachers at Wilton always look forward to meeting the next group of Karori children.

Our centre has 'parent conversations' twice each year. These are a special time when parents are invited to come and meet with their childs primary teacher. They share stories about their child and the teachers respond with a written summary of each childs individual learning and development in the centre over the previous 6 months. This is not to replace day to day interaction with families but to provide a focussed time to share.

Parents are also welcome to attend workshops provided by the teaching team at Karori, our early childhood institute or by an outside speaker. These workshops provide new knowledge for familes and support parents in areas that are of current interest. So far we have had workshops such as, food & nutrition, self regulation, child behaviour, fathering, ukulele and much more!

Parent reflection:

"You've helped to instil some strong values into our children about kindness and respect, co-operating and working together, as well as the desire to be independent".

"We looked at several early childhood centres, but at Karori we felt the babies were truly loved and cherished".

"The equipment available is great and I think it takes childrens perspectives into consideration whole heartedly".

 "Food is nutritious and well balanced and we think it's great that it is made on site".