Get your child ready for school with our stimulating preschool program. Your preschooler will love the Ngahere room for 4-5 year olds for at Piccolo Park.

Preschoolers

We understand that choosing a preschool to care for your child is an important decision.

Rest assured we have superb resources and excellent programs designed specifically for the learning and development of 4-5 year olds. Our goal is to help preschoolers become confident, competent, independent learners so they are ready for school.

Our qualified teachers are experts at guiding preschoolers through this exciting time of social, emotional, physical and intellectual development. All this happens in a fun, friendly and homely environment. Your child will love to learn at Piccolo Park preschool!

We’re confident your child will thrive in the fun learning environment at Ngahere, our area for preschoolers. We have a wonderful preschool program and qualified teachers to guide your child through this exciting phase. They’ll be learning and building life skills through enjoyable education and individual interests, in preparation for school.

9 Reasons to Choose Piccolo Park

Our goal is a smooth transition to school for your child, rather than a big change. So our preparation involves building on your child’s independence and confidence. We introduce them to a wide range of numeracy and literacy concepts through our intentional teaching in their play and environment provocations, giving them the opportunity to explore and learn as they grow.

These are important years to foster leadership and responsibility and build confidence. So we find enjoyable ways to bring out these skills in our preschoolers. Some children love being “the teacher” for the day, or directing mat time. Some like to be rostered on to duties, e.g. being a messenger. We also do things like getting them ready for show-and-tell at school, and practical things like getting them to understand their lunch boxes, etc.

Recognising and planning for further development of the children is an important part of what we do. If your preschooler is interested in pyramids or dinosaurs or family or whatever, we’ll help take that to the next level. We believe children learn more easily when exploring their personal goals and interests.

We teach our preschool children self-responsibility and give them techniques for handling situations in life, e.g. annoying behaviour. Armed with the appropriate strategies they will be ready for school and life.

Preschoolers have the option of attending either a morning or an afternoon session or full days and making use of the 20 free ECE hours in these time slots.

We provide breakfast for all preschoolers dropped off before 8:00 am and late snacks for those picked up after 5:00 pm. A qualified chef has designed our preschool menu and established the kitchen and trained our cook. Our meals are highly nutritious and beautifully fresh, which is important for optimal brain development. Let us know about any allergies or other food considerations and we can adapt the menu to suit.

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We have better teacher to child ratios (1:8) than ministry requirements (1:10) enabling better supervision of your preschooler. This also creates more opportunity for 1-on-1 teacher and child interaction where we can build on your child’s interests and strengths.

We provide age-appropriate resources and there’s a wonderful variety to choose from, fostering a range of individual interests. Variety is important too because children learn in different ways. Your preschooler will get all the challenges and stimulation they need through our abundance of resources.

Our outdoor environment has been developed around keeping children close to nature. Preschoolers particularly love our fabulous water features. Our outdoor area gives children the freedom to be active learners, experimenters and explorers.

Check Out Piccolo Park Preschool Care

We’d love to meet you and show you around! To make an appointment, please complete the form below.

Preschool Childcare FAQs

What does it cost?

You’ll find our fees are very affordable. For children aged 3+ there are session or full-day options. Minimum attendance is 2+ days per week and 6+ hours per day for full-day children. Please use the contact form, above, to request an information pack which includes current fees.

All 3 and 4 year old children are eligible to receive 20 hours ECE while attending Piccolo Park.

Any school trips or excursions will be planned and based on the children’s interest, learning and development. Prior parental permission and assistance will be sought well in advance.

Yes. Our menu is designed in line with the healthy heart foundation, taking into account any children who may have allergies or special dietary requirements such as gluten/dairy free, vegetarian etc. This is also a nut free centre.

For preschoolers please bring a named school bag and a named change of clothing.

Our qualified teachers are passionate about building on your child’s independence and confidence. We introduce them to a wide range of numeracy and literacy concepts through their intentional teaching and environment provocations, giving them the opportunity to explore and learn as they grow.

All meals are prepared at the centre. Sessional children will be provided with either morning or afternoon tea. Full day children are provided with morning and afternoon tea and lunch. Any child dropped before 8.00 am will be provided with breakfast and those picked up after 5.00 pm will be given a late snack.

We aim to develop good working relationships with primary schools in each centres’ vicinity. We work with them to have visits to the schools, or from the schools, to help our preschoolers adjust to the idea of going to school.

The Ministry of Education’s parents’ portal is an excellent place for more information: http://parents.education.govt.nz/early-learning/