Here at Pineapples Early Learning Centrewe believe in a holistic, child-led curriculum, where our kaiako are the facilitors of our children's learning and their individual journeys through their time here with us. We are overall governed by and use the Early Childhood Curriculum 'Te Whariki'. This national ECE curriculum is underpinned by the vision that all children are "competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society"
Te Whariki recognises that every child is unique and that teachers/educators/kaiako in Early Childhood Centres work together in partnership with whanau to realize their aspirations for their child and how we can work collaboratively to achieve these. We live in a diverse & bicultural society that is Aotearoa New Zealand, and we recognizes Maori as tangata whenua, where we have a shared obligation to protect Maori language and culture, while ensuring Maori learners as encouraged to achieve educational success. The expectation is that, in their early years, children will experience a curriculum that empowers them for their journey. The notion of the Te Wharikicurriculum is broad, so it can include all experiences, activities and events, both direct and indirect, that occur
We have an assessment process for each child, which helps us identify their strengths and interests, and foster their disposition to be a highly motivated self-directed learner. We use ‘learning stories’, an approach developed to go hand in hand with the Te Whaariki curriculum. Learning stories will give us information about the learning habits and dispositions of the child, there are five key areas: Taking an interest • Being involved • Persisting with difficulty • Expressing an idea or feeling • Taking responsibility Assessment EMPOWERMENT: Empowering children to learn and grow HOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT: Reflecting the holistic way children learn FAMILY AND COMMUNITY: Including family and community as an integral part of the curriculum. RELATIONSHIPS: Children learn through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places, and things.