199 Bridge Street     ph 03 548 1234     email [email protected]
Tamariki and whānau (family) are at the heart of what we do and our whanaungatanga (relationships) strengthens their sense of belonging. We have a culture of manaakitanga (kindness) and aroha (love) with which we fill our tamariki's emotional and social kete, which in turn fosters meaningful play.

Bridge Street
Kindergarten

At Bridge Street Kindergarten we are passionate about providing tamariki (children) with a bi-cultural curriculum that recognises and celebrates that each tamariki is unique and comes with their own kete of knowledge, culture and experience. 

Tamariki and whānau are welcome to visit us at anytime

"Poipoia te kakano kia puawai"
Nurture the seed and it will blossom

"He taonga te mokopuna, kia whāngaia, kia tipu, kia rea"
A child is a treasure, to be nurtured, to grow, to flourish

"Whāia te mātauranga hei
oranga mō koutou"
Seek after learning for the
sake of your wellbeing
Our play based kindergarten has an emergent curriculum with open ended resources that empowers tamariki and gives them the opportunity to engage in rich play experiences. We encourage tamariki to be creators and contributors of their own learning journeys.
We are a Bronze Enviroschool and support tamariki to engage and become kaitiaki (leaders) of papatūānuku (earth) and develop sustainable practices.

"Whatungarongaro te tangata,
​toitū te whenua"
As people disappear from sight,
the land remains.

Bridge Street Kindergarten provides care for tamariki from
6 months to 6 years of age in two separate spaces

Your pēpē will have a primary caregiver. A primary caregiver is a kaiako who is committed to building a close trusting relationship with your pēpē and whānau. Your pēpē primary caregiver is responsible for the day to day care of them, including care routines such as meal and sleep times.

Te ruma Aratuna - Under 2's

Our Aratuna kaiako (teachers) provide for unhurried, meaningful interactions, and teachers will be very aware of your pēpē' (baby) non-verbal cues. Our kaiako work in partnership with whānau to ensure that they are in-tune with your pēpē individual rhythms and routines.

"Waiho i te toipoto, kaua i te toiroa"
Let us keep close together, not wide apart
Kaiako will ensure that your tamaiti and your whānau have one or two 'go to' kaiako to build that trusting relationship with. This is to build up their mana, and learn about the essence of them/their mauri. Showing manaakitanga is an important part of our philosophy and plays a role ensuring that tamaiti are fully settled and happy. Once they are ready to explore, kaiako will support them to make connections with the rest of our kaiako.

Te ruma Maitahi - Over 2's

In te ruma Maitahi your tamaiti (child) will have a key kaiako who will document their learning journey in their portfolio, and will also take the lead during your tamaiti visits prior to starting, and the settling in period when they start.

"Naku te rourou nau te rourou
ka ora ai te iwi"
With your basket and my basket,
the people will thrive