Our Philosophy and Values

At Laugh and Learn, our New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum “ Te whāriki’ and the Early Childhood Regulations underpin our philosophy and everyday practices.  

Safe , secure and happy

 We believe that the most important aspect and what we strive for is for our tamariki (children) to feel safe, secure, and happy in our nurturing and enriching environment and for them to build strong reciprocal relationships with our teachers and each other.  We know that if children are happy and secure then they will have fun, play, learn and develop to their fullest potential.

Relationships

We value and place great importance on the connections we have with the children, parents, whanau and our local community; coming together to  learn about each other’s cultures, beliefs, dreams, and from sharing our knowledge and special skills. Our centre is not only a place of learning for children, but also a place where the Kaiako (teachers)and families can learn in partnership.

Play

We believe that children learn best through play and when we as teachers focus on acknowledging, enhancing and extending on their interests. Through play, we believe that children have fun, experiment, imagine, discover, and explore allowing them to develop their social, emotional, physical and cognitive skills.

Te Reo and Tikanga Māori

We are proud that New Zealand is a bi-cultural country and acknowledge the significance that Te Tiriti o Waitangi has in our history and today.  At Laugh and Learn, we don’t just want Te reo Māori to survive but we want it to thrive so as Kaiako (teachers) we will be incorporating Te reo Māori in our everyday practices and teaching.  Tikanga will also influence some of our everyday routines