Whetū Nui

Whetū Nui (Big Star) is for children 2 years to 6 years.

Nau mai, haere mai ki Whetū Nui!

Here at Star, we practice respect-based philosophy which is evident in all that we do, say and are. It is crucial for our tamariki to have their own voice, and to feel a sense of autonomy as they navigate their educational journey through these important years.

Throughout the day, we offer a wide range of both indoor and outdoor activities, as well as extra-curricular activities a couple of times a week.

Our day is loosely structured around our rituals and routines. These rituals provide a sense of safety and predictability as the tamariki know what to expect and are welcomed to be active participants. The bell is rung by a child, alerting the tamariki that it is time to come to the whāriki (mat). This precedes a short Wā Hui (Meeting Time), followed by working together collaboratively to tidy up our space together. After this, our kaiāwhina (helper) will be assisted by a teacher to lead the kai time songs and to hand out food. This repeats at each kai time (10am, 12pm, 2pm) and is a part of our day that the tamariki really love and look forward to.

At Whetū Nui, we continue our Primary Care approach – we feel that is is so important for a child’s sense of belonging to have ‘their person’ that they know they can come to if they need support.

We look forward to getting to know you and your child.

Ka whangaia, ka tupu, ka puawai – That which is nurtured will grow and blossom.

Ngā mihi mahana, the Whetū Nui kaiako

Ara ki te Kura – Road to School

Supporting children and families through the transition process

At Star we aim to…

Work with parents and whānau to ensure children are set up for success during their transition to school, our experienced teaching team will provide our children with a high quality education and equip them for their journey to school. Below are some of the skills we will be focusing on during our Kura Club, it is our hope that you, as the child’s whānau, will be able to reinforce these skills at home too.

We endeavour to ensure that we are providing a literacy and numeracy rich environment each and every day. While we are constantly providing experiences that support the growth and exploration of literacy and numeracy throughout the day, we also support children to; grow a sense of belonging, competency, resilience and responsibility. We believe here at Star that these are equally as important and need to be explored deeply so children become confident within these areas.

Emotional Wellbeing and Social Skills

Social skills are behaviours that promote positive interactions with others and the environment (Lynch and Simpson, 2010). Some of these skills include knowing how to show empathy, participating and contributing in group activities, having a positive attitude, communicating with others, making friends and problem solving (Lynch and Simpson, 2010).

Here are just some of the social dispositions we aspire our tamariki to develop in order to support them in their journey to school, as well as in life:

Independence
Managing conflict
Following rules and respecting others
Seeking help
Showing empathy
Participation in group experiences
Generosity
Helpfulness
Communicating with others
Negotiating
Problem solving
Listening
Resilience
Fine motor skills
Benefit/Risk

Tamariki learn these dispositions from the adults and other tamariki in their environment who model and sometimes explain how to behave in particular situations.

Wā Hui (Mat time) – we hold one mat time in the morning, where we encourage children to be active participants within the group, we encourage them to be respectful, present, and listen during this time.

Kura Club – Kura club is designed to provide more extensive opportunities for tamariki 4.5years + to gain fundamental skills to support them in their school transition. This is explained in more detail within this brochure.

Responsibility and Self Help – We support children to grow and develop their responsibility by looking after their own belongings (able to recognise bag, lunchbox, clothing, shoes etc), and packing their bag at the end of the day.

We encourage children to help keep our environment clean and inviting, by tidying up when they have finished playing, and joining in on a group tidy up time.

We promote self help skills, eg pulling their pants/underwear up and down before and after the use of the toilet and be confident in using the toilet, demonstrating general hygiene.

To be able to open lunchbox and food within, (peeling bananas, scooping kiwifruit/feijoa), opening packet food, unscrewing/unclipping containers). We strongly encourage children to be responsible for rationing their food for the day, ensuring they have enough to get them through the day.

How can you help?

Send your child with clothes and shoes that you know they can put on/do up independently. For example, if your child cannot yet tie laces, bring them in shoes they can independently put on.
Provide your child with a lunchbox and containers that they can open by themselves to set them up for success.
Include food that your child can open, or prepare it so they can open independently (e.g. making a slit at the top of the banana so that they can peel it, snip the end off the muesli bar wrapper, pre-cut feijoas/kiwi fruit in half and provide a spoon etc.)
Ensure that your child has and knows where their wet bag is kept. This way they can organise themselves if a change of clothes is needed.
Provide opportunities for your child to practice turn taking and social skills, such as board games.

Our ultimate priority is to set our children up for success and to grow into capable and competent learners.

For us to do that, we need your support!

How does it work?

When your child turns 4.5 years old, they will be invited to join in our Kura (school) Club. We run this small group time each day with planned group experiences. We start the Kura Club at 11am and your child will be encouraged to participate, for these 15 minute sessions.

Kura Club is not a checklist of developmental milestones or achievements, but rather the behaviour required to learn vital skills, such as, perseverance, courage, curiosity, trust, playfulness and responsibility. Kurt Club offers opportunities for children, to question, plan, korero, discover, and take calculated risks. It is this knowledge, these skills and attributes tamariki are developing which are fundamental skills that are paramount in a child’s transition to school and beyond.

Tuakana Teina

We want our younger tamariki to see our older children as their teachers too. We encourage our older children to be our role models for our younger tamariki, helping to guide, support and encourage our tamariki to gain a sense of belonging, build friendships while at the sometime empowering our older tamariki. There are multiple opportunities for this including kaiāwhina.

Day to Day

We are constantly providing experiences that support the growth and exploration of literacy and numeracy throughout the day, we also support children to; grow a sense of belonging, competency, resilience and responsibility. We believe here at Star that these are equally as important and need to be explored deeply so children become confident within these areas.

Our philosophy supports child led experiences, as we do not explicitly practice children’s reading and writing, we will support this with them if the child initiates it. We provide opportunities or this within our resources, and daily kaupapa throughout the day, these opportunities are inclusive and accessible for all.

Schools in our Local Area

Birchwood School
15 Durham Street – Ph 03 547 3028 email – [email protected]

Enner Glynn School
10 The Ridgeway, Enner Glynn – Ph 03 547 7480 email – [email protected]

Nayland Primary School
225 Nayland Road, Stoke – Ph 03 547 7399 email – [email protected]

Nelson Christian Academy
100 Marsden Valley Road, Maitlands – Ph 03 547 7082 email – [email protected]

Stoke School
601 Main Road Stoke, Stoke – Ph 03 547 7582 email – [email protected]

Tahunanui School
69 Muriwai Street, Tahunanui – Ph 03 548 6167 email – [email protected]

Feel free to chat to your child’s primary teacher if you have any questions, concerns or comments. We are here to work in partnership, to set your child up for success!

For more information, please contact us.

If you are interested, send us an enquiry and we will get back to you as soon as we can!