Our philosophy

The primary focus at Rocket Kids ELC is to develop children's natural enthusiasm for learning – fostering confidence and positive self-esteem and providing a great foundation for future success. We believe this can be achieved through empowering, encouraging and extending children, attending to their emotional and physical wellbeing and working in partnership with parents and caregivers to meet the needs of each individual child. We aim to provide an environment in which their experiences are happy, fun and stimulating.

Empowerment

We believe that play and exploration are fundamental to early learning and our child centered programme empowers the child to explore ideas, make decisions, and develop thinking skills and problem solving abilities.

Encouragement

Children learn through their relationships and interactions with other people and the environment and we encourage positive, responsive and reciprocal relationships between children and adults.

We see our role as teachers being to provide educational activities, equipment, guidance and support to encourage their learning, communication and social skills.

Extension

We believe in promoting and extending children’s learning and development through curriculum and assessment practices which incorporate the principles of Te Whaariki and reflect the holistic way in which children learn whilst acknowledging their individual abilities and needs.

Emotional and Physical Wellbeing

We believe that children are happy and confident learners when they feel safe and secure. To this end, we provide equitable learning opportunities and an environment where their cultural background is valued and respected. Our staff communicate and interact in ways that are warmly responsive, positive and encouraging and value each child as an individual. We provide an environment that meets safety standards, is hygienically clean, includes nourishing meals and provides for lots of physical activities.

Partnership with family/caregiver

We value and welcome family input and acknowledge parents as the expert on their child. Through individual portfolios or daily diaries, daily interactions with both caregiver and child and through regular observation, assessment and planning, we aim to meet every child’s needs and encourage and extend them appropriately to ensure that their stay with us is both happy and fulfilling.