Welcome to our Point Chevalier Centre

Children learn through play and exploration and this philosophy is reflected in the look and feel of our centre. We encourage our children to be in the outdoors as much as possible regardless of the weather and we have designed the centre to allow the children to access the outdoor areas easily. As noted in our recent ERO Report The Rumpus Room’s learning environment is attractive and welcoming.

This includes a tank-water fed river, an exciting and well loved bike path and our own invention Playboards^TM which enable all of the outside space to be used for exciting and creative learning. We also have a key card entry system to the centre so that only caregivers have access to the centre in order to ensure the safety and security of the children. View our Parent Handbook.

At the heart of your community
The Rumpus Room is an exceptional early childhood education centre for children aged 3 months to 6 years. All age groups reap the benefits of a home like environment, experienced staff and great resources. We encourage our children to be curious, questioning and confident learners.

An extension of your family
We welcome the active involvement of parents and whanau. An integrated on-line platform allows stories and photos to be shared between teachers, parents and children. Families can access their child’s online profile and receive regular updates via email, and can submit stories as well. Events and milestones should be celebrated and we love sharing them with you. To create a stable and calm environment, strong relationships are imperative. Our three day minimum attendance ensure that our children are settled and their relationships with their teachers and peers are strong.

Time to explore
Safe but exciting play is the order of the day, and our outdoor spaces have been designed to maximize learning opportunities. We also have a vegetable garden, enabling children to get their hands dirty, learn about nature and grow produce for their meals. Western Springs, the Auckland Zoo, local shops and the public library are all a stone’s throw away, so our timetable will include lots of field trips and adventures.

Nutrition and Food
Because we know food fuels the mind and full tummies equal content children we provide plenty of healthy and delicious morning tea, hot lunch, afternoon tea and late snacks. We cater for a wide variety of dietary requirements and we are very aware of the impacts of food allergies and intolerances. Please talk to us about your needs.

We foster a calm, relaxing and peaceful environment in order to create opportunities for children to explore freely. Our resources are open ended and natural and can be used in a variety of ways as the children spend long periods of time discovering more about the world around them. The environment also allows the child the time, the space and the support to be themselves as they develop an awareness of who they are as a person. Infants and toddlers are encouraged to move freely and to discover new positions and experiment by themselves. Toddlers are encouraged to work things out for themselves with support from adults such as climbing on and off the bikes. As children all have their own individual routines, we work closely with families to establish similar and familiar routines that the child has at home. This helps to provide consistency for the child.

We also have communication books which provide a record of your child’s day. All children have one main primary caregiver to ensure quality, sensitive and responsive child and adult relationships and care routines that include nappy changing, feeding and bottles as well as sleeping. We place a lot of importance on settling visits prior to children starting here at The Rumpus Room. This is where the first relationships begins – relationships with the environment, the teaching team and the other children.  These visits are done over a two to three week period. The first week involves short visits where the families stay to help their child feel comfortable and secure and the primary caregivers spend time getting to know the family better.  Through these visits, the children have the time and space to build familiarity with their new space and have the chance to observe and get to know the other children better.

At around two years old, children are ready for a more challenging environment. When transitioning from the Nest we have a proven transition procedure. This includes holding small group parent evenings before our children start the transition process so parents are introduced to the area, find out about the process and can ask any questions. Fledglings continue to have a key carer or carers ensuring there is a key relationship for each child and a support person if and when required. Our Fledglings enjoy experiencing an environment where they learn with and alongside our preschoolers. We have a rolling morning tea and afternoon tea where our Fledglings practice their self help skills.

Fledglings enjoy a dedicated group time to themselves just before lunch where they have the opportunity to come together with their carers if they choose to. Lunchtime is a smaller more social engagement where they learn about serving themselves and enjoying the kai time as a wonderful social and learning opportunity, we find this is a great way to grow friendships and relationships. Lunch is 30-45 mins earlier than the Explorers so they are not rushed. Once they have finished they transition into the lounge for a sleep. On waking our Fledglings enjoy getting back into the project based play with their friends and teachers. We head out and about in the community at least once a fortnight to either the library, park or the Zoo.

Our older children are the leaders in the centre. At this stage we are recognising and responding to the learning cues from the children. The Explorers head out of the centre for adventures at the Zoo, the library, MOTAT, the local playgrounds, Western Springs, or anywhere else they or the teachers can think of, at least once a week.

One of the most popular nights of the year is our annual four year old sleep-over which is a hotly anticipated rite of passage for the older children. The Explorers are involved in their own learning – setting their own goals, making plans and researching.  Our teachers support The Explorers with their interests and goals.  Our Explorers are often found involved in child initiated projects around the centre.