Why Us?

When you are considering enrolling the most precious and vulnerable little person in your life in a childcare service, most Early Childcare Centres will provide you with pretty much the same information.

The reason for this is that Early Childhood Education and Care services are highly regulated and all are required to meet strict, specific Government standards regarding the physical property and buildings, the curriculum and programme and their commitment to providing your family with ‘quality’ care and education.

Every Licensed childcare service meets this standard and will tell you that they provide these services. That’s the minimum we need to be providing for our youngest citizens. Further, Early Childhood services are regularly audited by the Education Review Office to ensure the required standard of service is actually being delivered to the families and children they serve.
At Kids’ Kampus, whatever the regulatory standards require; we more than exceed them.

We are different from other services in that:

We provide more expansive indoor and outdoor play space for children than other centres can, even though Kids’ Kampus is located in suburban central Auckland.
Kids’ Kampus provides higher teacher to child ratios than is legally required.
The centre is extremely well resourced with thought-provoking and varied equipment, as well as our Montessori apparatus; and your child is provided wide-ranging learning opportunities, accessed through our additional inspirational Montessori programme which we have integrated with the New Zealand Te Whāriki Curriculum.

However, while all these benefits are great, they are not the essence of who we are or what we are about at Kids’ Kampus.

We are a small, boutique, well established, privately owned and owner operated service, licensed for 65 children aged 0-5 years. The owner, Margie Blackwood, established Kids’ Kampus over 30 years ago and works at the centre.

We are also a ‘stand-alone’ service – meaning that there is only one Kids’ Kampus Childcare centre and no others anywhere. We are not part of a larger chain or group.

We are located in two adapted and renovated bungalows in residential Mt Eden. Our road presence is deceiving as our centre is very private and completely concealed from the road and public view.

So, when you first arrive at the centre it is easy to underestimate the space we have for the children. However, once you come inside our facility and see our spacious indoor and expansive outdoor play area with its substantial adventure playground for our children, it all looks very different - The children have half an acre of land in which to spend their days in play & exploration.

The feeling you get at our place “Home away from home”, is due to a few factors: We are not overcrowded – We could accommodate many more children than 65, but choose not to in order to minimise stress for both staff and our young community.

Our buildings are not purpose built and during the day, children are not confined to a room inside and a small play area outside - just as you at home wouldn’t keep your child in a single room all day every day. Preschool children have the entire Kauri House and quarter acre property to explore, play and learn. The Babies and Toddlers have Koru House and their quarter acre property, dedicated for their exploration and development. This means that the day is fluid with children moving into different rooms of the houses and mixing with different age groups – as they naturally would with family at home.

Our approach at Kids’ Kampus is ‘relaxed’ yet ‘ordered’ and we intentionally create an atmosphere of predictable normality in our routines and programme to ensure stability and continuity for your child. Children being settled, feeling secure, confident and happy is our top priority.

We regard the family as central in a child’s life and aim to establish a fluid transition between home and centre through continual communication and relationship with you. Most of our young children spend a significant part of their lives with us while their parents are at work. Many centres when talking with you will emphasise the educational programme they provide. At Kids’ Kampus we prioritise development of character and the inherent dispositions (strengths, gifts, talents, passions and interests), within your child, over and above education and the acquisition of knowledge.

Providing education is an important part of what we do but it is impossible for an unsettled and stressed child to relax, learn and have fun. First, we must ensure your child’s emotional security in our environment. Then we can facilitate and support their learning within our Te Whāriki programme and complementary Montessori to provide opportunity for extended learning. Only when a child feels right can he think right and learning then becomes a by product. For us, it’s about achieving a balance between educating a child’s mind and also his heart, where character is formed. The way to achieve this is through relationship and trust.

“The education of a small child does not aim to prepare him for school, but for life”
Maria Montessori

Our staff team are diverse in culture, age and experience.  Some are mature teachers and have older children or grand children of their own.  These staff have many years of experience and insight working with our young children.  Other staff are younger and bring vibrancy, energy and fresh ideas to the routines and activities of the day.

High teacher-to-child ratios are associated with less stress and better staff-child interactions. At Kids’ Kampus, one of our points of difference is that staff are able to be more supportive when they are responsible for a smaller group of children.
When the teacher-to-child ratio is well balanced, staff have time to engage in teaching and facilitating learning.  The right environment is created to enable teachers to attend to a child’s individual needs, responding effectively to children with positive, caring and meaningful interactions which always results in the most meaningful and effective development and learning.

The teacher is most important in supporting children to work collaboratively, motivating and drawing out from each one: the scientist, the builder, the nurse, the teacher, the analyst, the mother, the doctor, the electrician and so on.  So often that which is our identified innate passion or disposition in childhood becomes our chosen profession in adulthood.  At Kids’ Kampus, early childhood care and education is the platform on which foundations are laid for later life.

However, the most important aspect regarding our staff is that they are in relationship with your child and with you.  We understand that communication within that relationship triangle is paramount.  Children learn by example – this is the most powerful method of teaching.  They absorb what they see, not what we say to them.  It is vital that we at Kids’ Kampus and you the parents are all on the same page, modelling the same standard to your child and a high level of trust and confidence between us is built.

Our primary role at Kids’ Kampus is to support you in your parenting journey.  We are there to complement you and stand in your place when your child is with us.  As a by-product, your child will be exposed to opportunities for socialisation, learning and discovery – all taking place in an environment which is secure and safe and an extension of home.

For a long time now, we have been working and learning alongside the children in our care. In order to assist a child as he develops and transitions from undependable to dependable, we at Kids’ Kampus approach learning for children with the assumption that these skills are already within them but yet to be realised.

Our approach is to treat your child as if they already are as we would like them to become. We are constantly surprised by our children in how much they already know, in spite of us! Children have to be educated but there also needs to be a balance of leaving them to explore and educate themselves through taking ownership and having choices around their learning.

Knowledge gained through experience is superior to and many times more useful than knowledge gained through the study of books or direct teaching.

“Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school”.
Albert Einstein

Independence and responsibility are fostered by allowing children a voice and wherever reasonable a choice in matters that affect them. So, at Kids’ Kampus, as we hold the bar high, our children continue to aspire to reach it – and the ongoing learning unfolds.

We are not trying to fill our children’s minds with facts but rather make learning relevant and meaningful by training their minds to think through problem solving and working collaboratively as they progress through their preschool years.

“The mere imparting of information is not education. Above all things, the effort must result in making a child think & do for himself”
Carter Woodson

In conclusion, at Kids’ Kampus, our intention is to add value to our families, by being there for you as we have been for over 30 years, supporting you through a very important and busy season of your family’s life, as you raise the next generation of Kiwi Kids. We want our children to be educated, but more so, we want them to grow into young adults with character.

"Nothing in the world can take the place of character.Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with great talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent."
Calvin Coolidge

Central location: In Auckland’s residential Mt Eden
Established Reputation: Based on 30 years of serving families
Spacious Facility: On two ¼ acre sections, plenty of room inside and out
Massive Adventure Playground: To promote physical, creative and social development
Relaxed, fun and Homely Environment in two spacious renovated bungalows
Well Equipped and Resourced centre
Qualified ECE Teachers, Registered with Education Council Aotearoa NZ
Long Serving, mature and experienced Teaching Team
All Registered ECE Teachers hold current First Aid Certification
High Teacher to Child Ratios
Focus on the Development of your Child’s Character and inherent dispositions
Foster and Support Acquisition of Personal Qualities of self-control, internalised motivation and awareness of and kindness toward others
Separate designated sleeping Rooms from play areas to ensure opportunity for undisturbed rest
Head Start Montessori Programme
Reading Programme for introduction to literacy
Foundational Numeracy in preparation for school
Excellent Education Review Office Reports
Beyond Ourselves: Support medical care and education of disadvantaged children in NE India for 25+ years