Old MacDonald's

Tamariki o te Ngahere - Children of the forest

Tamariki o te Ngahere is a specialist ‘bush schooling’ experience offered to our Saplings children between the age 4 and 5. From then on, they are invited to attend our very own Bush and Farm School. You can find out more about this here.

Tamariki o te Ngahere is inspired by the Forest Kindergartens from Denmark. The term ‘forest school’ was created to describe the Danish practice of children in early years settings using the outdoors every day, all year round as part of their pre-school education. Using this as our inspiration, we strive to provide our children with uninterrupted time in nature where they will spend most of their day outside, exploring the world around them.

We aim to run Tamariki o te Ngahere every week, rain or shine, with the philosophy in mind that “there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing”. However, the trip will not go ahead if the weather looks dangerous in anyway (e.g high winds, storms). In this sort of weather, we have an alternative plan. We believe that children are critical thinkers, problem solvers and explorers. During our time in the forest, their opportunities for communication, problem solving, dramatic play, climbing, balancing, running, planning and construction projects. We will learn how to work with and in nature and learn respect and empathy towards the natural world around us.

Our Tamariki o te Ngahere program is an extension of Te Maahuri (the Saplings) curriculum, providing opportunity for children to engage with nature in a meaningful way. Muddy hands, bare feet, climbing and risk-taking are all celebrated aspects of Tamariki o te Ngahere, children are encouraged to connect with nature in the ways that speak to their spirit. Nurturing the holistic development of the child, Tamariki o te Ngahere was created with the spiritual, physical, emotional, social and cognitive domains of the child’s development at the core. We achieve this through providing a predominantly free play experience that nurtures curiosity, innovation and imagination as well as fostering independence and resilience. We believe that providing the space to connect with nature supports children to develop a sense of kaitiakitanga for Papatuuaanuku, our Earth Mother and “first parent” (Brownlee & Crisp, 2016, p. 82). Given our current environmental crisis, creating a loving relationship with our earth and gaining the skills to care for her is a priority.

In commitment to Te Tiriti o Waitangi and recognition of the “unique status of tangata whenua in Aotearoa New Zealand” (Education Council, 2017, p. 18), we strive to uphold the intrinsic connection our tangata whenua whaanau share with the whenua through whakapapa. We acknowledge that this is a complex and intricate connection that binds past with present and future. As per our ‘Maori as Tangata Whenua Policy’, we are committed to acknowledging the wairuatanga (spirituality) that underpins te ao Maaori and what this means for our tamariki when interacting with our Tamariki o te Ngaahere environment.

Tamariki o te Ngahere is designed to tautoko our tamariki and whaanau during their final months with us, acknowledging that the transition from Old MacDonald’s into school may be a time of uncertainty. Because we believe social competency to be the greatest indicator for ‘school readiness’, Tamariki o te Ngahere is carefully designed to build upon our ideas surrounding social competency being an integral aspect of a child’s development. In addition to this, Tamariki o te Ngahere introduces themes of primary school such as lunch box management in a safe and nurturing environment. Te Whaariki highlights the importance of tamariki becoming increasingly capable of caring for and managing themselves as an integral aspect of pathways to school. 

Cost: $100 per term. This is added to your invoice.