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Be Safe, Be Kind and Be Respectful
Our Kiwi room (Nursery) has just three expectations that we support children to develop an understanding of. They are to Be Safe, Be Kind and Be Respectful – these expectations are used throughout the centre, but how they look and are implemented vary across the age groups. They are aligned with our centre values of Manaakitanga (how you care for yourself and for others), Kaitiakitanga (safety and care of the environment), Whakatoi (to be curious about learning and how to learn) and Whanaungatanga (relationships and looking after each other).
In the Kiwi room Being Safe looks like keeping yourself safe when exploring, or keeping friends safe when using resources appropriately. Being Kind looks like being gentle when playing alongside others, or letting others have a turn when you are finished your turn. Being Respectful is using toys in way they designed to be used, understanding the infant's sometimes need something before the toddlers, or understanding there is a certain way of doing things in our room. These expectations support children's developing social and emotional competency - their understanding of how to play successfully with others and how to express their feelings. This comes with some big expression of all those feelings and with the teachers support your child with develop strategies to help them work through those big feelings.
Parents have shared that they are easy guidelines to implement at home too and they use the same language we do to support their child to develop an understanding of what being safe, kind and respectful looks like, equipping them with useful strategies to help navigate the wider world. This is a huge component of our localised curriculum and who we are at BestStart Te Whāriki. The teachers recognise the importance of a child feeling safe and secure, knowing their needs will be meet and their feelings heard and understood. When this happens, a child feels able to explore, challenge themselves and will flourish into a competent and confident learner ready to take on the world around them!