About Us

Passionate family owned childcare centre

Amanda and Justin, with their two young children, are the proud owners of The Homestead. Amanda comes from a long history of early childhood with her mother Maggie-Anne being an early childhood teacher herself. Although now retired, Maggie is still involved in the centre and hand makes all of the individual quilts for each child when they start at the Homestead. Amanda and Justin's daughter also attended the centre up until recently when she left for school.

Owned by a family, not a big corporate, our teaching team are passionate about children and are dedicated to putting your children's well-being and learning outcomes at the forefront of everything we do.

We are proud to be able to provide small group sizes and good quality teacher:child ratios, meaning your child has more one-on-one time with our passionate and highly experienced teachers.

Home away from home

Our centre is a beautiful 120 year old villa, modernised and converted into an amazing Early Learning Centre. We believe that children learn best when they are in a stress-free environment and a place that they feel comfortable and secure. Our setting is warm and nurturing, like an extension of home.

We have three small groups spread out across three separate play spaces, giving each age group plenty of space to explore age-appropriate resources.

We are so lucky to have a huge expansive playground with real grass, natural resources, fresh air and cows as our only neighbours.... giving it a real country feel. Access to the natural world is an important part of our philosophy.

Infants

Infants from 3mths - 2 years are cared for in our Garden Room.

We take inspiration from the RIE philosophy which focuses on respectful education and care. This approach incorporates a deep respect of the baby and encourages infants and adults to trust each other, learn to problem solve, and embrace their ability for self-discovery. We trust the child to be the initiator of exploration. We provide time for uninterrupted play and allow the freedom to explore and interact with other infants. When allowed to unfold in their own way and in their own time, children discover an authentic sense of self which lays the foundation for secure relationships, enduring curiosity and lasting self-confidence. Our environment is full of natural resources and provides challenging age-appropriate equipment to help encourage your baby to develop naturally.

We know how important it is for childrens' wellbeing to be in a centre with small group sizes and so we are very proud of our small group size of maximum of 12 children in our infants space. We have a 1:3 ratio for under 1's and a 1:4 ratio for

1 - 2 years.

Toddlers

Toddlers from 2 - 3 years move through to our main house with huge natural garden.

In this age group we are inspired by Reggio Emilia. The Reggio approach to early childhood education views young children as individuals who are curious about their world and have the powerful potential to learn from all that surrounds them. Educational, psychological, and sociological influences are important factors to consider in understanding children and working to stimulate learning in appropriate ways. Teachers employ strategies such as offering children a wide variety of educational opportunities that encourage self-expression, communication, logical thinking, and problem-solving.

For our toddlers, we have a focus on loose parts to stimulate creativity and problem solving. Nature inspires a lot of our play and our toys are mostly made of open-ended natural materials.

Young children

The Cottage is the home for our young children aged from 3.5 - 6 years old. In the Cottage we believe in respect for the young child as active participants in their learning. Here, we continue to offer ample opportunities for self directed free play, scaffolded and supported with provocations and experiences from our teaching team. Children are empowered to solve problems, seek challenge and consolidate and refine ideas and skills.

We encourage self-help and social skills, extending emotional intelligence and supporting relationships. School readiness is intertwined in daily routines and experiences ensuring children leave the Homestead confident and engaged learners, ready to take the next step in their learning journey to school or kura.