City Heights Montessori | Childcare | 254 York Place, Central Dunedin, Dunedin, New Zealand

Welcome to our home!

We are a diverse and dedicated group of people passionate about providing a positive, warm and solid foundation for children to grow, learn and explore the world. We are committed to creating a stimulating and safe environment where children can develop essential life skills and build their confidence and competence.

At City Heights Montessori, our promise is that all tamariki will experience the benefit of quality early childhood education and care. Our programmes and different learning spaces work together to honour the bicultural heritage of Aotearoa while pursuing long lasting learning outcomes for children in alignment with the Principles of Te Whariki and the Montessori Philosophy.

Each child, their family, and their culture will be affirmed and placed at the centre of an individually

designed learning journey where everyone is welcomed and treated with respect, encouragement,

warmth and acceptance.

We follow the Montessori approach to early childhood education, supporting children to unfold their own potential by giving them the freedom to explore. The environment is designed to meet each childs developmental stage and individual learning needs. Children are aided to develop their self-esteem, self-awareness and self-control to become responsible and involved citizens of the world.

Respect for the child and their uniqueness is at the core of everything we do. Respect is shown by not interrupting children’s concentration during their activities and by giving children the freedom to make choices, to do things for themselves and to learn in their way and at their pace. Montessori learning is hands on, individually paced, and customised to the needs, strengths, and interest of each individual child.

The role of the kaiako at City Heights is to guide the learning, to facilitate it. Our kaiako manage classroom behaviours by modelling constant respect for tamariki and their work, by observing individual interests and abilities to plan for new learning experiences and by diverting problem behaviour to meaningful tasks.

Whanaungatanga-Relationships. At City Heights we believe in establishing positive and meaningful relationships with our Kaiako, tamariki, whānau and our community to set a solid foundation for a holistic learning journey where all parties cooperate and benefit.

Matauranga-Education. Education and learning outcomes are at the front of our practice. Children are guided and empowered to grow and develop under Te Whāriki and the Montessori principles.

Motuhaketanga-Independence. We strive to support our tamariki to become independent learners, capable of adapting to a world in continuous change and success in all areas of their life with confidence, courage and respect for themselves, others, and their environment.