Yendarra Kindergarten

Welcome to Yendarra Kindergarten, located in the heart of Auckland on Crown Crescent. Our establishment is not just a school, but a point of interest for families seeking a warm and welcoming atmosphere for their children. At Yendarra Kindergarten, we embrace all children and families as part of our kindy whānau.

We are proud of who we are and believe that each child is a unique taonga, with individual strengths and learning needs. Our goal is to create an environment where all children can express, value, and embrace their own cultures and backgrounds. We deeply respect our rich cultural diversity and incorporate this into our learning programme.

At Yendarra Kindergarten, we value meaningful collaborative partnerships with our whānau/parents. We welcome and encourage families to become actively involved in our kindergarten programme. We believe that strong whānau involvement is essential for a child's holistic development.

Respect and role modelling are key values at our kindergarten. We foster open relationships and conversations between peers, teachers, and other adults, which greatly support children's learning. Our environment promotes manaakitanga (respect) as a core principle. We encourage our tamariki to awhi (embrace) and tautoko (support) each other through positive role modelling. We also teach and embrace Maori values such as tuakana teina (supporting older/more confident children to help younger/less confident children) and ako (learning from each other).

Learning through play is at the heart of the Yendarra Kindergarten experience. Our engaging resources encourage our tamariki to explore and discover. Our learning programme is based on the Early Childhood curriculum Te Whariki and provides experiences and activities that develop skills, knowledge, and positive attitudes that our children will carry through life. Our dedicated teaching team responds to children's interests and extends on them to build further connections in their learning.

We are fortunate to have spacious indoor and outdoor areas that are fully utilized by our whānau, tamariki, and teachers. Our generous outdoor environment allows our tamariki to grow, develop their tinana (body), and wairua (spirit) while learning from being within its diverse elements, such as Papatuanuku and Tane Mahuta.

At Yendarra Kindergarten, we also provide specialist care through our skilled kaiako. They are trained in implementing the Incredible Years Teacher Programme, which supports young children with self-regulation and their social, emotional, and academic competence. Our teachers maintain close partnerships with parents/whānau, helping them to support their children's learning.

We believe in empowering our tamariki to take ownership of their learning. They work alongside teachers, identify topics they want to learn more about, and use computer tools and resource books to gather in-depth information of interest. Our teachers respect children's capability and independence, listening to them and extending conversations to promote their language development and thinking skills.

Yendarra Kindergarten operates from Monday to Friday, from 8.30 am to 3.30 pm. Our office hours are from 8 am to 4.45 pm, Monday to Friday. We are closed during term breaks and public holidays.

To stay updated on what's happening in our extended network, head over to our AKA blog. We look forward to welcoming you and your child into our Yendarra Kindergarten whānau!