Our Curriculum
"Receive the child in Reverence,
Educate the child in Love,
Let each go forth in Freedom"
Rudolf Steiner
Te Tiriti O Waitangi
We recognise that Te Tiriti o Waitangi is the constitutional foundation of our society, that Māori are tangata whenua, and Te Reo Māori and Te Ao Māori are a fundamental and living part of Aotearoa New Zealand.
We recognise that Aotearoa New Zealand is a bi-cultural nation and acknowledge that Te Tiriti o Waitangi underpins our learning environment. We are strongly committed to upholding and honouring the principles of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Our commitment to Te Tiriti O Waitangi is evident in our every day practices, and woven throughout our daily routines, storytelling, waiata, karakia and morning circle verses.
Waldorf Steiner
Steiner Waldorf education was initially conceived by Rudolf Steiner. The intention is to educate the children’s body, soul, and spirit in a gradual and purposeful process of development.
Steiner Waldorf aims to support and enhance the holistic development of each student. The special character curriculum gives equal importance to nurturing the physical, emotional, and intellectual aspects of the child, and aims to bring developmentally aligned learning experiences to the students as they move through their schooling journey.
Our commitment to our philosophy can be seen in the daily and seasonal rhythms, our welcoming and inclusive environment, our play materials and our high ratio of teachers.
We provide rich variety of natural carefully chosen play materials that foster and develop imaginative and creative play.
The teacher’s art of storytelling strengthens the child’s picture thinking and is an important and deeply nourishing part of the daily rhythm. These guide the daily transitions, along with music circle and puppetry.
Most of the tamariki at the Cottage move on to the Raphael House Kindergarten on the year of their 5th birthdays.
On the year of their 7th birthday, tamariki then move on to Raphael House Rudolf Steiner School. Raphael House is a state integrated school in Tirohanga providing Waldorf Steiner education for years 1 to 13.
