About us 
Our Cottage
Our Story
Our Team
Our Principles
Our Philosophy
Our Story
‘The Blue Cottage is so much more than a childcare centre. A safe home away from home is not a catch phrase for us, it’s who we are and we create this community through meaningful relationships and open and honest communications. We’re small and genuinely family owned and operated which makes us adaptable to individuals needs.
I have 3 children and know the stress that mornings bring trying to organise everyone. Just when you think you are ready to walk out of the door (and yippee you’re only 5 minutes late this morning!), you turn around and one’s just remembered it’s swimming today, one’s wet themselves and the other one is suddenly naked! It was so important to me that we help families as much as possible to make those mornings as stress free as we can.
The team is super important to me. Without happy motivated teachers, it doesn’t matter what qualifications they have, they can’t do their job properly. That is why we have more teachers than we need and we invest in their continued learning. A team who actually want to come to work will consistently give their very best to your children in their care.
Everything else that we provide is really the icing on the cake. Don’t get me wrong, the icing is super important too, but ultimately children arrive at The Blue Cottage with relaxed families and enter an environment where the teachers are happy and eager to get on with the most important thing of all, playing. Children know how to play, how to learn, how to explore the world around them. They don’t need telling, they just need the right environment and the right people to guide them.
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Everything else that we provide is really the icing on the cake. Don’t get me wrong, the icing is super important too, but ultimately children arrive at The Blue Cottage with relaxed families and enter an environment where the teachers are happy and eager to get on with the most important thing of all, playing. Children know how to play, how to learn, how to explore the world around them. They don’t need telling, they just need the right environment and the right people to guide them.
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Meet the Team
Our Principles
These philosophy principles are underpinned by our commitment to Te Whāriki – Te Ara Whanui (the early years curriculum) and Te Tiriti o Waitangi (the Treaty of Waitangi) principles of partnership, protection and participation.
Home from Home
Safe and loving. Everyone is welcome at The Blue Cottage
Realationships
Working in partnership with whānau. Open & honest relationships are at the heart of everything we do
Children as Capable
Build children’s mana & self-confidence by giving things a go, taking risks and making mistakes
Strength Based
Focusing on the positives, we reflect and improve. We build wings and fly
Adaptable
Small and family owned & operated, we are better able to meet your unique needs
Our Philosophy
Safe home away from home
This is not just a slogan for The Blue Cottage. We truly live by this statement and uses it to underpin our decisions. The Blue Cottage is a home, where we offer a safe, warm and cosy environment and all are welcomed to join in. The children are cared for in a loving and nurturing way and are happy to be here because they know the Cottage is filled with genuine love.
The Blue Cottage provides a safe environment for children and whānau both physically (with higher ratios for example) and equally important, emotionally. Children and whānau know they are supported here and are an important member of The Blue Cottage community.
Relationships (tamariki, whānau, team, owners)
Watch us shine!
Relationships are the key and the core of everything we do at The Blue Cottage. Whānau are respected as the child’s first teachers. When we welcome a child, we welcome the whole whānau to foster close relationships. We nurture and grow these relationships giving them time and space to develop deep trust and understanding.
We pride ourselves on our respectful practice and the love and care we give to the whole Blue Cottage community. We do this through open, honest, effective and reciprocal communication; by working together and by supporting each other.
You are always welcome at The Blue Cottage.
Children as capable, independent individuals
At The Blue Cottage, we believe in building children’s mana and self-confidence. We see children as capable beings and encourage them to give things a go, take safe risks and challenge themselves. Through this, the children learn responsibility, independence and how to care for themselves, others and their environment. We support and encourage but we do not do for children, what they are capable of doing for themselves.
Strength based team - Reflective & Solution based
The team at The Blue Cottage are forever learners. We believe in growing wings. We are constantly reflecting on our practices, actions and decisions and adapting and improving them.
We work together to identify and solve problems or areas we can improve. We are not afraid to change or try new ways of doing things.
Go the extra mile – Adaptable
At The Blue Cottage, we understand that everyone is an individual with individual needs and as an independent family owned and operated centre, we are better able to meet these needs. It allows us to be more flexible and accommodating. We offer support in any way we can and enjoy sharing celebrations too.
Te Whariki & multiculturalism
This is the Early Childhood Curriculum and we are passionate about the ways we can implement it, to further children’s learning. It is woven into everything we do from our documentations and daily routines, rituals and practices to the way we evaluate what we do.
Multiculturalism is also woven through the daily Blue Cottage curriculum. We are proud of our tikanga practices, waiata and use of Te Reo Maori and take an authentic interest in our whānau, their cultures and the knowledge and experiences they bring.