Small-group early childhood education in Napier, fostering community engagement and strong family connections
Having trained and worked in business and teaching for several years, Delwyn McKennie decided there must be a better way of delivering childcare. Instead of the corporate setup, Delwyn envisaged a childcare service that offered greater community engagement, compassion and connection, promoting better outcomes for children and families, a higher level of service, greater autonomy for teachers and a better overall culture and environment.
That started with home-based care which eventually developed into King Street Kids. In 2023 Delwyn took the opportunity to buy two local centres. Rebranding them as Greendale Kids Preschool and Nursery she turned them from corporate-run centres to more family-orientated services.
Today, all three services are thriving, offering high-quality early childhood education to families from across Napier and Hastings. Get in touch to enrol your child in one of our childcare services. We offer 20 Hours ECE and WINZ subsidies for eligible families.
Our kaiako (teachers) are dedicated and focused on your child's development
Our kaiako are wonderful people who have training and experience in the ECE sector.
We choose to exceed minimum standards for ECE services including having 100% qualified teachers and ensuring all our staff are first aid trained. We also have more teachers than the minimum ratio requirements.
We value professional development and seek to keep our teachers engaged and happy.
Our philosophy and curriculum
At Greendale Kids and King Street Kids, our teachers are committed to providing a rich curriculum and an engaging physical environment that provides children with opportunities to learn physically, socially and emotionally.
Connection, communication and contribution are our priorities and we work proactively alongside the children, whānau and community support networks. We do this by recognising and responding holistically to the needs of each child’s Taha Whānau (Family Well-being), Taha Tinana (Physical Health), Taha Hinengaro (Mental Health) and Taha Wairua (Spiritual Health). Only then can we create a path to success and achievement.
We follow the national early learning curriculum - Te Whāriki, which provides a framework of principles and strands. The principles are the foundations of curriculum decision-making and a guide for every aspect of pedagogy and practice. The strands are 5 areas of learning and development, where the focus is on supporting children to develop the capabilities they need as confident and competent learners.
Each setting takes these principles and strands and, in partnership with parents and whānau, uses them to ‘weave’ a curriculum whāriki that is specifically designed for their children.
Connections with nature and our local community
We give our children many opportunities to connect with nature and the outdoors, whether it's playing in our outdoor areas or going on a local walk.
We also encourage sustainable habits, encouraging the children to reduce, reuse and recycle. Using Storypark for some of our portfolio work reduces the amount of paper we use and we send our food scraps to a local pig farm. We also use local suppliers and businesses wherever possible.
Greendale Kids is also well connected to our local community. We proudly sponsor the AIMS Games, Australasia’s largest junior sporting event, promoting diversity and social interaction among young athletes. We also support local and national causes and celebrate World Down Syndrome Day with our "Lots of Socks" campaign, fostering inclusivity and awareness.
We love seeing the children learn to care for their centre, their community, and the great big world we live in.
Full preschool care
Across our three sites we offer full preschool education from birth to 6 years old.
Smaller group care
We keep our rolls smaller so that we can provide a more intimate setting for our children.