At CKC, loving, reciprocal and nurturing relationships are at the core of our philosophy and curriculum. These relationships are built up of trust, secure attachments, respect, warmth, care and are individualised for our tamariki, whanau, kaiako and community. 

As a community we are committed to celebrating and supporting the cultural diversity of tamariki, whanau and kaiako. We focus on the kaiako role in this, kaiako learning and kaiako intentions. We work to utilise Te Whariki to achieve our overarching goal that children will be competent and confident learners and communicators, healthy in mind, body and spirit, secure in their sense of belonging and in the knowledge that they make a valued contribution to society. 

CKC is committed to Tangata Whenua and Maori ways of being, doing and knowing. We are committed to our Te Tiriti o Waitangi partnership that is weaved through our curriculum.  CKC is working to deepen our understanding and how we can implement an approach that is aligned with kaupapa Maori theory.

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Kaitiakitanga is Maori theory that CKC is committed to upholding and promoting within our community . We are learning new ways to practice sustainable practices in all aspects of CKC and the curriculum that will teach the tamariki how to care for our planet. Kaiako empower tamariki to take on their role as kaitiaki of Aotearoa and papatuanuku.

Our environment which includes interpersonal, physical and temporal is created with beauty and is aesthetically pleasing. We strive to have our environment as homely as we can and work to ensure it is set up to both invite, inspire and empower our tamariki and kaiako. Within the environment we also encourage tamariki to assess safe risk taking where failure and success are both valued and the learning that happens subsequently is understood and cherished. 

We want the tamariki to have a strong connection with nature and our community. We want the tamariki to develop their naturalistic intelligence and eco literacy skills. 

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We believe that play underpins our curriculum and this is how tamariki learn. Play needs to be child led and directed by the child. Our resources to support this are open ended, in tune with nature and sustainable. This allows imaginative and creative play that encourages children to fully engage play patterns and urges which are genetically encoded. We know that imaginative play is what grows the brain. We also believe that children’s movement needs to unfold naturally which means that children aren’t put in a position they can’t get into or out of themselves. 

A key aspect of our philosophy is the well-being of tamariki, kaiako and our whanau. We strive for the tamariki to build on their emotional intelligence, understanding, expressing and trusting themselves and their feelings. We believe that children need to be emotionally satisfied before their brain is in a state to learn. Through participating in our rituals and routines of the day tamariki are able to reconnect and refuel emotionally to enable them to be in a state to play and learn. 

We want our community to build their confidence through a fun, peaceful and positive environment where they can communicate their needs. Through this it will allow kaiako to challenge ourselves and our thinking. We want tamariki, kaiako and whanau to connect, give, be active, take notice and to keep learning in our environment.