The Redwoods country kindergarten is a small kindergarten, catering for young children aged between 3 and 6 years. We are situated at 346 Tukapa street, RD1 in a private, rural setting in Hurdon, New Plymouth. The kindergarten is right on the edge of town nestled by farmland and bordered by the tranquil Waimea stream adjacent to a beautiful stand of Redwood trees. Te Mounga Taranaki proudly stands tall over us. Frankley school is our close neighbour. We are also near Woodleigh, Westown and Marfell schools. The kindergarten is accessible via the driveway on Tukapa street and not visible from the roadside-there is generous parking space at the kindergarten site.
The site and surrounding land is owned by Jan and her whānau who have lived here for 24 years. Jan has been an early childhood teacher for almost 20 years and has long held a vision to open a nature inspired kindergarten. Kindergarten is a Germanic word which means “children’s garden” –a place of wonderment, of marveling, of exploration and discovery. The Redwoods is a garden, a nature space for tamariki to learn and play.
The teaching team are strongly influenced by the principles of the Reggio Emilia philosophy and teach with a strong environmental focus. Jan, Tanya and Trish who have worked together for several years, share this common philosophy and for Jan her “light bulb moment” came after attending the “Natural phenomena conference” in 2013 and then again at a Fiordland nature conference in 2015–this gave her the courage to pursue a “vision for a community to inspire and educate children in a country environment”. She is delighted to be in partnership with Tanya and Trish on this journey. We have been further inspired by and acknowledge the work of Mary Reynolds, the youngest woman to win a gold medal at the Chelsea flower show and who is famous for her wild garden at Kew Botanical gardens in London. Her life has been the inspiration for a film called “Dare to be Wild”.
