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Three Little Birds Tikipunga opened
three years ago with our Mill Road Centre
following two years later. Since then we
have been striving to be an Early Childhood
Service that provided a setting that not only
overcame barriers for tamariki attending
ECE, authentic to the bi-cultural intent of
Te Whāriki, but more importantly engaged
with whānau in such a way that they were
empowered and able to collaborate and be
invested in their tamariki learning.
The vision of Three Little Birds however
started a long time prior to this, with a
dream by Wiwini Hakaraia (Owner), Elysa
(Manager) and Marc Thomson who wanted
to make a real difference in Te Tai Tokerau.
Wiwini envisioned an ECE service that
was inclusive and accessible to the wider
Whangarei community but more importantly
to those who for a variety of reasons were
not engaging in Early Childhood Education.
Te Tai Tokerau was the preference for a
variety of reasons with Wiwini having
whakapapa in the north and Elysa and Marc
having whānau in Whangarei it seemed the
obvious choice.
We believed all tamariki should be able to
engage in quality education so spent time
researching the barriers to why tamariki
were not participating. Research from the
Ministry of Education (2007) stated some of
the barriers were transportation, fees and
kai. Three Little Birds view was that although
we are a private childcare centre we believed
we could overcome these barriers within our
funding and offer whānau a real choice here
in Whangarei.
With the focus from the Ministry of
THREE LITTLE BIRDS
CHILDCARE
SUPPORTING WHĀNAU IN WHANGAREI
BY ELYSA SCHUSTER AND SIMONE BELTON
Education on raising educational
outcomes for Māori and Pacifica tamariki
and the statistics telling us that it was
primarily Māori tamariki that were not
participating within the Whangarei region
we concentrated on creating an authentic
bi-cultural setting. Right from the start with
our philosophy being underpinned by Te
Ao Māori we connected with whānau within
our community. This was important to our
kaupapa as tamariki who see their whānau
working in collaboration with their Kaiako
“gain a sense of continuity and of being
cared for” and experience a “trusting and
secure environment in which they can learn
and grow” (Whalley & the Pen Green Centre
Team, 2001, p. 95). We also could see
the value that came from whānau actively
participating in an ECE service. These
benefits include enhanced social support,
and parent learning and development
(Mitchell, Royal Tangaere, Mara, & Wylie,
2006).
As the dream started to take shape with the
purchase of our first house, renovations in
full swing, we began to build relationships
and venture into our wider community.
Kanohi ki te kanohi (face to face) was
the obvious choice while connecting with
tamariki and their whānau. Therefore
prior to opening both our centres we meet
whānau in their home a few times, getting
to know the tamariki and starting to form
reciprocal relationships and a sense of
belonging to our Three Little Birds whānau.
Tikipunga opened with 67 tamariki and Mill
Road opened with 85 tamariki all enrolled
before license was granted and doors
were even opened. The majority of these
tamariki had not been participating in Early
Childhood Education prior to coming to
Three Little Birds. By offering a free van
service, the centres providing all kai at no
cost and affordable fees our pre-enrolment
numbers confirmed for us that we were on
the right track in overcoming the barriers.
Underpinning this was our commitment that
whānau will have meaningful connections
with our Kaiako and management. Our
enrolment data also had both centres where
whānau identified as Māori at over 90%
reemphasising our philosophical intent of
being underpinned by Te Ao Māori.
Throughout our journey
whakawhānaungatanga and manaakitanga
has underpinned all we do and this has been
the back bone to building relationships with
whānau. Whānau rapidly recognised that we
were respectful, authentic and committed
to the principals of Te Tiriti o Waitangi.
Tamariki have Kaiako that value diversity,
are committed to the bi-cultural intent of Te
Whāriki and that genuinely love and care
for them. Though our original dream was
focused on areas of high need within our
community it is our belief that because
December 2017
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