The Farmyard has been built upon our values. Our values shape everything that we do, giving us the opportunity to develop and grow our curriculum. These core values have been chosen to allow us to convey at glance how we can best support our children’s wellbeing as we work towards the healthiest of lifestyles.
These values flow from and throughout everything we do.
We believe in the role that we play in the development of thoughtful and responsible citizens, allowing us to protect and strengthen community values.
Daily experiences form the basis of our learning, and the importance of respect is woven through everything that we do. From shared mealtimes that are enjoyed in unhurried time; through to the care and patience with which children and teachers grow and harvest crops. From raising orphaned animals with aroha; through to learning tikanga, and knowing how to use their manners.
We do everything from a position of trust, to support a position of trust, and to grow trust. Our focus is on creating a safe environment within which our children feel comfortable learning and exploring.
Children need to be trusted, it is empowering and provides them with a greater sense of who they are. Likewise our children should be able to trust us completely in every sense. From this context, we develop and explore our relationship with nature to educate the whole child, allowing children to develop feelings of responsibility across all experiences.
Nature is an important element in an authentic curriculum, allowing each child to embrace a sense of life.
Our home farm allows us to nurture and explore with each child as an individual. We embrace a bio-dynamic approach to farming, recognising the flow of the day and of time across the seasons and its impact on both nature and our learning.
Our land makes the experience authentic, as children experience the life cycles that bring their learning together. Shearing the sheep to make wool; gathering forest wood to fuel our log burner; planting and harvesting vegetables and enjoying the flavour of the foods that they have grown.
The Farmyard is an environment that allows our children to embrace sustainability as a way of life. We are focused on caring for our inside and outside environments in a way that protects them and sustains them for today and for tomorrow.
Our children learn through direct experiences and understand the importance of sustainability in a social, economic and environmental sense. Recycling; a recognition of the value of our natural resources; energy and water conservation; biodiversity; and a commitment to zero waste, are all part of the flow of our day. This builds a relationship with the natural world that is based on respect and a recognition of our individual and collective responsibility.
The Farmyard is an environment where communication is encouraged. We are committed to a collaborative leadership approach that allows our teaching team to share their passion and bring to life their own interpretation of our values in daily life and practise.
The Farmyard is our contribution to the protection of freedom in early childhood. Our children and community are nurtured and fulfilled in a sustaining and authentic environment. Our respectful, trusting and passionate teaching team is committed to making The Farmyard a special place where every child has the opportunity to grow.
The Farmyard offers a rural discovery-based sustainable early learning environment, which is inspired by Waldorf/Steiner education.
Our educational goals aim to provide a well-balanced programme of learning and development through participatory hands-on experiences which encourage resilience, and guide investigation to motivate a love of lifelong learning.