grew up understanding one powerful thing from watching my parents struggle and work up to 100 hour weeks in day and night jobs to make ends meet. That one thing was the power of “HOPE”, as my parents persevered in hard work and sacrifice in the “hopes” that one day my sisters and I could have a better life, more opportunities, and turn dreams into realities. Today, several decades later, we are continuing that vision from our parents, by sharing “MESSAGES OF HOPE” to families throughout our inspirational childcare centres, that all aim to simply “provide children with more amazing experiences and opportunities than we all ever had growing up”. This became our simple vision statement for what would later become the Chrysalis Group of Early Learning Centres. Our vision was more than just a wishful “tick-box” statement – there was a powerful personal drive to achieve this – and we would do it by designing and creating world class, awardwinning, & “never-seen-before” learning environments where we could proudly send our own preschool children to – and did (the ultimate litmus test!). CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE PHYSICAL DESIGN OF THE CENTRE? We are proud to have the courage to reach for our dreams and be the first childcare centre in the world to deliver a fully immersed Gaia (Earth) based approach right across the spectrum from Earth inspired buildings, environments, operations, values, curriculum & outcomes for children. FEATURING: Gaia (Earth) inspired Forest playground: ● Boosting children’s well-being with essential Vitamin 'N' (Nature). ● a genuine Forest Kindy / Bush Kindy / Nature Programme inspired by the Friluftsliv (open air) way of life in Scandinavia. ● 10,000 sqm of NZ native forest to explore and play in each day; ● beautiful and calming forest walkway as whānau drop off and pick up from the carpark; ● shallow streams (with eels and fish) for our teachers and children to discover and explore new life and changing scenes each day;almost every NZ native species of trees is here to see, learn from, play around, and look after; ● mud slide using our harvested rainwater. Gaia (Earth) inspired Bio-phyilic Building: ● We adopted biomimicry techniques to design a building into the shape of a single leaf; ● the building itself soars off the ground on tree hut style supports, like a leaf reaching out to touch the sky or a giant waka emerging out of a sea of green; ● solar cells (i.e. first array is installed - total of 120 photovoltaics to be installed at a later stage to power nearly all of the building's needs - mimicking life-giving photosynthesis functions of a simple leaf); ● rainwater harvesting (i.e. modelling Earth's sustainability principles like a lotus leaf does). This supplies all our nonpotable water for gardening, mudslide, laundry, and bathrooms; ● building foundations deeply rooted like a myriad tree roots growing into the Earth itself; ● heated floors for our babies so they can sense a warmth coming from the Earth; ● Carbon Dioxide (CO2) monitors in our sleep rooms that activate smart ventilation if levels get too high; ● natural ventilation (i.e. a building that breathes on its own, and further enhanced by NZ's first UVC lamp filtered heat pumps; ● children will feel what it's like learning, playing, eating & sleeping inside a leaf (a beautiful memory for a child when he/she becomes the next guardian of our world and everyone/everything in it). IS THE FOREST AREA PART OF THE LICENSED OUTDOOR AREA? Our entire land is 10,000 sqm, and we have a licensed outdoors that is several times bigger than it needs to be, with secure gates that open directly into the forest under an excursion mode. HOW MANY CHILDREN (U2/O2) IS GAIA LICENCED FOR AND HOW MANY TEACHERS WOULD BE THERE AT THAT NUMBER? ● 17 Earth room Babies (1:3 ratio) ● 18 Water room Pre-toddlers (1:4 ratio) ● 45 Air room Toddlers (1:8 ratio) ● 45 Fire room Preschoolers (1:8 ratio) Plus supporting receptionist, operations manager, curriculum/mentoring manager, centre manager and centre director (me). We have started with 100% qualified teachers. WHAT ADDITIONAL SERVICES DOES THE CENTRE PROVIDE? ● All meals (morning tea, nutritious healthy heart lunch, afternoon tea, late snack) ● Own patented and award-winning parent portal called Learning Roots and Shoots® accessible via our website ● “Hope for Gaia” scholarship for 20% of our licensed spaces WHERE DO CHILDREN COME TO GAIA FROM – WHICH PARTS OF AUCKLAND? We were fully booked before we could open, with over 40 paid up deposits based on artist impressions of our concept over three years ago! Our challenge is now in transitioning everyone in from all corners of Auckland such as North West (Kumeu, Massey), West (Titirangi), East (Howick), South (Pokeno, Awhitu). Fortunately, we have interviewed over 110 teachers over the last year, all expressing great passion and interest to share in our vision, and from this demand, we believe our Gaia teaching colleagues are truly the “best of the best” to guide us through this amazing launch. HAVE PARENTS TOLD YOU WHY THEY CHOSE GAIA FOR THEIR CHILDREN OVER EXISTING SERVICES? We continue to receive feedback like this: ● Our “unique forest setting like nothing (they’ve) see before” ● Our “bold new Gaia philosophy” ● Our “long term thinking and vision to prepare the future leaders of our world” ● Our “visible passion in education” during our tours ● Our “excellent ERO track record over the last 10 years” ● Our “commitment to making a difference in the world” (and so they) “want their child to be part of this incredible journey” ● Our “inspirational family background of hardship and hope” which is published on our website September 2022 { 27 }
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