Ruru House is located just out of the rural village of Lepperton, 15 minute’s drive from New Plymouth, heading north. Ruru House is licenced for 54 children and caters for children aged 0 to 6 years and is opened from 7.30 to 5.15pm. My name is Anna and I am owner, operator and qualified teacher here at Ruru House. You will see me amongst the tamariki and other kaiako. We opened the centre in January 2019. HOW MANY CENTRES DO YOU HAVE? We have just the one (I say one and done!). Ruru is part of our lives, we spend weekends here, live next door, mow the lawns and tend to the gardens. It’s an extension of our home. If we had more than one, we feel we would be spread too thin. WHO IS YOUR COMMUNITY? Due to the rural outlook and that we cater for children under 3, we have families come from all over the New Plymouth area choosing Ruru because of its unique rural outlook. From Urenui to the North and then Inglewood, Egmont Village out to New Plymouth to the South. And this is shown within our transition to schools as the children are transitioning to schools all around the local and extended area. WHAT IS SPECIAL ABOUT YOUR CENTRE? We are fortunate to have the most amazing land surrounding Ruru. My grandfather purchased the land in 1942 and has been cared for by the generations. As a family, we have a strong sense of kaitiakitanga. Our awa, the Waiongana, runs alongside the land and the children can experience its force and wonder. We utilise the land as an excursion space and also the neighbouring fruit orchard. So we have a strong connection to our local surroundings. We recently lost one of our large macrocarpa trees in a storm that was over 150 years old. They are known in the family as being named, Paddy and Milly, after my parents. The Ruru would call from the trees which are located between our home and where Ruru stands. So this is how Ruru House found its name. With the guardianship of the Ruru that lives on the land and the foundation stone that was sourced from the Waiongana, Ruru holds a very special place on the land and in our hearts. WHAT DOES YOUR CENTRE OFFER THAT YOU THINK IS SPECIAL TO YOUR CENTRE? We have tried to make Ruru feel like a home for our community. By offering meals, that are lovingly prepared by our Home Makers. Who also ensure the environment is set with care as the kai ritual is the only moment within the day that we would ask children to come together. Maybe in the same way we are in some homes, we cherish the Home Makers and this aspect of Ruru. We also provide cloth nappies for the children while at Ruru. These are laundered on-site in our purpose-built laundry that has a dedicated washing machine for the nappies. This is part of our waste reduction efforts along with cloth face wipes and hand towels. We have managed to reduce our landfill contribution to the wheelie bin per week and also take advantage of the free recycling bin that the council provides to ECE centres within Taranaki. The other very special aspect of Ruru is our team. We are 100 percent registered with highly qualified and longstanding kaiako along with quality ratios. We love supporting students through their training and having them join our team and recently employed permanently two of our students in training. One teacher in training, Campbell, has been with us since the start of his training and will be qualified in August. And our other amazing teacher in training, Krystal, has been with us since we opened and will be finished at the end of the year. Centre Profile: Ruru House August 2023 { 20 }
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