Finding childcare in Auckland - our experience

[Oregonkiwi]

We've just been through the process of finding child care for our 3 yr old. The topic comes up here now and then so I thought I'd share our experiences.

We wanted somewhere close to where we currently live or where I work, with a preference for close to my office since we're not sure where we'll be living in the future, or where Nik will be working. We were looking for private day care centres. The public kindergartens around here have very long waiting lists and only offer part day sessions. We considered in-home care (eg Barnardos) but felt that our boisterous boy would be happier in a larger facility.

I went through the Yellow Pages and the internet and made a list of possible centres, then Nik started calling around. Some places didn't return his calls, or didn't take over-2 yr olds, so they were crossed off. Other places had waiting lists ranging from 'maybe a couple of months' to 'very very long'. But then we found a centre close to my office with several immediate vacancies. (Other centres in the same franchise were full but this one is tucked back in a side street so no-one knows it's there.) Nik visited a few centres, we thought about it a bit, I went in to visit the one we chose, and we enrolled Peter yesterday, to start in a few weeks. All in all, much easier than we expected. (Of course, I might not feel it was so easy after I've dropped my 'baby' off for the first time...)

We'll be paying $231 per week for full time care. Prices we were given at other centres ranged from $245 to $335 per week. This is for central Auckland.

Here's some links:

What to look for in a day care centre:
http://www.childcareonline.co.nz/cms/index.php?Page=370

ERO reports for ECE centres:
http://www.ero.govt.nz/ERO/Reppub.ns...0&Expand=17#17

And here's info about 20 Hours Free, although good luck finding a participating centre
http://www.teamup.co.nz/earlyyears/a...ee/default.htm

This site and the childcareonline link above have childcare directories, but I found the phone book more useful:
http://www.nzchildcare.co.nz/auckland.htm

[MB]

Great post, Oregonkiwi. Hope your child is doing splendidly.
Just to add another experience: when we knew we were going to move to Auckland I 'phoned a public kindy in central Auckland. Within moments they gave me an almost immediate date when our lad could start there, although I need to be very clear that we were only looking for three p.m. sessions per week. Even so, they were very helpful and we arranged a lovely hour's visit a week or so before he was due to start, so that he could see what it was like.
And they have already approached us more than once with dates when he could be slotted into five a.m. sessions per week. Those dates, too, have been very reasonable - not much of a wait, if any.

Our son finished at his countryside kindy on the Monday, and started at the city one on the Tuesday. The transition was just fine.

My main point here is that, depending on your situation and timing, things can work well even in the heart of Auckland.

[nippa&pippa]

Our son finished at his countryside kindy on the Monday, and started at the city one on the Tuesday. The transition was just fine.

And my son have finished city kindy last week and just starting new countryside kindy today!!!
I have already notice the difference between city and countryside kindys. Same partnership of "Kidsfirst", but they operate different between them...My heart is at moment is toward new kindy that i am impress the most as they are very allergy awares, so i can relax as they know what to do with allergy reactions etc and have already ban milk, egg and nuts at kindy for children's lunch packs, I heard some parents find it OTT but a child's life at risk.