Pre-schools in Wellington

[Fulhair]

Our family will be moving to Wellington in May of this year. We stayed centrally in Te Aro last time about 6 years ago without children.
We are now a family of 4 and will now be bringing our young children (2 and 3 year old) so getting the children into the right enviroment and schools is the prioirty.
We've no familly/friends around Wellington so flexible as to where we end up but would like somewhere with a reasonable commute to the city and not insanely expensive.
Can anyone recommend where we should be looking and how to tell if the pre-school are any good (and associated with any good schools for them to move up to)?
Also you you recommend reaching out/contacting to the schools before arriving to get on a waiting list or registration?
Many Thanks

[Miss_Austen]

I don't know anything about preschools in Wellington but a rough guide is to check the decile rating of the local school. You can do that on this website and also check out it's recruitment zones. http://nzschools.tki.org.nz

The higher the decile rating the higher the average income of the parents of the kids at the school and generally you'll find higher prices for housing within the recruitment zone. Bear in mind though that the higher the decile rating the higher the contributions the parents are expected to make.

[Anne Goulding]

There is a variety of preschool childcare options in NZ - this website gives you more info:

http://www.minedu.govt.nz/Parents/Ea...CEService.aspx

The teacher-lead choices are kindergartens & early childhood education centres. The kindergartens are a bit more formal, I think, and tend to focus more on preparation for school while the early childhood education centres focus more on play although they all have to follow the early childhood curriculum - Te Whariki.

The parent-led choices are things like playcentres and I must admit I don't know a lot about those.

Our daughter is 3 and at an early childhood education centre in Karori where we live. Karori is the kind of suburb I'd say you should be looking at - 15 mins or so into the city, good bus routes, plenty of facilities in the suburb itself. It is not cheap, though, either to rent or buy. Karori is the only place we've lived in since moving here a year or so ago and we love but I can't really comment on others - if you search through the threads, you'll find earlier discussions of good places to live in Wellington.

We contacted the school before we moved and my two boys were accepted. When we arrived, I then just had to take along evidence (visas, passports etc.) for their records. I would say it's a good idea to contact them beforehand. I also secured a place at an early childhood education centre for my daughter before we came, actually not the one she is at now, but, again, you can arrange a lot through email etc.

Hope this helps.

[Anne Goulding]

Here's a reasonably recent thread on moving to Welly

http://www.enz.org/forum/showthread.php?t=41756&page=3

[tasty24]

In my view, the most child/family-friendly areas of Wellington are:
Karori (but "city-end" -- the other end can get very cold and be a long commute); great schools here too (medium to high cost area to live in)
Island Bay (good schools, medium expensive)
Ngaio (good schools; medium expensive)
Wadestown (great schools, slightly more expensive)
Johnsonville (good schools, more affordable)
Tawa (more religious area, affordable, adequate schools - you can get a good education here, but need to pay attention ie know your children's teachers, curriculum, etc)
Khandallah (great schools, slightly more expensive)

Pre-schools are reviewed every few years by the Education Review Office; summary reports are posted online and can tell you a lot about a centre. Several for-profit chains have opened new childcare centres in Wellington recently. They are affordable and do not have waitlists (yet), but quality of care can be uneven, because they sometimes control costs having a lot of less-qualified carers and the minimum amount of supervision for the children that is allowed by law. There are some excellent well-established childcare centres in the city, if you want to have your kids near your work rather than near your home. I have my toddler in an excellent centre in the building next to the one in which I work. I can get there in minutes if she falls ill. If you find one you think sounds right for you, it's worth contacting them to get them on the waitlist; with a bit of notice, they'll be able to accommodate you, but it's harder if you show up wanting care instantly.

Best wishes with your move

[Miss_Austen]

I pretty much agree with what Tasty has said but don't rule out the far end of Karori, my kids are loving Karori West. We do have some weird weather. Our place is warm but there are few areas that will never see sunshine. It takes 40 mins bus or bike to CBD or 10-15 by car. Karori property gets cheaper once you've gone past the mall.

[Georgebulldog]

We are in Churton Park & has two good year 1-6 schools, the newer school is just starting to look at becoming a yr 1-8, it has Little School as a pre school or there is the local kindergarten which my 2 went to. From yr 6 they have the choice between 2 intermediate & then 2 colleges, all have a good name & heard good things about them, the 2 intermediates & colleges would be the same if you were to live around Johnsonville too which is a bit cheaper for housing, it's got a bit crazy with the new builds going up here & the prices they are asking & achieving. Great community though & changed lots in the 6 years we have been here, all for the better, just a 10 minute drive to Wellington CBD off peak maybe 20 peak time depending on which part of town your going to. Handy for shops in all directions & popping up the coast (Kapiti) to get the better weather in the summer