Humble Beginning
Mangere Bridge being the locality by design, Montessori philosophy for education, her love for and dedication to children and her own inspiration, Mrs. Heather Joan Lal was instrumental in the establishment of Airport Oaks Montessori Preschool.
Licensed
The centre is licensed to enroll 29 children per session.
Capacity
The centre is licensed to enroll children from 2 years and up.
Centre Philosophy
This is a private preschool and as such the Centre has been established to offer quality care and education in the community. The Centre considers care, safety and education to be paramount.
The Centre plans activities using two curriculum documents, The New Zealand Te Whariki Early childhood Curriculum and Dr Maria Montessori’s philosophy for children’s growth and development, in partnership with children, their families/whanau and teachers.
We believe in providing structure and order in the way things are done. This is in accordance with the belief that we all have to live in communities that require certain protocols to be observed.
The Centre also believes in giving young minds the opportunity to express their independence, empower them to seek out challenges and generally enjoy being preschoolers.
New Zealand bi-cultural and multi-cultural beliefs and values will be respected, by helping children and adults to understand, that differences can be part of holistic development and that each family is representative of our community, and society, and that this is of importance to us.
Airport Oaks Montessori preschool’s objective is to be good employers and employ appropriate staff to ensure children’s wellbeing and give all who are involved in the centre community, a sense of belonging to a vibrant early childhood centre.
Locality
The Centre is strategically located in South Auckland to serve the community and several other surrounding suburbs and afar. The suburb proudly boasts of having two major national and international airports. Another legacy of the rapid expansion of the airports, in the last 15 years or so, is the development of commerce and industry in the area. The area continues to enjoy far-reaching changes in not only commerce and industry, but with equal gusto, the development in hotels and motels to cater for the increasing demands placed by tourism in greater Auckland for accommodation. The new industrial and commercial estate being developed is a sure sign of increased activity in the economy. As a result of all these, people commute to Mangere airports and the commerce and industry in the area from all parts of the greater Auckland and from across the bridge, in the North.
Airport Oaks Montessori Preschool has been located to fill just that need of parents who live in the surrounding suburbs, those who go out of the area to work and those who commute to South Auckland for work.
Quality of care offered and the standard of education planned are second to none.