The day, written out.
This is a Tuesday. Wednesdays the two o’clock block is the forest morning instead, and it runs all year — there is no month we decide it is too cold, because there is a shed full of waterproofs and none of them are yours to buy.
- 07:301 of 11
Doors
Early drop-off opens. Breakfast is out until 8:15 for anybody who wants it, and about a third of the children eat here.
Included in the full day rate. There is no early-drop surcharge.
- 08:302 of 11
Everybody in
The school day starts. Rooms settle, the register goes in, and a staff member is on the door until 9:00 for late arrivals.
- 09:003 of 11
Free play, indoors and out
Both doors open, children choose. Staff are on the floor rather than running an activity — this is the longest single block of the day and it is deliberate.
- 10:154 of 11
Snack, then the yard
Fruit and milk at the table, all four rooms, then everybody outside whatever the weather short of lightning. Waterproofs live here; you do not need to send any.
The block parents ask about most, which is why it is written out.
- 11:155 of 11
Small groups
Twenty minutes in threes and fours — stories, counting, letters for the preschool room, and speech support for the children who have it timetabled.
- 11:456 of 11
Lunch
Cooked in the building by Aggie, who has been here nine years. One menu, no packed lunches, allergies catered without a separate table.
- 12:307 of 11
Sleep or quiet
Toddlers and twos sleep. Threes and fours have forty minutes of quiet — books, cushions, no screens — and are not made to lie down.
Children who have stopped napping are not made to start again.
- 14:008 of 11
Out again
The yard, or a walk to the recreation ground for the preschool room on dry days. Wednesdays this is the forest morning instead, all year.
- 15:009 of 11
School day ends
First pick-up. Anybody staying moves into the two back rooms so the building quietens down rather than emptying in stages.
- 15:3010 of 11
Tea
A proper one — sandwiches, fruit, something warm in winter. Children going home at five have eaten.
- 17:3011 of 11
Doors close
Late collection is $12 for the first fifteen minutes and $12 for each fifteen after, and it goes to the two staff who stayed. It has been charged four times this year.
The same day in four rooms, at four speeds.
The hours above are the building’s. What happens inside them differs by room — the toddlers sleep through the middle of it and the preschool room walks to the recreation ground — but drop-off, snack, lunch and tea are the same times everywhere, which is what makes a family with two children in two rooms workable.
- Acorn
- 18 months to 2 years · staffed 1 to 4
- Hazel
- 2 to 3 years · staffed 1 to 5
- Rowan
- 3 to 4 years · staffed 1 to 8
- Elder
- 4 to 5 years, the pre-K partner year · staffed 1 to 8