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The main hall at Northcross, with a tall wooden nest structure, skylights and plants around it.

Home Our Centres Northcross & Browns Bay

Northcross & Browns Bay

Our flagship Magic Garden centre

170-174 Carlisle Road Northcross Our rooms three, by age
The lawn at Northcross, with the brick centre building and its covered deck behind it.

About Northcross & Browns Bay

Set on more than three thousand square metres in the heart of Northcross, Northcross & Browns Bay is our flagship centre, and Magic Garden has been part of this community for more than twenty-five years.

Mature trees and generous outdoor spaces surround our spacious, airy centre and give children room to explore, discover, create and play. Each learning environment has its own large outdoor playground, and our Over Three Room also has a dedicated outdoor stage: a space for performances, music, storytelling and bringing our community together.

A recent refurbishment kept the established trees, the generous spaces and the sense of character that have become such an important part of Magic Garden.

The people matter as much as the environment. We have a long-serving team of qualified teachers, many of whom live in the local community, and those connections build strong, lasting relationships between our children, families and teachers and the wider Northcross, Browns Bay and Long Bay communities.

Our relationships with local primary schools let us involve school teachers in our thinking about school readiness, so the move from Magic Garden to school is a positive and well-supported next step.

With excellent teacher-to-child ratios, generous indoor and outdoor spaces and an experienced teaching team, Northcross gives children the space, relationships and opportunities they need to thrive.

Carlisle Road puts us within easy reach of families along Auckland's East Coast Bays, and of parents travelling to and from the Northern Motorway.

Key information

Address170-174 Carlisle Road, Northcross, Auckland 0632

Phone09 479 1240

Email[email protected]

HoursMonday to Friday, 7:30am to 5:30pm

Ages6 months to 6 years

Licensed for150 children, including up to 25 under two

RoomsInfants and Toddlers, Over Two, Over Three See the rooms

ERO reportPublished April 2025 Read the report

Enquire now See our rooms

Our rooms at Northcross & Browns Bay

Northcross has three rooms, one for each stage of your child’s development, each led by a teacher who knows that stage well.

A young child in a yellow t-shirt pours water from a plastic jug into a metal bowl of leaves.

Respectful, unhurried care, with ratios well beyond what is required.

A room with a wooden climbing arch on green mats, low shelves and a kitchen bench along the wall.

Infants and Toddlers

The atmosphere is all important in our infant and toddler rooms. The colour, the sound and the furnishings all create a feeling of tenderness for our youngest children. Relationships matter, building trust and a sense of belonging along with excellent communication.

Teachers spend calm and focused time with each child during individual care routines to build strong bonds. Uninterrupted play with a wide variety of open-ended natural materials and household objects allows children to initiate their own learning, experiment and problem solve while teachers guide and support them.

Teachers watch for how each child's development unfolds in their own unique way. Children are supported to solve their own conflicts, to develop language to express their feelings and make sense of the world around them.

A small-world fire station laid out on a table: wooden firefighter figures in yellow helmets, red toy fire engines, orange cellophane flames and a picture book about a fire engine.

A room built to hold attention, and long stretches in which to give it.

A low curved shelf holding small planted pots, on the wooden floor of a Northcross room.

Over Two

Children, teachers and parents deserve to live in aesthetically pleasing, interesting, and comfortable surroundings. Valuing beauty and respect for people, places and things determines the ‘ways of being’ we role model and foster with children, parents and whānau.

We know children already have plans in mind when they arrive in the centre. So, we use our collective wisdom to design the curriculum and offer resources we know will be attractive and hold the attention of this age group of children. Children's engagement is cherished, so we give them long periods of time in which to choose where to place their attention.

The environment delivers a delicate balance between the edginess and intrigue of new experiences and the stability of familiar favourites. This creates an atmosphere of reassurance, allowing children to get to know a myriad of interesting materials, and then rise to the challenge of using them in increasingly complex ways to communicate ideas, tell stories, imagine and create.

A child in a grey hoodie threads red cord through the holes of a wooden lacing shape.

Thinking deeply, speaking up, and getting ready for what school asks.

A blue play kitchen with utensils hanging from its backboard, set in a half circle of curved wooden shelves holding teapots, tins, baskets and pans.

Over Three

We believe children make sense of current life experiences through their explorations and play. Meaningful, authentic learning experiences are designed and implemented responding to what interests children, current events and seasonal influences. Teachers are keen to make sense of children's play and plan how these explorations could go to a deeper level.

Our environment is carefully organised and embedded with literacy, numeracy, arts and active movement. Teachers encourage children to reflect and revisit their thinking. Carlina Rinaldi, President of Reggio Children from 2007 to 2016, said:

We do not hurry to give them (children) the answers, instead we invite them to think about where the answers might be. The challenge is to listen. It is not the answers that are important. It is the process by which you and the child search together.

Northcross & Browns Bay
at a glance

  • More than 3,000 square metres of space
  • Large outdoor playgrounds
  • Mature established trees
  • Recently refurbished
  • Outdoor performance stage
  • Long-serving qualified teaching team
  • Excellent teacher-to-child ratios
  • Strong relationships with local primary schools

Take a look around

Outside · 15 photos

  • A curved lawn edged by a path, with timber pergolas and the brick centre building behind.
  • The centre building from the car park, with a ramp and railings up to its deck.
  • The Magic Garden sign on the deck railing, in front of the brick building.
  • The covered deck, with small tables and chairs, planter boxes and the playground beyond.
  • The covered deck along the brick building, with picnic tables and potted flowers.
  • A paddling pool full of cushions on the covered deck, beside a bentwood chair.
  • The covered deck with tyres, rocking horses and the playground beyond.
  • A bark playground under mature trees, with a wooden climber and a plank ramp.
  • The sandpit under a pergola, with toy diggers and buckets.
  • The sandpit and a mud kitchen beside a blue shed, under a timber pergola.
  • The covered deck, with a striped tepee, stepping pads, cushions on a red rug and a tray of loose parts on a grey mat.
  • A purple table and chairs set up in the sandpit, with spades and buckets on the sand.
  • The playground lawn, with a balance beam, a cable drum and pergolas along its edge.
  • The paved yard, with a potted plant in front and pergolas under the trees behind.
  • Treetops against a pale sky.

Inside · 14 photos

  • The vaulted hall, with a round table of loose parts at its centre and low shelves around it.
  • A room with a white sofa, low bookshelves and plants under a high white ceiling.
  • A fern in the foreground, with a room of wooden shelves under high windows behind.
  • A green ottoman and a table of play food, with silk curtains in the window behind.
  • A room with a grey sofa, a round grey rug and a kitchen bench along the wall.
  • Cushions and soft toys piled in front of a wooden climbing arch, with plants on a shelf.
  • Bags on hooks along a curved wooden wall, with a green armchair and a train table.
  • A bright room of small tables and chairs, with vases of flowers and shelves of art materials.
  • Low rest beds made up with green blankets and soft toys.
  • White cots in a sleep room, under a window with a blind.
  • A room with paper lanterns hanging from a high ceiling, a round rug, a black table of toy vehicles and low wooden shelves of books.
  • A round grey ottoman beside a low shelf of blocks, where three children play with their backs to the camera, and a tall curved bookcase in front.
  • A curved wooden shelf with carved giraffes and elephants, plants, bowls and wooden puzzles, and two small chairs.
  • Children's hands sorting black stones and pebbles from woven baskets on a lace-covered table, with photographs of stone patterns propped behind.

Up close · 8 photos

  • From above: slates, pots of coloured paint, and red silk with pink roses.
  • Coloured wooden blocks lit from below on a light table.
  • Mirrors and coloured see-through shapes on a light table.
  • From above: a curved wooden table set with glass jars, mirrors and a potted orchid.
  • Toy dinosaurs on driftwood and stacked stones, on a patch of turf.
  • From above: a wooden farm-animal puzzle and tree cookies on a square of turf.
  • Paper stars on a wall, with a pattern projected across them.
  • Autumn leaves projected on a wall beside an easel.

The Over Three Room · 22 photos

  • A cushioned nest of curved wood and fabric on the carpet, with patterned cloths and a small wooden house.
  • Toy dinosaurs among potted plants on a patch of turf, beside a draped blue cloth.
  • Colour mixing: droppers, small bottles and a tray of blue, pink and yellow water.
  • A wooden koru shape with small pounamu-style pieces on a dark mat.
  • From above: a black table set with mats, stones, rings and a clear box of space pieces, with blue chairs around it.
  • Hand drums of different sizes on the carpet.
  • A spiral coiled from clay.
  • A spiral of loose parts on a round woven mat: pine cones, wooden pegs, toy cars and dinosaurs.
  • A wooden koru filled with shells and red flowers.
  • A clay landscape with small clay figures.
  • Coloured acrylic blocks stacked on a light table.
  • Droppers, small bottles and a paint tray on a light table.
  • Wooden rods, rings and stones laid out on a mat, with a child's arm reaching in.
  • A city of magnetic tiles and road pieces on a dark mat.
  • Two wooden koru shapes with flowers and a shell.
  • A pattern of rods and rings on a grey mat.
  • A group painting in greens, yellows and reds on a drop sheet.
  • A child's finger pointing at a pattern of black stones laid on lace.
  • A table set for exploring, with mats, stones, fabric and a space poster.
  • A maze of wooden blocks on the carpet.
  • A cicada shell in an open hand.
  • The room's song written by hand on a whiteboard, starting: Magic Garden is our place, we fill it with aroha.

Finding us

170-174 Carlisle Road
Northcross, Auckland 0632

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Meet some
of our team

  • Andrew and GemmaAndrew and GemmaOwners
  • Adrienne ThomsonAdrienne ThomsonPedagogical Leader
  • Leeann DaviesLeeann DaviesAssistant Centre Manager
  • Grace OberschneiderGrace OberschneiderOver 3s Room Leader
  • Didi ZhengDidi ZhengOver 2s Room Leader
  • Cherie HealyCherie HealyInfants Room Leader
  • Jarren Fuller-KayeJarren Fuller-⁠KayeOperations Lead

Come and see
the magic for
yourself

We would love to show you and your family around Northcross & Browns Bay. Ring us on 09 479 1240, email [email protected], or enquire online and we will find a time that suits.

Enquire now or call 09 479 1240