Home About Us Experiences beyond the everyday
Experiences beyond
the everyday
Culture, creativity, nature and the community around each centre.
Culture, creativity,
nature and community
Our wider programmes connect children with culture, creativity, nature and their community.
These experiences are part of the curriculum. They create new contexts in which children can take part, express themselves and extend their learning.
Kapa haka
Kapa haka group
Kapa haka is a Māori tradition handed down across generations. At Magic Garden, our own kapa haka group has been part of the centre since our early days. Suzie Gailer, daughter of our founders Jenni and Allen Jones, was instrumental in its beginnings.
It gives generations of tamariki the chance to connect with Māori heritage, strengthen their understanding of kupu and pronunciation, and take part in something central to who we are.
Tuakana-teina learning unfolds as experienced children lead and perform for younger tamariki, who grow into their place. Our repertoire has grown through the enthusiasm of children, teachers and older siblings.
Kapa haka also plays an important role in pōwhiri for guests and international teachers. Children moving on to school carry this pride and an established kete of knowledge into their next community.
Dance and music
Dance and music
programmes
Dance and music give children powerful ways to communicate, imagine and explore. Our professional dance instructor, Lilliana, leads weekly sessions across our rooms, adapted to children's ages, interests and current learning.
A shared idea can develop over several weeks through storytelling, music, movement and performance, so children revisit it in different forms. Along the way, tamariki build confidence, coordination, rhythm, body and spatial awareness, language and creative expression. They experiment with different characters and ways of moving, learn through repetition and enjoy taking part with others.
These sessions are part of our curriculum: teachers connect them with children's ongoing investigations and bring ideas back into everyday play. The result is a programme that is joyful and engaging, and that contributes to children's physical, social, emotional and creative development.
At Northcross, the Over Three Room has its own outdoor stage, a space for performances, music and storytelling.
Our Magic Garden songs
Our Magic Garden
songs
Music carries memories, strengthens belonging and helps children understand the values of their community.
Our original Magic Garden song is in both Māori and English and was written by Nicki. We gift it during pōwhiri, farewells and other special occasions, and it connects today's children with the many tamariki, families and teachers who came before them.
More recently, children helped create a second song in English about our shared way of being: how we care for ourselves, for one another and for our environment. Children teach it to new tamariki, actions and all.
Our songs are living traditions. Through them children welcome others, contribute their own voices and learn what it means to belong at Magic Garden.
Learning in our community
Excursions into
our community
Children's learning becomes richer when it reaches beyond the centre gate. Excursions connect tamariki with real places, people and responsibilities in their local community.
Children might plant trees at a nearby reserve, visit the local barber, explore a library or get to know a primary school they may one day attend. These experiences give children real chances to ask questions, contribute, practise social confidence and see how their learning connects with the wider world. They also strengthen children's sense of place and belonging: children learn that they are valued participants in their community, not visitors to it.
We plan excursions around children's interests and current investigations, and we welcome families along. Back at Magic Garden, children revisit their experiences through conversation, art, construction, photographs and play, so one outing can inspire many further directions for learning.
