Matakana Village Preschool

The Matakana Village Preschool will reopen later this month with new owner Tania Goddard at the helm.

While this will be good news for parents with children aged from two to six years, it is also a “dream come true” for Tania.

“It’s always been my goal to provide a caring centre where children are encouraged to learn at their own pace and through the activities they find most interesting,” she says.

“No two children are the same and I want the centre to be a place that recognises and nurtures that individuality.”

The opportunity to set up her own early childhood centre presented itself when she and partner Grant noticed the building was empty, after the closure of the previous centre several months earlier.

“It was just too good of an opportunity to miss,” Tania says.

While navigating the bureaucratic realities of opening her business, Tania has also enlisted the help of family to create an environment where her young charges will feel happy, safe and at home.

She has placed a special emphasis on the outdoor play areas, which include fruit trees, a garden and “real grass and mud”.

“I’m trying to include natural surroundings and nature as much as I can as these are the building blocks for imagination and creativity.”

Tania has engaged two experienced ECE teachers including one male teacher who will run a special ‘before school’ programme, in a dedicated space to the side of the main centre.

Tania says she has been heavily influenced by both the Montessori and Reggio Emilia Approach to learning, which she says take a more flexible approach to how children learn and the role of educators as guides.