The Barnardos Kidstart Childcare in Hastings has won a Prime Minister's Education Excellence award. Photo / Warren Buckland
The Barnardos Kidstart Childcare in Hastings has won a Prime Minister's Education Excellence award. Photo / Warren Buckland
A Hastings childcare centre was nationally recognised last night for its outstanding effort in student engagement.
Barnardos KidStart Childcare won big at the Prime Minister's Education Excellence Awards, picking up the Excellence in Engaging category, or atahapara. The award is given to an educational institution that has worked with communitiesand agencies to transform relationships and involvement in learning.
The awards focus on the work of groups, teams and partnerships in English, Maori, or Pasifika-medium. They highlight the combined effort needed to achieve improvement, equity and planned innovation. Categories for the Awards are engaging, leading, teaching and learning, and governing.
Barnardos KidStart Childcare is 100 per cent committed to engaging children with the beauty of the natural world and all the equipment and resources it provides are made from natural materials. As a result the children develop an appreciation for Papatuanuku (the land) through experiencing the beauty, awe and wonder of earth's taonga.
Minister of Education Hekia Parata said the awards acknowledged people and practices that were delivering a better education to our children and young people.
"They will help raise the bar for the profession by identifying and showcasing quality teaching," Ms Parata said.
St Thomas of Canterbury College won the engagement award last year. The winning entry of each category will receive $20,000 and professional development opportunities. The national awards ceremony was held in Wellington last night.
