[turtle]

My family are moving to Auckland in December, we will need to be looking for a kindergarten for our 3 YO boy. I know in Melbourne we have to put his name down asap as there is a real shortage of places offering each year. Does Auckland has the same problem? Or is it depend on the suburb you live in?
We like to live close to CBD ie Ponsonby, Herne Bay, Remuera or anywhere close to shops and cafes, are those areas hard ot get into interms of Kindergarten/child care?

Does anyone know also if the Kinder there offer2 half day/week or more?
I know in Melbourne they only offer 2 half a day/week and you end up having to fidn a baby sitter for the rest of the day if you have to work.

[dharder]

We like to live close to CBD ie Ponsonby, Herne Bay, Remuera or anywhere close to shops and cafes, are those areas hard ot get into interms of Kindergarten/child care?

I think it very much depends on the suburb. We have put our girls on the waiting list for the local Kindergarten at the beginning of this year (we will move there in December this year), and they will start in February 2008, they have confirmed that we have places. I think they go by age, so the older the child, the shorter the waiting list. Ours will turn 4 this October, so will be 4 1/4 when they start kindergarten. As far as I know, ours is a few hours in the mornings, but I'm not certain about that.

It may be worth calling around if you have a rough idea of where you want to live. As far as I know, kindergartens don't necessarily go by zones like the schools do, but rather waiting lists.

Our kindergarten is in Glendowie, btw.

Good luck,

Daniela

[turtle]

Thanks Daniela.
That's a good idea.
How did you find out which is a good kinder?

[jubjub]

Early childhood education centres are inspected and you can view their ero report http://www.ero.govt.nz/ero/publishing.nsf/Content/Home+Page

Also their are both public and private kindys here, private is obviously a bit more $$ per session, but they generally have a higher ratio staff to children.

Its a shame you cant visit beforehand, but maybe put your child on a couple of waiting lists, then you can chose when you get here?

[dharder]

How did you find out which is a good kinder?

As Sal says, they are inspected, and the reports are a good indication. They are of course not the be all and end all, but they give you an idea. They make for interesting reading, especially the school ones. Since my main concern in moving to Auckland was the childnren's schooling, I've read a number of them...

In our case, the kindergarten is within the grounds of the primary school our older children will attend, that really was the one reason to put them on the waiting list for that one. Since the school is supposedly very good, though, I just assumed that the kindergarten would be alright as well.

I have also heard people say good things about both school and kindergarten.

Good luck with looking, and I don't think there is anything stopping you from putting your son on as many waiting lists as you like, just to keep your options open.

Daniela