Kia ora! Hello!

My Name is Annie, and I am the owner and Centre Director of Wellsford Preschool Education Centre. My partner, Steve and I emigrated to New Zealand from the Isle of Man in 1997. My heritage is English and Welsh, while Steve’s is Manx, English and Australian. We have our 3 kiwis, Claudia, Travis, Jack, and we live in Stanmore Bay on the Whangaparaoa peninsula along with our cat and dog. My hobbies include playing tennis, walking, watching sports and camping.

Having started work in the early childhood profession in 2000. I worked and studied through Kindercare learning Centre, this gave me a good foundation to start my learning journey into early childhood. After working for 9 years, it was time to embark on a new journey of owning a preschool. We took ownership of Wellsford Preschool in 2009. During this period, we rented premises on the main road in Wellsford, and eventually we decided to build our own preschool and found the perfect spot on Centennial Park Road, Wellsford.

The centre is a purpose-built early childcare facility and was opened in 2015. The new preschool is set in a rural area of town, an environment that is spacious, peaceful and surrounded by fields, nature and bush which looks out over our special pirate island and pond,

A perfect setting for our children to grow and learn.

I feel each child is unique and as a teacher I am here to nurture, guide, support and extend their strengths and interests as they learn to discover, explore and investigate through their natural daily activity of play. Introducing new opportunities and experiences to children will also support learning about the wider community and wider world we live in. Cherishing these childhood milestones and memories are important values of our centre which then can be shared with their families/whānau for now and the future.

The early years are a crucial time in a child’s life to lay down the foundations for future growth and development. Ensuring a safe, fun and caring environment as well as building trusting relationships with our children and whānau is vital to support learning and growth.

Wellsford Preschool is also a unique and special place, where we provide an environment and teaching team that will love, care for, nurture your child’s uniqueness and work in partnership with parents and whānau to achieve the best education and care.

I look forward to meeting you and being a part of your families learning journey here at Wellsford Preschool.

ngā mihi

Annie