Ruahine Riverdale Kindergarten, is a place be creative, build your resilience and care for people, places, and things. We value every child and see them as unique and a special taonga. We are inclusive of all tamariki and their whānau, supporting our tamariki to develop a strong learner and cultural identity. We demonstrate manakitanga and work in collaborations with whānau to develop trusting, respectful, reciprocal relationships. Together we will support your child to develop into a capable, confident learner.

We have a welcoming homely environment filled with upcycle, natural furniture, making it a place where tamariki feel at home, building their sense of mana whenua/belonging. We engage in sustainable practices and support our tamariki to learn and engage in becoming kaitiaki of our land.

We uphold the Te Tiriti o Waitangi and Te Whāriki, weaving these throughout our curriculum and environment.

Kotahi te kākano he nui ngā o te rākau A tree comes from one seed but bears many fruit. (Te Whāriki, pg 8 2017)

Ruahine Riverdale Kindergarten is open Monday to Friday, 8.30am - 2.30pm, and closed over the Christmas and New Year break, as well as 13th January, 30th May, 7th – 10th July and 24th October when teachers are engaged in professional development.

Please contact our Head Teacher Jules to arrange a visit – contact details below - or drop in, we would love to see you.

What Our Whānau Say

"Sustainability and connection with nature are a big part of our whanau values. It is fantastic that our tamaiti is able to be involved with sustainability projects at Riverdale Kindergarten. Being in an environment where composting, low waste lunches, exploration in nature, reusing of items and gardening are a focus everyday, is really cementing these values into our child's life and showing that these things extend further than just our home environment."

"The bronze Enviroschools award which Riverdale Kindergarten has just achieved highlights the effort the kindergarten has put into their commitment to sustainability. Being part of the Enviroschools journey alongside the Kindergarten has also helped our whanau to further our own sustainability journey at home."

"Being a part of the Riverdale kindy whanau has enlightened our family’s journey through covid and the beginning of our child’s early years: we have found guidance and passion in the form of engagement with Riverdale kindy enviroschools program. We are actively engaged by our fantastic teachers in early learning towards sustainability both inside and out of kindy.
Through the enviroschools program we feel welcomed and encouraged to participate in the lessons in sustainability. Through composting, working in the school's veggie and fruit garden and student immersion in the enviroschools vision and network means so much to us on all levels: for our children, our whanau unit and as a part of the wider community. We are constantly engaged and supported to take part of sustainability practices we have learned from our toddler in the enviroschools setting. We feel proud and privileged to be a part of the Riverdale kindy enviroschools wider whanau and share our stories and sustainability practices as we learn more and more how to look after our natural environment.  We can’t wait to see what the coming year has for us."

“Riverdale kindergarten has been very supportive to my son and our family as a whole. The environment is positive and our son has grown in so many ways since attending Riverdale. The teachers nurture his growth and support all his ideas and also record the stories for his family to see which is awesome.”

“The teachers at Riverdale Kindergarten are fantastic and the feel to the kindergarten is so inviting and caring”. 

"Riverdale provides a caring/nurturing environment that has enabled our child to grow in confidence, experience new avenues of play, meet new children, develop her language, assisted her interest in technology and art."

Session Times 

Monday - Friday 
8.30am - 2.30pm

Contact Us

Phone: 06 353 0975 

Mobile: 027 353 0123 
Email: riverdale@rka.org.nz