Richmond’s Early Childcare Providers Who Care

45 Randall St, Richmond, Christchurch 8013

Welcome to Alpha Preschool

Alpha is a stand alone Early Childhood Educational Centre situated in Richmond, Christchurch which started back in 1997.

Alpha is privately owned by a Family Trust and is not associated or affiliated to any multinational organisation or group. 

We are a small Centre who employs 5 fully trained and registered professional teachers and 1 teacher in training.

Alpha Preschool

  • We take infants and children 0 to 6

  • Our team are fully qualified ECE teachers

  • 5 minutes from the Palms Shopping Centre in Shirley

Redeem your
20 ECE hours with
Alpha Preschool

Opening Hours

7.30am to 5.30pm
Monday - Friday

45 Randall St, Richmond, Christchurch 8013

Why choose Alpha?

Unlike a lot of the bigger franchised Centres, we are a small, strongly family focused Centre licensed for only 35 children in an old character home.
Even though we have had extensive renovations since the earthquakes it still retains its family home appearance. In 2014 we also carried out upgrades to our outside areas in both the nursery and preschool.

We have separate nursery and preschool rooms with a separate, dedicated sleep room.
We have six staff, five of whom are fully qualified with either a Diploma or Bachelor of Teaching and one other in training. Our staff are also all trained and have Certificates in First Aid.

- All 3 & 4 year old children are entitled to receive 6 hours per day up to a maximum of 20 hours per week ECE.
- All hours in excess of 6 hours per day/20 hours per week will incur a fee.
- All children 0-3 yrs old will be charged fees.

Our Philosophy

A natural, happy and homely Centre that is part of your community

Philosophy

Values: Aroha/ Whanau/ Home

At Alpha, we strive to work as part of a respectful triadic partnership in learning (children, parent, teacher)

We are committed to our community and engage in open communication and warm interactions to nurture reciprocal relationships in a positive culture.

We aim to provide quality care that meets the needs of each child.

We provide inclusive, nurturing and caring teachers that are well resourced to support the learning in a safe, yet challenging indoor and outdoor environment.

We know that children learn through involvement and engagement in meaningful play and at Alpha, the children come first. With this in mind, teachers respond to children’s interests and engage in projects as the foundation to a fun, holistic learning experience where children can explore, develop theories and practice skills.

Adult supported free play is our approach and children work individually or in small groups to follow their passions and participate in everyday home, life experiences with a calm and settled environment.

We value social confidence, independence and self-help skills and we make the most of spontaneous experiences as opportunities for learning.

We believe children thrive when they have a positive sense of identity, culture and place in the world. This inspires us to acknowledge our bicultural foundations and work in equitable and socially just ways, valuing diversity, acknowledging and accepting difference and celebrating our histories, heritages and hopes.

Testimonials

  • Alpha is the best preschool ever! I was amazed every staff know my name as well as my son's name on the second visit. They always reported to me what my kid was doing when picking him up. Well-communicated, super friendly all staff, and clean environment. Really recommend. We miss them so much!!

    Yuki Taniguchi

  • Alpha preschool has been a wonderful place of learning and adventure for our children. The teachers have gone above and beyond to help the children learn, they focus on strengths and interests and nurture these. Alpha preschool is family and community orientated, it feels very much like an extended family, which can be a rare find in some of the newer models in child care out there currently.

    Margo Martin

  • Excellent day care, right in the heart of the community. The teachers are fantastic, friendly and help our kids so much. They get to do lots of fun activities both indoors and outdoors & are always going off out on excursions to local places. The owners always try to be accommodating with short notice requests to change days/hours etc. Highly recommend.

    Robert Knowles

  • Such a happy and fun centre. I see my son (9months old) continue to thrive and the look on his face when we arrive tells it all. Massive smiles. The staff are very kind, compassionate and gentle they have been by my side and given me so much support since he started at 5months old. I am a solo mother so I am very greatful to have found such a wonderful place for my son while I take a few hours off. Thanks Alpha Whanau

    Emma Phillips

  • A really rare and wonderful preschool centre. Our daughter started at 9 months, and she was wrapped up in so much support and care during her 4 years there. The staff have stayed consistent through her time which provided so much structure and familiarity. All the staff genuinely care about the children and their development and the community that surrounds the centre is diverse and authentic. The centre is well run, clean and engaging and the owners are hands on and attentive to the overall needs of the parents. We could not be more happy with our choice to choose Alpha over the out-of-a-box childcare centres that pop up everywhere.

    Brad Chittock

Keep their growing minds engaged