To us, whanau is everything.  We are passionate about creating Early Childhood Centres that reflect the family values that were instilled upon us as we grew up in rural New Zealand.

We have spent the past 11 years working to create Centres in Christchurch that are full of love, laughter and learning.

The Wilderness has come about through a desire to be able to provide children with more opportunities to play in nature; to learn about, to enjoy and to give back to this beautiful land of ours.

As owners, every decision we make comes from the heart. Our aim is to provide beautiful spaces that are full of happy, nurtured and challenged tamariki.  

Equally, we truly care about our team. We believe in a culture of gratitude and appreciation, and in valuing and celebrating our Kaiako (teachers), as well as tamariki, for their individual differences.

With three children ourselves, we know that choosing an Early Childhood Centre and trusting your precious little ones in someone else’s care is hard.  We aim to make this decision as easy as possible.  We want to take away any fear and to replace it with a feeling of security and excitement!

At The Wilderness, we want every parent to feel like you are leaving your children with whanau.

We hope that you will enjoy the experience from the moment you walk in our doors.  Come in and discover the difference.

Luke and Sarah Dixon

Owners

We are always keeping an eye out for amazing people to join us (even if we are not currently advertising).

If you think The Wilderness might be the place for you, please send your CV to manager@thewilderness.co.nz to find out about any current or potential job opportunities.  We welcome expressions of interest from part-time and full-time teachers (both qualified and unqualified), as well as teachers-in-training, and casual relief teachers.

+ Amazing child:teacher ratios
+ Wonderful, supportive management team
+ Full Pay Parity pay rates
+ Beautiful purpose-built working environment with high quality resources
+ Generous non-contact time
+ Room budgets for purchasing additional resources
+ Mentoring programme for beginning teachers
+ Individual Professional development budgets
+ Paid registration and first aid certification
+ Paid staff meetings
+ Staff shouts
+ Great social events
+ Well-being focus + events
+ Birthday + Christmas gifts
+ EAP – providing personal mental health and well-being support