Our Kaupapa

Our Vision

To provide unique culturally-based education and childcare products and services for whanau and create connections and relationships within Māori communities living in Australia.

Our Mission

To empower tamariki, rangatahi, whanau and the community with the knowledge and tools to find freedom in the understanding of who they are, a sense of belonging in where they come from and the confidence to care for their hauora from a holistic pespective .

Core Values

At Kura Kāinga Care we are passionate about connecting our tamariki and rangatahi growing up in Australia with their Māori culture, and enhancing their cultural identity.

We have recognised the need for cultural connection and a sense of whanau that some of us may lack living away from our whenua and loved ones back home.

We feel like this is especially important for tamariki born and raised in Australia so that they have a sense of belonging and a knowing of who they are and where they come from.

We have created our unique educational products & resource boxes and our Hire a Whaea babysitting care services to bring Te Ao Māori into the homes and hearts of our people, empowering our whanau to celebrate and embrace our culture.

WHAKAMANA - EMPOWERMENT

Identity - Hauora - Matauranga

  • Empowering tamariki to explore and discover who they are and where they come from

  • Empowering tamariki to walk confidently and make healthy choices for themselves and their whanau

  • Empowering tamariki with the truth & knowledge / matauranga

WHANAU - FAMILY

Community - Connection - Support

  • Providing a cultural home-based child care option for Maori families living in the Gold Coast & Brisbane

  • Building respectful relationships and collaborative connections with whanau for the best outcomes for the tamariki

  • Providing opportunities to connect and contribute to the Māori community

WHENUA - CONNECTION

Acknowledgement to Country - Kaitiakitanga - Whakapapa

  • Acknowledging and respecting the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the spiritual connection they have with this land upon which we live

  • Teaching tamariki to connect to and care for the natural environment through Te Ao Maori perspectives

  • Encouraging our tamariki to make the most of the opportunities we have here to grow, learn and live an abundant and healthy life

Kia ora ,

Ko Ngati Porou me Ngati Kahu oku iwi

Ko Whetumatarau me Maungataniwha oku maunga

Ko Awatere me Te Moho oku awa

Ko Dawn Priestley toku ingoa

I’m the founder, creator, director and Lead Whaea of Kura Kāinga Care Services.

I’m a trained Early Childhood teacher, life coach and homeschooling Māmā to these two beautiful rangatahi -teenagers .

I have a passion for caring for and empowering our children to be confident in their sense of who they are and where they come from.

Kura Kāinga Care was created out of a desire to address the need to strengthen the cultural connection for myself and my children following our move to Australia 3 years ago.

After working in the community as a babysitter across the Gold Coast I identified the need for care and education opportunities uniquely for Māori by Māori.

My long-term goals for Kura Kāinga Care are to expand across other states in Australia with large populations of Māori and to open up multiple childcare centres in both Australia and Aotearoa.