What are the opening hours?

Monday 8am - 5:30pm Tuesday 8am - 5:30pm Wednesday 8am - 5:30pm Thursday 8am - 5:30pm Friday 8am - 5:30pm

Rutherford Street Kindergarten

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Rutherford Street Kindergarten

High quality early childhood education for 2–6-year-olds in Nelson city. Open 8am–5pm. 30 hours free available — conditions apply.

09/04/2026

We’re really pleased to share that Rutherford Street Kindergarten has joined the Kai Rescue programme. 🌿

At RSK, we value opportunities to care for our people, our place, and our wider community. Becoming part of Kai Rescue reflects our commitment to kaitiakitanga and to being thoughtful about how we reduce waste and support positive community initiatives.

We’re proud to be connected with a programme that helps ensure good kai is put to good use, while also supporting a more sustainable future for our region.

Nelson Environment Centre

19/12/2025

2026 spaces available 🌿
We are welcoming enquiries for 2026 at Rutherford Street Kindergarten, with low fees for 2-year-olds and flexible hours from 8am–5pm.

Get in touch to book a visit in the new year or request an enrolment pack.

04/12/2025

Strawberry season is here! 🍓
Our tamariki have loved harvesting and enjoying strawberries from our kindergarten garden. These moments nurture care for living things and the joy of tasting kai they helped to grow.

Kaitiakitanga and Mana Aotūroa at RSK. 🌱✨

02/12/2025

This morning tamariki explored bubbles under our grapevine canopy, experimenting with their own DIY bubble wands made from pipe cleaners. 🫧

Moments like these nurture curiosity, creativity, and the simple joy of being together outside - all essential parts of learning through play at RSK.

25/11/2025

Did you see the latest works happening at Rutherford Street Kindergarten? We are very excited to have our new shade sail installation underway!

The tamariki were very excited as we had three different trucks visit kindy yesterday, one to help prepare the holes, one to drop off the posts and then a concrete truck to pour the concrete.

Watch this space for the finished sail 👀☀️

19/11/2025

What better way to use up leftover fruit than to turn it into muffins!

• Measuring out ingredients for baking requires concepts of capacity and number, as well as knowledge of how to use tools for weighing and measuring accurately
• Mixing, kneading and touching food offers sensory experiences
• Stirring, chopping, whisking and pouring practise motor skills and coordination
• Baking also promotes communication between Tamariki and allows them to unpack kindy and home life, making connections to cooking and baking at home with whānau too.

13/11/2025

We have spaces available NOW!

Located close to the city centre with free hours for 3-year-olds and flexible hours between 8am and 5pm, what more could you ask for? We currently have spaces for 2–5-year-olds

Pop by for a visit or email Amber today [email protected]

11/11/2025

Hannah's turtles pay us a visit! 🐢🐢

This is Millie and Ocean. Millie is eighteen years old (and the bigger one), while Ocean is approximately fifteen years old.

Hannah explained to the tamariki that they are called snake-neck turtles and are known for having the longest necks of any turtles in the world, often longer than the length of their shells.

Millie and Ocean have been hibernating (a really long sleep) for five months and have only been awake for the past three weeks. When they are asleep, they don't eat any food.

We got to help feed them dried fish called anchovies. Hannah said they also like meat, including chicken, but don't like vegetables.

Why are animals so important in the ECE setting?
Animals can serve as powerful educational tools, sparking curiosity amongst tamariki and deepening connections to the natural world. They offer many hands-on experiences that can enhance learning in all areas and teach important values like respect and empathy.
We practiced using our gentle hands, inside voices and slow bodies around the turtles so we didn't scare them.

Do you have an animal at home too, we would love to see a picture in the comments below

04/11/2025

A big thank you to the team Lift n Shift Limited Nelson, not only were they able to get stuck in and move our outdoor equipment when we flooded earlier in the year, they were also able to move our new outdoor storage unit into place and move the whare back into the playground for the tamariki to enjoy again.

There were lots of very excited tamariki watching on from the safety of inside as the objects were hoisted high over our fence

18/09/2025

Park trips and happy smiles. Always lovely to get out to the local park in the sunshine

Address

233 Rutherford Street
Nelson
7010

Opening Hours

Monday	8am - 5:30pm
Tuesday	8am - 5:30pm
Wednesday	8am - 5:30pm
Thursday	8am - 5:30pm
Friday	8am - 5:30pm

Telephone

+6435489239

Website

https://rutherfordstkinder.co.nz/

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