Oromāhoe Kindergarten closes after 14 years amid financial hardship
A much-loved Northland kindergarten has closed its doors, citing “ongoing financial hardship” because of the cost of living, a decline in numbers and a lack of adequate funding for early childhood education.
The Oromāhoe Kindergarten, 10km south of Kerikeri in the Far North, has closed after 14 years of providing early childhood education and care for children aged 2 to 5.
The kindergarten opened in 2012 as a non-profit, community-based centre grounded in the holistic, play-based philosophies of Austrian philosopher Rudolf Steiner.
Its founder, Christiane Riegger, who ran the kindergarten for 12 years before leaving three years ago, said it was “a beautiful time”.
“I really loved it,” she said.
“I started it because I wanted to make a difference to students, so parents had a choice, it wasn’t just mainstream.
“I feel sad for the children, it was a lot of work to build up.
“There was good intention from people and they tried very hard to make it work.”
The kindergarten announced its closure on social media on September 6.
“It is with deepest sadness and plenty of tears that we have to announce the permanent closure of Oromāhoe Kindergarten,” the post said.
“The decision comes after many months of uncertainty, careful consideration, and ongoing challenges that have made it no longer possible for us to operate in a sustainable way.”
The post said the kindergarten had been facing ongoing financial hardship for many years.
“With the forever rising cost of living, the recent spike in petrol cost and the general rise of operational costs along with a steady decline in numbers and a lack of adequate funding for ECE [early childhood education], our beautiful centre had reached a point where we were no longer able to keep the doors open.”
According to the Education Review Office, the Oromāhoe Kindergarten had a roll of 26.
The Bay of Islands Waldorf Education Trust, which ran the early childhood centre, did not reply to the Northern Advocate’s emails.
The former centre manager did not respond to phone calls.
Also this month, parents of tamariki at Paikea Kindergarten near Gisborne called for funding rule changes to support rural early childhood centres as their centre faces closure.
The kindergarten’s board has started a six-week consultation on the proposed closure from January 2027.
Jenny Ling is a senior journalist at the Northern Advocate. She has a special interest in covering human interest stories, along with finance, roading, and social issues.