Aurora International School of the Arts

A Reggio Emilia inspired preschool and small primary in Thao Dien that families pick for the play-based early years, with a thinner reputation as the school stretches into older year groups.

Aurora opened in 2016 on Tran Ngoc Dien in Thao Dien, with the early years building at numbers 11 to 13 and a separate primary and middle school site at 15. The pedagogy is Reggio Emilia, layered with the New Zealand curriculum at primary, and the school takes children from one year through fifteen.

Early years parents praise the observational teachers, the arts focus, and the calm atmosphere. The picture gets more mixed at primary, where some parents describe the New Zealand framing as light in practice and teaching staff as less experienced than at the larger international schools. Families who love the early years often plan a transfer to a bigger primary by Year 1 or 2 rather than continuing through.

• The kindergarten earns the warmest feedback. One parent described a Reggio-influenced early years that runs on close observation of children, calling teachers' ability to notice and follow them "amazing".
• Primary draws sharper criticism. One parent said they would not recommend it, describing it as "managed differently" from kindergarten and less organised, with new teachers brought in from recently closed schools.
• The same parent flagged that the New Zealand curriculum is referenced but the school holds no formal certification for it, and that primary facilities and support feel thin compared with the early years.
• Administration draws the lowest marks in the public review on file, rated terrible against an otherwise average primary picture.