Childcare options in Arrowtown

BestStart Montessori Arrowton is located in the heart of Arrowtown. We offer a Montessori inspired philosophy for children aged 3 months to 6 years. We are proud to be part of our community and work in partnership with families to achieve our vision - “Explore natural learning”

We provide a calm, peaceful environment inspired by Montessori, that fosters independence and empowers choice. Where children experience quality through positive, responsive relationships and holistic experiences.

Bambini (Nursery 0-3 years)

In our nurturing home-like environment, we value whanau involvement, everything we do works around your child’s home routines, our primary caregiving approach ensures consistency between home and centre and helps to build a strong sense of belonging for our children. Here we introduce the basic concepts of Montessori, fostering relationships and independence. Our ‘mini’ adventurers programme occurs weekly and involves getting out and about in our community with our two-year old tamariki with visits to the local library.  Weekly yoga lessons are offered to our young tamariki as well.

Monties (Preschool 3-6 years)

Our preschool space is inspired by the Montessori philosophy in our home-like environment. Our children learn through real life, purposeful experiences. Our children are independent and responsible for themselves, each other and the environment. We offer a robust transition to school programme and this involves visits from and to Arrowtown primary school and termly we attend the school assembly.  Our unique ‘Adventurers Programme’ for our 8 oldest children venture out regularly into our local community, learning about exploring and discovering the world around them. We also provide a weekly yoga session and weekly French lessons.

What you can expect from our centre:

• Wonderful, nurturing, qualified staff who have a strong passion and love for what they do
• A child focussed programme inspired by the Montessori philosophy
• Children leading their own learning journey at their own pace, with support and guidance of our teachers

Who is BestStart?

BestStart is for families who want more from early-childhood education. Safe, nurturing and educationally focused, we’re committed to growing caring people with curious minds.

Together we teach, learn and nurture.

Our vision is to work in partnership with families, whanau and communities to enable children to achieve their learning potential.

Ko tō mātou tirohanga hei mahi ngātahi i te taha o ngā whānau me ngā hāpori, kia āwhinatia ngā tamariki, kia tū pito mata ai rāatou, hei rangatira mō āpōpō.

We are committed to being a progressive and responsive leader in early-childhood education. We do this by enhancing our services, investing in our people, developing our support structure and continuously improving the educational outcomes and experiences of our children, families and the communities we serve.

Some facts:

• We’re licensed to educate and care for 15,000 full-time children daily.
• 18,000 families use BestStart services annually.
• We have over 270 centres nationwide located from Whangarei to Invercargill.
• Each centre is managed by a Centre Manager who is supported by a local Area Manager. This gives our centre teams ongoing quality training and support.
• Te Whāriki, the world-wide acclaimed national early childhood education curriculum, is used in all centres.
• We have over 4500 permanent teachers nationally. Over 90% of our permanent teaching staff are either fully qualified with a diploma or bachelor of teaching (ECE) or higher, or are in training. These figures are very high by national standards within the ECE sector.
• We provide a two-year Advice and Guidance Programme for all recently certified teachers, providing further mentoring and training. This gives strong support for teachers from provisional registration to full teacher registration with the NZ Teachers Council.
• We regularly spend around $4 million on teacher training per annum.

We’re for children

At our heart is our commitment and passion for children. Central to this belief is our focus on the holistic development of children. We support children to explore the world around them, learning through relationships, creating a love of learning in an ever-changing world. Exploration, friendship and fun are part of the journey.

We’re for good

BestStart is a registered charity owned by the Wright Family Foundation. We support initiatives and programmes within BestStart and the wider early-childhood education sector (ECE) that support good outcomes for all children. We do this because we want to make a positive difference to the lives of all children.

Innovation leads us

At BestStart, innovation guides our thinking. We advocate positive change for learners through our research and practice. We’re proud to be thought leaders within ECE, openly challenging ourselves to think differently to provide the best for our children, families and staff.

We’re responsive

Our centres reflect their children, staff and communities. We celebrate individuality, uniqueness and diversity, encouraging a spirit of empathy, understanding and collaboration. Through our responsive relationships and our curriculum, we support learners to choose their own path.

Our people matter

At BestStart people come first. When we grow and develop our people, everyone benefits. We strive for whakamana/empowerment, nurturing a culture of excellence with engaged, talented professionals. Their commitment, skill and passion light our way.

Nestled among Arrowtown’s stunning natural backdrop of tree covered hills and clear running rivers are our unique Preschools which provide engaging spaces and wonderful learning environments.

At Arrowtown Preschool the opportunities for learning that children experience are outstanding both within the Preschools and the community. Children are seen as capable learners who bring with them a huge range of knowledge, interests and experiences. Teachers build on these to empower confidence, build resilience and encourage responsibility. Respectful relationships with families, community and our environment are key.

Our programmes are inspired by aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach and Nature Based learning with a strong focus on movement and physical challenges.

Arrowtown Preschool is a non-profit organisation which guarantees any profit is invested back into learning opportunities for the children.

To enable us to deliver high-quality age-specific programmes for children aged 12 months to 5 years we run two Preschools in tandem programmes.Our Cotter Ave centre opened in 2010 and caters for our younger children 12 months to 3 years.

This newly built centre was designed to not only capture the glorious Central Otago sun but to create inspiring areas of interest for the children to play and learn in. A warm nurturing environment ensures children happily settle into the centre and all the activities it offers. Being situated next to Arrowtown School has seen us build excellent links with school classes. Buddy programmes between our children and the school children are a regular and exciting aspect for both the Cotter Ave and Arrowtown School children. Our teachers and children will often utilise the wide open areas of the school playground as well as the awesome reserve areas alongside the School.

Nestled among Arrowtown’s stunning natural backdrop of tree covered hills and clear running rivers are our unique Preschools which provide engaging spaces and wonderful learning environments.

To enable us to deliver high-quality age-specific programmes for children aged 12 months to 5 years we run two Preschools in tandem programmes.At Arrowtown Preschool the opportunities for learning that children experience are outstanding both within the Preschools and the community. Children are seen as capable learners who bring with them a huge range of knowledge, interests and experiences. Teachers build on these to empower confidence, build resilience and encourage responsibility. Respectful relationships with families, community and our environment are key.

Our programmes are inspired by aspects of the Reggio Emilia approach and Nature Based learning with a strong focus on movement and physical challenges.

Arrowtown Preschool is a non-profit organisation which guarantees any profit is invested back into learning opportunities for the children.

Durham St opened in 1992 and is well established and a perfect environment for the older children.

It is well known for its awesome location that provides a natural world for children to explore and spend time in. Durham St is close to the town centre and to the river reserve which means our children benefit from the historic resources in Arrowtown such as the Museum and the Library and they also get to enjoy a rural outlook and easy access to the outdoors. At Durham St there is an extensive art and craft focus with a vast use of natural resources resulting in some amazing creations. The Durham St children are often seen within the Arrowtown community; we have a long standing involvement with the annual Arrowtown Autumn Festival and our unique Explorers programme sees our oldest children out exploring the river reserve areas every Friday morning all year round.