BestStart Allenton provides quality childcare and education, in a specially designed, four classroom centre. We are located in the heart of Allenton and are conveniently open from 7am – 6pm. We offer nutritious meals during the day, in line with our healthy heart award, with children reaping the benefits of eating together in a homely way. As a team we believe children learn through play, exploration and following their own interests.

Togetherness Happens Here

Our beautiful rooms

We have two rooms across our nursery that offers an inviting and spacious layout, catering for unhurried and gentle routines throughout the day for all children under two years old. We have a room dedicated to infant care, where individual routines are cherished and followed in partnership with parents. The teaching team are dedicated to nursery care and have trusting and nurturing relationships with all children. Both rooms offer calm and nurturing play spaces for children to enjoy and learn based on their interests and developmental needs.

We have two rooms for our children aged two to five which offer age appropriate learning areas. Our preschool room, with children aged two to three and a half years, has low teacher to child ratios to offer extra support and care. While children explore, they are empowered to select their own activities and embrace learning experiences during the day. The teaching team are dedicated to creating fun, exciting and enriched learning opportunities for all children.

Our prep room, for our older children before they go to school, is a room that enhances children’s thinking, fosters their self-help skills and builds their identities as confident learners. The teaching team are dedicated to celebrating each child’s successes and the unique learning contributions every child brings to the classroom.

Our caring staff

Our teachers pride themselves on the relationships they have with families and children. Through these relationships, family aspirations are an important part of our planning and assessment cycle. The shared knowledge we gain from families about your children, leads to connected learning from home into the centre.

We would love to meet you

We would like to welcome you into our BestStart Allenton family.

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.

Rising Stars Preschool is a preschool in Ashburton that  caters for children from 3 months to 6 years with a maximum of 12 in the nursery and 33 in the preschool. We have excellent teacher to child ratios 1:4 in the nursery and 1:8 in the preschool.

We place a high importance on the partnership we share with families/whanau and the wider community in providing a holistic learning programme that allows children to learn and develop to their full potential.

We encourage children to develop respect for themselves, each other and the environment, through modelling and fostering a sense of ownership and belonging within the centre. We provide a safe yet challenging and stimulating environment that supports equality with each child’s individual and diverse learning needs.

Our programme offers a variety of child initiated and structured activities that are based on the interests of the children. Children and teachers learn alongside each other. Children will develop self esteem and confidence through teachers supporting, scaffolding and extending their strengths and interests.  Children are encouraged to be independent and capable learners, responsible for themselves and their peers, while learning to work cooperatively with one another.  

We are a group of well-established, non-profit, professional kindergartens based in the Ashburton community, offering education for 2-6 year olds.  

We maintain a high-quality programme, which is taught by professional teachers, ably supported by a Kindergarten Manager and Board.  Your children will benefit from a wealth of educational and play resources, whilst in a safe and secure, clean and comfortable environment. 

We promote high self-esteem and confidence – happy children bring happy parents and families. We believe children do their greatest amount of learning through play.  

Our professional teachers are all qualified in Early Childhood Education. They extend your child’s thinking and choices through individual programme plans and provide an educational environment and appropriate resources to support your child’s learning needs.