Childcare options in Foxton Beach

BestStart Foxton Beach Kindy is a small childcare centre for children aged 2 to 6. Located next to Foxton Beach Primary School. Our passionate team of qualified teachers have a wide range of experience and know exactly what it takes to excite, motivate and extend children to fulfill their learning potential.

Growing Young Kaitiaki Of The Land

At BestStart Foxton Beach Kindy children learn and develop through the natural environment, building knowledge around sustainability and of our responsibility as Kaitiaki (guardians) of the land. 

Living off the land - Our children are surrounded by beautiful vegetable gardens, fruit trees, driftwood, shells and harakeke. Children and whanau experience an environment where they can see the full process of planting crops and enjoying the rewards. We include education around healthy food options through the healthy heart program and this is promoted with healthy lunch box ideas, process cooking and daily fruit on offer for all children to enjoy.

Utilising our unique coastal environment - We love our beach lifestyle here and often go off for walks into the pine forest and sand dunes to investigate the lovely bird life we have here in Foxton Beach. The children have ‘investigation back packs’ to take when we go exploring. These include clip boards, pencils, specimen jars and magnifying glasses to explore and investigate.

Building knowledge around sustainability - We are on a journey of becoming a more sustainable centre and having less impact on the environment. Our centre is involved in recycling, replanting crops each season, promoting the unique role that bugs and wild life play in our environment plus so much more!

Tuakana-teina relationships - Our centre values and extends tuakana/teina relationships. This is where older or more experienced children take the younger ones under their wing and support their learning. They do this by celebrating with them, inviting them in to play and ensuring they get a turn. We role model inclusiveness and all our children feel connected and involved in centre life, with a real sense of belonging.

Leading their learning - From our 2 year olds right through to when our children leave for school, we are a centre for all learners. Our youngest children love to explore with their whole bodies, they like movement and anything messy. Our toddlers are supported in their development and interests, they are encouraged to explore at their own pace and develop their confidence and skills. 

Be School Ready - Our Be School Ready initiative is carefully designed to support children’s next big learning step when they move to primary school. We support parents and children as they develop the skills and attitudes for being a lifelong learner. We have a unique advantage as we are situated next to Foxton Beach School.  We connect with them regularly to ensure children are familiar with staff and the grounds.

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.

Our centre is placed in a unique locality where we are able to explore the beach and forest that we are surrounded by. With our children we can spend time collecting natural resources for them to investigate and use back at the centre.

Our environment is rich in literacy and numeracy enabling children natural pathways into these areas to be supported. We are a centre that is focused on supporting children develop as learners and have a deep appreciation of the learning that takes place during the first five years of a child’s life.

Our team is made up of experienced teachers, of different ages and backgrounds, who are able to bring a wide range of strengths and qualities that enhances the experiences we are able to offer our children.

Families and the community are of paramount importance to us resulting in us being committed to having a strong community ethic to work alongside families and community organisations.

To support the families in our local community we are currently running playgroups Monday and Friday mornings. We intend in the future to provide workshops for families to support them as being the first educator of their children.  When you come into our centre you will be able to identify that we are a vibrant and motivated learning community.