Childcare options in Omokoroa

Kia ora, haere mai....

The Garden Early Childhood Centre is located in the fast growing town of Omokoroa in the Bay of Plenty. Omokoroa means the 'place of the long lizard' which perfectly describes the peninsula which stretches from State Highway 2 into the Tauranga Harbour.

The Garden can be found in a semi rural setting just off Omokoroa Road. Conveniently placed for both the community of Omokoroa and the wider rural community. Situated in easy access to State Highway 2 for those who need to commute into Tauranga and beyond.

The environment at The Garden is beautifully and thoughtfully set up with natural and recycled materials to create a home away from home. This is an inspiring and spacious environment for 45 children aged between 3 months and 6 years.

Children are encouraged to explore, question and discover. They are viewed as competent and confident individuals who lead their own learning alongside caring teachers who support and guide them.

OUR VALUES

• Culture of Kindness
• Lead with the Heart
• Develop Resilience
• Respect
• Lifelong Learning
• Community

Welcome to Minnows!

Minnows is a small, friendly, early childhood education centre, located in the heart of Omokoroa.  Designed to have a home-like feel inside and out, our centre adjoins a large paddock and is near Cooney Reserve offering ample space to run around and explore. Our qualified teachers provide a high standard of childcare and preschool education for 0-6 year olds, including a school readiness programme for the older children. 

Our Philosophy

We strive to be sensitive to the needs of the whole child (physical, emotional, social, cultural, spiritual, and developmental) in how we care for all the children who are under our care. We aim to be consistently responsive and solicitous to their individual needs and requirements. We endeavour to demonstrate sincere warmth, caring and respect in order first to build a trust so that each child feels secure and then to encourage and provide scaffolding that enhance each child to grow as a competent and confident learner who develop a strong sense of self and in turn develop a  high positive self-esteem. 

We acknowledge parents as being the first educators of their children and the importance of working together for a positive learning outcome for their children. 

BestStart Omokoroa is a wonderful early learning centre open all year round with the latest resources designed to engage and enhance learning in our local children. We support individual learning and development at every age in our three learning spaces.

Whakamana Whakatipu - Empowerment for Growth

Children learn best through meaningful play experiences, either child-initiated, or teacher-led and our curriculum is based on this. The individual culture and identity of every child is an integral part of learning and development here at BestStart Omokoroa.

As teachers our role is to nurture, empower and love our tamariki. We honour all that they are, embracing each child’s unique strengths and helping them to grow and develop a lifelong love of learning.  We teach from the heart with kindness and respect, supporting the diverse needs and aspirations of our parents and whānau.

Open-ended learning - We have created open and inviting classrooms which have lots of space for tamariki to work, construct, collaborate and create together. Our learning environment is influenced by a loose parts approach which means we have a range of fluid materials, either natural or recycled, available for tamariki to use for a range of purposes. This encourages open-ended, collaborative play and exploration. These resources extend children’s communication, thinking, imagination, problem solving and creativity. This encourages play that is respectful, imaginative and without boundaries. Kaiako also create displays to draw attention and capture the curiosity of our tamariki ma.

Learning through play - Children have uninterrupted play which is supported and scaffolded by our teaching team throughout the day. Play empowers tamariki to be curious and creative, express themselves, conquer challenges, make sense of the world and recreate their experiences. Play is a fundamental vehicle for learning which enables children to develop their cognitive, socio-emotional and physical skills that will set them on a path of lifelong learning.

Respect - We value the individual culture and identity of each child and this forms an integral part of their learning and development. The role of our teachers is to teach from the heart with kindness and respect, supporting the values and diverse needs of our families. We see our tamariki as precious taonga and believe it is essential to create a respectful environment that is led with love.  We foster a culture of kindness, joyfulness and caring for ourselves, each other and our environment. Through aroha we provide a responsive and consistent environment where children feel safe, recognised as individuals and empowered.

Inclusive – Every culture and identity matters to us. We celebrate diversity and support the cultural differences within our centre and our wider learning community.  Embracing diversity allows our children to learn from each other. It is important to us that our children and families have a strong sense of belonging here at BestStart Omokoroa.

Our learning spaces – we have different classrooms to best cater for the needs of children as the grow.

• Piwakawaka / Tauhou Room is for children aged 3 months to 2 years. The way we work with our infants is focused on responsive care and developing collaborative partnerships with parents and whanau.
• Kotare Room is for children from 2 to 3 years old. Our toddlers are supported by a responsive, flexible environment which meets their changing needs and fosters independence and security.
• Tui Room is for 3 to 4 year olds and Kuaka Room for 4 - 5 year olds. Our young tamariki are supported by Be School Ready initiatives to empower them to become lifelong learners. Our Be School Ready initiative encourages children to use their developing self-help skills and provides a range of opportunities to extend their independence. This is incorporated into everyday activities, to support each step of their learning journey.

Communication - Every child’s learning journey and milestones are captured and shared through one-on-one communication and our online learning portfolios on Storypark. Each child has their own learning journal which is intended for them to revisit their learning. It is a precious record of their artwork, culture and identity, magic moments and learning stories. 

Flexible and convenient - We offer a range of part-time and full-day childcare options to suit the needs of our community. We're open weekdays from 7.30 to 5.30, right through the year - only closing for public holidays

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.