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A few hours
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Together we nurture with care and love
What this means is every child /tamariki and family/whanau feeling accepted and belonging to the centre family, and developing into their potential by learning at their own pace with support.
Wandering into the under two room, you will find peace and calm. In this loving environment, children develop bonds with teachers and other children, becoming curious and sociable learners. Really getting to know each child/tamariki and family/whanau means that the child’s care routines are supported and their interests stimulated through many fun and exciting activities. Our infant teaching team provide a range of varied learning opportunities to challenge and stimulate our youngest learners and help them discover their world.
Our fabulous toddlers have so much fun! Discovering with their senses means getting in there and messy – loving the waterplay, gardening exploration and art supplies. It may look like play however they are busy building social skills so they understand how their world works alongside others. We plan, support and educate our curious group through an individual focus to allow children to grow and learn through different activities. We see our toddlers socialising with children from different cultures, learning about friendship and their identity. In toddlers room, teachers implement Te Whāraki, the NZ curriculum, and we see the children start to show their own learning interests.
From aged 3 years old, our toddlers transition into the preschool classrooms. Our awesome preschoolers gain Be School Ready skills providing the foundations to give them the best start once they begin their journey at school. Children are taught to be independent, socially competent and develop their learning interests in a fun and skilled way. Exciting projects that children work or tinker on helps develop key learning skills, literacy and numeracy. This contributes to children having a successful transition to school and gaining the confidence to build their future.
The natural environment is designed to support and stimulate learning with age appropriate spaces and indoor/outdoor flow.
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.
