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BestStart Wattle Downs is a childcare and early childhood education centre on Coxhead Road, close to Mahia Road and Wattle Farm Reserve. We're devoted to caring for children in the Wattle Downs area and the wider community of Manurewa.
Let's get stuck in! We're here to make a change
We are a multicultural centre and we use play as a tool to help our tamariki develop into wonderful human beings. We welcome children from 3 months to 6. We pride ourselves on working in partnership with parents and families to ensure that we are working towards the same goals. Our centre is run between two buildings. The Little Tui’s room caters for our children from 3 months to 2 ½ years. Our Pukeko room caters for children from 2 ½ to 5 years. Our newly renovated outdoor area is inviting and challenges our children to take risks and gain control over their bodies.
Our Learning Spaces
Little Tuis – our infants room: The family-orientated room of Little Tuis is a calm and relaxing place for your infants in which they are supported in learning at their own pace with the help of our teachers. We encourage our infants to showcase their unique personalities while gaining the confidence to be risk-takers and accomplish milestones that help them grow from dependent babies into independent toddlers. We use heuristic play or treasure baskets as learning tools. We love seeing our babies use everyday items as an open-ended resource. They surprise us every day with the inventive and interesting ways in which they interact with the items. Come and take a look for yourself.Pukeko – our preschool room: Our preschool room is a hive of activity with teachers setting up different activities and experiences to engage our tamariki. We pride ourselves on our relationship with Clayton Park Primary School who support our Be School Ready initiative. We are grateful that they allow our 4 ½-year-olds access to their classrooms once a week. These visits help our tamariki gain confidence to be able to transition to primary school with ease once they turn five.
We look forward to meeting you and are welcome to visit anytime.
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.
