BestStart Albany

BestStart Albany is a unique childcare centre with two separate modern buildings across the road from each other. Located just off the Albany Highway, a short distance from Rosedale Road, we’re handy to motorways and other main thoroughfares.

Nurturing a sense of wonder

Tahi Centre offers an intimate environment for infants and toddlers. We provide a family orientated atmosphere within an environment that is open, spacious and very well resourced. Children are given the opportunity to develop at their own pace in a safe, secure environment. Independence is encouraged as children are viewed as individuals with their own personality. Learning and development is introduced through play, music, dance, visual arts, and our relationships with the children during care moments.

Our Tahi centres has two outdoor area, providing a safe learning environment for children to explore the natural environment and learn about the world around them whilst developing friendships and social skills.

We understand at this young age your child’s routine may change a few times, so we work in partnership with you to ensure we are maintaining your home routines and keeping your personal aspirations in mind. We pride ourselves on our strong relationships with children and their families.

Rua Centre is our Preschool centre. Children’s learning is encouraged through play and our fun-filled, stimulating environment encourages children to grow and develop a healthy sense of self. We support each child’s social and emotional development so they look forward to learning new things and are ready to participate in group activities, as well as initiate their own learning.

Our recently renovated and upgraded playground is the ideal backyard for pre-schoolers to explore, offering exciting opportunities to build on children’s learning and physical developmental and educational needs. Equipped with swings, climbing equipment, mud play area and a productive vegetable garden, children develop the essential knowledge and skills to support them as they prepare for school.

Our unique Be School Ready initiative has been developed to ensure that children leave the centre as confident, capable learners and have a successful start at school. Our preparation for school is designed individually for each child, focusing on their unique learning and developmental needs, interests, and dispositions.

Our teachers are motivated and have the experience to provide the very best learning opportunities for your child. BestStart Albany has a strong and productive relationship with the local Primary schools, and together we work towards preparing your children for school.

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.