BestStart Montessori Flagstaff

BestStart Montessori Flagstaff has been rated one of the top childcare centres in New Zealand by the Education Review Office. A Montessori education fosters busy independent children who are curious and creative, focused and self-directed, where children learn naturally.

Help me to help myself

In everything we do, our aim is to prepare children for life, as they are the citizens of tomorrow. We create an environment that allows children to learn and grow to their full potential.

Preparing children for life - At BestStart Montessori Flagstaff we guide children to respect the people and objects in their environment and as they grow older, to respect and understand the connectedness between all living and non-living things.

We nurture children, enhancing their social skills, so they learn how to contribute positively to society. Children learn social skills through lessons of grace and courtesy and are supported to be thoughtful, respectful, helpful and considerate of others.

Rich diversity - We embrace the diverse cultures that enrich our centre community, acknowledging and celebrating each individual as unique and special.

Committed high performing team - “There is no I in team”. At BestStart Montessori Flagstaff our team have a variety of teaching experiences that bring exciting passions and interests alive. We have a shared commitment to making professional decisions that lead to the best outcomes for children, parents, whanau and our own growth.

What is the Montessori method of education?

The essence of Montessori education is that every child is allowed to develop naturally at his or her own pace. By aligning the activities in the environment with what each child needs at any moment, Montessori prepared environments liberate children’s energy for growth and learning.

“Learning how to learn is a preparation for life” – Maria Montessori recognised that children have a natural willingness to explore and that the best motivation for learning is self-motivation.

Discovery: One of the profound differences between Montessori education and conventional education is that in Montessori, children are given the experience of discovering the answer for themselves. This leads to a much deeper learning experience and creates a lifelong love of learning as a self-directed process of problem solving and discovery. Following their interest through intentional mathematical, reading and writing activities, the introduction to geography, history, and science and the importance of physical play in growth and development. Including creative arts to encourage children’s imagination to express themselves and to enhance creativity. Teachers simply guide them to something that will both stimulate and encourage them.

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.