BestStart Jones Crescent Kindy

BestStart Jones Kindy cares for children aged 2-5 years old in an amazing learning environment that sparks wonder and inspires creativity and discovery. We're open 8am to 4.30pm right through the year and have full and part time childcare options to suit our families needs.

Unlocking the treasure within

When you enter BestStart Jones Crescent Kindy's lovely, converted villa you will be greeted with big smiles, laughter, and eager learners wanting to show off their work and share their discoveries.  

The learning spaces utilise the environment as the third teacher, allowing our learners to drive their own learning, developing their confidence to be innovative and creative.   

All around the indoor area there is the busy hum of children engaged in different areas of play that foster imagination, independence and leadership. Our children explore open-ended play in well-defined play spaces.    

We are very lucky to have a multi-level playground surrounded with beautiful large trees filled with buzzing bees, butterflies, and birdsong. In winter, the falling leaves cover our playground in a blanket of colourful brown, orange, yellow, and red leaves.  

Our orchard is the treasure of the Kindy. As you enter you will be greeted by three chickens wanting to be fed and two bunnies eagerly waiting for a gentle pat! We dig for worms and explore logs for bugs and worms to feed our chickens and frog. The orchard is filled pf fruit trees meaning there is always a tasty treat ready to be picked. 

Teachers focus on each child’s potential and what they bring as an individual to Kindy. Teachers ako (teach and learn) alongside tamraiki. We aim is to instil an awareness of our children’s individual uniqueness and have respect for themselves, others, and their immediate surroundings. We stand by being kind, caring, and unlocking the treasure within.

Children have ample opportunities to build and strengthen their language, mathematics, science, and social skills whilst being empowered as an individual.  As teachers, we aspire for our children to have good self-esteem, self-confidence, self-discipline, and respect for others as they continue their learning journey. 

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.