BestStart Dey Street

Welcome to BestStart Dey Street where our capable little people reach their full potential through exploration, risk taking, independence and play. Our teachers take our little people under their wings, when we hear I can’t do this, we say YET! When we hear I’m no good at this, we say not yet but we believe in you. We’re all about empowering our little people. We want them saying I can and I will, watch me! And we’ll be there, standing beside them and holding their hands if they need us.

For us, play is much more than fun and games. It’s about our little ones exploring, negotiating, taking risks, and learning how to problem solve. We’re big fans of learning through play because we’ve seen what an enormous difference it makes to children’s development, creating confident learners. 

For your child it’s all about having loads of fun and making new friends. For us, it is an opportunity to explore your child’s interests, strengths and talents as we celebrate and extend on their amazing skills and courage!

You are your child’s first teacher and will always be the most important. As they grow a child’s world expands and so too does the number of people they learn from.

Our teachers know exactly what it takes to support our little people as they grow. It’s about developing relationships first and foremost, with you and your child. This creates trust, and trust is where the magic of learning begins.

We’ll be with you every step of the way. We’ll spend time getting to know what’s important to your family. We’ll always keep you up to date with what’s happening in your child’s so you don’t miss a moment of your child’s learning.

It’s so much fun exploring through a baby’s eyes. They rely on all their sense as they explore their surroundings.  As you step into our nursery, you’ll discover a sensory playground that ignites our little ones sense of wonder and sets them up to begin their earliest adventures. Calm, consistent routines throughout the day enable our little ones to engage in the world around them and develop a sense of trust and belonging

Play is central to the lives of little people, it’s how they learn, figure things out, explore, make mistakes and try again. You’ll find our toddler room is full of colour, warmth and fun and there’s plenty of space for the boisterous and adventurous. Our routines here are consistent and reassuring and we start to give our little ones opportunities to take responsibility for themselves.

I’m hungry now, look lunch is ready – I can get my plate and sit at the table with my friends – watch me! We provide healthy kai for our little ones to share with their friends, we let them get their own plates and serve themselves too.

Our teachers fill the air with words of encouragement, words from other languages, happy words and even quiet ones knowing our children are listening while they play. We also start to see our little ones start to teach and care for other – we call this tuakana teina relationships.

We dance to Indian music, we say karakia before eating, we dress up ready for adventures. We read books filled with wild colourful stories. And we’re confident going on bear hunts knowing our teachers are with us during the scary parts

Uh-oh I’m stuck! My feet are buried in the sandpit! What can I do? Find a friend to help me out – watch us!

When our preschoolers work in small groups, they learn to play together, take turns and solve problems.  Whether they’re playing a game, creating a work of art or planning a project. You can be confident, your preschooler is learning how to work co-operatively make new friends, manage their emotions and persevere when the going gets tough. We take fortnightly trips to “playtime” at our local school to get our preschoolers used to life at big school and we also visit the bush to learn more about Papatuanuku and how to look after living things.

Where’s my sunhat? I need to go outside! I can see something moving in the bushes. I’m going to find out what it is but I’m a bit scared. My teacher will come with me. Aha! It’s a rabbit – we can feed it carrots. I’ll go get some.

Every day there’s a new adventure at BestStart Dey Street. With our teachers by their side your little one will tackle new challenges and succeed. We love hearing our little people filled with courage, saying I can and I will, watch me! As teachers, that’s all we want for them, to be empowered. Come and join our whānau and soon your little one will be saying it too!

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.