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Welcome to BestStart Pyes Pa. Our beautiful centre is situated within the shopping centre in the heart of Pyes Pa. Our opening hours are Monday to Friday from 7.30am to 5.30pm and we provide education and care for children aged 3 months to 6. We offer morning and afternoon sessions as well as school day and full day attendance to cater for a variety of needs.
Growing our Future!
The seeds we plant today will become the forests of tomorrow! He kakano I tēnei rā, He ngahere āpōpō!
The ultimate gift we can give our world is to nurture our children's unique attributes; Empowering them to go forth in life with knowledge, creativity, self-confidence and instilling within them values of tolerance, compassion, curiosity, respect and a love for the natural world.
Our Curriculum
Empowerment: At BestStart Pyes Pa we believe that all children are precious individuals who have an important voice! Our children are acknowledged as reflective thinkers, explorers who are capable of making sound decisions with regards to their own learning. It is important that our children feel a sense of empowerment, that they know they are special, unique, capable and competent learners.
Relationships: The concepts of whanaungatanga, manaakitanga, and aroha are at the heart of our centre! We believe that positive, strong and trusting relationships between parents/whanau, children and staff are essential components in ensuring the best possible outcomes for our children.
Culture: We value your culture! Our centre is respectful of individual cultures and all things cultural are affirmed and celebrated here. We aim to support our children in growing strong roots, gaining a positive awareness of their own culture and develop a respect for the culture of others.
Nga Tamariki Taiao – Nature Kids: As teachers we are committed to giving your child real life, authentic natural experiences that will support their development and learning in a beautiful, natural and exciting environment. Through our Nga Tamariki Taiao – Nature kids programme, our older children enjoy regular visits to our local forest where they can fully engage in nature based learning.
Be School Ready: Our unique Be School Ready initiative has been carefully developed to ensure that our children leave the centre with all the important and necessary skills in which to confidently embrace and thrive in the next step of their learning journey.
Our Community: A forest never consists of a single tree! We believe that it is important for our children to understand what it means to be a responsible, respectful and collaborative member of a group/community/society. We have worked hard to build solid, trusting relationships in our community with regular visits within our shopping complex, Althorp Retirement Village, local schools and local excursions.
Extra-curricular activities: We are excited to offer a range of extra-curricular activities; Swimming lessons, Rugby Tots and dance classes, all further supporting our engagement within the Hauora initiative, nurturing healthy, active children.
Individual learning: We believe that all children are unique and learn/develop at their own pace. Therefore our individual learning plans are specifically designed to support your child’s individual needs.
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.
