BestStart Bay Kindy

BestStart Bay Kindy is located on Welcome Bay Road, just a short distance away from Welcome Bay School and a 5 minute walk to the local parks. We care for children aged 2-6 and are open all year round from 8.00am to 4.30pm.

Ready for Learning, Ready for Life

At BestStart Bay Kindy we love the learning that happens together, as one centre whanau. When we work together children feel the support and confidence to push their boundaries and expand their horizons. Ready to take on the world!

Our centre is designed to bring out the very best in our children. We have a beautiful, natural environment and well-established gardens our children just love exploring. Our warm and nurturing centre provides the perfect environment for children to flourish and gives them a chance to explore and discover. 

Freedom to choose - We set up open activities that invite curiosity, exploration and discovery. Our children are empowered to make choices, following their interests and leading their own learning, supported by our skilled teaching team who extend and enhance learning. We provide lots of different opportunities for children to be creative with open ended areas of play.

We have real life materials so children experience an environment which extends and connects their experiences from home. We encourage healthy eating, plastic free lunchboxes and use wet bags instead of plastic bags. This supports the wellbeing of our children and helps to develop an understanding and appreciation of caring for the environment.

Working together - At BestStart Bay Kindy we respect each child as an individual, part of their family, the centre family and the wider community. Because of this we value learning together as one whanau. Our skilled teaching team have great relationships with families and the wider community. We develop an understanding of each child and create individual learning plans to engage and inspire. We think outside the box to create fun and exciting learning opportunities for all of our children.

Our family-friendly centre has a blended learning environment that encourages and supports tuakana-teina relationships, where children of all ages learn and gain skills from each other. We also have regular excursions and participate in our local community events. This helps children to understand the wider world and develop their confidence in it, creating a sense of belonging. 

Ready for school - We have a great relationship with our local primary school and participate in their weekly transition to school programme Kickstart. Our children build relationships with their teachers and future classmates, supporting their social and emotional wellbeing and developing positive approaches to learning. Combined with our be School Ready initiative, which focuses on numeracy, literacy, social competency, problem solving, building confidence, independence and tuakana-teina relationships, children leave us full of confidence to take on the next stage of their learning journey.

Amazing playground - Our playground is just like a backyard but way more fun! Full of specialised equipment and places to explore, our outdoor area supports children to gain confidence and control of their bodies through the challenges they undertake. Children develop their knowledge about how to keep physically fit, healthy and active, while having fun.

We welcome you to come and visit us at our wonderful centre. We look forward to meeting you and your child and showing you all we have to offer.

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.