BestStart Waikanae

BestStart Waikanae offers childcare and education for children aged 6 weeks to 6 years in a warm and nurturing environment that is safe, happy and full of love. Nestled in amongst the gorgeous Waikanae hills, we are fortunate to have easy access to Hemi Matenga, Mahara Place, the Museum and of course our neighbours, Waikanae School.

Learning Through Fun

BestStart Waikanae has a diverse teaching team who bring their own passion and energy in different ways each and every day. All of us enjoy a good laugh and share the belief that teaching should be fun and exciting and children’s days should be filled with love, laughter and learning. We're very lucky to have a large, natural playground with trees to climb and plenty of room to run and ride bikes. We even have chickens in the backyard! We back onto the grounds of Waikanae School and often spend time rolling down the hills and exploring their playgrounds during the school holidays.

Nurturing and Empowering our Tamariki

At BestStart Waikanae children learn through play and exploration.  They have time and space to make their own discoveries and develop at their own pace.  Our teachers nurture this self-discovery by offering resources and experiences that build on existing knowledge and enrich their learning.

In our Nursery we follow the rhythms and routines of the children to ensure they feel safe and secure during their time with us and we work very closely with our families to make sure there is continuity between centre and home life.  Our practice is based on the RIE philosophy and we believe that respectful relationships and interactions are key to the development of confident and curious infants and toddlers. We have confidence and trust in our tamariki that they can make decisions for themselves and lead their own learning.  To empower them we work alongside them in their journey and live by the mantra “do with, not to”. 

Nurturing our bodies is as important as nurturing our hearts and minds, so to promote healthy eating and wellness,we provide fresh fruit and vegetables for morning and afternoon tea each day, sometimes from our own garden.  Our tamariki love helping to prepare their own kai and they are learning about where their food comes from and how to make good choices for themselves. We are currently part of the Know Me, Eat Me Programme which is supporting this learning even more. 

Our environment

We are lucky to have a large, natural environment, with trees to climb, bugs to hunt and mud to make pies with, which supports the children to learn about their physical world.  We also make good use of the Hemi Matenga Nature Reserve that is on our doorstep; visiting each week with a group of children. 

Getting Ready for School 

As part of the BestStart family we are involved in the Be School Ready initiative, which is focussed on supporting children, through a play-based curriculum, right from infancy, to become confident and competent learners with a passion for life-long learning and the skills they will need to transition to school at the age of five.  Every child is unique and so is the journey of learning they take so we make sure they are supported by robust, individual plans that celebrate who they are and the gifts they bring with them.

We invite you to come and visit; spend some time exploring our world, sharing in the fun and learning and getting to know the team.  We welcome you with open arms into our little community.

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.