BestStart Tory Street

BestStart Tory Street , is a richly diverse early learning centre in Wellington’s CBD providing education and childcare for children aged 2 to 6. We love building relationships with our multicultural community and offer flexible hours, with morning and afternoon sessions as well as full day care.

Celebrating our universal languages

We bring together children, whanau and teachers from the many cultures of our city.  We learn, dream and celebrate together through the universal languages of discovery, music, dance, food, creativity and play.

Relationships - Our environment is nurturing and caring so you can feel confident about your child’s surroundings as they learn. We invite you, your parents, grandparents, family and friends to visit your child anytime as well as on their special days that they spend at the centre. We are committed to working in partnership with families and communicate with you every day about your child while also developing our relationship with you.

We are a multicultural centre - We value your culture.  We will become familiar with your home language and greet you in this language.  The verbal and non-verbal communication of your child will be valued and respected. Your child will be involved in cultural celebrations such as Diwali, Chinese New Year, Matariki and many more. BestStart Tory Street is known for incorporating culture into our programme. We provide a learning rich environment for individual children as well as focus on group interests.

Embracing the community - Your child will go on walks to Wellington City Library with their friends. We take part in Matariki celebrations at Te Papa through a cultural performance that you and your family will be invited to attend. Your child will also go on visits to the War Memorial, restaurants and shops where we explore imaginative play, numeracy and literacy. As children get closer to starting school they  will have the opportunity to visit the transition class at Mt Cook School and Clayde Quay School to support them with this transition.

Our Philosophy

• Our teaching practice is founded on the principles of te tiriti o Waitangi
• Collaborative, respectful relationships with tamariki, whanau and the community
• We believe in providing a learning rich environment that caters for individual learning needs is a priority
• Our environment is designed and organised in ways that foster interactions, explorations, curiosity and communication
• Children are empowered to be lifelong learners through all aspects of the curriculum

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.