BestStart Montessori Mosgiel

Montessori Mosgiel provides a safe, loving and understanding environment where strong relationships and confidence building are at the heart of learning. We provide ‘real-life’ opportunities for children to practice and develop the skills necessary to be successful in life and active contributors to our community.

Our Vision - Learning for Independence

Relationships - BestStart Montessori Mosgiel has strong relationships with our families, working together to provide the best possible outcomes for every child. Our practices and environment reflect the aspirations and desires of our tamariki (children), whᾱnau and kaiako (teachers).

Community Focus - Our centre is the only Montessori centre in the Taieri area, we hold true the values taught by Maria Montessori to extend and develop children’s knowledge and experiences of the world around them and encourage them to be active participants in the community. Children engage in a variety of excursions and community initiatives that help to develop their awareness of others.

Leading their learning – It is important to us that your child is confident and eager to learn, children lead their own learning journey at their own pace, with the support and guidance of our teachers. Tamariki develop learning theories and become active contributor to the community. They are independent and responsible for themselves, each other and our environment. We cherish a planned Montessori environment and provide the tools to inspire tamariki, who actively engage with the work available to them - “The mind remembers what the hand does”.

Inclusive – We make sure that our learning environment provides equal opportunities for all children regardless of their ability or culture. Our teachers think outside the square and adapt to suit the needs of all children.

We have wonderful nurturing, qualified staff who do what they love!

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.