BestStart Stoddard Road

A key part of our centre philosophy focuses on creating an inclusive environment for our children to grow, learn and explore. We provide open ended learning experiences to inspire our children's creative thinking skills and imagination. Our centre prides itself on large indoor & outdoor environments and engaging educational spaces for tamariki to discover and learn about the world around them. We value the importance of relationships with our whanau and encourage parent participation as we work together.

Our community is diverse, and we embrace each child’s cultural background and specific needs. Culture is a very important part of BestStart Stoddard Road and we have many ways and experiences to help develop and celebrate cultural identity.

We don’t use any beef and pork in our meals and do offer ‘halal’ meal options to our tamariki. The weekly menu is displayed near the kitchen and the front foyer area.

Kaiako plan children’s learning based on their individual strengths, interests, needs, dispositions and schema as well as working closely with parents/whanau and their aspirations for the children. We offer online portfolios via Story park so families can conveniently see and contribute to their child’s learning.

At BestStart Stoddard our age appropriate learning spaces that have been designed and carefully thought out to help engage your growing child. Our Pepi room (3 mths- 2 yrs) is designed for children to crawl and explore freely within this environment. Nurture and care is our primary focus where teachers strive to build trusting relationships with children and their families.

Our Preschool Tahi room (2 yrs- 3 yrs) is a place for children to explore, learn new skills and develop social skills and communication. Our toddlers have many wonderful learning experiences on a daily basis, which encourage and grow their curiosity, independence and interests. This room is designed to provide basic concepts of art, literacy, numeracy, construction, science, dramatic play and more. Children are encouraged to lead their own learning with the support of their teachers, this encourages your child to learn and grow at their own pace.

Transition into the Our Preschool Rua/Toru room (3yrs - 5 yrs) is carefully planned to make sure your child has all the support they need to move successfully. The 'Be School Ready’ program prepares children individually and in groups for Primary School, focusing on literacy, numeracy, communication, social and self-help skills.

The large outdoor environment offers an open space for children to develop their gross motor skills as they run, jump, climb and challenge themselves on our play equipment. We welcome you to come visit us and discover what we can offer your child today!

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.