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Nursery
We offer a spacious indoor and natural outdoor environment for our Pepe. This enables your child to explore different sensory experiences and supports their physical development. We offer a 1:4 ratio with small group sizes of up to 12 babies. Our nursery teachers are passionate about caring for infants and have a natural affinity for babies. When we develop our programme we seek input from you so we can align our care to that of home.
Toddler
To meet the needs of toddlers we have spacious indoor and natural outdoor environments specifically designed for their age and stage of development. There are opportunities for your toddler to have quiet individual play spaces for solitary play as well as open spaces for group learning. We offer a 1:8 ratio. Our teachers will support your child to listen to others and to communicate their own ideas. Teachers support children to be independent and take responsibility for decision making. Educators provide a range of exciting activities and resources to entice children’s imagination and discovery. Our teachers build warm and responsive attachments with children. Pre-school - We offer a programme and environment organised in such a way that your child can initiate problem solving activities, develop their curiosity and learn through their interests. Our teachers are aware of the skills and capabilities that your child needs in order to have a successful transition to school. Teachers promote self- help and self- care skills. Children who have mastered these skills are then ready for more formal learning. Meals - We serve hot meals formulated to meet the nutritional needs of growing children. Snacks include fresh fruit and vegetables served with milk or water. Settling visits - When you enrol your child we encourage settling visits. These visits can be with Mum, Dad, or whānau. We want to make this transition an enjoyable experience for you and your child.
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.
