BestStart Kauri Flats

At BestStart Kauri Flats we know children learn best through play! 

This is what has shaped our centre vision “Inspiring Through Play”. We empower children to find the courage to nurture the love of play and creativity, to explore and discover the world around them.

Every day, we strive to provide an atmosphere that is warm, accepting and welcoming to both children and their families. A place to be heard and to listen and observe. A place to play and to relax. A place to learn and grow. A home away from home.

For the beginning stages of every learner, here at Best Start Kauri Flats, you will find our precious Kowhai Room. Though they might be small, they are fierce, and we value every bit of learning they do at this very young age! We recognize that this is in fact, where it all begins, and so relationship building with both our children as well as their families is pivotal in making this room the incredible learning space that it is. With a richly resources, age appropriate classroom and an outdoor space of their own, this room provides an endless amount of learning opportunities for our youngest friends aged 0-2.

Next up, our children depart from the Kowhai room and excitedly join our uniquely designed Kanuka Room! Here you will find children aged 2– 3 and crikey, it’s a fun place to be! Our passionate toddler teachers acknowledges the distinctive needs of this age group and work tirelessly to provide our children with the most exciting activities both indoors and out! Our warm, yet exciting Kanuka room provides children with plenty of space to explore and develop their unique set of skills before they embark on their journey as a pre-schooler.

Pre-schooler you say? Wait, how did that happen?! Next up, and the last step of the journey here at Kauri Flats - our incredible pre-school rooms known as the Nikau Room and the Kauri Room! We are so fortunate to have 2 beautifully designed classrooms which both act as our pre-school classrooms, accompanied by a shared, inspiring outdoor space featuring an exciting playground, a veggie garden, a sandpit and lots of space for our children to explore! These rooms cater for children aged 3-5.

Across these rooms, the teachers focus hugely on supporting our children as they grow towards heading into their Primary schooling. We do this though, through a number of ways other than simply counting to 10 and writing names, highlighting our vision of inspiring children to learn through play. We acknowledge that children learn in various ways unique to them, and so our classrooms are resourced accordingly. You’ll often find exciting projects happening, big interests being explored and provocations galore! Our educators also work strategically and with their profound teaching knowledge to support our children’s self-help skills, taking the time to role model important aspects such as responsibility and safety. Our teaching team work to encourage children to learn with and alongside others in our diverse community, while exploring the possibilities of building relationships with both people, places and things in the world around them.

As a general overview, our teachers are qualified, experienced and passionate about the children of Kauri Flats. We believe that our tamariki grow under nurturing care and an understanding of who they are as individuals alongside what their families would like for them to achieve while learning with us. Our indoor spaces are built to support the learning and development of every age group, with focused resources designed to spark curious minds.

To support our children’s rapid growth and high level of learning, we ensure the provision of healthy, nutritious meals and snacks throughout the day to keep energy levels up for all the fun!

We offer Best Start’s Be School Ready initiative for our preschool children, which is incorporated into everyday practice, assisting with the next step in their learning journey. The initiative encourages children’s unique interests and provides a range of opportunities to extend their independence, keeping in mind their current learning journey, with a slight look at what’s to come!

Your child’s learning journey and milestones are captured and shared through one-on-one communication and our online learning portfolios on Storypark. This is a great way to keep up to date with what your child is doing while at the centre. You can log in to your private profile to see what’s been happening in your child’s day, check out photos of them and comment on the activities they have engaged in during their week at the centre.

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.