BestStart Avondale

BestStart Avondale is located on Wolverton Street, close to the New Lynn Train Station and the South Western Motorway. We offer a wonderful home like atmosphere with high quality learning spaces. Most of our tamariki will move to Blockhouse Bay, New Windsor, Chaucer and New Lynn Primary Schools.

At BestStart Avondale, our parents are a vital part of centre life and our philosophy. We pride ourselves on positive working relationships with whanau. Families are involved in various events throughout the year including centre programmes, fundraising and annual celebrations of cultures and community events.

Our programme is based on the principle of respect, responsibility and community through exploration and discovery. We provide a supportive and enriching environment based on the interests of the children through a child-led curriculum. We have three dedicated rooms caring for children of different age and developmental stages. The teaching team implement teaching methods and strategies that best suit children of different interests and needs that are woven together with Te Whāriki (Early Childhood Curriculum) and BestStart’s unique Be School Ready initiative.

Manawa Nursery (0-2 years) - The Infants room is a cosy room where babies are offered many open-ended play objects to explore freely. Each infant under two years old has a primary caregiver who works collaboratively with your family to meet the child’s individual routine and learning needs.

Rewa Rewa (2 – 3.2 years) - The Toddlers room provides free flow between indoor and outdoor areas for tamariki to explore and make their own discoveries. We have a covered deck area which allows for creative projects to begin. This is where our toddlers enjoy their hands-on experience by participating in art activities, dance and music. Our experienced teachers work closely with the children to help them develop social and self-help skills as well as starting their early literacy and numeracy learning.

Waitemata (3.2- 6 years) - The Preschool room is a well-resourced room where children are able to engage deeper in their play and learning with support from the teachers. They further develop their self-help and social skills, learnt from toddler room. The teaching team incorporate different teaching methods and strategies within daily activities to further children’s early literacy and numeracy, ensuring that all the children build a solid foundation for the formal learning experience at school.

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.