At BestStart St Lukes “We are one family”. We have a strong
commitment to Whanaungatanga/Relationships while creating beautiful
surroundings for all our children to identify, learn, develop and grow in life
and the world around them.
Our community is diverse and embrace each child and families
cultural background and specific needs. We build upon Manaakitanga/Care, Love
and Nurturing each and everyday through our thoughtful, planned and emerging
opportunities, experiences and environment.
Our practices and rituals throughout BestStart St Lukes
follow Haututū/Exploring, Auahatanga/Creativity and Whakakata/Humour. Learning
through play is a vital part of our visions and values while showing respect to
each and everyone who walks through our doors.
We invite you to meet our amazing team of experienced and
friendly teachers and have a tour of our enriching and fun learning
environment.
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.
