BestStart Merivale is a renovated, converted villa. We have two rooms, a nursery for children up to 2 years old, with an emphasis on primary care, and a preschool room for 2-6 year olds.

BestStart Merivale is home like with a friendly, passionate team of teachers who work alongside children to encourage exploration and self-help skills to prepare them for the world. Our programme recognises and follows children’s individual and group interests, and we provide daily experiences to extend children’s learning and knowledge, as well as providing a rich core curriculum that allows children to choose and drive their own learning.

We have very large outdoor play spaces, which provide a variety of challenges for children to run, jump, bike, play and learn. We provide a seasonal, nutritional lunch, as well as morning and afternoon tea, all created here on site. We are happy to cater to any dietary requirements.

We have a comprehensive transition programme, for all aspects of transition – from settling in, changing rooms and leaving to school, so children are confident and well prepared. We also liaise with local schools as part of our Be School Ready initiative, as well as provide plenty of experiences that help grow literacy, numeracy, language and group work.

What makes us different:

• Nutritious meals prepared on site daily
• Lots of community involvement, such as school visits, local library visits, and excursions
• Central location and close to bus routes
• A home-like villa set up to create a comfortable environment for children
• Passionate, committed and welcoming teachers who help extend children’s learning and experiences
• Spacious separate outdoor areas for under 2 year olds and over 2 year olds
• 20 Hours ECE subsidies available (conditions apply)

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.

Fundamentals Merivale preschool specialised learning in Christchurch

We believe that children deserve respect, consideration, and acceptance. Our specialised learning centre in Christchurch is staffed by happy, friendly professionals who are grateful for the daily joy of working with children. We pride ourselves on providing a caring, supportive and stimulating environment in which your child can learn and grow.

Developing “Mind-Body, Mind-Brain” connections The provision of the Gym/Numeracy & Literacy/Extension Group programmes provide an active, specialised learning environment with emphasis on balancing the body and the brain.

We value our families and community by strengthening relationships, including parent and Whanau communication, participation in Communities of Learning and developing ongoing connections with local schools

We emphasize that learning should be based on love, security and fun! At Fundamentals we believe in providing the building blocks for success in learning. This comes through creating habits of the children’s mind that inspires them to want and need to learn all the time

We provide spacious indoor and outdoor areas with many programmes that provide not only fun, but more importantly stimulating developed learning skills. Visit Fundamentals today to discover how we can help your child stay fit, balanced and happy.

Welcome to Fairleigh Kindergarten your leading local early childhood learning centre.

Fairleigh Kindergarten aims to provide experiences which encourage competent and confident learners in a safe, stimulating and secure environment. Individuality and a positive self esteem are encouraged, along with co-operation, awareness of others and independence.

The experiences offered foster creativity and an interest in learning. A high ratio of qualified staff to children, excellent resources and a safe, well maintained environment ensure these aims can be achieved.

About Us

Fairleigh began in 1915 on the veranda of a house in Rossall Street.  It was then run as a preparatory school in Holmwood Road for five years and moved to its current site in Garden Road in 1929.  A group of parents took over the lease in 1947 and the Fairleigh Preschool and community centre was formed.  In 1950, a decision was made by the parents to purchase the property at 27 A Garden Road and an incorporated society was formed to own and administer the kindergarten.  This is how it is still run today.  The members of the society are the parents of the children currently attending Fairleigh. A parent board is elected annually as the governance body of the kindergarten. The kindergarten is still remains not for profit and is registered with the Charities Commission.