Childcare options in Riccarton

Looking for safe, loving childcare in Fendalton?

You’ve found it at Kindercare Fendalton, where keeping your little one safe, loved and learning is only the beginning. Here, our dedicated Centre Director, Jemma Helps, and her experienced team set your child up to successfully develop their full potential by nurturing their social, emotional, physical and cognitive development.

And we believe in supporting your family and whanau as you make your way through these early years. That’s why we offer enrolment options to suit your needs, including full time and part time care and education.

It’s everything you’d want for your child’s ‘second home’. And we can’t wait to welcome you into our childcare centre with open arms, open communication, and open hearts.

Why choose our centre?

From the moment you and your child walk through our doors, you’ll realise there’s no place like our ‘home-away-from-home’. Once a beautiful character house, our daycare centre will embrace your family as part of our own.

Our expansive outdoor area has the relaxed, inviting feel of your child’s own backyard - with plenty of room to play, explore and make natural discoveries among our established trees and greenery.

Since 2004, our homely centre on Puriri Street has lovingly supported tamariki from infancy until they are ready for primary school. Here, your little one will spend time in care and learning environments that are specially designed for their age and stage of development. 

Welcome to BestStart Kilmarnock Street. Conveniently located close to the CBD and Westfield Riccarton, this preschool really offers something special and unique in a rich multi-cultural environment.

What makes us special

• Consistent, stable and talented teaching staff.  Most of our teachers have worked here for 5-10 years or more!
• One of the best quality centres in New Zealand, according to the Education Review Office.  We are very proud of our Education Review Office report.
• Extra learning spaces.  Along with our light, airy, spacious classrooms, we also boast a large open foyer with a beautiful custom built Waka Stage, big enough to be an extra space for yoga, Zumba, physical games, parent education evenings and celebrations!
• Free, inclusive Mandarin language lessons for all our children

欢迎您报名加入BestStart Kilmarnock Street幼儿园！我们幼儿园的特色之一就是我们有来自世界各地的小朋友，家长和老师。因此我们的老师可以说多种不同的语言，其中包括毛利语，普通话，日语，印度语，尼泊尔语，旁遮普语和斯里兰卡语。同时，我们专业的教师团队对婴幼儿及学龄前儿童的教育和学习方面有着丰富的理论知识和实践经验。秉持着因材施教的理念，我们 BestStart Kilmarnock Street 幼儿园有三个班级以适应小朋友不同的成长和学习阶段。每个班都会根据各自小朋友的实际情况来安排他们每日的学习和作息。当小朋友的成长和学习情况适合于转到下一个班时，我们会根据每个孩子的情况，在与家长沟通的前提下，协助孩子和家长顺利适应新班级的学习和生活。

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.

BestStart Riccarton is a beautiful early childhood centre, offering quality early education and care for children aged 3 months to 6.

Across our two buildings, we offer engaging learning environments along with three large natural outdoor areas that provide plenty of space for your child to develop their gross motor skills. We're a culturally diverse centre which provides us with the opportunity to celebrate, understand and learn about a wide variety of cultures.

Nutritious food - BestStart Riccarton provides nutritious, fresh and healthy morning and afternoon tea, created according to the NZ Heart Foundation's Healthy Heart guidelines.  We also offer breakfast for our early starters and a late snack for children who are with us in the afternoon.

What else makes us special:

• A separate, safe, infant space where our babies are able to develop at their own pace
• We have four bilingual teachers who support children and families that use English as a second language. The languages include Urdu, Korean, Hindi and Tagalog
• We pride ourselves on being a community-focused centre, taking the time to embrace all of the difference cultures within our centre and celebrating alongside our families through events held 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.