Tucked away on a quiet street, BestStart Rugby Park offers childcare and education for 3 month to 5 year olds. We have four different classrooms which include a nursery, a toddler room, a preschool room and a prep room. Our centre philosophy makes note of our desire to always have children’s best interests at heart.

Making a difference together

In our teaching team we have teachers who are qualified, in training and caregivers who will be able to offer your child many opportunities as each teacher has their own unique learning style to foster your child’s development. Our teaching team enjoy working alongside the children and encouraging them to be creative and express themselves to enable them to reach their full potential. We want every child to be given the opportunity to develop their skills and knowledge and to explore the world around them in a safe and caring place. As a centre, we work in partnership with our whanau. Our families and tamariki enjoy celebrating events such as Children’s Day, Polyfest, Matariki, Diwali and so many more.

What makes us different:

• Fabulous renovated playgrounds

• Friendly and supportive teachers

• Rich with quality resources

• Exciting centre events for the whole family and community

• Many opportunities to go on excursions

• Curriculum planned to encourage curiosity and wonder

We can’t wait to meet you when you come to visit our centre! We are happy to show you around and answer any questions you may have.

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 Waihopai Kindy is situated in the central city and just across the road from beautiful Queens Park. We are a unique kindy model, a mixed age setting catering for children aged 2 to 5 years old. Come and visit our spacious home like centre, and see all of the awesome learning experiences and environments we have to offer. We're open throughout the year, only closing on public holidays.

Embracing Uniqueness - awhi tūhāhā

BestStart Waihopai Kindy is a childcare centre with heart, offering a kindy model that allows children to thrive in a creative and fun environment.

Our centre is a tight-knit community where our quality teachers offer unique, fun, experiences on a daily basis. We foster strong relationships between teachers and children. We are a community of different cultures and take every opportunity to celebrate these through different events, learning opportunities and the community relationships we build.

We have a wide variety of good quality resources available for the children, ensuring that they have something to engage them in high quality activity at all times.

We offer 20 hours free for 2 year olds and 30 hours free for 3-5 year olds and are open during school holidays. We have full day or half day sessions or choose hours that suit you, we are open from 8.00am - 4.30pm, Monday - Friday including school holidays.

What you can expect from our centre:

• To be valued and for you and your child to build strong relationships with our teaching team
• All cultures will be embraced, supported and celebrated
• Support a strong foundation for children to thrive at school
• Healthy and nutritious morning and afternoon tea (we have a gold Healthy Heart award)
• High quality teachers who engage children every step of the way
• A lovely outdoor playground that allows children to explore and discover at their own pace

We would love to meet you and your child, come in and see what’s inside.

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.

The Cottage Kindergarten is an all-day facility for 2 to 4 year olds. We are open from 8.15am to 3.30pm and offer flexible hours of attendance within this, which allows us to cater for parents who work or study. At the Cottage Kindergarten we only close for a week in two of the term breaks, public holidays and over the Christmas period. 

We have a real sense of whanaungatanga/family relationships, which is very important to us as many of our children begin kindergarten when they turn two years of age. We offer a nurturing and inclusive environment with learning programmes specifically developed to be meaningful to each and every child, regardless of their age. 

As a teaching team we value parents’ learning aspirations for their children, and will work with them to achieve their child’s goals. 

We often take spontaneous walks around the community visiting local businesses, parks and reserves where the children can take part in active movement sessions or large group games. 

We are also part of the Taiao Tuhura/Discovering Nature programme. As part of this we take our eldest ten children out to the Kindergartens South native bush section on Myross Road every Thursday morning to explore and learn in nature. 

We have an onsite cook who prepares wholesome and nutritious meals for a low daily cost. 

If you are interested in your having your child attend The Cottage Kindergarten, you are welcome to bring them to have a look around and play while you meet our friendly team. We will endeavour to find a space for your child as possible.