Childcare options in Taita

Talofa, Kia Ora, Malo e le-lei, Fakaalofa lahi atu, Bula, Kia Orana, Hello!

Pasifika Early Learning | Ao Kids is an early childhood family owned organisation in Aotearoa, New Zealand. Te Whāriki curriculum is embedded through our cultural values and is an important part of our practice here at Pasifika Early Learning. We are fostering a love for learning, innovative thinking, building and moulding strong leaders for future generations to come and with this we are ensuring our children are confident within their own ethnic heritage here in Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Taita Kindergarten offers a welcoming home-away-from-home environment for tamariki and their whanau.  

Our team aspires to develop a lifelong passion for learning in our tamariki, encouraging questions and creatively discovering new ways and ideas to teach through play. Our teachers create experiences and opportunities to help children develop the social skills and attitude they need for a future of learning.  

Taita Kindergarten is part of the KidsCan ECE programme where food is supplied for all children five days a week. Meals consist of sandwiches, yogurt, fruit and three cooked meals per week. Each child also receives a new pair of shoes and a rain jacket.   

We are proud that our kindergarten has become a meeting place for families in our multi-cultural suburb and a place for tamariki to express who they are. Our Philosophy is this whakatauki “Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia o tatou mahi” - let the uniqueness of the child guide us in our work”

BestStart Taita is a wonderful early learning centre located right in the heart of Taita, next to the Walter Nash Stadium. We provide quality education and care for children aged between 3 months to 5 years old.

At BestStart Taita our indoor environments are designed to support the learning and development of every age group.  Each room is equipped with high quality, focused resources designed to spark curious minds.

Our internal environment is supported with an expansive outdoor area where children can challenge themselves on the playground equipment while building their independence and self-confidence.

Kāihopara - our beautiful room for our youngest tamariki, starting from 3 months up until they are ready for our next classroom environments. We encourage and support their exploration in our room and our garden. A calm and tranquil space where time slows down for our babies and toddlers and they use their senses to discover our natural resources.  We go at the child's pace and follow their lead with sleeping and eating, helping them to feel trust in this place and their teachers.

Pūtohe and Awhero - our two rooms for tamariki aged 2 to 5 years old.  Children have a wide curriculum to choose from and develop skills needed for life.  Possibilities to play independently or with their friends.  Activities to assist with gross motor skills, fine motor skills, taking care of themselves, others, their belongings and their classroom.  A shared outside space with room to move their bodies in the open air.

We offer:

• 20 hours free for 3-5 year olds and WINZ subsidies available* if required
• Great teacher to child ratios
• Healthy, nutritious meals and snacks.

Our Vision :  Think outside the Box

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.