Childcare options in Judea

BestStart Judea provides quality education and care in Judea, just up the road from the Brookfield shopping centre.

Growing Together

At BestStart Judea, we have a natural, home-like learning environment where children are supported to develop the skills to be a lifelong learner in one of our three age and stage appropriate rooms. Our fun, relaxed atmosphere is the perfect place for children to learn and grow. 

We have a great outdoor area where our children run, jump and have heaps of fun with their friends. Our big garden means that our children can pick flowers, herbs and leaves and use them in their play. We have a mudpit, which provides a great opportunity for your child to explore the natural world. There are many opportunities for your child to be creative in the centre, through art, dance and imaginative play. 

Our very special under twos room has a lovely calm atmosphere, where children play and learn at their own pace. Each child has their own cot or bed and bedding. We follow home routines and our days are unhurried, allowing plenty of time for bonding and learning. Our babies just love looking out to our nature area where there is a pond and an array of bird life that amazes the children.

Our team of teachers at the centre are extremely passionate about delivering quality learning opportunities for your child that builds upon and extends on their interests. This means that your child will have a huge range of learning experiences that they will be able to join in, from family play, play dough, building blocks to puzzles, books and just so much more.

We are very community focused and we go on regular outings to our local rest home The Bayview. Through these outings your child will develop skills such as empathy, love and kindness. We love helping our community and are often fundraising for local charities. We are part of the Resource Wise School initiative, where your child will learn about taking are of the environment and recycling, so that we can work towards a sustainable future. We offer Rugby Tots as an extra activity that they can participate in, learning turn taking, ball skills and more.

Building relationships and working in partnership with our families to ensure the best care for your child is at the heart of what we do. That is why our door is always open to our families and whānau, welcoming you to spend as much time as you need settling your child into our environment.

At BestStart Judea we provide all meals that are prepared and cooked on site by our centre cook. We cater to all children’s dietary needs and requirements.  We communicate daily via Storypark, so that you can see what your child has been learning during the day, these could be pictures or videos. Teachers also set learning goals for your child on Storypark and we document the progression of your child’s goal. 

We would love to meet you and your family so get in touch with us today or just pop in and see us!

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.

JeMMa’s Home-based Education and Childcare was founded on the belief that early childhood education plays a major role in a child’s ability to develop skills and learn throughout life. 

As a kindergarten teacher, Jenny Tyrrell could see that children who had a focus of learning whilst in a home environment appeared better equipped to learn in the future. As well as this, children who were well socialised with other children of different ages appeared to cope better than others. 

It was those two key observations which cemented her belief; that a child, learning with other children, in a homebased environment rather than an institutional environment, was the best way to go. And that’s how JeMMa’s started. The name is derived from a combination of the two directors names, Jenny and Martin. 

At JeMMa’s we believe that home-based education and care is the next best alternative to learning at home with Mum or Dad 

Children who learn in a comfortable home-based environment seem to develop strong problem solving, social and learning skills. Because they are in a comfortable, uncrowded environment children they get the chance to develop and learn at steady pace with all the help they need. 

JeMMa’s children receive lots of one-on-one time with their educator, as well as interaction with other children in different age groups. These are two core components in the development of happy, energetic, sharing, respectful, thoughtful, problem solving and fun loving kids. 

Our Philosophy 

JeMMa’s is a quality privately owned family focused Homebased Education and Childcare Service that is committed to ensuring that all children, parents, whānau and kaiako are welcomed and encouraged to play an active role in promoting positive outcomes for our learners. We are guided and inspired by Te Whāriki our early childhood curriculum which encourages us to appreciate that children come into the world eager to learn and we see this as a privilege where we can work in partnership with children, parents and whānau to empower our learners through responsive engaging environments and experiences where they can reach their highest potential and develop an enthusiasm for ongoing learning. 

Building and sustaining quality learning focused relationships with everyone is the essence to who are and what believe is valuable for outcomes for children and their ongoing wellbeing and development. Our nurturing relationships will be underpinned through our Christian values and connection with people within our service and our wider communities.  Our environments will embrace cultural diversity of Aotearoa and our commitment to Te Tiriti O Waitangi will be authentic. 

We view all children as unique learners where they will have endless opportunities to learn through play and develop a range of knowledge, skills, and learning dispositions. This will spark children’s independence, urge to lead their own learning, social skills, curiosity, creativity, discovery, ability to express themselves and things that are important to them. Our kaiako will dedicate quality time with our children where they will nurture those in the moment opportunities and offer the guidance, support, and encouragement that our learners need to blossom and thrive. 

Our vision

Explore & Flourish was created out of a love to build an environment for children to explore, challenge themselves and grow in confidence inside and out. We saw a need to create a place where children can be active, learn to live a healthy lifestyle and have the opportunity to do extra activities, leaving weekends free for the most important time - Family time.

Explore & Flourish was set up to create a haven for children where they flourish. Where they participate in activities that they love.

We offer a safe and nurturing environment where children can naturally challenge and extend themselves while becoming confidently connected with the world around them.

Our centre will follow the Principles, Strands and Goals of Te Whaariki - He Whaariki Mataranga mo nga mokopuna o Aotearoa - The Early Childhood Curriculum.

• We value being healthy and fit and trying new things through exploration and gentle guidance.
• We want to create life-long learners that are connected to the world around them. That are willing to take up opportunities and challenges that are offered to them. That are not scared to make mistakes because they understand that it is how we learn.
• Our 4-5 year olds are given a unique opportunity of early Primary trained teachers that understand the needs of not only the transition to school but also the skills required to set them up for success.
• At Explore & Flourish the children will make lasting memories while fostering strong relationships with both their peers and teachers.
• We want the children to be themselves, do what makes them happy and follow their interests.
• We value the importance of being able to offer experiences and activities for the children that target their interests to encourage their love for exploring and learning about the world around them. We see the value in both planned and spontaneous experiences to promote and develop the children and their learning.
• Our educators are well qualified, highly motivated and skilled. They bring a wealth of Early Childhood experiences, cultures and philosophies which underpin the Explore & Flourish day to day practice. They strive to provide stimulating provocations that encourage risk taking and curiosity, additionally mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities.