Childcare options in Totara Park

BestStart Tōtara Park is a new early learning centre in Tōtara Park, Upper Hutt. We provide quality education and care for children aged between 3 months to 6 and are excited to be a part of the local community.

Learning spaces - At BestStart Tōtara Park our indoor spaces are built to support the learning and development of every age group – Infants, Toddlers and Preschoolers. Each room is equipped with high quality, focused resources designed to spark curious minds. We have an expansive outdoor where children can challenge themselves on the playground equipment while building their independence and self-confidence.

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.

Our Kindergarten has been based in the Totara Park community since 1975. Our families generally come from Totara Park and wider Upper Hutt community.

Our Kindergarten has a beautiful environment, in particular a large outdoor area which provides children with a variety of play spaces to discover and explore.

We believe in allowing children to learn through the natural discoveries that they make with their peers at Kindergarten. We support children’s growing dispositional learning by allowing them to follow their interests. We provide and environment where children grow socially and emotionally and develop school readiness skills.

The Kindergarten is close to Totara Park School and we offer regular opportunities to explore the wider community and learn about their place in the wider world.

Our session begins with a split mat time which allows the children to learn closely in a small group with teachers to support them, before they engage in their own self-directed learning. Children make their own choices and learn the importance of completing a task at their own pace before moving on to another task or activity. We encourage children to respect and take responsibility for the environment.