Childcare options in Kamo

BestStart Pipiwai Kindy is a top-quality Enviroschool Early Learning Centre, nestled in a semi-rural setting surrounded by hills, natural bush and farmland. We provide the very best education and care for tamariki in the greater Whangarei area, having recently won an “Innovation Award” for our links to our community.

Our natural, spacious centre allows for excellent indoor-outdoor flow, giving the children a choice of different learning environments. The outdoor area consists of natural gardens that the kaiako and children care for, a large sandpit, water play area, large open spaces and an adventure playground, which promotes active movement. We also have a Community Garden called Te Koha (The Gift), which supports us to provide vegetables and fruit to our whanau and local community. A major focus of our curriculum is to support our tamariki to learn about caring for their world and everything in it, including “Sustainability” and“Contributing to their Community”. Our centre is recognised as an “Enviroschool” with a Bronze Award. We are currently working towards our Silver Award, as we work to ensure a better future for our tamariki.

We cater for tamariki between the ages of 2 – 5 years of age. Our kaiako provides a programme that supports and encourages young growing minds with the aim of transitioning to Kura as positive contributors to society. We focus on school readiness by providing experiences for small and large groups of tamariki that cater for emerging interests. We are a project-based centre where we provide our tamariki with the skills to research, inquire and problem solve through their investigation of natural loose parts. All areas of learning are accessible for our tamariki throughout the day and children are encouraged to participate in all activities across the curriculum.

Our unique Be School Ready initiative has been developed to ensure that children leave the centre as confident, capable learners and prepared for the next step in their education journey. We are very involved in our local Kahui Ako, this includes developing close relationships with our local schools.

At BestStart Pipiwai Kindy, the team prides itself on the quality and experience of every staff member and the warm, safe and fun learning environment we provide for tamariki. It is our desire that you and your child experience the happy, fun learning opportunities on offer at BestStart Pipiwai Kindy.

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 Pipiwai Road is the northern most early learning centre in Whangarei, caring for children from as young as 3 months until they are ready to go to school. You'll find us just North of Kamo in a family-like country setting where we enjoy beautiful rural views from our playground.

At BestStart Pipiwai Road, our cosy centre caters for children in separate, well-resourced areas.Our under two teaching team are passionate and in-tune with the needs of individual infants and toddlers. We offer a genuine caring, safe, fun-filled environment with loads of opportunities to explore and develop while catering to your child’s individual routines and interests. Your baby will enjoy their own secure outdoor space and a variety of planned and spontaneous activities each week that will ensure they have the best possible opportunities to develop.

The over two area teachers are experienced and dedicated to helping your child reach their potential. We have loads of fun and creative resources, a secure shared playground and two dedicated indoor teaching spaces where your child will enjoy the benefit of focussed learning times that cater to their age group and interests. Our unique Be School Ready initiative encourages exploration and builds confidence, preparing your child for the excitement and challenges of school ahead. Our children go on to attend Kaurihohore, Matarau, Kamo Primary, St Francis, Excellere, Hurupaki or Whau Valley School.

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 Kamo Central is a bright and open early learning centre with a fantastic indoor-outdoor flow from each room. We're located in close proximity to Kamo Primary School and Kamo High School, a large sports park, and Kamo Township.

Home is not just a place, it is a feeling

“Ko Mana tōku maunga, Ko Aroha te moana

Ko whānau tōku waka, Ko au e tū atu nei”

“Mana is my mountain and Aroha is my sea

Whānau is my waka and all of that is me”

-Six60

We provide high quality learning experiences for children based on their interests and extend on these to optimize learning opportunities. Our teachers are very dedicated and passionate about teaching and education. We have five Early Childhood Qualified Teachers, and one teacher in training.

At BestStart Kamo Central will support your child every step of the way, they will learn to:

• Build self-confidence, courage, and belief in themselves to celebrate who they are
• Become confident to take risks
• Lead their own learning
• Become critical thinkers, through solving their own problems
• Persevere and be determined to be the best that they can be
• Develop their creativity to become ‘out of the box’ thinkers
• Learn strategies to further develop their social and emotional skills
• Become respectful, responsible individuals
• Experience running in the rain, mud between their toes and sun on their faces
• Most of all HAVE FUN!

“Children learn as they play, most importantly, in their play children learn how to learn."

We have a variety of loose parts throughout the centre both in our indoor environment and outdoor environment. Loose parts provide children with opportunities to develop their creativity, imagination, problem solving skills, and much more. We feel that this provides consistent educational opportunities for children in their early stages of development.

The centre is equipped with three indoor and outdoor play areas that cater to children’s individual ages and stages of development. The areas are made up of a 0-2 year old classroom (Kiwi Room) and a 2-5 year old classroom (Pukeko Room). These areas are bright and sunny with moveable play equipment and age-appropriate resources that promote optimum learning environments for our children.

Kiwi room (0-2 years classroom) 

We value building relationships with tamariki and their whanau. Room routines are flexible and we follow the children’s individual routines. Spontaneous play is recognized and valued. Tamariki have freedom and time to explore at their own pace. Infants and toddlers are constantly meeting developmental milestones and we celebrate each stage with whanau.

Pukeko room (2-6 years classroom) 

We have three different group times depending on where they are with their individual learning and development; Parakiore Group-Music and language, Hikurangi Group-Movement, and Hurupaki Group-Transition to school. These three groups are named after our local mountains and were based on the needs of the children we currently had in our classroom. These group focuses will change and be adapted depending on the needs of our tamariki. However, our Hurupaki group will always stay as a transition to school group to ensure that children leave the centre as confident, competent, capable learners and are prepared for the next step in their education journey.

We have a Gold Healthy Heart award and all our food is prepared and cooked daily by our chef. We encourage and support our tamariki and families to eat healthy and be physically active. We understand the importance that movement plays in child development so our playgrounds can be moved around so that we can regularly do this to provide the children with opportunities to extend on their capabilities and continuously challenge themselves.

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.