BestStart Halswell Junction

Our newly built centre is in the heart of the Knightstream and Copper Ridge communities in Halswell. Our beautiful centre has five large and light classrooms ensuring high quality care and education for children aged 0-6yrs.

WHERE HEROES COME TO PLAY

Throughout all five classrooms the same vision of Where Heroes Come to Play is reflected through all aspects of our curriculum. We firmly believe that all children are heroes and all have something super special about them to share with the world – it is our job as educators to nurture those super powers in each and every child we care for and teach.

Throughout our programme we follow four main Super Powers which uphold our national early childhood curriculum Te Whariki. These Powers are:

The Power of Friendship

This supports relationship building, learning empathy for others, co operation skills with friends,  tuakana teina relationships learning from those younger and older than us. Ensuring our children truly value the relationships and friendships they will form in their lives.

The Power of Self

Building - resilience, positivity, respect for self, independence, communication skills, health and wellness, emotional intelligence, culture and identity. Ensuring our children feel connected to who they are, where they come from and where they may go in the world.

The Power of Environment

Learning about respect, sustainability, nature, consistency and exploration. Growing up valuing not only our wider world environment but also our immediate environment

The Power of Learning

Being ready for Primary School, working theories on how the world around us works and how we make sense of it, learning limits and boundaries and how to be active learners and explorers within these. Making sure we send our children on to Primary School with all the social, emotional and physical capabilities they need to get through their day while having an intrinsic love for learning.

At BestStart Halswell Junction we are lucky to have a qualified cook who provides mouth watering morning and afternoon teas and lunches, catering for all allergies and food preferences. All of our meals follow the NZ Heart Foundation Healthy Heart Award criteria to ensure your child is getting not only the yummiest, but also the most nutritious meals while at the centre.

Learning Spaces

Each of our learning spaces has its own unique name based on the Maori Atua (Gods).  The reason for this links to our centre vision “where heroes come to play” and us believing that the Maori Atua are true heroes in their own right!

Papatuanuku

Our exploring space for our youngest tamariki – those just beginning their journey – where it all begins.  A place to learn to be around others, feel safe to explore new challenges and environments while building strong personal connections with educators.

Tanemahuta

Tanemahuta – stretched his legs and separated Papatuanuku from Ranginui – like our toddlers – ready to begin their journey into being independent young tamariki. When children are feeling more confident and ready to engage in a more challenging environment they naturally transition in to our Tanemahuta Space. This is usually around 15 – 19months of age.

Maui

The cheekiest of all the Atua yet so courageous – just like our new 2 year olds!  When children turn 2 they begin a new adventure in the “preschool” end of the centre. The first of the 3 preschool learning spaces is our Maui space. This is where our children really start to find out who they are and how they fit in to the world. There are lots of open ended experiences and opportunities for children to test their own ideas and theories and take some risks!

Tangaroa

Tangaroa – god of the sea, the creator of waves and currents – being a 3 nearly 4 year old can be like riding an emotional wave sometimes as our tamariki learn to negotiate their emotional intelligence, resilience and tackle the world around them. As our children grow they become thirsty for more responsibility and independence and the Tangaroa room is made for that! We instil mana and strength in our children to know their own strengths and capabilities and not be afraid to embrace these.

Ranginui

Ranginui – our sky father watching over all of us – just like our 4 year olds as they prepare for their next journey of Primary School! The Ranginui learning space is open from 9.00 – 3.00 and is for our children over 4 years of age who are preparing for their next journey at Primary School.

In the Ranginui learning space we follow the routine of a school day. Children will be involved in a much more formally structured day just like they would at school. We prepare children for their new adventure to Primary School emotionally, socially, physically and academically, knowing that when they head off to school they are ready to take on whatever their new environment offers them.