BestStart Palmerston North

Our converted house offers a homely feel for our littlest people. Relationships are part of all that we do to ensure our tamariki thrive and have the routines that work for them. Relationships are built through quality conversations with our whanau and especially through our high care routine moments that we have at this age. In this room and age group we are lucky enough to expose tamariki to amazing creative sensory experiences such as gloop and painting all while developing their fine and gross motor skills. 

We focus on building strong relationships in this space. This links directly to our learning priority of Whanaungatanga- Relationships with the tamariki and whanau, while providing a rich learning environment. This helps us to support tamariki at this busy age where they are challenging themselves physically and also learning how to communicate their ideas. The development of creativity in our tamariki is something we see as important. Providing a range of art, craft and sensory experiences daily is part of how we allow our tamariki to express their creativity.

Tamariki are encouraged to explore the environment through a variety of experiences inside and out. Our morning ritual of mat time sets our tamariki up for the day before heading off to explore and be creative in their play. We have two separate inside spaces allowing tamariki to be more engaged in age specific experiences. There is our Tui Room (2.5- 3.3 years) and our Kea Room (3.3-4 years.) We encourage independence in this room allowing tamariki to serve their own kai and begin to take responsibility within the environment. 

Set for school is something we pride ourselves on in this space, getting tamariki ready for their next big transition to school. The Preschool room is made up of mainly 4 to 5-year-olds and this allows us to focus on our set for school group. Having two qualified teachers who can teach up to the age of 8-years old is a huge advantage as they have a great understanding of the New Zealand curriculum. We foster independence and responsibility, which links with our learning priority of Kawenga -Taking Responsibility.  Our rooming planning is in line with the project approach, with a focus on a variety of subjects including NZ history, special occasions as well as interest based activities.

• Self-regulation research involving around 1,600 BestStart pre-schoolers could be a game-changer for education and generations of children. Named Kia Tīmata Pai (meaning: to start well, safe and sound), the project will span four years, involve around 140 BestStart centres, scores of teachers and 1,600 children. The research, funded by the Wright Family Foundation, is headed by Director of the Dunedin Longitudinal study, Richie Poulton. Other key partners are the Methodist Mission Southern and ERANZ.
• Clair Edgeler, BestStart National Education Leader, says that self-regulation is important in the making of positive life-choices. “What we’re setting out to measure are the effects of supporting both oral language and self-regulation together, on a very large scale, and in real world settings.”
• We know from the Dunedin Longitudinal Study that self-regulation is key to better adult outcomes.
• “The research will use self-regulation games to teach a range of emotional, cognitive (thought processing), and behavioural skills. These include delayed gratification, working memory (using memory to recall information to make decisions) and emotional regulation. An additional programme aims to enrich children’s oral language. Picture-book-reading and high-quality interactions between teachers and children are aimed at enhancing self-regulation and social and emotional skills. 
• Both the self-regulation games and oral language enrichment programme have undergone smaller previous trials and were deemed highly effective.