BestStart Waikanae

BestStart Waikanae offers childcare and education for children aged 6 weeks to 6 years in a warm and nurturing environment that is safe, happy and full of love. Nestled in amongst the gorgeous Waikanae hills, we are fortunate to have easy access to Hemi Matenga, Mahara Place, the Museum and of course our neighbours, Waikanae School.

Learning Through Fun

BestStart Waikanae has a diverse teaching team who bring their own passion and energy in different ways each and every day. All of us enjoy a good laugh and share the belief that teaching should be fun and exciting and children’s days should be filled with love, laughter and learning. We're very lucky to have a large, natural playground with trees to climb and plenty of room to run and ride bikes. We back onto the grounds of Waikanae School and often spend time rolling down the hills and exploring their playgrounds during the school holidays.

Nurturing and Empowering our Tamariki

At BestStart Waikanae children learn through play and exploration.  They have time and space to make their own discoveries and develop at their own pace.  Our teachers nurture this self-discovery by offering resources and experiences that build on existing knowledge and enrich their learning.

In our Nursery we follow the rhythms and routines of the children to ensure they feel safe and secure during their time with us and we work very closely with our families to make sure there is continuity between centre and home life.  Our practice is based on the RIE philosophy and we believe that respectful relationships and interactions are key to the development of confident and curious infants and toddlers. We have confidence and trust in our tamariki that they can make decisions for themselves and lead their own learning.  To empower them we work alongside them in their journey and live by the mantra “do with, not to”. 

Nurturing our bodies is as important as nurturing our hearts and minds.  Our tamariki love helping to prepare their own kai and they are learning about where their food comes from and how to make good choices for themselves. We are currently part of the Know Me, Eat Me Programme which is supporting this learning even more. 

Our Environment

We are lucky to have a large, natural environment, with trees to climb, bugs to hunt and mud to make pies with, which supports the children to learn about their physical world.  We also make good use of the Hemi Matenga Nature Reserve that is on our doorstep, visiting each week with a group of children. 

Getting Ready for School 

As part of the BestStart family we are involved in the Be School Ready initiative, which is focussed on supporting children, through a play-based curriculum, right from infancy, to become confident and competent learners with a passion for life-long learning and the skills they will need to transition to school at the age of five.  Every child is unique and so is the journey of learning they take so we make sure they are supported by robust, individual plans that celebrate who they are and the gifts they bring with them.

We invite you to come and visit; spend some time exploring our world, sharing in the fun and learning and getting to know the team.  We welcome you with open arms into our little community.