1 O'Neill Avenue, Belfast, Christchurch 8051
You can expect a warm welcome when you arrive, we encourage you to come on in and meet with us so you can have a look at what we have to offer.
We believe in providing children with spaces that encourage them to learn through play and planned group experiences that extend on their current interests. We utilise our surrounding community to support our curriculum by making regular excursions to the local supermarket, vegetable market, café and parks.
Our spaces are designed to be age appropriate and stimulating. Both our under two and over two outdoor play spaces are very large making them fantastic spaces for physical development and exploration.
Each of the classrooms offers a programme that supports children’s individual care and educational needs. We pride ourselves on flexibility and meeting children’s needs. Our programme also offers a range of regular experiences in music, art, group times, story times and much more.
Our Nursery:
In the nursery, we do love, laughs, and hugs. We trust in the abilities of every single child and nurture them to develop into confident, capable learners in a fun, safe, respectful and happy environment. Our special relationships with the children and their families help each and every child form a strong sense of belonging. We go above and beyond to build trusting partnerships with our parents and whānau, valuing open and honest communication and by being approachable and available. We love celebrating all precious moments such as birthdays and milestones, and we treasure every cuddle, every giggle and every smile. We are passionate about making every child feel loved and valued.
Our Preschool:
In the preschool, memories are made by the deep relationships between teachers, children, parents, whanau and each other. Upon arrival at the centre, there's excitement on the children's faces as they start their day. They enjoy a welcome with their family and settle into their routine. Children are supported to begin to develop their independence through stages such as toilet training. This is accomplished by having clear, honest communication between teachers, children and their families. We support routines from home and align them with what is happening at preschool. We support children to achieve, using positive reinforcement which furthers trust skills, we celebrate success and encourage them to try again when not successful, allowing for positive memories of challenging times.
Our Prep School:
Our day incorporates many learning opportunities for our tamariki. We continue to value independence and encourage the children to take care of their belongings throughout the day. This is a key ability that has been identified by our local schools for our tamariki to have prior to starting school. We value our Be School Ready programme that prepares our tamariki for school by encouraging social competence, letter and number recognition and self-help independence. The environment and experiences offered in the prep-room build on each child’s confidence encouraging them to challenge themselves in many aspects while receiving positive reinforcement and praise to reach their full potential. Our prep-room at Beststart Northwood provides children with a positive, empowering caring environment where our children’s lasting memories are made.
Providing an environment that allows toddlers to challenge themselves and support their natural determination, we have plenty of activities for children to try new skills. Allowing children time to be successful in moments of sheer determination enables them to develop positive feelings towards life skills that prove a challenge. With the outdoor environment being so large and incorporating both the prep and preschools, children are given the chance to interact with the younger nursery children (over the fence) as well as the older children in the prep room. Supporting and encouraging the relationships and well being of the children during these interactions fosters skills such as trust, friendship, acceptance and perseverance. These interactions allow for many memories to be made and cherished as each child continues their journey through BestStart Northwood.
Relationships with Whanau (Whanaungatanga) – We as Kaiako understand that parents and whanau are the most important people in their life. We respect parents as first teachers and work with you to guide your child through their learning journey. Therefore, we take pride in communication and consultation with our Whanau, collaborating to ensure we are providing a home-like, secure, loving and developmentally appropriate environment and curriculum. As a centre we ensure that we take time to celebrate each and every milestone that our tamariki achieve.
Inclusion – As Kaiako we believe in Cultural Appreciation. As a team we celebrate such events as Chinese New Year, Matariki and Language Weeks within our centre. We also take part in nationwide events such as raising money for Plunket and the Cancer Society.
Community Involvement - We as a team believe it is important to be a part of our community. Our kaiako (teachers) support our parents and tamariki with transition to school, where the kaiako organise visits to our local schools. We also complete other adventures around our surrounding neighbourhood so that our tamariki learn an appreciation for their wider environment.
We are happy and pleased to be at BestStart Northwood - all our girls have been here, given that we were last here over 5 years ago, it is great to see the consistency in procedures but also the commitment by the staff to nurturing all those in their care.
The whole school is so accommodating. It makes me so happy that Kara is thriving and enjoys being there.
A great preschool with great teachers, great outside area.
The teachers are all amazing, they are all like one big family.
