BestStart Railway Road  

BestStart Railway Road (formerly First Steps Railway Rd) is a distinctly unique early childhood centre, set amongst a rural background away from the busy city centre, yet practically located between Fielding and Palmerston North. We welcome children and families of all communities and have an open door policy, allowing parents and whanau to spend time with their child in their centre setting at any time.

We are a centre of excellence, acknowledged within the community by our Trustmark Awards and Gold Healthy Heart Award. We have maintained strong connections with local community groups, which adds further quality and enrichment to our programme.

For Babies - Our Baby room is an environment set up to be a "home away from home", with stimulating play areas and quiet spaces. Our babies are supported to learn and develop at their own pace. Each child is valued as an individual. We value relationships and open communication and welcome parent/whanau feedback and contribution. We pride ourselves on knowing each child well. This enables us to provide a learning environment which is safe, supportive, fun, challenging and interesting, coupled with the right amount of nurturing, guidance and teaching from our team of qualified, caring and dedicated teachers.

For Toddlers - Our children are hugely supported and nurtured during their transition process to the toddlers room to ensure their sense of turangawaewae (belonging) and mana (pride) are upheld at all times. Our Toddlers are introduced to a more challenging, yet achievable, outdoor environment, supported and guided by their teachers as they develop confidence and courage to pursue their play independently. Both Toddlers and Preschool children are involved in local excursions on a weekly basis, planned in response to the children's interests. These rooms are very closely connected, allowing for both age groups the ability to interact outdoors together, while their age appropriate programme is available indoors.

For Pre-Schoolers - Our pre-school room has a close relationship with local schools, with our graduated children returning for visits and regular excursions to local primary school classrooms. The interests of the pre-school children are extensively responded to, and our curriculum is continuously evolving to meet the diverse and complex learning needs and interests of our children. The Pre-school room is fully equipped to enable children to engage in a range of literacy and numeracy experiences, where they develop a love of learning for numbers, text, language and symbols in a meaningful and fun context.