BestStart Waiuku  

BestStart Waiuku is a centre where everyone joins in and has a lot of fun! The tamariki (children) and kaiako (teachers) go home with glitter on their clothes, big smiles on their faces and great stories to pass on to their whanau. We cater for all children under six years old.

Come and join us for a Stay and Play at First Steps Waiuku – Monday and Friday from 10.30am-11.30am.

What makes us special

• Be School Ready initiative
• Home-like learning spaces
• Chickens and vegetable garden
• Learning programmes based on your child's interests
• Solid language and maths focus

Our childcare and early learning rooms

Our centre provides a warm, safe and friendly environment for our children to grow and develop. We have three rooms to cater for the individual learning needs of our children. We pride ourselves on being an open centre where the children transition between rooms effortlessly, allowing them to explore new areas and resources as they grow within the centre.

The Kowhai Room. This is set up for children who are learning to roll, move, sit and eventually walk. We have a cosy room set up with age appropriate equipment to cater for children from birth to approximately 14 months. We follow the routines set by our families, however we can also set a routine if parents wish. 

The Matai Room. This room caters for older infants who are confident on their feet and gives them more room to explore. It has a great outdoor playground which provides many opportunities for physical development, including a bike track, sandpit and covered-in shed to use when it’s wet. The large open indoor play area offers lots of fun and engaging places for children to explore.  This room also provides age appropriate equipment to cater for young children’s development.

The Manuka Room. This room  offers a stimulating and safe environment for our tamariki aged 2-3 years to explore, learn and discover. The younger children are learning important skills such as communicating their needs, knowledge of themselves and also each other. The teachers foster and support the tamariki in building relationships and friendships.

The Nikau Room. This is a hive of activity for 3-4 year old's, where we foster independence and self-help skills. As educators we value our individual learners and encourage their contributions both within their own and within others’ play. Through this we embrace child-led activities and encourage leadership skills. We promote our learners to make discoveries, explore their natural environment and develop their own working theories first hand. Our children explore expression and creativity on a daily basis to enhance language and communication skills, numeracy, emotional literacy, problem solving and developing new perspectives.

The Kauri Room. This is for our biggest tamariki, which represents the Kauri Tree. The children are confident learners who participate within their large converted villa, again a home away from home. They have a large outdoor playground with swings, a magic garden and a huge sandpit! The tamariki were involved in the planting of the Kauri Tree within the playground, and they love exploring the natural environment outdoors. They also have their own chickens that they regularly feed and their own gardens where they help to weed, plant and harvest their own vegetables.