BestStart Hastings Central  

BestStart Hastings Central (formerly ABC Hastings Central) is a small childcare centre nestled in a home-like bungalow in the heart of the Hastings CBD. We are close to shops and walking distance to Cornwall Park. Our experienced team of qualified teachers are passionate about connecting our children to our community. Through our regular excursions our teachers excite, motivate and extend children to fulfil their learning potential.

Our Vision - Encouraging our tamariki to be urban explorers!

Our central community location - We love our central location and take every opportunity to explore our local community.  We have regular excursions to the library, local Post Office, and pet shop and often go off for walks to visit our families in their local businesses. We pass all sorts of interesting things on our walks so the children have ‘investigation back packs’ to take when we go exploring. These include clip boards, pencils, specimen jars and magnifying glasses to explore and investigate.

Building our environmental knowledge - Motivated by nature, our teachers have created a beautiful sensory environment where our tamarki can freely explore and discover in their own unique way. We have started a journey of becoming a more environmentally friendly centre.  Our tamariki plant and care for our vegie plots and hanging pallet gardens.  Our worm farm, snail habitat and bug hotel promote natural science learning, and encourage our children to respect and care for nature.

Be School Ready - Our Be School Ready initiative is carefully designed to support children’s next big learning step when they move to primary school.  Our regular community excursions encourage our tamariki to observe and notice the environment around them, and supports their literacy skills by reading street signs and shop frontages.  We support our 4-year-old children by having regular visits to our local schools to ensure their transition to school is a positive experience.

What makes BestStart Hastings Central different?

• Central location which supports our tamariki to be urban explorers!
• A dedicated cook who makes fresh, delicious and nutritious meals. We’re working towards our Healthy Heart award and share recipes with families. We supply morning and afternoon tea and a nutritious lunch so you don’t need to bring a lunchbox. Children are encouraged to develop their self-help skills by serving their own food and helping to tidy up by putting scraps in a pig bucket and clearing their dishes.
• We have a separate under two area for our babies with their own play area.