BestStart Belfast Kindy  

BestStart Belfast Kindy is (formerly ABC Belfast) is conveniently located on Main North Road, next to the Salvation Army. We pride ourselves on our home-like centre and garden, where families and children feel comfortable and secur

What makes us special

• Environmental focus: Children can learn about sustainability and the natural world in our amazing Children’s Garden. 
• Community ties: We visit local schools and have great relationships with locals.
• Healthy meals: Nutritious morning and afternoon tea provided.
• Hairdressing: In-centre service.
• Amazing indoor and outdoor spaces: We have a great environment, including a bike track and home-like rooms.
• 100% parent satisfaction: Our families are really happy - we earned 100% satisfaction in our 2018 parent survey! Read some of our feedback below.

Our childcare and education programme

We take time and address the small things so that children are prepared for a lifelong journey of learning. 

We offer:

Home-like atmosphere.  We’re a small centre, licensed for 45 children from two to five years old. Our centre environment encourages tuakana-teina relationships where children support each other to learn and grow with guidance and knowledge from our skilled teaching team. The children will enjoy outdoor activities, such as looking after our centre pets and helping their teachers in the garden. We also take the children on excursions into the community on a regular basis.

Teaching resilience. The teaching team are passionate about supporting our children to develop resilience and regulating emotions in a positive and proactive environment. Teachers have been trained by Te Ara Tuhura's Wellbeing Coach and mentor in practical strategies to support our children both at home and at preschool.

Preparation for school. Our Be School Ready initiative is woven throughout the everyday curriculum. As we prepare children for school, we meet children where they are developmentally and provide age appropriate activities.  Children learn and develop social and self-help skills with numeracy and literacy woven throughout the daily programme. We focus on life-long skills and work in partnership with our local schools to prepare children for the next stage in their learning journey. Each term we take children to Belfast School to help make the transition into the school environment as smooth as possible.

Our relationships. We take the time each day to ensure the small things matter. We build strong relationships between teachers, children, their whanau and the wider community. We know how important these relationships are for a child to reach their learning potential.