Childcare

We’re here to help! We encourage you to talk to us about what you need and what's important to you and your family for your child's learning journey. Enrolling your child at a quality centre will enable your child to be with other children and will help them to develop language, communication and social skills.

Benefits of childcare

Enrolling your child at a quality early-learning centre will enable your child to be with other children in their own age group. This will help them to develop language, communication and social skills.

Child care centres also provide a wide range of stimulating equipment and activities which extend children’s abilities, giving them opportunities for physical, mental and emotional growth. Trained staff know when your child is ready for the next stage of their physical and mental development and they have the skills to support their growth. They understand how to use language, water games, sand play, music, reading and other activities to keep children amused and stimulated.

Good child care includes sensitivity and responsiveness to your child’s needs and signals,  as well as happy and supportive interactions with your child.

The skills that older children learn at pre-school and child care centres enable them to  start school feeling confident and able to cope in a classroom. 

Choosing childcare

Quality early education can provide academic and social benefits that last well beyond pre-school.

BestStart offers qualified and caring teachers, quality equipment and toys. Our learning environment is safe and attractive. Children learn early literacy, numeracy and social skills, build their confidence, develop a love of learning and become well prepared for school.

Our early-childhood teachers and assistants are expert and well-trained. The majority of them hold qualifications in early-childhood education. Teachers study for three years to become qualified. They undergo ongoing professional development to ensure they are up to date with the latest teaching practices.

BestStart learning environments make all children feel welcome, regardless of their cultural, ethnic or language background. Our programmes provide lots of learning opportunities – reading, water and sand play, dress-up, science and social play. These activities may involve the whole class, a small group or individual interactions with our teachers.

 Settling your child

We’re here to help you to settle in your child. We encourage you to talk to us about what you need. It’s important that you’re relaxed at the centre as this will affect how your child feels.

Each child takes a different amount of time to get used to separation from their parents. Before your child’s official start we encourage you to spend some time in the centre together, to help them to become familiar with the different sights, sounds, smells, toys and faces. We recommend a visit two weeks before the start date, plus one or two more visits that gradually get a little longer.  Our professional teachers are skilled at comforting and reassuring children. We will talk to your child about all the fun things they can do and introduce them to other children. We will wait for your child’s cues as to when they are ready to explore the centre. One of us will stay within the range of your child for the first hour so that we are on call if they need us.