A warm welcome
Your first days in a centre can be overwhelming but we will give you a warm BestStart welcome to help you settle in quickly.
Grow with us
We’re committed to growing great leaders. Our internal Leadership training is an awesome resource for our people.
The making of a great team is a great leader. They are the driving force behind the success of any centre. That’s why we offer our highly successful courses that grow leadership skills no matter what your role is within BestStart. We hold a ‘First Leaders’ programme for teachers wanting to take those first steps up to a Head Teacher role and a ‘Future Leaders’ programme for aspiring Centre Managers.
We know your career development matters to you, that’s why we’ve created a clear Career Pathways programme to support you on your learning journey within BestStart.
All our courses are supported by our passionate and dedicated Learning and Development team.
Our engaging, informative programmes merge the best of international leadership principles with the most current pedagogical leadership research. Through our programmes, we see our people grow in confidence, achieving personal and work goals they never dreamed possible. Every day, we see the incredible impact that has on our teams and tamariki.
Over the years we’ve established a firm principle of promoting aspiring BestStart leaders from within our teaching teams. When you’re ready to step up, at BestStart, we’re with you every step of the way! We give you enough supporting and training to ensure that you’ll be a success but also enough space to lead how you want to lead.
We believe the role of leadership in ECE is for everyone, not just those with a title! By empowering our people to be nurtured by coaches and mentors, or by taking on those mentoring roles yourself, we grow you to be the best version of yourself you can be.
See How We Support Your Career
Kiaora
Induction
Support
Work and study
Assistance
Scholarship
Development
A mini induction
Students spend time with their Associate Teacher ensuring they know what is expected of them, and the support they can expect from us.
Only the best
Having a great experience is important to us. We carefully select the best teachers to work as Associate Teachers alongside our students.
Work and study
We offer students the opportunity to work in a centre. You can gain practical experience and earn some money at the same time.
Financial support
Once permanently employed, we offer financial assistance during practicums.
Study Scholarship
Students across New Zealand who are entering their final year of study in ECE can apply to become one of our Scholarship winners of $4000 towards course fees.
Great PLD
We help you continue to grow your knowledge by offering ongoing PLD opportunities that best suit your needs.
Registration
Mentoring
Support
Appraisals
Development
Wellbeing
Giving back
Next Step
Registration paid for
Once you gain your qualification we will pay for you to become registered with the New Zealand Education Council
Mentoring at it’s best
We have an outstanding induction and mentoring programme. We'll support you gain your Full Certification as quickly as possible.
PCT Hubs
You are not alone, we have lots of other PCT’s who you can network with to get support and share information with.
Inquiry based appraisals
Our appraisals are an opportunity to celebrate your effort. We use Inquiries to encourage you to reach even greater heights the next year.
Great PLD
Our teachers participate in a myriad of PLD opportunities that will continue to challenge and grow your ECE knowledge and practice
Focus on wellbeing
We have a huge focus on well being, for our tamariki and for our staff. Taking time to look after yourself, means you have more energy to teach our tamariki
Time to give back
Once Fully Certificated you can join our team of Associate Teachers and learn the art of mentoring others to be great teachers too.
Looking for the next step
We have a huge focus on leadership. For those who see this as their next step they can join our First Leaders Programme and explore the principles that make great leaders.
First leaders
Head teachers
Mentoring
Learning
Future leaders
Centre manager
Support
First leaders course
For teachers who see leadership in their future can join our First Leaders Programme and explore the principles that make great leaders.
Head teacher essentials
As a new Head Teacher you'll come to our Induction called Head Teacher Essentials and gain some great tools to help you be successful in your new role.
Mentoring and coaching culture
The best leaders coach and guide not tell and direct. We encourage all our people to be leaders through mentoring others around them.
Learning and development team
We have a learning and development team of leadership experts who can offer more individualised plans to help you on our leadership journey
Future leaders
All our aspiring Centre Managers are encouraged to participate in our 3 month Future Leaders Programme that helps prepare them for this next step.
Centre manager essentials
New Centre Managers attend a two day induction and learn more about the wide support network they can call on at any time.
Support, support, support
Not only do we have a wide network of support teams, Centre Managers get regular support from their managers to help them stay on top!
