BestStart Montessori The Gardens  

Montessori The Gardens offers quality childcare and education in Dunedin’s North East Valley. We are conveniently located just five minutes drive from the CBD, Otago University and the Polytechnic, with plenty of parking, perfect for commuters.

Our environment - We are lucky to have three character buildings which provide spacious indoor and outdoor learning environments for our children. Our large, well-established and sunny garden provides many places to explore, challenge and learn.

Our well-resourced, prepared environment with specially designed materials creates a respectful learning environment promoting inclusiveness and a strong sense of community.

Our teaching team - We are a passionate, qualified and experienced Montessori teaching team, committed to encouraging a child’s natural curiosity and desire to learn. We also have our very own centre chef who provides children with delicious and nutritious vegetarian meals.

Our programme - We offer a strong Montessori programme focusing on the child’s potential with an emphasis on learning through self-discovery.

The unique Montessori learning philosophy encourages a love of learning and builds healthy self esteem and social competence in our children. Our programme fosters independence and self discipline and teaches solid math and language skills.

By becoming part of our community you also become a member of MANZ – Montessori Association New Zealand and receive quarterly magazines keeping you up to date.

Respect - At Montessori the Gardens children learn from each other – tuakana teina. Children learn respect for themselves, their peers and their environment – in doing so children develop a self confidence, concentration, a sense of order and harmony.

Multicultural - We have a rich and diverse cultural make-up in our centre. We celebrate and knowledge all the unique qualities of our children an families - currently we have Maori, American, Tongan, British, Mexican, Indian, Australian, Chinese, German, Swedish, Czech, Cambodian, Malaysian, Turkish, Russian, Ethiopian and Thai children. 

20hrs free for 2 year olds - we are offering 20hrs free for new 2 year old enrolments. This amazing offer is for a limited time so contact us today to find out more. We also provide 20hrs free for our 3-5 year olds as well!