Playcentre Aotearoa
Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi
AbbreviationPlaycentre
Formation1941
TypeCooperative Charitable Trust[1]
Registration no.CC37155[2]
PurposeHigh quality early childhood education - a co-operative whānau/family experience
Location
  • New Zealand
Region served
New Zealand
Membership
Parents of children attending
Staff (2022)
561[3]
Volunteers (2022)
13503[3]
Websitehttp://www.playcentre.org.nz

Playcentre is an early childhood education and parenting organisation which operates parent-led early childhood education centres throughout New Zealand and offers parents the opportunity to gain a Certificate in Early Childhood and Adult Education.[4]

When the first playcentre was opened in 1941 the prevailing philosophy in New Zealand child education was that education did not really start until children entered the formal, disciplinarian, school system. Playcentres instead recognised the value of early child education and specifically the educational value of child-initiated play.[5]

The playcentre concept originated in New Zealand,[6] but is now also established in Japan.[7]

Their mission is stated as "Whānau Tupu Ngātahi - Families growing together."

History and spread

The movement started during the Second World War to provide a break for mothers as well as means to allow for the social development of the child within a cooperative environment. In the initial years of the war, educator Gwen Somerset, who is responsible for the movement's philosophy, began to use Feilding's Community Centre (which in itself was the first in New Zealand) to hold classes on child development and parenting, and to facilitate children's daycare by means of a playgroup; this acting as the forerunner experiment to the playcentre movement. The first proper playcentre was established in 1941 in the Wellington suburb of Karori.[8][9] From the start each playcentre was a community driven initiative, organised by parents, utilising existing premises (e.g. church or community halls) and using parents as teachers. This allowed the easy spread of the movement, now encompassing over 450 centres around New Zealand and explains why they are the dominant provider of early childhood education in rural areas.[5]

Gwen Somerset, Joan Wood, Inge Smithells and Beatrice Beeby were among the founders of the organisation.

The Playcentre model has been copied by groups in other countries, including the Japan Playcentre Association.[10]

Philosophy

Playcentre was instrumental in introducing the concept of education through play and through child-initiated activities to the early childhood setting in New Zealand. This philosophy has since been adopted throughout all New Zealand early childhood education centres through the New Zealand national curriculum for early childhood education, Te Whāriki.[11] They remain a champion of child-led non-structured play as the best form of education in early childhood.

The organisation believes that parents are the first and best educators of their children and children learn best when they initiate their learning through play (child-initiated play). Within the centres children and adults learn alongside each other, in agreement with the socio-cultural model of learning which posits that a child learns best when surrounded by trusted members of his or her community.[12]

Each playcentre is a cooperative. Parents decide how their centre will run and are responsible for the education of their children. Parents also make decisions giving direction to how their association (regional body) and the New Zealand Playcentre Federation (national body) will run.

Practice

Children attend half day sessions, no more than 5 times a week. Children from 0 to 6 years, normally in mixed age groups, attend sessions run by parents. Parents manage all aspects of each playcentre, including the premises, administration, education of the children and education of themselves.

Playcentre offers dedicated sessions for babies under 1 year old, called Space. In addition to childcare, sessions are designed to create connections between new parents and to provide a place for new parents to discuss parenting.[13]

Structure

Since 2019, Playcentre Aotearoa is a charitable trust.[1] Previously every centre was part of one of 33 regional associations.[14] Each association was supported by the national body, The New Zealand Playcentre Federation. All of these entities were amalgamated in 2019.[1] In 2022 Playcentres voted at a special general meeting to replace the previous constitution with a new Deed of Charitable Trust.[15] This change will centralise the financial operations of Playcentre in the trust, taking some administrative burden off individual centres and allow Playcentre to remain compliant with Ministry of Education guidelines.[16]

Playcentres are chartered early childhood education providers with the New Zealand Ministry of Education. Independent research and audits by the Education Review Office confirm the quality of Playcentre's programmes.[17]

Playcentres are partially funded by the Ministry of Education[18] under the Education and Training Act 2020.[19] Government funding is on a per-session basis, and is determined by the number and ages of children, and the number of qualified supervising adults present.[20] Playcentres typically also rely on additional community grants.[21]

Adult education programme

Playcentre Education offers the NZQA Level 4 Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care.[22] The course assists parents in developing their parenting skills and their ability to facilitate early childhood education in a playcentre setting. The programme also helps members to learn how to work in a cooperative as well as being the training ground for Playcentre adult educators. The adult education programme is delivered at no cost to the learner.[23]

Notable Playcentre people

Famous Playcentre alumni include New Zealand's first female Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley,[24] New Zealand's first female Governor General, Dame Catherine Tizard,[25] the Olympic gold medallists, Caroline Evers-Swindell and Georgina Evers-Swindell, Colin Simon [26] (designer of the Christchurch Commonwealth Games 1974 games - Christchurch, New Zealand symbol and the Playcentre Logo), and Valerie Burns (Companion of the Queen's Service Order [27]).

Further reading

  • Laurenson, P and Wylie, L.(2000) Millennium Special Edition: Playcentre People. Playcentre Journal, 109, pp17–14
  • Stover, Sue (Ed). (2003). (Revised edition). Good clean fun: New Zealand’s playcentre movement. Auckland: New Zealand Playcentre Federation. ISBN 0-908609-46-9 pp 99, 240.
  • Densem, A. & Chapman, B. (2000). Learning together: The Playcentre Way. Auckland: New Zealand Playcentre Federation. ISBN 0-908609-36-1 p35
  • http://www.educate.ece.govt.nz/Programmes/TeWhariki.aspx
  • http://www8.plala.or.jp/playcentre/

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Organisation details", Playcentre, 2019-09-02, archived from the original on 2023-09-28, retrieved 2024-01-06
  2. ↑ "Charities Services: Playcentre Aotearoa", Charities Services, Government of New Zealand, retrieved 2024-01-06
  3. 1 2 Annual Return Summary: Playcentre Aotearoa 2022 (Report). Government of New Zealand. Charity Services. August 2022. Archived from the original on 2024-01-06. Retrieved 2024-01-06.
  4. ↑ "Career Services :: Courses & Training :: Course and Qualification Information Page". www.careers.govt.nz. Archived from the original on 2008-10-19.
  5. 1 2 Katey Mairs, and The Pen Green Team (2013). Cath Arnold (ed.). Young Children Learning Through Schemas: Deepening the dialogue about learning in the home and in the nursery. Routledge. pp. Chapter 8. ISBN 9781136241291.
  6. ↑ "Playcentre - History". www.playcentre.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2004-08-05.
  7. ↑ "Playcentre News - Early Childhood News". playcentre.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2010-05-14.
  8. ↑ O'Brien, Rebecca. "Feilding Community Centre". Heritage New Zealand. Retrieved 27 August 2021.
  9. ↑ Densem, A. & Chapman, B. (2000). Learning together: The Playcentre Way. Auckland: New Zealand Playcentre Federation. ISBN 0-908609-36-1 p35
  10. ↑ "Welcome to PLAYCENTRE!". www8.plala.or.jp. Archived from the original on 2002-06-02.
  11. ↑ "Home". 29 November 2013.
  12. ↑ "Playcentre - Philosophy". www.playcentre.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2004-08-05.
  13. ↑ "Space at Playcentre", Playcentre, 2019-04-01, archived from the original on 2023-09-26, retrieved 2024-01-06
  14. ↑ "Playcentre - Associations". www.playcentre.org.nz. Archived from the original on 2004-08-05.
  15. ↑ "SGM & AGM 2022: A number of special moments", Playcentre Bulletin, Playcentre, December 2022, retrieved 2024-01-06
  16. ↑ "Trustee Board Update – August 2022", Playcentre Bulletin, Playcentre, 2022-08-01, retrieved 2024-01-06
  17. ↑ "ERO reviews | Playcentre", Playcentre, 2020-01-22, archived from the original on 2023-10-26, retrieved 2024-01-06
  18. ↑ Bulk Funding (PDF), Playcentre, 2021, archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-05-23
  19. ↑ "Education and Training Act 2020 No 38 (as at 24 August 2023), Public Act 548 Funding of certain early childhood services and certified playgroups", New Zealand Parliamentary Counsel Office, 2023-09-15, retrieved 2024-01-06
  20. ↑ "ECE Funding Handbook: Appendix 1", Education in New Zealand, Ministry of Education, 2015-05-25, archived from the original on 2023-10-03, retrieved 2024-01-06
  21. ↑ "Grants update – November 2023", Playcentre, 2023-11-20, retrieved 2024-01-06
  22. ↑ "What we offer", Playcentre, 2021-10-27, archived from the original on 2023-10-26, retrieved 2024-01-06
  23. ↑ "Playcentre Education Fact Sheet" (PDF), Playcentre Education, December 2022, archived from the original (PDF) on 2023-10-26
  24. ↑ Laurenson, P and Wylie, L.(2000) Millennium Special Edition: Playcentre People. Playcentre Journal, 109, 17
  25. ↑ Stover, Sue (Ed). (2003). (Revised edition). Good clean fun: New Zealand’s Playcentre movement. Auckland: New Zealand Playcentre Federation. ISBN 0-908609-46-9 pp 99, 240.
  26. ↑ Stover, Sue (Ed).(1998). Good clean fun: New Zealand’s Playcentre movement. Auckland: New Zealand Playcentre Federation. ISBN 0-908609-46-9 pp 122.
  27. ↑ Johnson, Alexandra (10 June 2009). "Shaped the course of early childhood education". The Dominion Post. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
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