Playcentre

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Playcentre is unique to New Zealand and offers quality Early Childhood Education for children from birth to 6 years. Playcentre is a parent co-operative which means it is run by the parents of the children who attend. Playcentres are grouped into regional Associations of at least 5 centres. The 33 associations make up the New Zealand Playcentre Federation.

The Playcentre movement started during the Second World War as a means of sharing childcare among mothers to enable them to go into the workforce to help with the war effort. The first such Playcentre was established in 1942 in the Wellington suburb of Karori. There are currently some 511 centres around New Zealand with Playcentre being the dominant provider of Early Childhood Education in rural areas.

Playcentres run play sessions of about 2.5 hours. A Playcentre may run up to 10 such sessions per week, and any child can attend up to 5 sessions per week. Playcentre champions parents as first and best teachers and through Playcentre's FREE education programme parents are able to learn alongside their children. The family learn and grow together with other families and a network of life long friendships are formed.

Playcentres are licensed and chartered early childhood education providers with the NZ Ministry of Education. Independent research and audits by the Education Review Office confirm the excellence and quality of Playcentre's programmes.

Famous playcentre alumni include New Zealand's first female Prime Minister, the Rt. Hon. Jenny Shipley, New Zealand's first female Governor General, Dame Catherine Tizard, the Olympic Gold Medallists, Caroline Evers-Swindell and Georgina Evers-Swindell, and a host of sporting, media, business and political luminaries.