Welcome to the Wellington Playcentre Association website.

The Wellington Playcentre Association has 21 member Playcentres stretching from Miramar in Wellington City's southern suburbs to Otaki on the Kapiti Coast. We are proud of our heritage as the home of the Playcentre movement, and we are committed to continue to provide a high standard of educational and play experiences for children and quality adult education opportunities for parents.   Playcentre is based on a philosophy of child-initiated play and the importance of parents as educators of their own children. Playcentre is a licenced Early Childhood organisation that is unique to New Zealand.

This kowhaiwhai panel was designed for the Wellington Playcentre Association by Tipi Bevan of Otaki and stands as our logo today.

The bottom row of curves in the design represents nurturing whanau/family protecting and supporting the tamariki/children, forming the foundation of our strength.

The small triangles represent the areas with the association's region, each of which is made up of a number of Playcentres. The central triangle represents the maunga/mountains of the region and symbolises the power of our learning through the focus of energy.

The background design shows many strands interwoven together to complete the whole and represents the multi-cultural tapestry of people within the region.

HISTORY OF WELLINGTON PLAYCENTRE ASSOCIATION 

Wellington was the birthplace of the Playcentre movement during 1941 shortly after the outbreak of World War II.  Three mothers, Beatrice Beeby, Inge Smithells and Joan Wood wanted to provide some leisure time for young mothers with pre-schoolers.  Many women had husbands away at war and they found that by working co-operatively, they could provide some time out for each other as well as becoming involved in the education of young children.  As a consequence, those parents who got involved also received greater knowledge about childhood education.

The first Playcentre opened at St Mary's Church Hall, Karori, Wellington on April 1941 and was followed by a second centre in the Presbyterian hall in Kelburn in June 1941.  Both these centres still operate, albeit in different buildings.

The Playcentre movement grew rapidly and in December 1946, Auckland, Christchurch and Palmerston North joined Wellington to form the New Zealand Nursery Play Centre Federation which had its first meeting in May 1948.

The Wellington Playcentre Association had a great leader and mentor in educationalist Gwen Somerset, who from 1948 to 1951 was Assocation and Federation President.  Mrs Somerset recognised back then that parents were of great importance to a child's progress and learning.  Her commitment to parents as their children's first and best teachers remains a main tenet of Playcentre's philosophy.  Gwen Somerset was the first supervisor of training and this programme of parent education has continued to develop until the present day.