Hapori Resources

Hapori

Hapori, meaning “community”, refers to informal groups of Playcentres designed to promote connections between geographically close centres, fostering encouragement, idea-sharing, and support. Each Hapori reflects the centres and communities within it, working to meet their specific needs.

Purpose

At the heart of Hapori is whakawhanaungatanga, which builds connections and relationships. It serves as a space for whānau to network, discuss Playcentre, tackle common issues, celebrate successes, and support each other. Hapori also offers opportunities to learn new skills, organise community outings, and seek support from other centres.

All Playcentre whānau, from both whare, past and present, and volunteers, are warmly welcomed and encouraged to attend and participate in Hapori. This inclusivity is a key aspect of Hapori, ensuring that all members of our community can contribute to the collective growth and success of Playcentres in their communities.

Playcentre Aotearoa staff are available to connect with and support Hapori as needed, in alignment with the operational support framework set out by the Chief Executive.

Beyond Hapori are Rōpū and Clusters.

Hapori serve as important forums where our communities come together to discuss all things Playcentre. These gatherings provide valuable insights into the aspirations and perspectives of both Whānau Māori and Tangata Tiriti within the Playcentre community. Strong connections between Hapori, Rōpū, and Clusters are encouraged, allowing issues or concerns raised at Hapori hui to be brought to Cluster and Rōpū hui as appropriate.

For the process for Centres to feed their views through regional governance please see the Regional Governance Spaces section of the website.

Event/ hui recommendations

It is recommended that hapori meet:

  • at least once per term, but you might like to do more.
  • in week five of the term, to provide a consistent frame of reference
  • meetings can be held at centres or other appropriate venues. It is entirely up to the hapori members and their budgets. If meetings are held at centres, then it could be rotated around centres to share the costs.
  • the operational team will support events where required.

What others are saying

“Our cluster meetings have been “a great way to make the new members aware of what’s happening outside our Playcentre, both at other centres and in governance. It was a fabulous opportunity to showcase our centre and have feedback and suggestions from other centres. The whole experience brought our members together and created a sense of belonging and ownership of our Playcentre as a team”.

– Parua Bay Playcentre