Kia ora tātou katoa e te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa

During my time on the Trustee Board and as Co-President for Playcentre, I used this Whakataukī at many Playcentre hui:

Ehara taku toa i te toa takitahi, engari he toa takitini

My success is not mine alone, it is the success of the collective.

Since being appointed to the role of Acting General Manager earlier this month, I have again reflected on this whakataukī often. Whether we are involved in Playcentre as a centre member, a governance representative, or as an employee at any level of the organisation, this whakataukī can help remind us that we are all here for the same reason: Whānau Tupu Ngātahi – Families Growing Together.

At the start of Term 2, we launched Phase 2 of the restructure which had begun prior to lockdown in 2020. This has been quite the journey for our organisation, and we are continually seeing improvements and developing a better understanding of what the changes have allowed and will enable us to do. Here at the National Service Centre, we have been working away behind the scenes, keeping the operational machine moving. The National Management Team have been reviewing our work streams and aligning our processes, building on the knowledge and processes which already exist in our organisation. As you can imagine, this is a big piece of work and we are making progress continually.

Term 3 has started with the usual flurry of action in our centres and I look forward to seeing what changes the next few months bring – Spring is just around the corner!

At this time, another whakataukī has come to mind and seems appropriate to finish on:

E koekoe te tūī, e ketekete te kākā, e kūkū te kererū

The tūī squawks, the kākā chatters, the kererū coos.

Dr Hinemoa Elder, in her book ‘Aroha’, explains this to mean “It takes all kinds of people” (p. 41).

Noho ora mai, ka kite anō au i a koutou.

Susan Bailey