Paekākāriki Playcentre visits Kapiti Nature Reserve
On 23 February, Paekākāriki Playcentre went on a trip to Kapiti Island Nature Reserve. The weather was sunny, the sea was settled, and our tamariki and whānau travelled to Kapiti Island for a special trip more than a year in the making.
After some furious fundraising and a generous grant from the Campe Estate Trust (ngā mihi nui! Paekākāriki Community Board for the recommendation) we were able to take all our tamariki (including their tuākana, many of them alumni) to the motu.
We saw weka, takahē, pīwakawaka, and plenty of beautiful native flora. We finished the day off with a quick dip in the clear blue moana.
Thank you to Kapiti Island Nature Tours for the expert guidance and making it such a great experience for all. And a huge thanks to all those who sponsored our raffle and attended our comedy fundraiser to enable us to provide this learning experience for our tamariki!
Diverse-needs Community Playgroup starts in Canterbury
On the 5th of February, The Champion Centre, in collaboration with Playcentre Aotearoa, ran its first ‘Diverse-needs Community Playgroup’ in Mid-Canterbury out of the Ashburton Playcentre.
The diverse-needs community playgroup was born out of lunchtime blue-sky dreaming between two women, Leanne Stewart – the senior early intervention teacher at The Champion Centre, and Laura Banks – a previous social worker and current learning support assistant.
Mid-Canterbury is an expansive rural district which consists of farming families, migrant families and families residing within the Ashburton township and surrounding townships. Leanne and Laura identified that there was a significant gap within the community for whānau who have tamariki with additional needs to connect with others who were walking the same journey. They began putting the ‘feelers’ out and connecting with local initiatives and agencies, such as the Takiwātanga Whakatere NeuroHub, CCS Disability and the Chris Ruth Trust, who all echoed the need for a preschool targeted group that focused on supporting families to connect, share experiences, expertise and information about neurodiversity and disability.
The Champion Centre and Playcentre Aotearoa had been engaging in recent discussions regarding potential partnerships – so when a proposal was submitted to run a pilot for a diverse-needs community playgroup in Mid-Canterbury, both parties jumped at the opportunity to turn a potential partnership into a reality.
Ashburton Playcentre has provided a warm, safe and welcoming environment for the playgroup, with tamariki and whānau arriving each week ready to engage in play, exploration and connection. While the diverse-needs community playgroup is not specifically ‘early intervention’, its facilitators set up play-based activities which are carefully selected to cater to the needs of the children, supporting sensory regulation, gross motor/fine motor development, and encouraging and fostering social interaction skills. There is always an element of messy play, creative play, musical play, gross motor play and social connection.
Parents and whānau share stories, ideas and information with one another over coffee and during play with their tamariki. Having the opportunity to connect with others who understand has been “much needed and invaluable” as one parent described it, with another parent sharing that they “wished it had been set up five years ago!”
Towards the end of term one, the families were able to access a short online NZ Sign Language course facilitated by Liz Townshend from The Champion Centre. The ripple effects of learning NZ Sign Language have extended beyond the whānau themselves and into the local kura and wider community, with an eagerness and excitement for members of the community to learn more. The playgroup has become a space of laughter, tears, celebration and support; each week, everyone leaves feeling that bit more connected, uplifted and encouraged.
Playcentre’s moto is that ‘it takes a village’, and The Champion Centre’s is, ‘removing barriers, unleashing potential.’ Together, two villages have merged to create something truly special, a place of belonging, connection and relationship where barriers don’t exist and potential is recognized. This is just the beginning!