Winding down the old programme
Congratulations to students working in the old programme – more than half of those who at the beginning of the year were still to complete have now done so. Of note, another 30 Course 3 certificates have been awarded since mid April. Remember no more old course certificates can be awarded once the programme is closed off in December – you need to have work in to be marked preferably in Term 3 and definitely well before 1 December. It is still worthwhile to finish the Course you part way through as you will be able to use a Course 4 for licensing even beyond the transition period and C2 and C3 until the PIA, PEA and NZ Cert in ECE and Care (level 4) replace Courses 1, 2 and 3 for Playcentre licensing.

Gathering momentum in the new programme
Since the new programme began a year ago 750 Playcentre Introductory Awards and over 130 Playcentre Educator Awards have been issued. The first groups have now begun on the C-series modules on their way to a NZ Certificate in ECE and Care level 4. This opportunity will become more widely available with what is looking like a very exciting online option being built which will be rolled out in term 3.