The Playcentre Aotearoa Professional Development team are currently offering three online, self-directed professional learning courses. 

To register for these courses please visit the PLD Upcoming Programmes page on our website. 

He Māpuna te Tamaiti: Supporting Social and Emotional Competence in Early Learning

This six-section course is designed to upskill kaiako on the Ministry of Education’s He Māpuna te Tamaiti resource. It builds on the content in PE3 Whanaungatanga – Positive Relationships and we recommend that new learners do PE3 instead. For those that attended B403 or Course 3+, this course will upskill you with the latest strategies for ECE best practice relating to supporting children’s emotional wellbeing and social competence. 

Safeguarding tamariki in Playcentre 

This is a refresher course for kaiako holding the Person Responsible role on Playcentre sessions. This course covers Playcentre Aotearoa policies and procedures related to child protection and equips kaiako to create a Playcentre environment that keeps tamariki safe from abuse and neglect, and to be able to identify potential child protection issues and know how to respond if concerned. Approx 2.5 hours learning time. Aimed at kaiako who have completed the L4 certificate/last undertook child protection training more than 2+ years ago.   

Transition from ECE to Playcentre 

This course is designed for kaiako coming into Playcentre with a Level 4+ ECE certificate, diploma or degree earned elsewhere. It includes information that is specific to Playcentre that kaiako would not have studied previously i.e. the importance of learning through play within Playcentre, the role of parents and whānau as kaiako educators, Playcentre policy, procedures and practices, key parts of Playcentre history and an introduction to the Playcentre Education programme (so that you can support other whānau in centre.) We look at the similarities between Playcentre and other ECE services, as well as the differences and what these mean for you as a kaiako and rangatira leader within Playcentre. The course has been designed to be done very part-time over 2 months; we are keen to get feedback from trial participants on actual completion times.   

Please contact Rebecca Congalton – [email protected] if you have any PLD requests for your centre or region.