Greenhithe Playcentre
Parent-led preschool which has provided the Greenhithe community with high quality early childhood education since 1968. We currently offer five 2½ hour sessions per week, four family sessions and one for the “Big Kids” on Wednesday mornings. Each session is attended by approximately 25 children, with a supervision team of between six and eight adults. An enviable adult:child ratio. If you would like to find out more about Greenhithe Playcentre, please give us a call on 413 8053.

Collins Park, Greenhithe Rd
Ph 413 8053
http://www.greenhitheplaycentre.org.nz/
Welcome to Greenhithe Playcentre – a very special place where adults and children are learning alongside each other and having a lot of fun along the way!
We are affiliated to the North Shore Playcentre Association, which
belongs to the New Zealand Playcentre Federation. This is an
internationally recognised Early Childhood Education service unique to
Aotearoa New Zealand, which has been providing high quality Early
Childhood Education to families and their communities for over 60
years.
We believe that the family/whanau as the fundamental unit of the
community, should be valued, promoted and supported as the most
important setting for the nurture and education of our children. At the
core of our philosophy is child-initiated or self-directed play. Put
simply this means that children are free to choose their activities and
decide how, when and for how long they play. The adults role is to set
up a wide range of inviting areas of play with our excellent resources,
observe, support and extend the children’s learning. The long-term
result of this approach is that children learn to be confident decision
makers who take responsibility for their choices and actions.

We are a parent co-operative with all members contributing to the
running of the centre, and participating in making decisions. Adults
enroll in the Playcentre Education Diploma on joining (NZQA approved),
which aims to strengthen self-esteem, improve parenting and life skills
and empower parents as the first and best educators of their children.
With the training and support we receive we are indeed able to make a
positive, ‘professional’ and quality contribution to the early
childhood sector. In addition, there are opportunities to make life
long friendships, gain support from experienced parents, make friends
in the local community and learn skills which are useful long after the
children have graduated to school.
We cater for children from birth to school age. Our mixed age group
sessions reflect the structure of families at home, and encourage early
social integration. Older children can practice leadership, turn-taking
and nurturing, and younger children have a chance to learn from the
modelling of older children and to experience more complex play than
with their age mates.
We welcome families from any ethnicity, religion or family
circumstance, and celebrate the diversity of Greenhithe residents. We
have a strong commitment to biculturalism, acknowledging Te Tiriti o
Waitangi, and incorporate the principles of partnership into our
policies and practices.
We are a licensed and chartered Early Childhood Education service
and receive bulk funding from the Ministry of Education. As such we are
required to meet certain standards including providing a safe, hygienic
environment, quality sessions, accurate record keeping and trained
educators (that’s us parents!) We supplement the funding with our fees
which are currently $35 per family per term, and fundraising
activities. This enables us to provide quality sessions with excellent
equipment and educational resources.
We currently offer five 2½ hour sessions per week, four family sessions and one for the “Big Kids” on a Wednesday morning. Each session is
attended by approximately 25 children, with a supervision team of
between six and eight adults. An enviable adult:child ratio.
If you would like to find out more about Greenhithe Playcentre,
please give us a call! Or check out the website, http://www.greenhitheplaycentre.org.nz/ or the National Playcentre website
www.playcentre.org.nz or call 0800 PLAYNZ (0800 752 969).