Welcome to the North Shore Playcentre Association website.

Playcentre is a family organisation where...

• We empower adults and children to play, work, learn and grow together

• We honour Te Tiriti o Waitangi and celebrate people’s uniqueness

• We value and affirm parents as the first and best educators of their children

so that whānau are strengthened and communities enriched.

Playcentre philosophy is based on the ideas of child-initiated play and is an early childhood education service, run as a parent co-operative.

Because sessions are run as a co-operative, parents meet out of session to share experiences and information about the children, and meet the business needs of an early childhood centre. Decisions are usually done by consensus, to ensure all members feel heard and understood. Everyone is expected to take responsibility for something, depending on their capabilities and availability.

We are very proud of the excellent quality of our adult education programme and attendance in it is an essential component of being a Playcentre parent. This ensures we meet the requirements for licensed and chartered centres and more importantly, parents learn how to run sessions within Playcentre philosophy.

The North Shore Playcentre Association has 21 centres within its area, this includes two Island centres. One on Waiheke Island, the other on Great Barrier Island. Our Centres are based in a blend of both urban and rural communities. The Associations headquarters are based in Albany.