PLAY CENTRE AT RUKUMOANA

Te Ao Hou, March 1965, Page 44

Here are reports sent in by the committees of two more successful play centres. PLAY CENTRE AT RUKUMOANA in december 1963, some thirty Maori people at Morrinsville attended a meeting at which Mr A. Grey, the pre-school officer of the Maori Education Foundation, described the aims and organisation of play centres. The enthusiasm of his hearers led to the formation of a play centre committee of interested parents who thereafter met monthly to discuss the setting up of the Centre, how to obtain preliminary equipment, how to raise funds, and how to create greater interest amongst the community generally. As well as this, several mothers visited neighbouring pre-schools at Morrinsville, Walton and Gordon to gain first-hand knowledge of how these groups managed and what equipment was in use. The Committee decided to have the opening session on the 6 May 1964. This was a very successful day at which 18 pre-school children, 11 mothers and three fathers were present. Later in the afternoon, two Morrinsville Kindergarten teachers visited the Centre, and expressed their surprise at the numbers present and the array of equipment in use. Equipment at this stage consisted entirely of play things brought in by the parents. Three tables and several chairs for the children's use were donated locally.