ed. At one Home and School gathering, members of the Hawkes Bay Board Inspectorate, Messrs H. Campbell and H. McMillan both spoke favourably of the idea. Later in October Mr A. Grey visited Whatatutu and spoke to a large gathering of Maori folk in the Mangatu Hall. He went away greatly impressed with the attendance and with the enthusiasm of those present. In November the Hawkes Bay Education Board agreed to allow us to make use of the spare room at the school as our head-quarters; this was a gesture which we greatly appreciated.

Time to Think About It August to November: four months, and the centre not functioning yet. But although we would have liked to have seen it functioning, certain reactions had made us decide to adopt a ‘go slow’ programme, one designed to give the people plenty of time to think about it, time to realise that it was not something being forced upon them. After the Christmas vacation tempo quickened. Early in the new year 25 parents attended a meeting at which Mr Grey, Mr H. Campbell, Mrs H. Sunderland, and myself spoke. This meeting had success written all over it before it began—success, success. A committee was formed with Mrs I. Renata as president and Mrs P. Smith as secretary-treasurer; Mesdames L. Brown, S. Haymes and T. Irwin volunteered to train as supervisors; and most heartening of all, the first session of the centre was set down for the following Thursday, 26 February.

Red Letter Day What a red letter day for Whatatutu that turned out to be. I borrowed from the infant rooms at the school the equipment for the centre, used physical education mats, a bench, some balls, art paper and jars of paint. What a thrill it was, with 14 parents and 19 children all having a wonderful time together. Since then considerable finance has been raised through a dance, football matches and card evenings; people have made donations of equipment to the centre; weekend courses have been organised and proved successful; and monthly meetings are held at the homes of parents to assist with obtaining the Mother Helper Certificate and the Supervisor's Certificate. What about Dad? Dad has played his part too—assisted with fund-raising ventures, attended the centre's sessions, helped with the provision of equipment. What about the children themselves, how have they reacted? Far removed from the shy, restrained little toddlers of nine months ago, they now enter into their activities and experiences with gusto. It gives great satisfaction to see them enjoying themselves as they move freely and naturally, speaking over real telephones, being truck drivers, washing the dolls and their clothes, making cakes for afternoon tea. They can tell for themselves when it is play centre day—they have worked it all out. On one day the big children come to school, and then after lunch on the next day—it's Play Centre. That's right, on Tuesday afternoon. And what of the future? Our path to success has not been a clear one; we have had our problems and disappointments and we will continue to have some. But with a continuation of the fine spirit and enthusiasm now apparent in our community, the future is bright for the play centre movement at Whatatutu.

PLAY CENTRE AT MANAIA by Ruth Tangaere The writer of this account, Mrs Ruth Tangaere, is the acting supervisor at the Manaia play centre. Manaia is an all-Maori settlement of 22 houses, 8 miles from Coromandel on the Thames Coast. My husband and I were appointed to the school in February 1963. After a term there we decided that we would try to start a session for the pre-school children, to see if this would accelerate their progress through the infant department.

Making a Start On June 12th the mothers came to school to discuss this suggestion. We all agreed to organise a Saturday morning session, starting on the next Saturday. I agreed to supervise these sessions, which would be held in the infant room at the school, and with the outdoor equipment, from 9.30 until 12 noon, on each Saturday during the school term. The five-year-olds also attended the sessions. At first we just used the infant room equipment.