Playcentre New Zealand brought the joy of learning, community connection, and the magic of play to life during this year’s Adult Learners’ Week He Tangata Mātauranga Festival with a special Adult Learning Camp in the Waitākere Ranges. Over three days, from 12–14 September, around 35 parents and whānau from across the Auckland region – and a few from further afield – came together for a weekend of learning, sharing, and exploring new ideas about parenting and child development.
Playcentre is a uniquely Kiwi early childhood education organisation, with a history stretching back more than 80 years. Across the country, just under 400 Playcentres provide education and play experiences for children aged 0–6 years. Each year, around 14,500 children attend Playcentre, where the philosophy is simple yet powerful: parents are their children’s first and best teachers.
The model is parent-led. Families work together to run their centres, with adults actively engaged in their children’s learning. Alongside this, Playcentre offers a structured adult education programme, enabling parents to gain skills, confidence, and formal qualifications in early childhood education – often sparking new career paths in teaching, education support, or community work.
For the Festival, Playcentre secured accommodation venues in the Waitākere Ranges to host their immersive Adult Learning Camp. The weekend was designed to blend familiar elements of Playcentre’s nationally recognised training with the inspiration and freedom of the outdoors.
Indoor workshops mirrored the organisation’s standard courses, covering topics such as how children learn through play, parents as first teachers, and building positive relationships. These sessions were popular with parents who had already started on their Playcentre learning journey, deepening their understanding and building on prior study.
The outdoor workshops offered something different – a hands-on introduction for parents new to Playcentre learning. Participants explored the treasures of the earth, discovered ways to use natural resources in play, and learned how nature-based activities can foster creativity, resilience, and curiosity in children. These sessions not only inspired new ideas for home and centre-based play but also introduced parents to the flexibility and creativity that underpin Playcentre’s approach to education.
Kara Daly, Playcentre’s Pedagogical Lead, said the ACE Aotearoa Festival grant was invaluable in making the event possible.
“We’ve already completed a similar weekend course in Tauranga at the end of May, which was very successful. Prior to COVID, we ran these types of taster courses quite regularly, and we’re now just starting them back up again, they give parents a chance to be lifelong learners.”
Many parents involved in Playcentre were in full-time employment before their children were born. The training programmes offer them new growth opportunities post-children – building skills, gaining confidence, and often igniting a passion for teaching. Playcentre’s adult education pathway includes face-to-face and online learning, with options ranging from short courses to the NZQA-recognised Level 4 Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care. Last year alone, 167 parents graduated from Playcentre training.
While many Playcentre educators and volunteers also have other part-time or full-time roles, they remain committed to the Playcentre philosophy – providing the bulk of educators in the network’s centres and keeping the parent-led model thriving.
As Kara notes, the benefits of the camp experience go far beyond the workshops:
“It’s also about making connections between different Playcentres in the region. That helps with sharing resources, linking communities, and supporting each other. And with the outdoor courses, parents can access experiences that wouldn’t normally be possible in a standard Playcentre environment.”
The Festival was the perfect backdrop for this event – celebrating adult learning in all its forms and showcasing the way Playcentre weaves lifelong education into family life. Thanks to the support of ACE Aotearoa, Playcentre was able to extend this opportunity to more parent learners, strengthening not just their skills, but their networks and confidence as educators, caregivers, and community leaders.
In Playcentre’s world, learning is never just for children – it’s for the whole whānau. And as the parents who left the Waitākere Ranges that Sunday afternoon could tell you, sometimes the best classrooms have no walls at all.