Manurewa Playcentre

Manurewa Playcentre

Manurewa Playcentre is an early childhood education centre for ages 0 to 6 years. It is similar to Kindergarten with a wide range of activities for children including painting, climbing, sandpit play etc. The difference is the parents are the teachers. So instead of leaving your children at day care parents can take an active role in the very important early years.

We are part of the Tamaki Playcentre Association and New Zealand Playcentre Federation. We receive government funding like other early childhood education centres and are subject to the same review processes and reporting.

Playcentre began in 1941 primarily as a support service to women left raising children alone due to partners being away with the second world war. Manurewa Playcentre opened in 1960. We are part of a long standing organisation and enjoy teaching our Tamariki.

Session Times

There are two different types of session:

Family sessions are the best time to visit us if you're interested in learning about our centre. These are held from 9am to 12pm on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday. These sessions are open to all children, accompanied by their parents or caregivers.

Big Kids sessions are held on Thursdays. Please note: Thursday is not open to visitors. These sessions are for children aged from 3 to 6 years and run a little longer, from 9am to 1pm. This is a drop-off session run by two amazing former Playcentre parents who hold Playcentre/Early Childhood qualifications. The Big Kids often go on trips around Auckland.

You can enrol for any two or more days. To enrol in Big Kids, a child must be attending at least two other sessions.

From Birth to School

We have a separate room so our youngest Tamariki can sleep in a quiet and safe environment.

Playcentre has a high adult to child ratio of 3 to 1 which enables us to deal more effectively with problem behaviour, such as bullying, should it occur. Policies are in place to work through the issues without laying blame in a calm and controlled manner.

As children approach school age many of them also attend sessions at the Kindergarten behind our Playcentre. This helps prepare them for the change of going to school and is also convenient as they may attend a morning session at Playcentre and an afternoon session at Kindergarten.

Koha Donations

Most of the funding we receive is from the government. Parents pay a donation of $20 a term when able (or $27 for two or more children). There is a $15 koha for the 'big kids' session each term.