Te Whānau Tupu Ngātahi o Aotearoa | Playcentre Aotearoa

Our vision is “Whānau tupu ngātahi – families growing together" and our Trustees play a vital role in the governance of an organisation that makes a real and positive difference to thousands upon thousands of whānau across Aotearoa New Zealand.

Originally established in 1941, Playcentre Aotearoa is incorporated under the Charitable Trusts Act 1957 as a charitable trust board, operating in the early childhood and adult education sector. Playcentre Aotearoa’s core philosophy is that parents are the first and best educators of their tamariki and that parents are involved in the process by attending sessions with their tamariki and delivering the Te Whāriki curriculum.

Playcentre Aotearoa has been a leader in the sector, championing play-based learning that is now a core part of Te Whāriki. As well as being one of the largest organisations in the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector, Playcentre Aotearoa is a community focused organisation where we invite whānau to join our village and today that village has grown to over 13,600 enrolled tamariki and 12,000 parental volunteers. 

Playcentre Aotearoa is also a Private Training Establishment (PTE) offering adult education qualification to Level 4 and receives substantial bulk funding from the Ministry of Education. As such it is subject to Tertiary Education Commission (TEC) and Education Review Office (ERO) oversight and compliance requirements in addition to all the usual compliance and regulatory requirements of a public funded organisation.

Playcentre Aotearoa is seeking expressions of interest for a number of Trustee positions that have become available due to rotation. Incumbent Trustees (if any) will be subject to the same selection process. Trustee terms will be dependent upon the election outcome and vary from one to three years commencing in December 2023.

Playcentre Aotearoa acknowledged Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the founding document of Aotearoa New Zealand in 1994 and operates a co-governance model through two whare: Te Whare Tikanga Māori and Tangata Tiriti House, so is seeking Trustee candidates who whakapapa Māori as well as those who do not. Trustees who are elected also take the role of leading each of the Whare over and above their usual Trustee responsibilities.

Playcentre Aotearoa operates through 402 centres with over 700 staff and over 12,000 volunteers for which it has Health & Safety responsibility. With over 13,600 tamariki, Playcentre Aotearoa generated $20.7m in revenue in the last financial year, with a deficit of $1.4m and has total net assets of $64m including a substantial property portfolio. Playcentre Aotearoa currently operates with a qualified audit opinion and material uncertainty related to being a going concern as detailed in the Annual Report for the year ending 31st August 2022. The current Board has in place a comprehensive plan to change this situation and create a sustainable future for Playcentre Aotearoa.

Suitable candidates who meet the following criteria are invited to express an interest in becoming a Trustee:

• Not prevented by law from being a Trustee
• Have or have had one or more tamariki enrolled with Playcentre Aotearoa
• In the case of Te Whare Tikanga Māori, are tangata whenua

This a substantial organisation needing Trustees who are well prepared to take on a high level of governance responsibility.

Trustee terms will be dependent upon the election outcome and vary from one to three years commencing in December 2023.

Please email an expression of interest to trustee.board@playcentre.org.nz to enter the process by 9:00am on 14 August 2023.

Upon receipt of an expressions of interest each potential candidate will be sent a briefing pack and application form to allow candidates to complete their own due diligence and then apply. For more information please click here.