Correction In the front page article ?Lack of foresight around 20-hour free childcare? that ran in the Northern Courier on July 22,
Tthere was some confusion on the distinction between ?Playcentre? and ?Daycare?. This confusion resulted in a degree of misquoting of the comments made by the Wellington Playcentre Association Public Relations co-convenor Jude Pointon and this error is regretted. A corrected version of the article appears below.? Lack of foresight around 20-hour free childcare By Jamie Melbourne-Hayward The 20-hour early childhood education scheme has been extended to include 5-year-olds, kohanga reo and playcentres, resulting in more options becoming available for parents wanting to get back to work. Paradise Childcare Centre manager Brain Hogg says, ?Centre numbers are strictly controlled by regulation, and the ministry of education dictates you cannot have over a certain number at one time.? ?People take kids to centres in close proximity to work,? he says. The result of this has seen an increase in demand for city childcare centres, resulting in Te Papa saying they will open a centre before the end of the year. Although the civic centre has a problem providing care, outlying areas are able to cope with the numbers. Wellington Playcentre Association public relations co-convener Jude Pointon says building new centres is preferable to expanding current ones. ?If we were looking to expand we would build a new centre in an area with population growth, like Whitby. ?At some playcentres the adult-to-child ratio is very high, we never go above one-to-five, and some sessions can be as high as one-to-two,? she says. Playcentre caters for children from birth to six-year-olds, and cr?che, daycare and kindergarten caters for three to six-year-olds. ?Playcentre is cheap if you compare it to other places, because parents run the centres and it is parent led,? she says. Wellington Au Pair company Linguavision facilitate placing Au Pair?s with families, and say the crowdedness of play centres makes it better to have an Au Pair, but it depends on the parents. ?It?s good for parents that like to have language learning in the home, and have someone become part of the family,? says managing director Sophie Van de Moortel. Most Au Pairs come from Europe and other countries with working holiday visa arrangements, such as Chile. ?Parents know the reality that daycare often gets too crowded and there is no space, and [having an Au Pair] is much cheaper than paying for daycare,? says Ms Van de Moortel. Au Pair?s are paid $150 a week, plus meals and board and are among the cheapest childcare option along with volunteering at a playcentre or employing someone training in early childhood education. Wellington Nannies College students can be employed to work a 40 hour week in home for around $200, and are supervised by the family for the first week.
