About

Colville Bay Preschool is a community-owned, not-for-profit preschool based in the Northern Coromandel town of Colville. We are nestled under the mighty mountain of Moehau, Te Umangawhaa is our river.

We are licensed for 20 tamariki, including 3 under the age of 2.

Our philosophy

We see each child as a taonga who brings with them a unique identity, culture, languages, capabilities, and potential. Ka mahi-tahi te whānau, kia tiaki i te wairua me te mana o ira o tāmariki. Ka Poipoia te tāmariki too tatou taiao whānui. Together we will nurture and protect the spirit and mana of the child honouring their connections to the natural world, whenua, atua Māori and tīpuna. Ka rongo hoki te tamariki i ngā tai rere o ngā Uumangawhā me oona rohe. We will create experiences and opportunities for children to connect with our community and local environment.

Ka rere-tahi te reo māori me te reo Ingarihi. Ko ngaa pou o too tatou whare, ko Te Tiriti o Waitangi, ko Te Whaariki, ko ngaa Tohotohu o Te Taahuhu o te Maatauranga, me ko te Matatuu Aotearoa. Te reo Maaori and English will flow together in our bicultural curriculum. As teachers we are guided by the Treaty of Waitiangi, Te Whaariki, our Code and our Standards for the Teaching Profession, The Teaching Council and The Ministry of Education Aotearoa, and ongoing learning in contemporary theories and pedagogies in early childhood education and our reciprocal relationships with Taamariki and Whanau.

Whakatauki

Ka whaangai, ka tupu, ka puaawai/ To nurture, to grow, to blossom.

He waka eke noa/ We are all in this (waka) together.

Our Team

Our team is dedicated to the well being of the tamariki. They are trained and experienced. We have three teachers and two assistants to care and give the best start to the children.

History of Colville Playgroup

In 1982 Joanna Pearsall and Trish Ives, from Karuna Falls applied for and received a small grant for equipment to create '’Waikawau Bay Playgroup" centred at Karuna Falls community in the Workshop. The supervisors were Joanna and Trish (both trained teachers).

Once the playgroup was set up and the Ministry of Education inspectors had visited, wages for the supervisors were included in the grant. Sharon Bagnall, and Jane Powell joined as parent helpers. There were many children from Karuna: Venu, Tarn, Maala, Charlotte, Zach, Ambika, Rakesh, Jasper, Nina, Lakshmi, Veronica Whitehouse, the Oborn children and some from Mahana and Sandy Bay communities.

The following year it opened a once-a-month session, held in the Colville hall as there were more children on the Colville side of the hill who needed early childhood education, but not wanting to travel to Waikawau Bay. The Education ministry cut the grant, so wages for supervisors were discontinued.

By 1984 the playgroup was meeting in the hall in Colville, no longer at Karuna Falls. Funding for wages was again provided by the Ministry of Education Early Childhood Development Unit (ECDU). Sharon became the Supervisor. The parents were required to be present with their children and paid a dollar a session. it was once a week, and very noisy in the hall and the need arose for a warmer friendlier place.

We then shifted to Ian McCauley is mother's house in Colville and later in 1986 Joanna arranged for it to move to the AV room at the school. We operated once per week out of one cupboard that was a challenge to shut at the end of the day.

Two sessions ran on that day, 9 to 1 1:30, and 12lo 23A because of government regulations. One session was ECDU funded and one by COGGS. Lora Mountjoy, Liz Kershaw, Jane Powell were supervisors with Wilma Pooch as the head supervisor. Phil Anderson was appointed treasurer.

Out of the need for parents to be able to have a break from their children and for the supervisors to earn some money, a series of meetings were held during 1989, looking for a home so we could run it more frequently and have our own bigger storage space and meet all the regulations for a fully chartered and licensed early childhood centre. Lots of options were examined... Previously a fire in Dale Wiren's workshop caused Dale to offer the building to the community. In conjunction with the school the community bought the shell and moved it to its present site to be used as a General Purpose room. The school and playgroup agreed to share the GP room.

In 1990 we started the long process of fulfilling all the government requirements to become a fully Licensed & Chartered Early Childhood Group'.

The vision of a place in Colville for young children and their parents to meet and socialise inspired many local people to give hours of their time, materials and expertise. A huge full on community effort saw the building refurbished, with a floor, inside walls, fence, and sandpit. The GP room became the home of the weekly Colville playgroup , still sharing the building with the school.

I

Which was all completed by June 1991. Wilma Pooch was to be the first Supervisor and the committee was Heather Osbourn as secretary, with Janet Palmer, Liz Kershaw, Maria Drum & Jane Powell. The critical minimum standard that we failed to meet was warm water to the toilet hand basins. Playgroup had been using the school toilets. It seems that schools don't need hot water for the toilets, but early childhood groups do. However the Ministry gave us a grant of $12,000 to build our own toilet block. After investigating biological waterless options, abandoned because of the high water table, we decided to build a holding tank and pump it up to the school septic tank.

After sharing the building for several years with the school, Playgroup bought them out as everyone recognised the need for our own space. At the same time Playgroup signed a property Occupation Document with the Ministry which gave us formal title to the building.

The next step forward came in 1998, with the addition of a second room... a quiet room & nursery. The big step backwards came with the weather bomb floods of 2001. The water was knee deep throughout the buildings. All the toys had to be discarded for health reasons and flooring, plasterboard and carpets had to be replaced, and the whole place repainted. That was-a miserable time...the weather was wet and stormy for several months after the floods and the building would just not dry out. We had to get operating again within 3 months or lose our License, and have to start the whole registration process again. We succeeded, just. Colville School was very supportive to us over this period, allowing us to store all our resource material and salvaged furniture in the AV classroom for more than a term. The Hall committee allowed Playgroup to operate out of the Colville Hall, which was a relief, but hard work, with everything having to be packed away at the end of the day, and little support for the needs of little kids.

In 2002,,to ensure that this flood damage would not reoccur, we raised the entire building by 70cm, added on an office and foyer, rebuild the toilet and kitchen areas to current ministry requirements and added extensive decks front and back at a cost of over $30,000' The centre now runs 3 days a week, employs 4 part time staff and caters for up to 20 children. It is one of the few Early childhood Groups in the country that actually operates on the same site as the local school, which makes the transition to school much easier for the local children.

The Foundation staff at the time when Colville Playgroup became fully chartered were: Wilma Pooch, Liz Kershaw, Maria Drum, Janet Palmer, Joanna Pearsall, Heather Oborn and Baerbel Schultz.

The foundation PuPils were:

Moana Keyworth, Vicky Oborn, Fred Mogford, Briar van Dort, Zawie Greulich, Tama von Ressegham, Billy Keyworth, Beth Pearsitl-Peters, Melissa Woemenhoeven, Jackson Davis, Miro Forsier-Edwards, Ruamana Cobbe, Niko Maiden-Drum, Ruby Powel, Stephen Currie, Gloria Sharplin, Zosta Bodger, Marama Thompson, Kerry-Anne Cambell-Barton' colville Playgroup is so very grateful for the funding and support of many individuals' groups and organisations over the last}4 years to create a supportive, peaceful, learning environment, with respect for each others values. Thank you all for helping to create such a wonderful gathering centre for our young children, their parents & whanau'

2001 floods,

wilmapooch@gmail.com