Study with us
The Level 4 certificate with Playcentre Education will equip you with the skills and knowledge to be able to support children’s wellbeing and learning, and to lead effective Playcentre sessions. It is also recognised with other ECE settings such as homebased care and has content that is transferrable to your role as a parent and as a community leader.
Benefits of the Playcentre Education programme
Benefit #1 - Discover how children learn
“Doing Playcentre Education has enriched not only my life, but it has opened my eyes to the world of how children develop and learn”.
Benefit #2- Connect with others
“I loved learning alongside other adults, I met people I would not normally have met and stepping outside of my comfort zone… and made new friends”
Benefit #3- Learn skills to support children's behaviour
“Schemas was such a highlight for me, I learnt my child is not being ‘naughty’ they have a schema which is an urge and they are learning it made me look at it in a different way and now I can come up with ideas to help support them”.
Benefit #4 - Increase confidence in interacting with other children
“[The Playcentre Education qualification] has given me so much confidence. I get to be a part of a team and I also have confidence in interacting with other children”.
Other providers also offer the NZ Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care Level 4; however, Playcentre Education has catered the learning to fit into the lives of multitasking parents and within a Playcentre environment.
Playcentre is a licensed ECE-service, and as part of our licensing agreement with the Ministry of Education, there is an agreement that some Playcentre whānau will hold ECE qualifications. This certificate and the modules within it meet that requirement. By completing the awards within the certificate and the certificate as a whole, Playcentre ākonga help their Playcentres receive funding from the Ministry of Education (check out the Playcentre Aotearoa Supervision Requirements for more info). More importantly, Playcentre whānau know that their tamariki are getting the best education possible from a group of skilled kaiako.
Read what others are saying below to learn more about the experiences of our ākonga.
Pathway to work opportunities
“I didn’t have the opportunity to develop a career prior to starting a family, the time at Playcentre has given me more experience and skills than I ever thought possible.”
The Playcentre Education programme leads to an NZQA qualification that can be used for licensing in your local Playcentre and to create career opportunities in the early childhood sector. Fostering skills and confidence to be lead educator in Playcentre the education program will also prepare you for a career as a homebased educator, early childhood education (ECE) support worker, and will be useful for seeking employment in community-based services that work with young children and their whānau, families and communities.
Nationally recognised qualification
The Playcentre Education programme is free for Playcentre whānau and will ensure there is no gap in your CV. The New Zealand Certificate in Early Childhood Education and Care level 4 will provide graduates with key understandings of learning and development along with strategies to support tamariki and whānau in early childhood education settings.
