The beginning was a bequest. Well, actually, the beginning of it all was having children of my own decades ago and changing careers to an early childhood education one. The bequest 10 years ago triggered writing a ‘dream’ down and talking about it with my family. They did not say I was crazy. Maybe now as we stare at bank statements in the ‘red’, some think I am crazy. But I’m not asking. The education and care centre is open; indeed, it is full. The dream has become reality. Those in the family who are closely involved are happy; the others are supportive.
This article is a story about ‘how it was for us’—for a group of family members establishing an early childhood education centre. It is not a ‘how to’ guide. There are guidelines on the Ministry of Education websites that describe the steps for establishing an early childhood centre and provide useful resources, see Establishing an ECE Service.
The full story stops at the point in time when the centre was licensed by the Ministry of Education and children began to attend. We are staying anonymous, as publishing the story is not a marketing exercise for the centre, and we don’t want it to be perceived as if it were.
The purposes of the story include:
- providing a reality check for some who may share a similar dream and are starting down the path of establishing an early childhood centre—be it an education and care centre, playcentre, kindergarten or kōhanga reo
- outlining points for establishment groups to look out for
- presenting a real-life story for those involved in early childhood education, and officials in central and local government
- sharing the ups and downs in the process of getting an education and care centre built and ready to open.
The story is presented in chronological order based on six phases of development:
- Creating the vision and initial ideas
- Location, location
- Financing the enterprise
- Nightmares – rotten weather
- Peopling the centre
- Coordinating everyone and everything in the last weeks before opening.