Sessional kindergartens are iconic to New Zealand - like plunket, pineapple lumps or baked beans. Over the past decade I have put my three children through kindergarten and have experienced first hand how wonderful these community based organisations are. I and many other parents, have loved the sessional structure of kindy, and have become part of the ‘kindergarten family.’
The traditional kindy system was designed to smoothly transition children between home and school. Mat time, story time, counting and basic reading skills are taught in a classroom type environment. The terms follow the school structure, children arrive and go home at the same time and the system fosters friendship and independence for children.
When I received a call from a concerned mother telling me three more key kindergartens in the Ohariu electorate were planning to shift to all day licences I was ready to jump on the bandwagon and do what I could.
Throughout the day parents from Onslow, Khandallah and Ngaio kindergartens called my office to let me know they would be attending the meeting, with the Wellington Kindergarten Association, in support of keeping the sessional structure. When I got there, it was clear the parents who had called me were just the tip of the iceberg.
The Wellington Kindergarten Association had advised parents that Onslow kindergarten will be shifting to all day licensing and it will be ‘best for all.’
The main concern parents have is that they’ve been given little opportunity to consult with the association and feel that they have not considered other options.
Many of the parents didn’t want a bar of it – and for good reason. A shift to an all day licence will be the end of the traditional kindergarten as we know it.
Dr Sarah-Eve Faarquhar from the childcare forum explains that “from one group of services initially being focused on supporting mothers in their parenting role (kindergartens and play centres) and the other focused on providing parents with relief from childcare responsibilities (daycares, crèche etc.) the sector has become more and more a part of the formalised education system.”
And she’s exactly right. The nature of childcare these days has changed from how I knew it. The demand for all day crèches and childcare centres has sky rocketed as more parents go to work. Somewhere along the way, the line between crèche and a traditional kindy has been blurred.
It seems that kindergartens have shifted from supporting parents and children in their transition to school to an attitude that revolves around business and profit. For them, an all day licence equals more funding.
The parents who attended the meeting are well educated, smart and hardworking people. They choose to be stay at home parents. Their help volunteering and fundraising within the community in their spare time is invaluable. They care about their children and their children’s right to the iconic Kiwi kindy session. So do I.
