Thursday April 13, 2017
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Creative new outdoor play spaces celebrated at Miramar Playcentre Miramar Playcentre celebrated the completion of the construction phase on their new outdoor play space on Saturday, April 1. The parent-run licensed early childhood education centre officially opened their improved outdoor environment with speeches and a community barbecue. Co-President of Miramar Playcentre Wibke Kreft was closely involved in the project and said she was excited to try out the new play spaces with her six year old son Konrad who started at Playcentre at 10 months old. More than 50 people attended the celebrations which followed a morning working bee where Playcentre parents and children helped finish painting and started the next planting phase. This milestone at Miramar Playcentre also marks the completion of
outdoor construction work at 19 Playcentres across the Wellington region by Seymour Construction, as part of a Wellington Playcentre Association major project to upgrade the outdoor environments at all centres. The outdoor upgrades include landscaping new grassy mounds, extended sandpits, dry river beds, water pumps from rain water tanks, natural planting and installing mud kitchens. “It’s great to finish off on a centre like Miramar that is really creative and completely transforms the area,” Seymour Construction‘s Rob Seymour said. The Wellington Playcentre Association provided funding for the outdoor play space designs and some of the installation work to be done at 19 centres. The final stage is to complete specified planting.
Wibke Kreft and her son Konrad, try out the new water pump which flows onto the dry river-bed play area at Miramar Playcentre. PHOTO: Supplied.
OUT&about Kindergarten celebrates a century By Emma McAuliffe
Mayor Justin Lester with head teacher Margaret Jamieson.
Berhampore Kindergarten celebrated their centenary at the weekend. The kindergarten, which was first started in 1917 and has been at its current location since 1928 celebrated the event on Saturday with an unveiling of plaques, digging up a time capsule and, of course, birthday cake. Residents young and old attended the event and shared their own memories of attending the kindergarten.
Mayor of Wellington Justin Lester, who unveiled the commemorative plaques, said he believed reaching 100 years was “no small feat”. “We as a country are barely 177 years old. We’ve been the capital city for 152 years. More than half that time Berhampore Kindy has been here. It really does take a community to raise a child,” he said. Head teacher Margaret Jamieson, who will be retiring at the end of the term, said she was very pleased with how the day went.
Newest pre-schooler Sylvie-Grace Carran blows out the candles alongside 1943 pupil Vass Coory (left) and 1934 pupil Valerie Davison.
The current staff at Berhampore Kindergarten.
The Kindergarten had walls of memories for locals to look at on the day. PHOTOS: Emma McAuliffe