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EARLY CHILDHOOD » Kindercare
Volume 16 | Issue 4
Business North
45 years of making a difference Karen Phelps This year Kindercare Learning Centres celebrates 45 years of cherishing children. For Kindercare’s founder, Glennie Oborn, this success comes down to her personal philosophy: “Be who you are and if you hear the call, feel the pull or see the opportunity to pursue a cause that will outlive you, step up with energy and devotion and make a difference,” says Glennie. The seed for Kindercare Learning Centres was sown in 1971, when Glennie was just 23 years old and was teaching at Birkdale Intermediate School. A couple of years earlier her husband at the time had started his own business and during school holidays Glennie would go on sales trips promoting his services to prospective customers. Unfortunately, the business was not going well, which made Glennie the breadwinner so giving up teaching and staying at home to raise a family was not an option. She had never even heard of a childcare centre when an article in a magazine caught her attention, which suggested looking after children at home as a business. “I thought, good idea but what would I do all day? Six to eight children seemed so few compared to my class of 43,” she says with a smile. The following year, three month’s pregnant, Glennie opened her first centre in Milford, Auckland with three staff and 12 children. But like most business success stories it was not without its challenges. She says that the town planning process had been quite a learning curve, with a long-term neighbour embarking on a door knocking campaign to recruit objectors. This was the first of over 30 appearances at hearings, facing objectors, stating her evidence and answering questions from planners and city councillors, as Kindercare grew and moved into new areas. Glennie says that early childhood has always been very political and heavily regulated. In 1979, convinced that changes were needed in order to provide the best resources for children, professional development for teachers, and for high quality centres to be viable, Glennie made a visit, with her lawyer, to the head of early childhood services in Wellington. “There was no funding available then and we suggested that the centre size limit needed to be lifted to enable better facilities, resources and professional development and survival. “He was totally shocked and said they were planning to limit centre size to 25 or 30. We began a political lobby to at least maintain the 50-centre size limit and address other proposed backward steps, and the forerunner of the Early Childhood Council was established,” explains Glennie. The lobby to maintain the status quo was successful, but despite the licencing limit for 50
Kindercare Learning Centre founder Glennie Oborn with son Kelly, who took over as KIndercare chief executive in 2014. children, three years later Glennie won a resource consent from Manukau City for a centre for 84 children. She accomplished this by applying for two separate centre licences, 50 and 34, each with separate playgrounds, but all under one roof sharing kitchen, laundry, administrative and staff facilities. This complied with the regulations and the Department of Education reluctantly agreed, paving the way for centres for 100 children. Kindercare pioneered this and operated several 50 + 50 centres, and gradually other providers also established multi-licence centres. It took 33 years, just five years ago, before the regulations allowed more than 50 children on one licence. “Safe, Loved and Learning” are Kindercare’s core values and today Kindercare has early childhood centres in four major cities – Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington and Christchurch – and opening in Palmerston North this year. In 2014, Glennie handed the reins over to her son Kelly, who is Kindercare’s chief executive, moving Kindercare into the future. Kindercare
and its charitable arm – the Living and Learning Foundation – employ over 1100 staff. “Thousands of New Zealand women, our staff and our parents, have been enabled to further their careers and provide for their families while their children are safe, loved and engaged in exciting learning experiences. “It’s a privilege to care for the more than 4200 children who attend the 44 centres we operate each week,” says Glennie. For children to be kept safe, loved and learning, they need to be in the care of competent nurturing teachers. So in 1982, Glennie established NZ Tertiary College where people can gain Early Childhood Teaching qualifications. She is also one of the driving forces behind charitable initiatives including Living and Learning centre’s free teen parent programme which
provides life skills, parenting skills and personal development programmes. The New Zealand Tertiary College supports a children’s home for orphaned, abandoned and abused girls from the slums in New Delhi, India and Kindercare funds an ongoing project in Cambodia building and resourcing a preschool, developing and building school playgrounds, presenting workshops for primary and preschool teachers in the surrounding districts, and providing professional development through mentoring and support. Glennie believes her story has only been possible because of the many incredible people whom she regards highly and loves dearly, who work beside her. She is constantly learning from the treasured people in her life, who are aligned with the Kindercare vision and values, and who share her passion for children and for people.
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