Playgroups

This area of the site focuses on the needs of playgroups.

Playgroups are groups of parents that meet regularly with their children to facilitate play. They include Puna Kōhungahunga, Pacific Islands early childhood education groups, and community language playgroups.

On 1 December 2008 the Education (Playgroups) Regulations 2008 and the Certification Criteria for Playgroups 2008 came into force. These regulations and certification criteria contain the requirements and standards of education and care that a playgroup must meet in order to be certificated and be eligible to receive Ministry funding and support.

Certification is optional, but to become certificated playgroups must be assessed by Ministry of Education staff.

Guidance for the playgroup certification criteria is available in the sections below or can now be downloaded as a booklet from the 'Reference material' section of this page.