From the Chief Executive

Winter 2007 brings some significant changes to Kidsfirst – changes that will go a long way towards ensuring future generations of Canterbury and West Coast children have access to Kindergarten in the years ahead.

From July 1, all of the children in our regions will be entitled to Free ECE – the government initiative that funds up to 20 free hours per week of early childhood education for three and four-year-olds at teacher led services like Kidsfirst.

Also from July 1, Kidsfirst will replace its traditional donational system with a fees-based structure. Our new fees are modest: just $1.02 per hour for children attending sessional services, and $4.60 per hour for those attending all day kindergartens and our Early Learning Centre.

Why the shift to fees?

When I was a ‘kindy kid’ and my children were ‘kindy kids’ (even when my mother was a ‘kindy kid’!) we took kindergarten for granted, and to a degree, the kindergarten took the support of its communities for granted. It was a happy arrangement that worked both ways – kindergartens provided high quality low-cost education, while parents and volunteers provided the person power and small donations to keep things ticking along.

However, the past few generations have seen societal changes that have rocked what was, for the times, a very sensible and comfortable arrangement. Today, more and more families are juggling two careers. Volunteer-based services across every sector are struggling with low support. It’s not that the community doesn’t care but rather, people just don’t have the time to turn that caring into action.

Kindergartens also face an increasingly competitive environment. Parents have many more choices today about where to spend their early childhood education dollar.

While the quality of our teaching has never been in question, some of our facilities and resources are in need of a boost, and our teachers are spending too much time scrabbling around arranging fundraising to pay even basics like the power bill. We need to start looking to a sustainable income base so we can deliver the sorts of facilities our communities expect and let our teachers get on with what they do best – preparing our under 5s for the next stage of their education.

If you have any questions or concerns about the changes we’re making, please don’t hesitate to contact me by emailing sherryllw@kidsfirst.org.nz or call me on 338 1303.

Looking forward to exciting and vibrant times ahead.


Sherryll Wilson
Chief Executive
Kidsfirst Kindergartens