Secretary – Marianne Kayes

My ECE roots are in Playcentre with our 4 children, and in Parents Centre, both of which I joined in the mid-70s.These were heady times for lobbying, and I discovered a previously unrecognised enthusiasm for advocacy, becoming very active also in the Children’s Health Liaison Group. This group was pushing for many changes in our paediatric hospitals, especially for the introduction of comprehensive therapeutic play programmes. I subsequently took up a position as hospital play specialist and was part of the establishment of the Hospital Play Specialists Association. We lobbied successfully to have hospital-based early childhood services recognised by the MoE. This involvement led to various other opportunities including a Margaret Mary Blackwell travel scholarship, representing the HPS Assn on ECAC and EEdFed, and membership of the government’s Strategic Plan for ECE group way back in 2000 then again for the more recent SPEL group in 2018-19. Somewhere along the way I completed my ECE teaching qualifications, a Diploma in Early Intervention and an MHSc. I’ve been secretary for OMEP Auckland since 2015, but have held other roles too - as an NE committee member (1996-99), NE secretary, and Auckland Chapter President.