Update on the Playcentre situation

2/27/2022

In November 2020, I lodged a complaint with the Ombudsman about the Ministry ruling that home educated students could not be present on Playcentre grounds with their families, effectively meaning families with preschool aged children could not longer utilise Playcentre. You can read the details and correspondence in THIS thread.

Today, 28th Feb 2022, I have received a letter from the Chief Ombudsman to say that he has decided to investigate the complaint and has now begun making enquiries with the Ministry's Chief Executive.

In the latter half of last year, I was asked for some additional information by the Ombudsman's Senior Investigator, which I supplied. I gather from this letter that they have now concluded the situation warrants a formal investigation and ruling. I have not been given any indication how long this is likely to take, other than "We will write to you again shortly."

Updates when they are available.

7 Comments

Justine

2/27/2022 11:12:10 pm

Thank you!

Ellen

2/28/2022 12:15:54 am

Here's hoping for a positive outcome!

Rochelle

2/28/2022 08:18:27 pm

Thankyou so much for doing this!! I didn't even know you could go down that route. What a huge loss homeschoolers are to Playcentre when their oldest children turn 6.

Cynthia

4/6/2022 10:16:34 pm

Yes, it's been a very significant loss to Playcentre. When a government department takes an action that appears to be unfair, unreasonable, or contrary to law, there are processes in place to address that. The Ombudsman is part of the process where directly addressing that govt dept is unsuccessful in obtaining suitable resolution.

Carissa

4/6/2022 10:13:04 pm

Thank you so much for doing this. I didn't know that you could do this either. You've given us a little bit of hope.

Cynthia

4/6/2022 10:17:39 pm

You're welcome. Hopefully we will get a positive outcome that will provide a way for families to move forward

Anna

4/8/2022 04:20:16 am

Thanks for doing this. At our play centre my home educated children over 6 were always welcomed (we'd go once per week). Many of the children who were at the local primary school had the occasional day back at play centre when they felt overwhelmed at school and just needed to ground themselves emotionally again by having a day at playcentre. They too were always welcomed and contributed so much to the atmosphere at the playcentre. My younger children would have really missed out on the resources and connections of playcentre if we had not been able to attend with my older children.

Update on the Playcentre situation

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