E ngā rau rangatira mā, e kui mā, e koro mā, e huihui mai nei i tēnei wā, tēnei aku mihi māhana ki a koutou. Nau mai, haere mai rā ki Te Whare o te Kawana Tinara o Te Whanganui-a-Tara.
I wish to acknowledge from New Zealand Kindergartens: Sarah Tocker, Board Chair; Venus Guy, Norma Roberts, and Julie Craig, Board Members; and Jill Bond, Chief Executive Officer.
As Governor-General, it is my great pleasure to welcome you all to Government House this evening, to celebrate the centenary of New Zealand Kindergartens and the profound impact your organisation has had on generations of New Zealanders.
Governors-General have a long history of support for early childhood education in Aotearoa, with my predecessor, Lord Galway, gifting a portion of Government House land – formerly used as a horse paddock and vegetable garden – to the kindergarten movement in 1944, where the Newtown kindergarten has been thriving ever since.
We are delighted to welcome those tamariki to explore our magnificent gardens here at Government House each year, and it is a great joy to observe the children’s excitement as they engage in nature and with one another.
As you know, the kindergarten movement in New Zealand is directly descended from the German kindergarten founded by Friedrich Froebel, who coined the term kindergarten — ‘children’s garden’ — to reflect his belief that children, like plants, thrive when nurtured with attention and care.
Froebel’s revolutionary principles were adopted, adapted, and flourished here in Aotearoa, with kindergartens evolving to reflect our increasingly diverse communities. The convention of ‘going to kindy’ has become deeply embedded in our social fabric, and I am proud to note that our early childhood education system is highly regarded globally for its quality, inclusivity, and innovation – especially your bi-cultural Te Whāriki curriculum focused on accessible, child-centred play.
The world has changed a great deal since your inception, but I wonder if you might recognise this description of a Wellington kindergarten from the NZ Listener, published on 26 March 1943: ‘There wasn’t any noise, and there wasn’t any shouting, there was no quarrelling or pushing or shoving, but there were some dozen little children all very busy and all very happy. Some were hammering and some were climbing on a climbing frame, some were on a slide, and half-a-dozen at least were having a fine time in the sandbox. One or two were helping to water the garden. They were in a world that was made for them, where there was no scolding, and where things were made specially for them to play with.’
As a former Children’s Commissioner, as well as a mother and grandmother, I recognise how critical early childhood education is for developing emotional resilience, social skills, and the foundational cognitive abilities tamariki need to succeed at school, and indeed in life.
In fact, research from a Christchurch Health and Development Study has found a direct link between early childhood education in the 1980s and better academic achievement, higher incomes, and more consistent employment in adulthood.
I wish to take this opportunity to recognise your organisation’s broader achievements as a leading force in shaping societal attitudes towards women. Through staunch advocacy, the kindergarten movement played a key role in the professionalisation of care work, while creating opportunities for mothers to achieve economic independence. I also acknowledge the opposition you have faced over the decades, as well as the power of a strong collective voice, notably culminating in landmark pay parity with primary school teachers in 2002.
The seeds planted by those visionary kindergarten founders have flourished here, growing generations of capable, curious learners.
I am sure every one of them holds heartfelt recollections of happy times at their local kindy, with new memories created in your centres every day.
I thank you for your invaluable work supporting thousands of tamariki to thrive every year, nurturing each child to grow at their own pace, and become the very best version of themselves.
I wish to end with the fitting words of your former president, Helen Downer, from the New Zealand Free Kindergarten Union annual meeting in 1960: ‘I would urge all who have served the kindergarten movement to carry on as long as they are able, to make their experience and knowledge freely available, and to remember that ‘He who helps a child helps humanity.’’
Kia ora huihui tātou katoa.