Playcentre pioneer recalls
Looking back on the early days of Walton Playcentre, Helen Fromm isn’t sure how everything got done.
Most of the parents were dairy farming, as well as raising young families, and setting up and running one of the first playcentres in the region took a lot of work.
The idea came from local woman Jean Pryor and was quickly taken up by other young parents in the town.
At the time, Mrs Fromm had a 4-year-old son and an 18- month- old daughter and saw an opportunity to spend time both with them and other families.
“Playcentre really is a great social thing for rural communities,” she said.
“We got the chance to meet other parents and it was something we could do with our children.”
In 1962, the group of parents rented Walton Hall and it was there that Walton Playcentre was established.
“It was a lot of hard work but we had a lot of fun,” she said. “No one begrudged it. ‘‘People were very generous with their time and effort.”
It wasn’t long before the fledgling centre began attracting attention and Walton quickly set the example for future centres across the Waikato.
“Sometimes there were up to 80 people observing and visiting,” said Mrs Fromm.
“But we still managed to run quality sessions for our children. It wasn’t chaotic at all. It was a very well-run, very well-supported centre.”
Most of the toys and equipment were handmade by the parents and huge efforts went into raising money to keep the centre afloat.
While providing important learning experiences for the children, the parents were also busy studying towards Playcentre qualifications.
“The key to playcentre is that you’re educating the parents as well as the children,” said Mrs Fromm.
In the 1970s, Walton Playcentre was relocated to the Walton School grounds, where it continued to grow.
Even after her children went to school, Mrs Fromm and her husband Don continued to have a strong involvement in Playcentre.
Mr Fromm became the first male supervisor at Walton and the couple were both involved in the establishment of the Waikato Playcentre Association.
In 1971, Mrs Fromm was president of the association and four years later was named a life member.
Later, the couple turned their focus to Maori preschool education and helped to establish the Kohanga Reo at the Raungaiti Marae in Waharoa.
“I am passionate about Te Reo and the value of the Maori language,” said Mrs Fromm. I am a strong believer in education and although it was a lot of hard work, I would do it all again.”