Newtown Early Learning Centre Project

Newtown Early Learning Centre (the Centre) provides the tamariki of Newtown and surrounding areas of Wellington high quality and affordable early childhood education and care for children aged 1 to 5. We are a small community centre, with four permanent fully qualified and certificated teachers for a maximum attendance of 25 children.

We have a two existing carpeted spaces with no underlay that our tamariki and kaiako use for play,  to sleep, to sit, listen to stories, sing, dance, build, focus, discuss, collaborate, relax, be comforted, learn, crawl, climb, roly-poly, jump, build relationships, piece jigsaws, create make-believe and so much more. Whilst our centre pays utmost attention to regular cleaning and maintenance, natural wear and tear has occurred, including staining and areas where the carpet has become threadbare, and our carpet is long overdue for replacement.

We are hoping to install underlay and replace the ripped, old carpet to provide our tamariki and kaiako with a clean and comfortable environment, to play, learn, have fun and also sleep where needed. So many activities within an early childhood centre, including sleep time, are run at floor level and unfortunately our current carpet had deteriorated to a level that it is no longer fit for purpose.

With the pressure of keeping to a tight budget, our non-for-profit centre has struggled to allocate the funds needed to replace our carpet as other urgent maintenance jobs have had to necessarily be prioritised.  The next urgent item on our list where any additional funding would be allocated to is to build a safer entrance gate to ensure we protect our tamariki from the busy road (which is near to a main bus route through Newtown). We currently don’t have one and this has proven a serious safety risk.

The team is absolutely delighted with the stunning new carpet! I can’t even describe how much it has revitalised the space. The tamariki (especially my son) are so excited. We can’t thank Carpet Court enough. The installer was awesome. He was so meticulous and stayed until 8.00 pm to finish the job.

Thank you again for providing us with this opportunity and accepting our grant application. Newtown Early Learning Centre will benefit for years to come.

Kate, on behalf of the NELC Governance Committee and Staff

What a fantastic opportunity to be a part of such a great cause! The parents and the staff at Newtown Early Learning Centre were a pleasure to work with and they are forever thankful for the new carpet we have just installed.

Anna Strahl, Carpet Court Thorndon Quay

Flooring: ElemEntry Apollo

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After