Kia ora
Nō Alba me Kernow me Devon ōku tīpuna ki te taha o toku Mama
Nō Ingarani me Alba ōku tīpuna ki te taha o tōku Papa
Nō reira
Ko Urquart, ko Fraser, ko Mac Donald, ko Mc Lennan ōku iwi o te taha ō tōku Mama.
I taemai a Annie Olds ki Aōtearoa, ma runga te waka Ben Nevis.
Engari i tipu ake ahau ki te Whanganui-a-Tara Nō reira
Ko ngā tau o Remutaka nga maunga o toku ngākau
Ko Kairangi te awa o tōku ngākau
Ko Ray Whiteman rāua ko Loyal Gibson ōku matua
Ko Florence Olds rāua ko June Gibson ōku whaea
Ko David Hanna tōku hoa rangatira
Ko Luke rātou ko Fran, ko Kiri, ko Hana āku tamariki
Ko Ra tōku mokopuna
He Pākehā ahau
Nā Te Tiriti o Waitangi ahau i whai tūrangawaewae ki Aotearoa.
Ko Bronwen Olds tōku ingoa
Whaia e koe te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me maunga teitei
My ancestors descend from Scotland, Cornwall and Devon on my mothers’ side.
My ancestors descend from England, and Scotland on my fathers’ side.
Thus Urquart, Fraser, Mac Donald and McLennan are the clans on my mother’s side. Annie Olds came to Aōtearoa on the ship - the Ben Nevis
However I grew up in Wellington
The Remutaka range is the mountain of my heart
The Hutt River is the river of my heart
Ray Whiteman and Loyal Gibson are my fathers
Florence Olds and June Gibson are my mothers
David Hana is my partner
Luke, Fran, Kiri and Hana are my children.
Ra is my granchild
I am Pākehā
It is by Te Tiriti o Waitangi that I stand in Aotearoa and call it my home.
My name is Bronwen Olds
Seek the treasure you value most dearly: if you bow your head, let it be to a lofty mountain
I am the parent of 4 children. My vocation is creating just and respectful relationships between children, parents, educators, and between Māori and Tauiwi/Pākehā.
Playcentre was the foundation for my children’s early childhood education and a platform for my development as a parent and educator. I have worked for over 30 years supporting children and young people’s development in community, educational and government organisations. This has included lecturing at Victoria University in Early Childhood Education for 15 years and designing and delivering tailored Professional Development for people working in the Early Childhood sector and community organisations.
My practical experience is supported by my qualifications. I have a Masters of Social Science First class Hons (Waikato), and the NZ Playcentre Federation Certificate. I am a life member of the Hutt Playcentre Association and an accredited leader of Incredible Years (a research based 14 week parenting course). I am the past President and current coordinator of Te Rōpū o Whanganui-a-Tara of OMEP (an international early childhood association).
I live in Petone (Aotearoa / New Zealand). I have worked nationally though I primarily work in the greater Wellington region.
Kaupapa
I believe that combining an experiential approach with a sound understanding of research provides the ideal learning platform. My approach is shaped by the following whakatauki / proverb
“Hūtia te rito te Harakeke e.
Kei hea kē te komako e kō?
Kī mai ki ahau he aha te mea?
Nui o te ao māku e kī atu.
He Tangata, he Tangata, he Tangata.”
If you cut the centre (te rito) out of the flax bush (harakeke), there will be nowhere for the bellbird to sing. What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, people, people.
This proverb likens the harakeke to the whānau/family. Te rito represents the child. The leaves surrounding te rito symbolise the parents and the outside leaves symbolise the tīpuna/grandparents and the community that surrounds the child. We, whanau, Early Childhood services and the community need to work together to raise our tamariki to their best potential. If we cut te rito out, the plant will die and there will be now flowers full of nectar for the bellbird to feed from and sing from. At a metaphorical level if we don’t get it right with our tamariki what hope is there for our future?
As a citizen of Aotearoa, my life and work is intimately part of the context of this land / place. My passion is creating and supporting just respectful relationships in partnership with children, parents/whānau, educators, Tangatwhenua and Tauiwi/Pākehā. I believe these partnerships are essential for us to grow our tamariki to their best potential. Learning and education are transformative and in the process of transformation both the individual and the world are transformed. My philosophy of Professional Development is based the principle of ako: that learning is reciprocal and the person: child, parent, teacher can at any time be either the teacher or the learner. All my courses offer new learning which connects with, seeks to extend, the participants’ current knowledge and practices.