“Our playground designer, Emma Woods, has done an outstanding job at utilising every space. Right from the beginning when we first contacted her, she has been invested in this project. She made it her job to understand the complexities of the children we support and spent several session observing the tamariki before coming up with her concept plan. It was Emma’s idea to build the accessible sand table. This has become the jewel of the playground. Tamariki are able to get up to the table and explore in their walkers and wheelchairs, toddlers are also able to access it and children who do not like sitting in the sand are starting to explore it. Wouldn’t it be lovely to see these in other early childhood environments?”

“From conception to completion Emma was the guide we needed to develop our outdoor area at Prebbleton Playcentre. Working with a group is hard, lots of ideas and not necessarily a lot of expertise which is where Emma was our greatest support. She was able to bring together all our vague ideas by listening to our collective ideas and creating a design that was perfect for us.

From advising us around size, type, durability of which plants to choose and why, ground prep, covering and space awareness. – her support to shop for plants and to further deliver much of the materials needed to plant. She is the hardest, steadiest worker from digging holes for sumps and co-coordinating and working alongside parents and children on the working bee. Emma has listened to our ideas, concerns and has always respected our input and looked to incorporate as much as possible.”