For nearly a decade, Centriq insurance has been supporting the early childhood development programme of South African non-profit organisation, Play-with-a-Purpose.

And they are doing so again this year. Research has shown that through the nurturing of early childhoods, children can, with the right educational programmes and guidance, become the stalwarts of the communities and industries they choose to be involved in.

Leaving a legacy behind 21 year old Grace Gazimani attended Play-with-a-Purpose preschool Rainbow Drift in Muldersdrift. She matriculated amongst her high school’s top 10 achievers, and is currently studying towards her Bachelor of Education in Teaching at University of South Africa.

“I am very privileged to talk about how my preschooling has had an impact on my present life. My parents desired a good education for me and my sister, and at the age of 3, took me a Play-with-a-Purpose school. This made me who I am today. You cannot study hard unless you have a desire to read books. Luckily for me, I went to a preschool which encouraged the reading of my books. My younger sister recently received a scholarship to a private school and I believe this is because of her time at Play-with-a-Purpose school”.

This just shows that Play-with-a-Purpose’s brand promise “Change the first five years – can change everything” truly impact the people’s lives. Unique perspective on childhood development Robyn Wienand, the founder and developer of the programme, has raised her own children on the philosophies she has incorporated into Play-with-a-Purpose.
Merging a neuroscientific framework with behaviour based on theories – the programme is unique in the sense that provides a powerful perspective on childhood teaching and learning. Today, over 80 early childhood development centres in Gauteng and the North West Province have incorporated the Play-with-a-Purpose programme, which is aimed at developing the following key and skills in a child:

• Gross motor/ body awareness
• Speech and language
• Reading
• Imaginative and creative
• Thinking and problem solving
• Writing and spelling
• Maths and numeracy
• Emotional and social

Play-with-a-Purpose do not only deliver a play and fun-filled learning approach for young children, but they also have developed a teaching business programme for adults who manage and teach at their own schools by providing them with necessary business skills and learning curriculum to do so effectively. And this is another reason why Centriq Insurance has been involved with the schools participating in the Play-with-a-Purpose programme.

Not only are these children, like Grace, becoming young intellectual adults now. They are having a remarkable effect on their siblings, families and their community as they’re now in a position to contribute positively to those around them, as well as make a significant difference in their own lives.

This has had a two-fold impact on both the community Centriq is contributing to, as well as its staff who have been in a position to experience, witness and demonstrate genuine care via a very hands-on approach that has been afforded and facilitated by Play-with-a-Purpose.

By partnering with Robyn and her team, we help create a well-balanced human beings who, one day, can make informed and responsible decisions about their future. It is estimated that South Africa currently has over 5 million children up to the age of four, and another 6 million between the ages of five and nine.

Seeing that educational research has shown that a child’s brain is already developed 80% by the age of four and that they learn their most crucial life lessons and values in the early years of their lives – the Play-with-a-Purpose development programme should, in an idea world, form the foundations of every child’s life.