Testimonials

"Tēnā koutou Charlotte, Viven and all the wonderful volunteers at the Learning Needs Library,

I just wanted to say, that I have been raving about the library at Playcentre. The parents who are also teachers were particularly impressed when I spoke of the organised and labelled resources!

Really appreciate the way that your team made me, my husband Jordan and son Te Aoriki feel so welcome when we came into join the library. We really appreciated the warm welcome. What wonderful mahi you all do for our tamariki and our community!
Please pass on our gratitude to all the volunteers!"

Jess Tarawa

"Hi I am Molly and this speech is about me and how I have learnt to never give up. When I was a baby I was very tiny and not growing. The doctors got very worried about me and so were Mum and Dad. Various methods were tried to get me to grow but none worked. Dr Abbot my next specialist decided that I needed an operation to stop my silent reflux and to put a feeding tube directly into my stomach. I was only one and a half years old and Mum stayed in the hospital with me and learn't all the things she would need to know about using the feeding pump when we would go home. Mum was sad as well as worried about me as her Dad and my Grandad had just passed away. I slowly started to grow lucky the doctors didn't give up on me I went to the Champion Centre and they have a motto saying Growing Champions and they never gave up on me. It was hard work doing physiotherapy, speech language therapy,occupational therapy and music therapy. I cried a lot doing physio and it was very hard for Mum but she didn't give up and kept taking me once a week for five years. Sometimes I went twice a week to a feeding clinic as well. When I was two years old I visited the hospital eighty times and always got invited to the hospital Christmas party which me and my siblings enjoyed. I didn't understand then why Mum didn't think it was such a great thing. Now I know that I was only invited because I was very sick and went to hospital so often. I had some other operations on my stomach and my eye and again no one gave up on me. I went to kindy with the help of my early intervention teacher from the Champion Centre Margaret. She was so wonderful and helped me and always encouraged me and was always there for me and never,ever gave up on me. The Champion Centre people thought I was there star champion and couldn't believe the progress I had made from a tiny fragile baby to a champion. They loved the help I got at home from my Mum and Dad and George and Jemima. She helped me settle into school, into Mrs Harlands class. As I got older at school I had learn the lesson to never give up. I had to do the school cross country's, swimming sports, mountain biking, Triathlon with Mr Mitchell, school speeches and talking in front of lots of people, sitting school tests, making friends, fight with my tummy pains and to force myself to eat and drink.. I have learnt to try my best to keep going even if it is hard work. Some people would find the above things easy but for me they are hard physically, mentally and emotionally. I have learn't the lesson well to NEVER GIVE UP and maybe some of you can learn this lesson too. Thank you for listening."

Never give up

"As a Speech Language Therapist and a Mum, I couldn’t value the Learning Needs Library more! The team at the Library are knowledgeable and helpful providing a wonderful service to families, supporting engagement, communication and development or play skills. I addition to supporting families within the Library space and at home, the team are able to provide families with vital links within the community based on a child’s needs. The Library is a very welcoming and inclusive space for all.
A huge proportion of the families who access the Library are juggling a lot of additional factors in regard to their children’s health and development, this is one less strain."

"The use of the resources on offer have been invaluable for my son with Autism, for the last 3 years. My son is a sensory seeker and finding resources that give him the intense feedback and stimulation he’s looking for is not easy, but this library makes finding ways of helping my son regulate himself much easier. With the use of weighted items, vibrating resources, and sensory resources.
Charlotte is an absolute gem, and a huge asset to this Library, her helpfulness, expertise and kindness is so pleasant and welcoming, and I can’t rave enough about the staff here. I wholeheartedly believe this Library is such a truly special resource to the community and we are very lucky to have it."

"The Learning Needs Library is AMAZING! The selection of resources is out of sight. The staff there are so helpful and kind. Charlotte the Resource Advisor is very knowledgeable and giving of her time to find out about your child and what resources would help them with their current level of development. I would recommend this wonderful service to others."

""the Therapists at the Champion Centre and the parents who attend are regular users of the service. They borrow and return resources for particular children at particular stages of their development and keep children engaged and learning through the combination of familiarity and freshness that is possible through the library. We are delighted to be supported by this very special library. " Dr Susan Foster-Cohen, Director, The Champion Centre"

Champion Centre

"We have been utilising the services of the Learning Needs Library for many years. Our students have a range of physical, communication, sensory, and learning needs, and this means we require some very specialised toys and equipment. Within the library's resources we are able to find something for everyone and provide a good variety of different resources.
Our class is always super excited to see me arrive back at school with the big fabric bags full of exciting new things to try out.
I highly recommend this wonderful facility."

""In our family, play is very important. My children and I treasure the Learning Needs Library because it provides us with exceptionally high quality toys, games and learning resources for every type of play we feel like. With a wide variety of resources, every interest, age and ability is catered for. The staff are fabulous at helping us to find items to support a specific interest.
Thankyou Learning Needs Library for enriching our play.""

"This is such a wonderful and rich resource we feel really lucky to be able to access it so easily and it has so much available for Mr 6 and Mr 4.
The boys are always so welcome here and what a treat to have a ‘YES’ space for them to play in while I so some serious ‘Mum’ choosing"