Welcome

Our aim is to showcase a selection of the parenting-focused resources we have at the library and to help you to find and access all the information you might need on children, families and parenting. This page features new books, DVDs or CDs and events that have occurred at the library on family related topics, as well as linking you to relevant New Zealand websites or online resources. Be it babies, food and meal times, sleep, craft, education or the general business of being a parent, we've got you covered!

Let us know if you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions. We'd love to hear from you! Just email us or fill out a suggestion to buy if you'd like to suggest a title for our library collection.

Books Of Interest

Useful Websites

General Parenting

• Family & whānau
  New Zealand Government website providing information on raising children, child development, nutrition, family finances and more.
• Plunket
  A great resource for information on PlunketLine, clinic and marae visits, parenting education, antenatal classes and car rental schemes.
• Family Support from Barnados NZ
  Parenting advice and resources relating to most aspects of family life

Education/Information

• Childcare online
  New Zealand site, contains information and news on parenting.
• Foodsafe
  Ministry for Primary Industries site, provides information on food safety and promotes consistent and appropriate food safety messages to New Zealand consumers. The group's aim is to reduce the country's high levels of foodborne illness through education on safe food handling practices in the home.
• Kids Friendly NZ
  New Zealand's Online Magazine for families living and travelling in this country. The site provides detailed information covering local activities in Wellington and right throughout New Zealand.
• NZ Kindergartens
  Everything you need to know about kindy, with links to other websites, discussion groups and parental information.
• Te Kete Ipurangi, The Online Learning Centre
  TKI is a bilingual portal-plus web community which provides quality assured educational material for teachers, school managers, and the wider education community. It is an initiative of the Ministry of Education. Parents are partners in the learning journey of their children. The Ministry of Education has a range of materials and information for parents to assist them to work in partnership with their local education centres and schools. This site provides many links to information and materials that may be of interest to parents.
• WCC Community Directory
  Links to community and information groups around Wellington, including heath, child-care, women and recreation.

Support / Advice

• Community Law Centres
  Services for people with unmet legal needs and who cannot afford legal services. They also provide legal advice and assistance and in some cases representation in court, law-related education, information and also law reform and advocacy on behalf of communities. This site has a national list of Community Law Centres.
• Learning and Behaviour Charitable Trust NZ
  This site is designed to give you the information and resources you may need if you know someone with a learning or behaviour difficulty such as ADD, ADHD, Aspergers, Autism and Dyslexia.
• NetSafe
  Netsafe provides advice on keeping your kids safe online. This organisation is co-sponsored by the Ministry of Education.
• NZ Association for Gifted Children
  The Association exists to promote the needs of gifted children at national level and support and foster initiatives at local level which meet those needs.
• NZ Down Syndrome Association
  The NZDSA offers new parent support, activities, family events, guest speakers and individual support and advocacy, a newsletter and information packs.
• Sands
  A New Zealand site for parents and other family members dealing with the loss of a baby through miscarriage, stillbirth or new born death. It includes advice on how to get through the first few days, arranging a funeral, parent's own stories, newsletters and will soon have a list of Wellington Bereavement Councillors.
• Grandparents Raising Grandchildren
  A New Zealand site that aims to provide support to grandparents who are primary caregivers to grandchildren in difficult circumstances and to ensure fair treatment from the legal and child protection services in New Zealand, in order to stabilise and normalise the lives of the children involved.

Government

• Family & Whānau
  New Zealand Government website providing information on raising children, child development, nutrition, family finances and more.
• Education
  A portal designed to help parents find information held on education government websites belonging to agencies such as Career Services Rapuara, the Education Review Office, the Ministry of Education, and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
• Strengthening Families
  Strengthening Families provides coordinated support for families who are working with more than two government agencies. Agencies and families work together to develop joint solutions, rather than each agency dealing with one part of the problem and never seeing the bigger picture.
• Education Review Office
  The government department which reports publicly on the quality of education in all New Zealand schools and early childhood services, including private schools, kura kaupapa Maori (Maori language immersion schools), special schools and nga kohanga reo (Maori language early childhood groups).
• Employment Relations Service
  Information about the rights and obligations of employees and employers in respect of parental leave, incorporating recent changes to parental leave entitlements. Features section on determining your leave entitlement, and IRD forms.
• Special Education
  Ministry of Education page.
• Work and Income New Zealand
  Information on Community Services Cards, Domestic Purposes Benefit, Help with Child-care Costs, the Domestic Purposes Benefit and other assistance.