Window into wee world

Bream Bay mother of two Terrianne Appleton isn't worried about her daughter Annalise's first day at childcare, because Terrianne will be checking up on her - from her desk at work.
Opening today, Small Poppies Early Childhood Education Centre in Ruakaka is believed to be the third centre in the country to install a webcam, allowing parents to "pop in" and watch live images of their children.
Parents will be able to log into a secure internet site where they will have access to streamed webcam footage of Small Poppies, for up to 20 minutes a day.
Miss Appleton said she would definitely be making use of the site to "pop in" on Annalise, aged two.
"We've got Bream Bay Motel so we work fulltime, so it'll be great to just be able to log on and see what she's doing," she said.
Miss Appleton said her anxiety after dropping Annalise off at daycare for the first time today would be lessened as she could log on to the computer when she got back to work.
"It'll be great to be able to check that she's settled in okay."
Annalise's grandparents will also be keen to follow their granddaughter's day, Miss Appleton said.
Centre director Natasha Lee said one of the reasons for the webcam was to give parents the re-assurance that a new centre was doing the business right.
"We don't have any recommendations from anyone that we can go on. We've got no history with anyone," Mrs Lee said.
"No one can say, `Oh, my sister sent her kids there', as a measure of a good centre, because we're brand new.
"A camera gives us that openness."
Another reason for the camera was to keep the centre's staff "honest".
"It keeps us on our toes.
"All the staff know they have to be on their best behaviour at all times. Not that we wouldn't be anyway, but the staff all know that a parent could be watching at any time. They're all right behind it."
Mrs Lee said many parents had no option but to work these days, and she was pleased to be be able to offer them a "window into their child's day".
There are three cameras in the centre, each showing a different area: the under-two's, toddlers two and three years old, and three and four-year-olds.
Parents would only be able to access footage from the camera in the area their child was in, and they paid the company Tiny Telly directly for the subscription.
The cameras are on for four hours a day and become a security system after hours.
Mrs Lee had expected around 35 of her new enrolments on the centre's opening day today, and said she hadn't experienced any negative feedback from parents about the webcam initiative.
"Not one person has said anything negative about it.
"It's part of the contract they sign when they enroll their kids, that they're okay with the camera and with the children's photographs being taken."