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Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero.
Wow here we are having our first real wintry blast for the year. Snow and rain! Even Mandy got caught in the snow as she visited with the team at Waiouru this week. Stay safe, dry and warm everyone!
Jane.
Conference Evaluation
Kia ora koutou katoa,
Just a final reminder, if you have not already done so, to complete the conference evaluation.
To help us plan for next year’s Conference, we really need your feedback. Therefore, please
click here on the Survey Monkey link to complete the survey!
Thank you!
For Whanganui Staff
Click here to view the latest update of Mahi Tahi.
Building Audits
Building Audits for maintenance items are currently underway. You will be contacted by the person doing your audit prior to them visiting your kindergarten.
Any questions please contact Lupeni.Aitogi@wmkindergartens.org.nz
PD Changes
There has been a change of venue for the Head Teacher Meeting, Kapiti and Horowhenua, scheduled for Monday 5 August. This meeting will now be held at Tatum Park Conference Venue, 820 - 850 State Highway One, Levin.
For Whanganui Teachers
You may have noticed in the PLD calendar that there is a venue change for all of the Whanganui PD sessions. These will now be held at the St Johns Club, 158 Glasgow Street. There is parking available off Wicksteed Street (behind the building on Glasgow Street)
There have also been a couple of changes to sessions, most notable being 4 September when the Celia Lashlie movie is being shown - this is compulsory for all teachers and staff.
Here is the link to the form for Whanganui teachers and staff to register.
Finance Update
Term 3 2019 Whānau Contributions
Just a quick reminder that Term 3 requests for Whānau Contributions will be emailed to families tomorrow. Also, hard copies of the letters will be delivered to kindergartens for distribution to families through “child pockets” early next week.
End of Month Infocare Cut-Off
We will be working on Board and Kindergarten reports for the month of July next week so we require your Infocare records for the last week of July to be finalised tomorrow.
This means we would like you to complete the following tasks in Infocare, up to and including Friday 2 August, as appropriate:
- Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
- Fee invoices created and committed
- Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) completed
- Online sign off of your monthly roll return
- Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Wellington Association Office (please call Tania or Cathryn 04 232 3069 or 0800 546 337)
Tania or Cathryn will follow up with you on Monday if they have any questions related to your records.
Profiling Our Whanganui Kindergartens – Durie Hill and Wanganui East.
Durie Hill kindergarten is at the top of the hill with the internal elevator, a Whanganui tourist attraction and protected historic site. It is also near Durie Tower, a local landmark which, Head Teacher Lani Cotterill says, the children regard as their own.
Despite its elevation, Durie Hill is close to the centre of town so families come from around Whanganui to go to the kindergarten, and almost all the children go on to Durie Hill school.
Lani says the kindergarten has a close relationship with the school, which is around 10 minutes walk away, and there are regular visits.
The kindergarten has a large indoor and outdoor space and connects to the Polson Park reserve which is used as an extended play area.
Wanganui East Kindergarten
Wanganui East Kindergarten has been serving families for more than 60 years. It is centrally located near the Matarawa Stream and the Wanganui East shopping centre, and at the bottom of the street is Whanganui’s famous Kowhai Park, which is used for whānau events.
The kindergarten has a great outdoor area with gardens and an orchard and the children learn about growing and harvesting food.
Head teacher, Anne Minifie, says the stream, which is just over the fence, offers the children the chance to observe wildlife such as ducks and pukeko as well as watching the whitebaiters during the season.
KTCA Settlement
As you will know, the new agreement for kindergarten teachers has been settled, following a vote that closed last Thursday night.
The settlement retains parity with primary and secondary teachers, and includes pay increases and a lump sum for NZEI Te Riu Roa members, who were members at 12 July 2019. This lump sum, like all teacher pay, will be taxed.
New Zealand Kindergartens is having discussions with the Ministry of Education about when the new pay rates will be paid out. We will let you know when we have any new information. Union members will receive backpay to July 12.
Kindergartens, Other ECE Teachers, Pay Parity And Pay Equity
The Kindergarten Teachers Collective Agreement has been in the news, and this has fuelled lots of discussion about pay rates across the sector.
Some of this is based on wrong information, and some of the comment, particularly on social media, is anti-kindergarten in tone.
Here are some facts:
- Kindergartens won pay parity in 2002, after a campaign that began in the 1970s initially spearheaded by the Kindergarten Teachers Association.
- Kindergartens have retained pay parity since then, including under nine years of a National government, even though National cut funding for 100 per cent qualified teachers and froze funding after that.
- Other early childhood teachers were supposed to achieve pay parity 18 months after kindergarten teachers’ final ’tranche’ delivered pay parity in 2006 but this never happened.
- All early childhood services are funded through per child, per hour bulk funding. There are different rates for different age groups, different types of services, and different levels of qualified staff. For 20 hours for three and four year olds, kindergartens currently get $12.29 per hour per child while other teacher-led ECE services get $11.61 per hour. Kindergartens get around 5.5 per cent more.
- There is a wide discrepancy in how much teachers are paid across the sector. Services claiming funding have to attest to paying $21.65 per hour for teachers with a degree. Many services only pay this much, but it is hard to find out information about pay rates in the private sector. There is no doubt that many services could choose to pay more – the current difference in funding is around 5.5 per cent, but for experienced teachers, salaries in kindergartens can be fifty per cent higher than those in other services.
- Whānau Manaaki‘s position is that it supports a National Collective Agreement for all teachers. This was included in our submissions to the government as part of the consultation on the draft strategic plan for early childhood education.
What is happening about this ?
- The government has said it wants to have more equitable pay and conditions across the sector.
- The government is expected to come out with its response to the strategic plan consultation in October. This could include changes to the way teacher salaries are paid, and the level of pay.
- Organisations representing ECE services, including kindergartens, have asked for a meeting with the Minister. He has acknowledged a teacher shortage and asked for more information. A meeting has been agreed with some in the sector, for the end of the month.
- NZEI Te Riu Roa has a process underway for pay equity. This is using the process developed as a result of the aged care equal pay settlement, which saw pay increases of up to 40 per cent following a $2 billion funding increase by the government. This process has already delivered 30 per cent pay rises to other groups, including social workers and education support workers. A claim is also underway for teacher aides in schools.
- Some in the sector are criticising the union for not pursuing pay parity. There is no process for pursuing pay parity though, there is a process for pursuing pay equity.
- There is a petition circulating for pay parity currently. At the time of Kōrero, it had 6,000 signatures.
Cook Islands Language Week
Kia orana!
The annual ‘Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ’Āirani: Cook Islands Language Week is being held from Sunday 4 August – Saturday 10 August 2019.
The theme for this year is "Taku rama, taau toi: ora te Reo" - "My Torch, Your Adze: The Language Lives".
You can help promote Cook Islands Language Week in your kindergarten, your church, workplace, school, or community.
Click here to go check out the resources available for the week.
This Week On Facebook 
How cool is this little interaction with the children at Katoa kindergarten and their kaiako Sonja, who is currently relieving in Waiouru. They were face-timing each other today to check out the snow in Waiouru!
Handy Facebook Pages 
Little kiwi’s nature play
Little Kiwis Nature Play is about getting children outdoors and into Nature. They offer nature education professional development, consultancy, conferences.
Little Kiwis Nature Play is the ultimate in free play and encourages little people to get outside, explore, learn and play with what nature gave us. Unmediated by toys or adult created environments, kids find everything they need to learn and play. A stick can be a magic wand, a tool for digging, a home for bugs, or just a stick. A tree can be a world to explore, a climbing frame, a house. Nature is the perfect place for imagination, exploration, and physical play. Kids will learn confidence in themselves, resourcefulness, and love for nature and the world around them. Come explore at Little Kiwis.
Resources For The Cost Of Freight!
We have been offered a number of literacy games/resources, for free, just the cost of freight, for teaching teams to either use with their children or to give to their families. These games were developed by Joy Allcock.
Joy is an author, publisher and literacy consultant. She runs professional development workshops for teachers throughout New Zealand and internationally. She originally trained and worked as an Occupational Therapist, then in 2000 she completed a Master of Education degree with first class honours at Massey University. She has been working in the literacy field since 1995 and has co-ordinated a number of literacy projects in both primary and secondary schools.
Joy is the developer of the Word Detective range of resources. She has written and published a complete range of spelling resources and has worked with other New Zealand companies (Gilt Edge Publishing, Universal Children’s Audio, Pixelhouse) to increase the range of Word Detective resources to include a series of early readers and sound posters, music for developing literacy skills and digital resources that teach vocabulary and phonemic awareness skills.
The games available are the Word Detective range. There is a DVD accompanying them that shows how the games can be played - the children in the DVD are aged 4.
The cards in the game can be used in other ways too and children often just play with them and talk about the images on them.
The game can be used with a Word Detective Talking Pen which reads the words on the cards.
The games being given away do not contain this Pen and no more stock of the Pens is available, but if anyone already has a Talking Pen it can be used with the games.
There are 5 boxes of Word Detective Games per carton. The games are available by the carton for the cost of the freight only.
Freight costs for one carton (5 boxes of games) are as follows:
Wellington to Plimmerton and Upper Hutt: $23.64
Kapiti Coast, Levin and Palmerston North: $25.26
Whanganui, Dannevirke, Wairarapa: $33.18
All other North Island destinations north of Whanganui: $34.77
Nelson, Marlborough, West Coast down to and including Christchurch: $41.55
All other South Island destinations and Waiheke Island: $70.20
Centres can use the games and can take some to donate to families if they wish.
There is more information about the Word Detective Games here.
You can contact Joy for these resources by emailing allcockjoy@gmail.com.
Appointments and Resignations
Apologies to those concerned, there was an error in the appointment notifications in last week's Kōrero.
Pip Atkins and Kitty Mincher were incorrectly shown as have new appointments at Johnsonville West Kindergarten. This should have read:
| Pip Atkins |
Teacher |
Churton Park |
| Kitty Mincher |
Head Teacher |
Churton Park |
Previous Kōrero Editions
If you are wanting to access previous editions of the Kōrero you can find them at
www.wmkindergartens.org.nz/archive
or you can click here.
It is a good idea to save this link as an icon on your desktop.
Thank you for taking the time to read Kōrero.
Don't forget to check out some of the stories listed down the side menu. Just click between the stories of use the Kōrero bar to come back to this page.
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