Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... A reminder to please RSVP to Hannah if you are going to attend the All Staff End of Year Celebration on the 23rd November. RSVPs need to be in before the 16th November. Thank you. Jane. 
End Of Month Infocare Cut-Off A reminder that yesterday was financial month end and next week we will be working on Board and Kindergarten reports for the month of October. As detailed in the Annual Administration Wall Planner 2018, your Infocare records for October are due to be completed on Monday 5th November, next week. This means we would like you to complete the following tasks in Infocare, up to and including Friday 2nd November, 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 Association (please call Tania or Cathryn)
Tania or Cathryn will follow up with you next Monday if they have any questions related to your records. Many thanks.
Payroll Tips – Domestic Sick Leave All our employees – Teachers and Support Staff – have an entitlement to Domestic Sick Leave but sometimes there is confusion about what it can be used for. You can use Domestic Sick Leave when you are caring for a person, or people, who is/are sick. It does come off your Sick Leave entitlement and it’s not able to be used for general family appointments such as school visits. If you’re at all unsure just give one of the payroll team a call or contact payroll@wmkindergartens.org.nz or call Karen on 021 857 826 or email karen.skett@wmkindergartens.org.nz.
PLD On Children’s Working Theories With Lyn Wright At: Carterton Kindergarten On: Tuesday 6th November 2018 – 3.30pm to 5 pm Carterton Kindergarten have requested some PLD around Children’s Working Theories and are happy to open the session up to teachers from other kindergartens who might also be interested in this topic. In this workshop we will look at the notion of working theories, and how teachers can support children being able and inclined to theorise about themselves and about people, places and things as a key learning outcome. This new PLD has been added to HR.Net so if you are interested in attending you can enrol there.
Annual Symposium Just a reminder to enrol for the Annual Symposium on the 10th November. There are still spaces available for all three workshops. Click here to go through to HR.Net.
Environmental Sustainability  Are you passionate about environmental issues? If this is you, you are invited to attend a meeting about how the Association can develop its capability as an environmentally sustainable organisation. The meeting will be about sharing ideas and knowledge and brainstorming possibilities. The meeting is: Tuesday 20th November 2018 4pm – 5.30pm At the Association offices. Could you please RSVP (for catering purposes) to Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergartens.org.nz before Friday 16 November 2018
Policy Reviews When we first formed Whānau Manaaki all the policies were developed into a single policy format. This has meant that a lot of policies are due for review at the same time. We are beginning the process of staggering these policies over a three year cycle. This means for the next while, we are going to be sending policies out on a regular basis for your comment. This week please find attached the following policies: Feedback on these policies is due back to jane.braun@wmkindergartens.org.nz by Friday 23rd November. Please also make these policies available to your community for comment.
Shannon Preschool Shannon Preschool is joining Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens, as our newest kindergarten from Monday 5th November. For the past year the Association has been working with the preschool, with senior teachers and several Levin teachers providing support to the service. The Preschool has operated as a community-run service for children aged two and over in Horowhenua, on the grounds of the Shannon School, the local primary school. The community supports the idea of transitioning to a kindergarten and is likely to choose a new name, as part of Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens. A formal welcome will take place later in the year.
Whānau Manaaki Supports Youth In Porirua Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens has joined a Porirua organisation, Youth2Work as an employer partner. Youth2Work is about providing training, work experience, mentoring and employment opportunities for young people in Porirua. Danny Mareko, Manager Communities and Participation, says the aims of the organisation fits well with Whānau Manaaki’s goal of encouraging suitable Porirua young people, particularly men, as well as Māori and Pasifika, to train as teachers. Here’s a photo of Danny with the Porirua mayor, Mike Tama. 
And here’s a link to the organisation’s website.
Rental Housing Improvements Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens commented recently on proposed changes to housing legislation to make rental housing more secure for families. We supported government proposals to improve notice periods for tenants, to restrict how often rents can be increased and to allow tenants to keep pets and make minor alterations to properties. With home ownership falling, more and more children are in rental properties, often with very little security. Housing costs are a major factor contributing to child poverty. We also commented on a separate proposal about improving the condition of rental properties, to make them warmer and drier. The two issues are related as tenants are often reluctant to complain about the state of their property as they can be evicted so easily with no reason required. Even with the proposed changes tenants in New Zealand would still have fewer rights than tenants in many other countries, and our housing stock would still be of a lower standard. Despite government policy to increase the number of houses, experts predict that the housing shortage is likely to continue for the forseeable future. Click below to view our submissions: And here’s a link to what Child Poverty Action Group says about the rental situation for families.
Early Childhood Teacher Shortage The early childhood teacher shortage has been in the news this week, with the Herald website reporting on an Auckland centre that had advertised all year for a teacher, only getting one suitable applicant who turned down the job. The Early Childhood Council, which represents mostly private centres, is arguing for early childhood teachers to be added to the skilled migrant list, to make it easier for overseas teachers to move here. It says nearly a third of centres have unfilled vacancies. The number of students training to become early childhood teachers has dropped by a half, while the number of centres has grown at a much faster rate than the number of children enrolling. The union for early childhood teachers, NZEI Te Riu Roa, says ten years of government underfunding is the reason for the shortage. It’s calling for the reinstatement of funding for 100 per cent qualified teachers. Spokesperson Virginia Oakly, a Nelson-based kindergarten teacher says the underfunding has compromised quality for children, with services restructuring, increasing ratios and group sizes and moving towards unqualified staff. Here’s a link to the Herald story. And here’s a link to the NZEI release.
Primary Teachers’ Pay Primary teachers head into facilitated bargaining from Monday, in an attempt to avoid further strike action. Primary teachers have claimed a 16 per cent pay rise over two years, and have been offered 9 per cent over three years, but have turned that down. Facilitated bargaining will be conducted by the Employment Relations Authority, which can make non-binding recommendations to both parties. If a settlement doesn’t result from this process, teachers have voted for further strike action, with rolling strikes in the second week on November. Friday 16th November is the day set down for strike action in the wider Wellington and Wairarapa regions. When the primary teachers collective agreement is settled, any increase will flow through to kindergarten pay rates through the kindergarten collective agreement.
Bellevue Kindergarten Invite You To Their Celebrations  Bellevue Kindergarten, (formerly Newlands Park Kindergarten), 50 Link Road, Newlands are celebrating their 40th anniversary, as well as blessing their new entrance way, on Saturday 24th November 2018 at 2 pm. The kindergarten will be open for current families, ex students, whānau, teachers, committee members and any other interested people to come along and join in the celebrations and have a look through the kindergarten and the grounds. Light refreshments and anniversary cake will be available. Please RSVP to 04 4776764 or bellevue@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Spring Carnival Time Lansdowne Kindergarten celebrated their Spring Carnival over the weekend. They had a great day! 
Handy Facebook Pages  Here is a good page to follow, the Wellington ECE Sustainability Group. 
This Week On Facebook   
At Birchville Kindergarten boxes....the bigger the better! We can decorate them, construct with them, share ideas and work together using our social communication skills and we can crawl into them... the possibilities are endless.  
At East Harbour Kindergarten we had a fabulous time on Sunday at our Working Bee! Thank you so much to our whānau for their hard work! Our outdoor space looks amazing!  
At Owhiro Bay Kindergarten Mindfulness Monday’s involved a mixed aged group of school children coming over to spend time with the Kindergarten children after lunch. The school children’s role is to find a younger buddy to share a book with, and then let their buddy guide them into an activity. For our kindergarten children, this is such a lovely time to get to establish trusting relationships with the school children and learn with and alongside them.
Appointments and Resignations Congratulations to the following on their recent appointments: | Rachel Cullen-Gloag | Head Teacher | Raumati South | | Diana Johnson | Head Teacher | Upper Hutt | | Denise Philpott | .8 Teacher | Seatoun | | Babette McCalman | Administrator | Khandallah |
We wish all the best to the following who have resigned: | Alex Craven | Teacher | Khandallah | | Grace Messina | Teacher | Ngaio | | Karen Dalley | Head Teacher | Berhampore | | Helen Waldron | Head Teacher | Carterton |
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