Nau mai ki te pānui o tēnei wiki ko te Kōrero. Well life is a rollercoaster don’t you think?! This time last week, the thought of being part of a world-wide cyber attack was probably the last thing on most of our minds. Thanks to all of you for your cooperation and understanding. Simon and his team are working as hard as they can to get us up and running as quickly as possible. In a few weeks' time, we will provide you with a more detailed report of what happened, what we did, and where to next. At the moment, it’s just a matter of please have your computers at the kindergarten, make sure the key (and alarm code if you have one) is in the lock box, that entry to your kindergarten isn’t impeded by locked gates etc, and that if your lockbox is hard to find, send through a photo of where it is. We’ll be spending next week coordinating and working our way through each of the kindergartens. Please keep sending questions via your Senior Teacher. This is the last Kōrero for this term. We made it through the autumn and beginning of winter – Matariki continues to be a blessing to us all. Some of you have had huge personal challenges this term – all strength to you, take care of yourself and those around you. Writer and poet, Oscar Wilde once wrote: Experience is the hardest kind of teacher. It gives you the test first and the lesson afterward Take care people, and thanks – you rock! xoxo Mandy 
Dhanaye Will Be On Leave Dhanaye, Relieving Coordinator, is taking leave next week – 12 to 16 July. She has organised all the jobs she was able to prebook. If you have anything urgent, or things that come up during the week, you can put the job out on StaffSync, or if you have trouble doing that you can contact Leigh, here at the Office. Dhanaye will look at her requests on Sunday night 18 July for that following week, so don’t be concerned if you haven't heard from her before then. If you have any problems you can contact your Senior Teacher or call us at the office.
Senior Teacher Update Kia ora koutou katoa, Induction and Mentoring Seminar 16 July We are looking forward to seeing all PCT’s and Mentors at our July seminar for 2021 – Please remember that your attendance at our seminars is an important requirement for completing your Induction and Mentoring Programme. As you may know already, we made some changes to the way we are running our seminars this year. As we have over twenty kaiako who hold a Tōmua (or Provisional Practising certificate) and their mentors engaging in our Induction and Mentoring Programme, we are running our seminars in clusters in your region so that we meet the group size requirements for HWM PLD. The two workshops in this seminar are strongly linked to the Standards for the Teaching Profession and focus on: - Reflective Practice – linking with the Professional Growth Cycle
- Leaderful Practice
For this seminar we will have a regional cluster in Upper Hutt at Silverstream Kindergarten and there will also be one at our Porirua office. The Whanganui cluster will be offered at a later date. As there is less travel involved using this cluster model, the seminar now starts at9.00am – and finishes at 1.00pm (this is a change from the time advertised in the PLD calendar). Enrolments in the clusters will be open on Tūhonohono from next week. Please enrol in the cluster that you would like to attend so that we have enough resources (and morning tea😉) at each one… Please talk with your Senior Teacher if you have any questions, or contact Lynette. Leaderful Practice PLD We look forward to seeing all teachers enrolled in both of our leaderful practice clusters, in the upcoming term break. We also want to confirm that the meeting date for both cluster groups (the 2019 cohort and the new 2021 cohort) will be Tuesday 13 July 2021. Please note this date is different from the original one set at the beginning of 2021. We do appreciate this may now cause a clash with other PLD, already booked in this week, but we will be recording the sessions and are happy to share with you if needed. Please remember everyone to enrol on Tūhonohono. - The 2019 cohort session is in the morning 9.30am to 12 noon and will be examining the capability: Ensuring culturally responsive practice and understanding of Aotearoa New Zealand’s cultural heritage, using Te Tiriti o Waitangi as the foundation.
- The 2021 cohort will meet in the afternoon 1pm to 3.30pm and the focus for this session will be Building and Sustaining High Trust Relationships.
Please feel free to email Fiona if you need any further information about these workshops. PLD Week - 12 to 16 July This week offers time to attend planned PLD and time to come together as a team. Your Senior Teacher is available to support with the design of this week for your team. Take this time to consider and plan for any of the following: - Redesigning the environment/curriculum spaces
- Progressing with STL action plans
- Internal Evaluation/Reviews
- Professional Growth Discussions
- Te Manawa mahi such as Communities of Learners - remember to share your discussions/team minutes with your Senior Teacher
- Purchasing resources
- Team building
- Quality Practice Templates
- Individual mahi.
Upcoming PLD First Aid - if you are enrolled to attend first aid next week please ensure you are on time for this PLD. The instructors will not allow anyone into the session if they are late. All courses start at 8.30am. Please remember to bring your lunch. Any queries please contact Kaz. Child Protection - please ensure you arrive in time for this PLD. All sessions commence at 9.15am. If you are attending in the Wairarapa or Central Plateau you will need to bring your own lunch. There is pre-reading which you can access by going to your Tūhonohono, your PLD and clicking on the link next to the course. Please make sure you are familiar with our Child Protection Policy and have a quick read of Chapter One, pages 12-38 of the Whitepaper.
Pay Equity Claim You may know that NZEI has lodged a Pay Equity Claim for Kindergarten Administrators. Whānau Manaaki is included in this claim because we are a party to the Kindergarten Associations Support Staff Collective Agreement (the employment agreement for Support Staff). We have posted a letter to our Administrators. It is important you read this letter as it has important information about the claim as well as an opportunity for you to opt out within a time frame. So if you don’t receive it by mail in the next week or so please contact Karen and she will email you a copy.
New Full Year Kindergartens Another three kindergartens are making the move to full year opening. They are Ngahina, Katoa, and Island Bay, in Kapiti, Porirua and Wellington respectively. Island Bay Kindergarten will open during the term breaks during the year, but over the December/ January period it will close for the same time as the part year kindergartens. This brings the total number of full year kindergartens to 41. As well as meeting the needs of families who want and need education and care for children during the holidays, by opening for more weeks of the year, the kindergartens can attract more funding even if not many children attend. This helps Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens meet continuing costs, including salary costs that are not fully compensated for by the current funding regime.
Three Year Practising Certificates Reinstated From Monday The Teaching Council says it will revert to three-year practising certificates following the recent court case taken by the secondary teachers’ union, the PPTA. The PPTA took a judicial review of the Teaching Council‘s decision to increase fees and move to one year practising certificates. The Court found in favour of the PPTA on five of the six grounds being reviewed. The Teaching Council says it will abide by the judgement and is working through the issues. It says new certificates will be issued to those who have been given a one-year certificate. Three-year certificates will be issued from Monday. The Council will take down its online system, Hapori Matatu, to make the changeover. All those who have one-year certificates will be issued a three-year practising certificate – although the Council is working through how this will happen. The Council intends to charge additional fees to cover the change from one-year certificates to three- year certificates. Here’s a link to the press release from the High Court about the judgement. And here’s a link to the full judgement.
RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus) Alert Regional Public Health has asked to be notified if any children enrolled at kindergarten are in hospital with respiratory illness. Please ring Regional Public Health on 04 570 9002 if any child is in hospital or if more than 15 per cent of your roll is away. (We know this will be quite common for some of our communities). In recent days there have been a lot of preschool children with respiratory illness, which can be easily spread in early childhood services. Most people will recover at home and only need to see their doctor if they do not improve, or they get worse. Children and adults tend to get mild illness but can pass it on to babies, who can be more seriously affected. Regional Public Health has released some advice for early childhood services and for parents. It includes details about symptoms and measures to reduce infections, including everyone staying home if they are unwell and handwashing and drying, as well as cleaning frequently touched surfaces. Anyone who is concerned should ring Healthline 0800 611 116 or their GP. If there are symptoms such as rapid breathing, difficulty breathing, chest pain, severe voting or not being responsive, families should seek immediate attention or call and ambulance. Winter respiratory illness symptoms are similar to Covid symptoms, and teenagers or adults with these symptoms should be tested for Covid. Children are not usually tested unless there are particular circumstances. Here’s a link to the advice for early childhood services. And here’s a link to the advice for families, which has already been shared on Facebook pages. Mānawatia a Matariki - Honouring Matariki 
As we continue celebrating Matariki, let’s learn more about the nine stars of Matariki: Matariki, Tupu- ā-rangi, Waipuna-ā-Rangi, Waitī, Tupu-ā-nuku, Ururangi, Waitā, Pōhutukawa and Hiwa-i-te-Rangi. Each star holds significance relating to our wellbeing and environment. The stars are either male or female – for example, Waitī is female, Waitā is male. , Waitī – this star is the kaitiaki of fresh water, rivers and lakes. Waitā is the star immediately below Waiti. This star is the kaitiaki of the ocean. Waitā is a star that sits alongside an atua, (Māori god) in this case, Tangaroa, atua of the sea. Tupu-ā-Nuku is from tupu meaning grow and nuku from Papatūānuku. She is about foods grown in ground, such as pikopiko, (fern) and puha. She is the kaitiaki alongside the atua Haumietiketike, the god of wild and uncultivated kai. Tupu-ā-Rangi sits above Tupu-ā-Nuku and is the kaitiaki of what grows in the sky, forests, birds, trees and he is partnered with the Māori atua Tane Mahuta, god of the forest. Ururangi comes from the words uru (enter) and rangi (sky) and this star is the kaitiaki of the winds alongside the atua Māori Ko Tāwhirimātea, god of the wind. Waipuna-ā-rangi: wai/water, puna/ well, spring, rangi/sky sky waters in all their forms – ua (rain) ua nganga (hail) and hukarere (snow) included. She sees how these waters contribute to the healthy cycle of our earth, and also, the effects when they don’t arrive as required. Pōhutukawa is the kaitiaki of people that have passed away from last Matariki to this, and our memories. Hiwa-i te-Rangi is the kaitiaki of our hopes, dreams and aspirations! which can be as wide as the world. Matariki is the last whetū, she is the kaitiaki of hui, gathering. Thanks to our kaitiaki o Kaupapa Māori, Lou Fruean, for this information. Lou credits Dr Rangi Matamua for rekindling interest in Māori astronomy. Below is a video of the Matariki song which many of you will be singing in your kindergartens. It’s performed by children at Wainuiomata Primary. These children created the actions, after learning about the stars.
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.
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