Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... It's lovely to see the sun and have a few warmer days. Jane. 
Senior Teacher News Kia ora koutou katoa, We are pleased to announce that Leanne Nelson has been appointed to the role of Senior Teacher. Leanne is currently the Head Teacher of Upper Hutt Kindergarten, and has worked in the Senior Teacher role previously, therefore, I know you will join us in warmly welcoming her to this permanent position. Leanne will begin her Senior Teacher role on Monday 3rd September 2018. Senior Teacher Helen Tyrell has decided to take leave from her role due to personal circumstances. Helen will be joining the teaching team at Titahi Bay kindergarten as a teacher and she is looking forward to getting back to teaching for this period of time. Helen’s last day will be Friday the 10th of August and she will be returning to her Senior Teaching role at the beginning of Term 2 2019. We are pleased to announce that Glenda Rowe will be taking over Helen’s Senior Teacher role until the beginning of Term 2 in 2019. 
Glenda has worked in Early Learning for 28 years including teaching in most service types, working in the Ministry of Education, Education Council and most recently managing seven ECE services. She is excited by the new Code of Professional Responsibility and Standards for the Teaching Profession and what it might mean for guiding and supporting great teaching practice. Glenda will begin her role on Monday 20th August, and I know you will join us in welcoming her to the Association. The Senior Teaching Team
Celebrating Pedagogical Practice - 3rd October 2018 Copthorne Hotel Solway Park in Masterton is our venue for October’s ‘Celebrating Pedagogical Practice’ PLD 9.30am to 1pm. The Senior Teacher team is offering an opportunity for teams or individuals to share their pedagogical practice with colleagues to acknowledge and celebrate the great practices we as teachers offer to tamariki and whānau. You may want to share about Effective or Innovative Practice, Bush Programmes, Enviro Schools, or anything that is unique to your Kindergarten or your own practice. Each team or individual will have a 30 minute presentation slot to present their pedagogical practice (20mins to share and 10mins to allow for any questions). If you are interested in being part of this, please send a blurb to Tania at tania.jack@wmkindergartens.org.nz for consideration by the 31st of August 2018. After this PLD there will be the opportunity for both presenters and participants to visit Kahurangi Kindergarten at 2.30pm. Kahurangi Kindergarten operates a full year model for 0-5 year olds and has a beautiful environment for us to explore. Make October 3 a team event, engage in the PLD, have some lunch, explore a Kindergarten environment and finish your day with some Wairarapa shopping!
Nurturing Mind and Body Wellbeing Seminar A wonderful Professional Development opportunity is being delivered by Regional Public Health: Nurturing Mind and Body Wellbeing Seminar on Saturday 3 November 2018 at the Silverstream Retreat, Upper Hutt. Registrations for the 5th Nurturing Mind and Body Wellbeing Seminar are open, however, limited spaces are available, please see the flyer below. If you are interested in attending this event support with registration fees are available, please contact Sharon Coulton on Sharon.coulton@wmkindergartens.org.nz to enquire further – thank you. 
Logos We know you are very eager to receive your new logos, and the design team is working very hard to get these all ready for you!! It’s also been bought up that a lot of kindergartens are really interested in using the new WM logo – which is great! There are a number of brand guidelines that come with our new logo which is why it has been so difficult for you to get your hands on. There are two Whānau Manaaki logos, the green waveform and the colourful block letters. The two logos are intended for different uses, the green logo for corporate use – you will see this over most of the documents that leave the Association Office. Then there is the colourful block lettered logo, this is intended for communication with our families – we use this on the new signage and leaflets etc. So more often than not it will be the colourful logo that will be of use to kindergartens. But soon enough you will be able to use your very own logos! If you need the WM logo please contact Chanelle – chanelle.huia-rutten@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Cook Island Language Week 
Did you celebrate Cook Island language week at your kindergarten? We would love to hear all about these celebrations and see your photos. You can send these to korero@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Bellevue Has A New Entrance Way And it looks amazing! 
This Week On Facebook  
Carterton Kindergarten has been looking into new ways to recycle their orange peels! ‘Last winter we found out that you can dry the peels and use them for kindling for lighting our winter fires. Helen has been drying the peels in her hot water cupborad and we found it very interesting looking at them when they were dry. We plan to send a paper bag of orange peel kindling home with each child who has a fire. Today it was Rex and Freya who got to take a bag home. We talked about safety too, just Mum's and Dad's putting the kindling on the fire.’ 
Pukerua Bay have been working hard!! Kaiako and tamariki are digging a pathway outside to help with drainage from our bank. Tamariki are enjoying the opportunity to get hands on and help with our environment. 
MPs Come On The Vans Politicans Jan Tinetti and Jo Luxton went on the van run with Whānau Manaaki’s Etu Ao homebased team on Friday, to find out more about Whānau Manaaki’s services. Two vans pick up children each day in Porirua, and take them to educators’ homes. The children get 30 hours free education at the Pasifika-based service, and attend a playgroup once a week. Both Labour MPs are in their first term in parliament, and are on the Education and Science select committee. Jan is a former principal of a low decile school in Tauranga, while Jo is a qualified early childhood teacher who owns a centre in South Canterbury. The MPs then went to playgroup at Toru Fetu Kindergarten, where there was a special event to mark the end of Cook Island Language week, before going to Rangikura School in Ascot Park, to learn about their transition to school process. The MPs thoroughly enjoyed their day, and commented that Whānau Manaaki Kindergarten’s services are more extensive than they previously realised. Here’s what Jan said on her facebook page. “I don’t think anything I write can do justice to just how amazing this service is - the transport operators are incredible!” Van drivers Ian and Moz say they enjoyed the chance to show how Etu Ao works. The visit highlighted the importance of engaging with politicians to showcase our services. If you want to invite your MP to visit your kindergarten and need any guidance, contact Jenny at the Whānau Manaaki office, Jenny.davies@wmkindergartens.org.nz. Let us know, too, if you have an MP visit, and make sure you take a photo or two. 
Combating Elderly Loneliness Doris Nicholson recently celebrated the birthday of Des Redican and we shared that story with you in a previous Kōrero. Des and the team at the kindergarten have recently featured in a Stuff article and so we thought we would share it with you. Des Redican wakes up every weekday morning at 5.30am and loads up his car with handmade wooden toys. The retired chippie from Upper Hutt drives three kilometres down the road and parks outside Doris Nicholson Kindergarten to set up shop – a ritual he's repeated for two years. Des the Toy Man can go weeks without selling a single toy, but that doesn't bother him. It's his way of beating loneliness and social isolation. "My wife died four years ago and the house is a lonely place by myself, so I come here for the company." Children, parents and staff all know him by name and greet him during his morning drop-off. Commuters and schoolkids give him a toot or a wave as they pass. "Everyone's great. I'd be completely lost without my morning routine. It's the reason I get out of bed." Redican turned 90 on Wednesday and his friends at the kindergarten threw him a morning tea to celebrate. Jane Hutchinson, acting head teacher at Doris Nicholson Kindergarten, said Redican had become part of their community. Although Redican kept in regular contact with his own children and dropped into the local Cosmopolitan Club once a week, he credited the kindy visits with keeping his mind and body ticking along. According to Age Concern New Zealand, Redican's situation is not unique. An Otago University study published in the Australasian Journal on Aging in March showed one in five people aged 82 and over reported having feelings of loneliness. Those who live alone were more at risk, with 29 per cent of the 72,000 elderly surveyed having experienced loneliness compared to 14 per cent of those in a shared living situation. Age Concern chief executive Stephanie Clare said chronic loneliness could contribute to a lower quality of life in a person's senior years. The organisation was trying to curb chronic loneliness by providing visiting services and raising awareness of the issue. Many socially-isolated people did not ask for help because they did not know it existed, or because they felt there was a stigma attached to loneliness. "[People are] afraid to be alone, but are also afraid to ask for help because they think it reflects badly on them." Clare said the issue of loneliness was part of a wider conversation Kiwis needed to have about how older people fit into society. Communities needed to remain accessible to them. Places like banks and post offices played a central role in keeping older people active and engaged. New Zealand needed to ensure older people had places to go, or have systems in place that encouraged the elderly to remain active, Clare said. You can see the full article and video here.
ECE Hits The News, Sparking Debate On What Is Best For Children Early childhood services have been in the news a lot this month, with two stories about teachers being deregistered for mistreating children, as well as criticism of ‘factory farming’, and articles defending parents for choosing all day ECE for young children. The articles highlight the importance of Whānau Manaaki’s values of “nurturing the mana of the child, quality, partnership and integrity”. Qualified teachers and a strong system of guidance and mentoring are major factors in quality services, as has long been recognised by research. It is important that services can be held to account without blaming parents for using them, while recognising that publicity may understandably create anxiety. In an era when most parents of young children work whether through choice or necessity, quality services for all ages, and for long and shorter hours, have never been more important. A Hawkes Bay teacher at a corporate private centre was criticised for holding children down to make them go to sleep. In some media, this centre was wrongly described as a kindergarten. The Education Council found that the recently graduated teacher was guilty of psychological and physical abuse, and while she would have benefited from guidance and mentoring, that did not excuse her behaviour. Here’s a link to a story on the incident. In another news story an Auckland Centre manager hit children, told other teachers to hit children, made racist comments and asked about parents’ sex lives. Here is the link to the article. Herald columnist Deborah Hill Cone who is studying child development sees a disconnect between what the research shows and what society provides for many families in Auckland. “Little children, babies even, are farmed out to for-profit childcare centres, sometimes for 10 hours a day, because their parents have to go back to work, to become productive economic units. Is this process "good enough"? I don't think so.” Here's a link to the full article. Meanwhile, National’s early childhood spokesperson, Nicola Willis, a mother of four including a two year old in an all-day centre asks people not to judge parents for making the best choice for their family. You can read her statement here. Another newspaper article, here, discusses what is best for children and considers quality in ECE services. Academic Anita Mortlock from Victoria University has also written an opinion piece, here, asking for the focus to be on things we know are best for children – relationships, trained teachers, good ratios, small group sizes, among other things.
Appointments Congratulations to the following on their recent appointment: | Sarah Collins | .8 Teacher | Titahi Bay | | Kylee Vettori | Teacher | Fanau Pasifika | | Tania Leota | Teacher | Lyall Bay | | Bonnie Meiklejohn | Teacher | Waikanae | | Jenny Caughley | .4 Teacher relieving to December 2018 | Johnsonville West |
Hot Tip 
We love the hot tip from Carterton above! Did you know you can also use orange peel to make an eco friendly cleaner for your home? Vinegar and leftover peels create an easy cleaning solution that disinfects, reduces mold, and removes calcium build-up. So next time you eat an orange save your peel! Recipe - Start to store your orange peels. You can put in the freezer if you like. When you have enough, put them in a glass jar. (Note, you can add lemon peels too.)
- Fill the jar up with white vinegar and let it sit for 2 weeks on your bench, (it even looks great!).
- After two weeks strain the liquid.
- Put peels in the compost.
- Mix water with the vinegar in a ratio of 2:1 and put in a spray bottle.
- Happy cleaning!
 
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