Nau mai ki te pānui tênei ko te Kōrero. 
Covid-19 Update Vaccination policy change confirmed Thanks to all those who took part in the consultation about proposed changes to our vaccination policy, following the board’s decision last week. There was overwhelming support for the change, removing vaccination requirements for staff, volunteers, contractors, and whānau. A pack outlining how the new policy will work in kindergartens, as well as other changes related to the Orange CPR framework, is being emailed to kindergartens later today. Covid-19 Stats We continue to closely monitor the numbers of household close contacts and people with COVID-19 that relate to the kindergartens. We have noticed post term break that there has been a small increase in numbers again. This could be read as a return to the expected numbers now that all the kindergartens are back, or it could be indicative of another minor peak. In either case, what is also noticeable is that the numbers of cases per kindergarten have definitely dropped. i.e. we have slightly more kindergartens reporting cases but in smaller numbers than before. Please remember to report positive Covid-19 cases for staff and children (and parents or whānau that have been in the kindergarten) to your Senior Teacher in the first instance. This helps with consistency and ensures that no one is falling through the gaps. 
Senior Teacher Update Education Review Office-Disabled Learners Survey- Closes 13 May Please click on the links provided to complete the survey and if you wish share on your platforms with parents to complete. ERO would like to invite your Early Learning Service(s) to participate in a project looking at the quality and inclusivity of education provision for disabled learners, including neuro diverse and deaf learners. This project focuses on children who have a significant long-term impairment, need teaching adaptations and/or individual support to access Early Childhood Education and Te Whāriki, and who may or may not be receiving early intervention funding. About this work The Education Review Office (ERO) is working in partnership with the Office for Disability Issues and the Human Rights Commission on this evaluation. Together, the findings will inform future actions to improve outcomes for disabled learners. Please note that we are using the term ‘disabled learners’ on the advice of our partners in the Office for Disability Issues and the Human Rights Commission. This is a strengths-based approach that follows the social model of disability, which accepts that social and environmental conditions are disabling, not the individual. For more information on this terminology see: Things you should know: Definitions, concepts and approaches - Office for Disability Issues (odi.govt.nz) This work is designed to build on ERO’s previous evaluations of education provision for disabled learners and will complement the Ministry of Education’s Highest Needs Review. Why Participate? Your service has been identified as part of a national sample of Early Learning services which may have had recent experience with supporting disabled learners. We believe your input into this evaluation would be incredibly valuable. By participating in this evaluation, your Early Learning Service(s), learners and whānau will be able to have a voice in what is or isn’t working for disabled learners and help us to understand what needs to change. There will also be an opportunity to share examples of where practice is working well, and why. Please note ERO will not be evaluating your service(s) and no details will be published about you or your service(s). Support for Head Teachers Completing Budgets Thank you to Brendon for the successful TEAMS meeting, held earlier this week, on how to complete your budgets for the 2022-2023 financial year. Unfortunately, the meeting was not recorded as promised and so we are unable to share that with you. The Finance Team would however like to remind you that they are available any time to support you with the completion of your budget spreadsheet and to answer any related questions you may have. You can make a time for this face to face or you can work with them remotely. If you go back to the budget email that you received from the Finance Team, you will see that each person has been assigned a nominated Finance Team member that you can contact and discuss any questions or concerns you may have. Head teacher Meetings for Term Two A reminder of our upcoming Head Teacher meetings. Please check the dates and venues below and put them in your calendar. Kapiti and Horewhenua | Monday, 23 May 2022 | 3.00pm to 5.00pm | Te Takare levin - Rimu & Totara rooms | Hutt Valley | Tuesday, 24 May 2022 | 3.00pm to 5.00pm | Cossie Club | Whanganui and Central Plateau | Wednesday, 25 May 2022 | 3.00pm to 5.00pm | St Johns Club | Porirua One & Two | Monday, 30 May 2022 | 3.00pm to 5.00pm | Te Puna | City North | Tuesday, 31 May 2022 | 3.00pm to 5.00pm | Te Puna | Wairarapa | Wednesday, 1 June 2022 | 3.00pm to 5.00pm | Carterton Events Centre Maungariki Room | City South | Thursday, 2 June 2022 | 3.00pm to 5.00pm | ASB Centre |
Finance Update Term Two 2022 Whanau Contributions Your families may have asked about Term two requests for Whānau Contributions. Feel free to let them know that these will be emailed out tomorrow. Hard copies will also be delivered to kindergartens for distribution through “child pockets” next week. 2022/23 Kindergarten Budgets A reminder that your 2022/23 kindergarten budget is due for completion and return to us by 20 May 2022. Please get in touch with your nominated Finance team member if you need any help with this.
Teacher Only Day 27 May As you may know, the Ministry of Education is giving all early childhood services a funded teacher only day for work associated with issues related to the pandemic. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens will hold a teacher only day on Friday 27 May. An update for parents will be sent to you today, to give parents notice that they will not be able to send children to kindergarten on this day. There will be more information coming about how we will use this day, but essentially it will be to catch up with changing procedures about Covid-19, to reconnect as a team, to reflect and talk about responding to pandemic issues, to discuss re-engaging with families and any other initiatives in your kindergarten at this stage in the process.
Te Hurihanganui Poutama Pounamu Blended Learning Course  Team members from Brian Webb Kindergarten in Tawa, and Katoa Kindergarten in Porirua were chosen to take part in the two day Poutama Pounamu Blended learning course 'Equity, Excellence and Belonging' as part of Te Hurihanganui, a Ministry of Eduction initiative that supports communities to work together to address racism and inequity in all forms, including in Early Childhood Education.
The method of teaching in the course aimed to help teachers to understand effective contexts for learning and to learn more about the impact of our combined colonial history on Māori and on other marginalised groups in our schooling system and in society. There was a focus on the ability to reach back prior to colonisation to understand tangata whenua as successful, innovative, productive and living as one with the land.
Te Kete Mātauranga Next week we will be rolling out our brand new internal staff SharePoint site - Te Kete Mātauranga! The new kete platform has been developed with our staff in mind. It will be the home to Kōrero each week, as well as the Kōrero archive. In addition to that, important regularly used forms and policies will be easily available in one place, as well as an event calendar for important events and PLD courses. It will also be the home of all things Conference 2022! There will be support available as we move to the new system, so that everyone can access it easily and can get help if needed. We will also seek regular feedback so we can make any improvements necessary. Staff will continue to receive an email each week that links to the latest edition of the Kōrero, within the Te Kete Mātauranga site. This is the last edition of Kōrero that will link to our website, which will also be updated in the coming weeks. We will keep you updated on the progress in up and coming editions of the Kōrero.
Appointments and Resignations Congratulations to the following on their recent appointments: | Name | Position | Kindergarten | | Sarah Collins | Teacher | Adventure | | Sarah Godfree-Neal | .8 Teacher | Adventure | | Usha Bajaj | .7 Teacher | Ascot Park | | Mandy Wilson | .7 Teacher | Ascot Park | | Donna Bruce | .65 Teacher | Karori | | Claire Stevens | .8 Teacher | Lansdowne | | Casey Murray | .6 Teacher | Lansdowne | | Zivana Donnelly | Teacher | Meta Riddiford | | Melissa Burgess | .6 Teacher | Newtown | | Sheryl Morrow | Teacher | Onslow | | Joanne Winchester | .6 Teacher | Paremata Creche | | Hayleigh Baker | .75 Teacher | Paremata Creche | | Cassandra Connolly | .5 Teacher | Pikopiko | | Jess Williams | .6 Teacher | Silverstream | | Sharon Fox | Head Teacher | South End | | Megan Mcmillen | .75 Teacher | South End | | Nicola Jones | .875 Teacher | Te Timatanga Hou | | Clare Robertson | Administrator | Wellington South | | Laura Davies | Administrator | Lyall Bay |
We wish all the best to the following who have resigned: | Name | Position | Kindergarten | | Carly Billing | Teacher | Matairangi | | Jess Palamo | Administrator | Miramar North | | Karen Craig | Communications Advisor | Head Office |
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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