Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. Kaua he whakamā ki te korerō Māori, ahakoa he iti, he tāonga. Don't be shy to speak maori, no matter how little, treasure it. This week marks te wiki o te reo māori 2019, it would be great to see and hear how our kindergartens have celebrated this week! Jane 
For Whanganui Staff:
Please click here find the latest update of Mahi Tahi. You can also find the agenda for the Sharing Good Practise Day PLD here.
100 per cent funding -
we need to keep the pressure on
Kindergartens around the country are campaigning for the government to honour the promise to restore funding for 100 per cent qualified teachers for all services, to ensure quality for children and families.
For eight years now, we have been surviving on 80 per cent funding, while striving to maintain 100 per cent qualified teachers in our services. When the Labour led government came in nearly two years ago, we were hopeful of a funding change which would recognise and incentivise quality services to employ 100 per cent qualified teachers. All three parties in government – Labour, New Zealand First, and the Greens, have pledged to restore the funding. While the Minsiter of Education has a good understanding of the issues, there are competing demands for funding and early childhod education has not been the focus so far. We need to keep the pressure on the government to deliver on its promises. For this reason, we are asking kindergarten teachers and families to tell MPs about why it is important to fund 100 per cent qualified teachers. New Zealand Kindergartens will be releasing some material next week for all kindergartens to use to highlight our issues.
Update on Teacher Collective Agreement Settlement We were notified yesterday that the funding for the pay increases negotiated as part of the kindergarten and senior teachers’ employment agreement (KTCA) settlement will be paid in October. Details of how this will occur will be confirmed by the Ministry and we expect to be able to let you know over the next couple of days. We will email this through to you as soon as we are able.
Congratulations! Congratulations Sam on the arrival of your new bub Mila!
Sam is one of our teachers at Matariki Kindergarten.
Wishing you all the joy that the arrival of a new baby brings to the world ❤
Promo for all!
If anyone is needing a little extra promo at the moment, feel free to borrow the image below for sharing on your social media and community pages 😊 Download here 
Matariki Kindergarten is Moving 
Exciting news - Matariki Kindergarten will be moving to a new purpose built kindergarten for term 2, 2020. The new kindergarten will be located at 8 William Durrant Drive, off Alexander Rd, Upper Hutt. On Wednesday this week a group of WMK staff and community members gathered to bless the grounds before constructions starts. Construction starts Monday 16th September.
Māori Language Week
Check out some photos from Kindergartens celebrating Te wiki o te reo Māori!
Onam Day at Irmgard Ritchie kindergarten 
We are very pleased to have Neha and her family leading our morning mat time. Soumya and Bibin (mum and dad) shared their ideas and culture to our tamariki. They talked about their language Malayalam, songs like Syama sundura kera, onam vannallo), Hindu history and their place in Kerala, South India. Some of our children helped decorating the Pookhalam (flower arrangement) as a sign of peace and prosperity to everyone. Teachers and some children tried the Kheer (rice pudding) and different banana chips for morning tea. Nandi, thank you Neha and family for this learning opportunity. Soumya wrote : Onam agoshathinu pinnilulla kathayum, samskaravum, onapattukalum ellam manasilakki tannatinu nannni (explaining the event today) Thanks and regards.
This week on facebook 
Pages to follow! 
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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