Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. There is one week to go until we have a break over the festive season. Enjoy! Jane. 
Timesheet/Payroll Deadlines With the end of the year, and two pays to do in the final week, we do need to get timesheets etc in a bit early so we can process things on time. Whanganui and Central Plateau Kindergartens - please have all leave requests in iPayroll by 9am Friday 20 December. All other kindergartens, as follows: - For part-year kindergartens, by 9am Thursday 19 Dec
- For full-year kindergartens, by 9am Friday 20 Dec.
Please email to timesheets@wmkindergartens.org.nz . If anything changes after you’ve sent them you can email later with amendments.
End of Year Infocare Cut-Off It’s that time of year again when we have to close off Infocare for the end of month and term (and year!). As with normal month end requirements can you please ensure that, the following is completed in Infocare by 3pm on Thursday 19 December: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
- Fee invoices (for the week ending Friday 20 December) created and committed
- Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) for the week ending Friday 20 December completed
- Online sign off of your monthly roll return
- Any ratio, frequent absence, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Association (please call Cathryn or Tania)
If your support staff are unavailable to work on Thursday can you please ensure arrangements are in place so that this deadline is met – this may mean that these tasks need to be completed by teaching staff before the cut off. For Full Day kindergartens and those other kindergartens that are open on Friday 20 December the above Infocare tasks need to be complete by 3pm on Friday 20 December. (Bellevue, Greytown, Shannon, Tui Park, Wadestown, Wellington South, Ascot Park, Betty Montford, Heretaunga, Masterton West, Newtown, Parsons Avenue, Raumati Beach, Una Williams, Matariki, Toru Fetu, Tai Tamariki, Owhiro Bay, Te Timatanga Hou, Nuanua, Kahurangi, Waitohi, Fanau Pasifika, Harriette Vine, Maxwell & Districts, Putiki, Te Puna Ako Ki Totara Puku, Waiouru & Taihape) Payments Processing over the Christmas Break Due to staff absences at the Association over the holiday break there will be changes to the timing of the weekly Association payment cycle. Payment of invoices will occur as follows over the coming weeks: Invoices received at the Association by Friday 13 Dec Paid on Monday 16 December Invoices received at the Association by Wednesday 18 Dec Paid on Friday 20 December Invoices received at the Association by Friday 3 Jan Paid on Wednesday 8 January Invoices received at the Association by Friday 10 Jan Paid on Monday 13 January Please ensure that regular suppliers to your kindergartens are made aware of these payment timeframes. Also, we’d encourage you to get all your December invoices emailed in prior to 18 December so we can arrange prompt payment for you. During the coming weeks all requests for urgent payments should continue to be emailed to accounts@wmkindergartens.org.nz and marked as URGENT in the subject line. Banking Please ensure that there is little or no cash held at your kindergarten over the Christmas break. If you could aim to bank all petty cash and other receipts before Tuesday 17 December this will allow our Finance team to contact you with any queries they have before the end of the term. Can you also update Infocare with details of all deposits made. Fee Invoicing and Statements The timetable for fortnightly fee statements being issued to families over the coming weeks is as follows: Statements for fees up to Friday 13 December Distributed Thursday 19 December Statements for fees up to Friday 27 December Distributed Thursday 16 January Statements for fees up to Friday 10 January Distributed Thursday 16 January Statements for fees up to Friday 24 January Distributed Thursday 30 January Head Teachers will need to ensure that their support staff complete all invoicing for the last week of Term 4 by Thursday 19 December. Please note that this will probably mean preparing invoices in advance for some children. Kindergarten Reporting Kindergarten reports for the financial year to 31 December 2019 will be circulated by Wednesday 22 January 2020. As always your kindergarten accounts should be passed on to your Treasurers and Committees as appropriate. Infocare Lock Dates for 2020 Details of Infocare Lock Dates for 2020 will be circulated in the new year.
Hazards Just a reminder that week 9 of each term, which this term is the week of the 16/12/2019, is the time to review your kindergarten Hazard Registers. This is an opportunity to update your Hazard Register, including deciding if the hazard still exists within the kindergarten environment, if there are any changes to the actions and approaches you are taking related to each hazard and ensure that hazards that do exist in your environment are included on the Hazard Register. As a result of feedback from teams, GOSH has created a more user friendly way to review your hazards. You will see now that there is a new icon on your “My Kindergarten” view (see red arrow below). 
In the Week 9 Review option there is a new form called “Kindergarten Hazard Review Audit” (see below). This form means that you can now complete the week 9 review of the hazards on your register without having to edit each hazard individually. You will see on the form there is a tick box which means you just need to look at the hazards and if they still exist, and you are happy with the actions to deal with the hazard, then you just complete the tick box Upon completing this record, all related hazard records on your Hazard Register will be updated to reflect this review. 
2020 Term Dates We thought it might be a good idea to put next year's term dates in the Kōrero again. There are four different calendars showing open/closed dates, and compulsory leave for: The key start and finish dates are: - Monday 6 January, all Full Year Kindergartens and Etu Ao Open
- Tuesday 21 January, all Part Year Kindergartens Open
- Monday 21 December, last day for Part-Year Kindergartens
- Tuesday 22 December, last day for Full-Year Kindergartens and Etu Ao.
If you have any questions about these dates or the calendars, please contact Karen atkaren.skett@wmkindergartens.org.nzor on 021 857 826.
More Full Year Kindergartens Two more kindergartens are moving to offer full year services next year – Taitoko in Levin and Aramoho in Whanganui. This means Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens now has 30 services offering full year options, with some in each region.
A Big Thanks! On Saturday another successful Giveaway Day was held at Nuanua Kindergarten. Giveaway Day is held once a term to support families in the Porirua community. It is an opportunity for people to give goods, including clothing, linen and kitchen items, to families who are supported by our Community Navigators. Thanks so much to all of you who donated items, it is very much appreciated. We will let you know when the next Giveaway Day is to be held in a future edition of the Kōrero.
New Law Could Halt Proliferation Of Services The government has introduced a new Education and Training Bill to parliament, which includes changes to the way new ECE centres are licensed, to make sure that a new service is needed in a particular locality. Before a centre can apply for a licence it would need to have Ministerial approval, which would take into account the needs of the communities, including the need for different kinds of services (for example Te Reo Māori services). At the moment any centre that meets the regulations can be licensed. This has led to oversupply in some areas, creating pressure on existing services. The bill will go to a Select Committee next year, and Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens will make a submission to the committee.
Many Working Families Can’t Make Ends Meet Many children living in poverty are in families with at least one parent working, sometimes at more than one job, according to a new study The study by the Human Rights Commission found that 50,000 households can’t make ends meet. It uses data from 2013, however its authors say the true figure is likely to be worse than that now because of the rising cost of living, especially housing which is costing up to 65 per cent of income. The most likely groups to be affected include single parents, Māori and Pacific peoples, ethnic minorities, households where the adults have low education levels, renters and disabled people. Equal Employment Opportunities Commissioner Saunoamaali'i Dr Karanina Sumeo told National Radio’s Nine to Noon programme it was the most detailed research ever done on the working poor in this country. She said it would be very helpful for policy makers to try and lift families out of poverty. You can listen to the Commissioner's interview here.
Matariki Takes Shape Building is well underway on the new Matariki Kindergarten in Upper Hutt. Fingers crossed for great weather to continue as we are aiming for a late May, early June 2020 opening!  
A Day Of Celebration About 160 past and present children, families and staff of Owhiro Bay Kindergarten joined together on Monday afternoon to celebrate the kindergarten turning 10! A great afternoon was had by all those who attended.  
 
Pōwhiri Welcome On Wednesday Kahurangi Kindergarten had a pōwhiri to welcome their new teacher Simone. Papa Sep and Mama Mate came to support the kindergarten. Lou supported River to karanga and all of the tamariki sat then sung Te Aroha after Papa Sep finished his whaikōrero. Julie spoke and the tamariki sung E Toru Ngā Mea. Simone’s aunty then "handed over" Simone to Julie. They then had kai in the front māra. He tino ataahua te rā!  
 
Survey Request For Parents We have been approached by Jacqui Southey, who is a Masters student in Education at Victoria University of Wellington, for parents to complete an online survey which will feed in to her research project. The online survey is for gathering information from parents on the positive parenting strategies that parents choose to use when parenting their children, and the information that influences parents’ use of these strategies. The survey is intended to provide information that can be used to provide greater understanding on how to support other parents to be well informed about positive parenting strategies and develop broader understanding of the strategies parents choose to use. The research has been approved by the Human Ethics Committee, Victoria University of Wellington, reference number 0000028119. You can print off the information about the research and links to the survey here and make it available to your parents.
This Week On Facebook  
Northland - ka pai tō mahi ngā tamariki! What wonderful work is happening in the art area of late. It's fun to explore 3D artworks using this media isn't it? We are enjoying taking up a challenge - using reference material or designing our own projects - working through a process that days days to complete - tumeke!
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