Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. We appreciate how you have worked with us over the last couple of days. We continue to live and work in uncertain times but together we will get through whatever comes our way. Look after yourselves and each other. He hono tangata kore a motu, kāpā he taura, waka a motu Connections between people cannot be severed, whereas those of a canoe rope can. Jane 
Covid 19 Update No 3  Tēnā koutou e te whānau, whanui As you know, at the moment we are in Level 2 until midnight Friday, but the situation can change rapidly and we will keep you up to date as much as we can. Masks and social distancing In the Update on Tuesday night, we indicated people could choose about whether or not to wear masks at kindergarten. We also said that we expect to get further guidance around this and will let you know as soon as we do. We felt uncomfortable even indicating in our first update that people could choose, because there are heaps of factors to consider, but with the need to inform our staff quickly, we took that approach. When the Ministry Early Learning Bulletin was published the next morning making it clear that masks are not required in schools or early services at either level 2 or 3, we made the decision to say no to masks being worn in session with children. If that changes, we will release clear guidelines about the wearing of masks during session. Current Situation From the Ministry of Health: There are 14 new cases of COVID-19 today, including 1 in managed isolation. See the MOH latest media release for more information. There are now 36 active cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand. See the MOH current cases page. Keep up the great work All our good practices are needed more than ever - keep promoting this stuff amongst your team, the children, and their whānau: - Wash your hands for at least 20 seconds with soap and water, and dry them or
- Use hand sanitiser
- Stay home if you are sick or feeling unwell.
- Use the official tracer app to record your movements.
- If you have symptoms, get tested. If you are asked to take a test, do so.
Continue to be kind Let me be clear: There is no blame or shame in having COVID-19. The virus is the problem, not the people who have contracted it - they did not ask to catch it. And in the same way you never ask to get a cold or the flu in Winter, the virus is the problem, people are the solution. Dr Ashley Bloomfield, 13 August 2020
Gosh System For Accidents Just a reminder that we are now all using the Gosh system to record accidents and parents need to be emailed the report in every case. Please make sure all members of the team know how to use the new system and are using it routinely. Primary Caregivers In Infocare Due to the ability to now email Child Accident forms directly to families from GOSH, it is really important that all primary caregivers for children are identified in Infocare, as these are the people who will receive the child accident email. Please ensure the Primary Caregiver is identified in Infocare by ticking the “Primary Caregiver” box which is located in the “Contacts” section on infocare. Any questions please contact Tania.Braybrook@wmkindergartens.org.nz or Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Teachers Appraisal As we talked about in the Head Teachers meetings, the Teaching Council have now made some changes to the requirements for the Council to audit 10% of teacher appraisals and has been removed from legislation though the new Education and Training Act. This allows us to be free to design our own appraisal processes and establish what works for us. This work is underway with a group of representatives of Kindergartens Aotearoa. As was discussed, the focus will be on teachers’ professional learning journeys where conversations about teaching and learning use the Standards/ngā Paerewa as a reference for quality practice that support all learners. As our current appraisal process has this focus, we will continue with that process until a new framework for a ‘professional growth cycle’ has been developed across Kindergartens Aotearoa. We wanted to be clear that it is business as usual as we undertake the design process and as new information will be coming out.
Online Practising Certificate Renewal The Teaching Council of Aotearoa has moved to an online renewal system through an online community called Hapori Matatū where teachers can register and get certificated, renew certification, endorse, share information, create and join discussion groups and connect with teaching peers across the country. You still need to apply at least 8 weeks in advance to ensure that you have allowed time for your application to be processed. Before you can access the online system, every teacher needs to get an Education Sector Logon, or ESL. This logon only needs to be obtained once, from the Ministry of Education. In order to do this you should: either: - download the ESL 51 form (Education Sector Logon ECE User Request) from the Teaching Council website, or the Teachers Toolbox
- complete the details,
- send it to your Senior Teacher who will complete Part 3 of the form and send it to the Ministry of the Education.
The request for an Education Sector Logon must be signed by a delegated authoriser and for He Whānau Manaaki this is the Senior Teachers only. After an application for an ESL has been sent to MoE you will receive an email back from them which asks you to log in within 2 weeks to set up your account in Hapori Matatū. If you do not do this the login will expire. If this is the case you will need to resend your forms with a new date which will need to be signed by the Senior Teacher again. If you haven’t heard back, contact the services desk at the Ministry of Education, 0800 422 599, or by email to the address given above. Once you have logged in to Hapori Matatū you can then follow the instructions to complete your application to renew your practising certificate. You will need to search and select the person who will endorse your application as your professional leader. This person is your/a SENIOR TEACHER. You need to use the name that the Senior Teacher is registered as or use their registration number. Once you have completed your application your Senior Teacher as nominated endorser will receive an email asking them to complete their part of the process. Once the process is complete you will receive confirmation of your renewal. We need you to send a copy of the confirmation email and a copy of the digital practising certificate to Tania Braybrook so that we can update our records. Practising certificate cards have been digitised, which means that you will no longer receive a hard copy of your certificate in the mail but will be available to you digitally. You can print an A4 certificate or wallet sized copy, or save it on your phone. Digital practising certificates can be downloaded from ‘My Details’ in your profile in Hapori Matatū! How do we access Hapori Matatū? Log in by clicking the link here. Useful guides and tips To make sure you have the best experience using Hapori Matatū, the Teaching Council recommend using Google Chrome as your browser. Safari isn’t fully supported and until it works well, we’d recommend downloading Chrome. Click here for the guides. Click here to view a process map outlining the steps for renewal.
Relievers And Staff Sync Just a couple of reminders to get the best out of the App for you: - Don’t forget to keep your calendars updated when you are unavailable to work - Please remember to reply back to the requests for work, even if you are unable to relieve that day. It is good to let the reliever co-ordinators know. - Make sure that you have chosen the correct areas that you want to relieve in – please check this under the top right hand corner button – go to the magic button then press “My Account” then “My Schools” and make sure your list of kindergartens is correct. - Make sure you are receiving notifications and have your sound up on your phone. You can check for your notifications in “My Messages” – go to the magic button in the top right hand corner and then click “Account” then “My Messages”. - You can also go to the magic button (top right hand corner) and click on “Jobs”, there you will find, New Jobs, Current Jobs, Missed Jobs and Completed Jobs. Please also make sure you let the Reliever Co-ordinator know if you have accepted pre-booked work from teachers – they will load the job in Staff Sync. The reliever co-ordinators for the following areas are: - Dhanaye Maule: Wairarapa, Upper Hutt, City Central, City South and Petone
- Nicki Cook: Levin/Kapiti, Porirua, City North
- Rachel Cronin: Central Plateau and Wanganui Region
If you have any questions please let us know; email Leigh on leigh.comeskey@wmkindergartens.org.nz and she can help you. Staff Sync are very helpful, their number to call with any problems is: 0800 878 623.
Supporting ECE Student Research - Understanding ECE Teachers Experiences In Teaching Migrant Children Goh Jian Wei, a Master of Educational Psychology student at Victoria University of Wellington, is researching ECE teachers' experiences of teaching migrant children in New Zealand and how these experiences can lead to personal development in teachers. The research project has two phases: the first phase is the anonymous online survey; the second phase, should you wish to participate further, will involve an online or face to face interview with individual teachers. There is no requirement for any teacher to participate in phase 2. If you have experience teaching migrant children and are willing to complete the survey to support Goh Jian Wei's research project please click here.
Election Displays  Don’t forget to encourage your families to enrol to vote! You can also follow the lead of Newtown Kindergarten in Wellington and contact the Electoral Commission to organize someone to come and speak to your families. Send a photo of your election display to korero@wmkindergartens.org.nz. Here’s what a few of our kindergartens and our office have been doing: 
WM Office Whanganui 
York Street Kindergarten 
WM Office Porirua
Hiroshima Anniversary This month marks the 75th anniversary of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in Japan, which killed tens of thousands of civilians including many children. Thousands more died in the following months and years because of radiation exposure and cancer. The city of Hiroshima recovered to become a memorial to peace. Origami paper cranes became a peace symbol after a child was two at the time of the bombing contracted leukaemia. Sadako Sasaki who died aged ten attempted to fold 1,000 cranes to please the gods and be granted a wish. Because of Covid 19 the commemorations were limited but a video message from the UN Secretary General called on all countries to work to abolish nuclear weapons. Waikanae Kindergarten Head Teacher Scott Marris has visited Hiroshima and been to the memorial, which he describes as a deeply moving experience and a reminder about the need to work for a peaceful future. 
This Week On Facebook  
Brian Webb - Ngā tamariki are loving the fun songs Matua Chucky has shared at group time. This one is quickly becoming a favourite and is all about our kindergarten kaupapa. I wonder if you have heard this sung at home recently.
Handy Facebook Pages  Follow Ministry of Ed for updates and information.
Every now and then they have live videos with great guests. 
Appointments Congratulations to the following on their recent appointment: | Corina Lawson | Teacher | Martinborough | | Erin Phelps | Head Teacher | Otaki | | Alile Hiemstra | .4 Teacher | Martinborough |
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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