Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... Just a wee reminder that tomorrow is the last day for letting Hannah know if you are going to attend the end of year all staff celebration. Jane. 
Property Team Changes  Just a reminder regarding some changes in the property team. Lorraine is no longer undertaking administrative tasks for the property team. Peni has taken on this role so any questions related to property and PA1’s should be directed to him Lupeni.Aitogi@wmkindergartens.org.nz. Lorraine has taken on some other roles within the association and is still be responsible for health and safety administration including GOSH.
Support Staff Pay Increases The collective agreement covering Support Staff (Administrators, Teacher Aides, Kaimahi, Cooks) has recently been renegotiated. The settlement includes pay increases. All our Support Staff will receive a pay increase in the next pay. Support Staff who are union members will be sent a copy of the employment agreement by the union. Those who aren’t members will need to sign a new individual agreement with us so we’ll be in touch over the next few weeks.
Storypark Hint  Did you know that you can edit your kindergarten details, add your logo, and upload key documents (such as your philosophy and procedures) to Storypark? The documents will then be accessible to whānau once they have accepted their invitation. Start by clicking on ‘edit’ beside your kindergarten name on Storypark and then follow these instructions. Please contact Lynette (lynette.wray@wmkindergartens.org.nz) if you have any questions.
Meet The Team At Shannon Kindergarten  You will remember reading the Kōrero of the 1st November where we welcomed Shannon Preschool to our Association. Today we introduce you to the team, above, back row left to right, Heke Niu, teacher, Georgina Mackay, head teacher, Sheree Swinbank, student teacher and front row left to right, Catriona Cruse, admin, Dawn Halls, kaimahi, Carmella Tovo, teacher.
Walk And Talk In The Wairarapa  Wairarapa teachers are meeting on Saturday for a ‘walk and talk’ which includes a half hour or an hour walk followed by coffee at Entice, so people can get together, have fun, catch up and meet teachers new to the area. All teachers in the Wairarapa’s eleven kindergartens are invited and relievers are more than welcome. Meet outside Masterton Park at the toilets. Jenny Braaksma from York Street has organised the event.
Scam Calls And Emails For PLD  We have become aware of a number of teachers and office staff who have been receiving phone calls and emails inviting them to attend professional development. We believe these are scam calls. Just a wee reminder to always be vigilant when dealing with people/businesses over the telephone or online. It’s very likely to be a scam if: - somebody contacts you unexpectedly
- they ask you for money or personal information
- you are being pressured to make a quick decision.
Always double-check if a person, offer, or company is legitimate before providing any details or payments. Contact the company from their official website address, rather than using the information they provide. Never click on the links or attachments in e-mails and text messages that ask you to login or verify your password. Instead, go to the legitimate website and log in from there. Ask somebody for help or even for a second opinion – do they think it’s real? There are also resources on line that you can refer to for assistance, one being Netsafe. You can access their website here.
Teaching Council Changes Stance On English Language Testing The Teaching Council has changed its stance on English language testing which should mean those who undertake their teaching qualification in New Zealand can register more easily. This change goes some way to meet the concerns of Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens, which has been lobbying against the policy for some time. At the moment, some students spend three years studying and have large student debt, then cannot get registered as teachers because they cannot pass the current English language test at the required level. The cost of the tests is also a barrier, and the fact that the tests are not returned to candidates so they can see where they need to improve. The current policy has made it difficult for many teachers who have a Pasifika language as their first language, to get registered. Here’s a link to the Teaching Council’s new policy which takes effect next year.
Teacher Workload The government is looking at reducing compliance requirements for teachers, but its recommendations so far concentrate on issues in schools and not in early childhood services. The work comes from a taskforce set up to consider workload. Here’s a link to the government release. That comes at the same time as a study of more than 30 countries that shows that New Zealand teachers work the longest hours. According to the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Status Index 2018, teachers in New Zealand work 52.1 hours each week. The survey polled 1000 members of the public and up to 200 teachers in the 35 countries around the world which took part. It also found New Zealand parents are less likely to encourage their children to become teachers in 2018 than in 2013 when the inaugural survey was published. Here’s a link to the full study.
Study Questions Value of ‘Before School’ Checks A new study has called into question the validity of Before School checks, suggesting they might increase inequality rather than supporting children with additional needs. The Before School checks have always been controversial in the early childhood sector with the approach being seen as conflicting with the strength-based lens of the sector. The new study follows a previous study which found that Māori communities said the process did not accord with their values. Here’s a link to an article about the research.
Special Visitors at Titahi Bay The tamariki were very busy during the week putting together a batch of cheesy scones and a good brew of coffee for their VIP visitors, the Honourable Kris Fa'afoi, our local MP from Mana, and his side kick extrodanaire, Geoff Hayward, who visited their kindergarten. It was a wonderful occasion for all kaiako to have open discussions with Kris and Geoff about challenges that kaiako face.
Pene managed to secure Kris's signiture on the Mana Taurite Pay Equity Pledge showing his support for pay equity in ECE and Support Staff.
Thank you Kris and Geoff for your time, Titahi Bay look forward to your return!
 
Newtown Celebrate Diwali The teachers, children and community celebrated Diwali recently and made this pretty cool little video.
A Dinosaur Appears At Khandallah  The children and teachers at Khandallah Kindergarten have been working on an indoors project over the past few weeks. Now this project has been completed the dinosaur can be seen "roaming" the playground on sunny days!
Te Papa Performance  The children at Tai Tamariki Kindergarten took part in a combined kapa haka performance with other ECE centres and schools at Rongomaraeroa Marae.
Handy Facebook Pages  A good page to follow on Facebook – Fatherly or via their website here. There aren’t many blogs/pages/websites out there aimed at dads, so this is a great page to follow and share for posts specifically aimed at our papa bears! 
This Week On Facebook   The Association followed up on a previous Kōrero item, "Even if you are big you can do manaaki for other people and dogs and cats as well and turtles and the environment." "We can help out our friends as well and our friends at the childrens hospital and our friends at the cats house for protecting cats. Here’s all the places you can help my mum helped me do a picture." Spread a little love and celebrate Manaaki day on Nov 16th with us.  The team at Cottle kindergarten said a big thank you to Jacob and Adam's whānau for making them this amazing MUD KITCHEN! The children loved using it near the sandpit. There was lots of mixing and making going on. The teachers can see how this kitchen will support lots of children's play outside with gardening, water play and sandpit explorations. There were a lot of parents inspired by this handiwork - some children might get a mud kitchen for Christmas!  The tamariki at Seatoun have spent the last couple of beautiful days weeding the garden and planting the editable seedlings. Deciding where to place the plants and watering was a big focus. Planting will continue for a few days. Respecting and caring for our gardens brings a sense of belonging to our natural learning spaces.  With #christmasshopping on the rise, Otaki posted this on their page so we can all have a look at #heirarchyofneeds for Ethical gift giving! There's a huge range of choice before you need to resort to buying new gifts. What ethical gifts are you going to give this festive season?
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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