Nau mai ki te pānui tênei ko te Kōrero. 
Update On The Senior Teaching Team As we’ve been discussing in previous editions of the Kōrero, our senior teaching team has been reviewing the way they work. The move to Alert levels 3 and 4 delayed this work, and so we will be looking to update you on developments over the coming weeks. You will have seen that Paula Hunt is retiring on 1 October, and so there will be a new Senior Teacher joining us. We are also in the process of appointing a Senior Teacher to fill the vacancy left by Sharon Coulton, although this will be a K3 position, not a Team Leader (K4) position. So lots of changes – at this stage though, it’s just business as usual, getting back on track and enjoying the Spring weather!
Senior Teacher Update Kia ora koutou katoa, Head Teachers Meetings At the beginning of this term we started our Head Teacher cluster meetings and met with two clusters (Kapiti and Hutt Valley), but due to the rāhui the remaining meetings were put on hold. Rather than continuing to have these meetings face to face now that we are in level 2, we will be offering them as zoom meetings in the last week of this term. Confirmation of the date for your cluster meeting, and a link to the online meeting, will be sent to your office 365 calendar in the next few days. We will also include a confirmation of the dates and times for each HT cluster meeting in next week’s Kōrero. If you have any questions about gaining access to these meetings, please give your own senior teacher a call. The focus of the Head Teacher zoom meetings will be an update from Mandy Coulston. The second part of the Head Teacher meetings that went ahead was a continuation of our Te Manawa work. Instead of including this work in the zoom meetings, we are asking Head Teachers to look at the ‘5 Actions to support Leaders to progress and engage in Te Manawa’, and the HT Te Manawa Powerpoint, both of which can be found in the Teachers Toolbox plan ‘Te Manawa 3rd Edition’. Open plan | Storypark. Teams can, if they wish, work through any, or all, of the actions, as a means of continuing their mahi around Te Manawa. Teams may also find it useful to look through the HT Te Manawa Powerpoint. Please make contact with your Senior Teacher if you would like to discuss any of the content. The Senior Teacher team have discussed the timeframes for updating your Te Manawa procedures and are extending this timeline out into 2022 term 1, to support team’s workload and wellbeing. If you have any questions let your Senior Teacher know. New Head teacher meeting A heads up, the next new head teacher meeting will be held on Wednesday 29 September in Te Puna WMK. An agenda will follow but for now, book your reliever, enrol through Tūhonohono and be sure to let us know about any special dietary requirements. Leaderful practice We are looking forward to seeing all those teachers enrolled in our leaderful practice PLD during the term break on 7 October 2021. - Our 2019 cohort presentation will be 9.30am to 12.00pm and will explore the capability, Attending to their own learning as leaders and their own wellbeing
- After lunch, 1.00pm to 3.30pm, our 2021 cohort will continue to explore the capability, Building and sustaining high trust relationships relational trust and open to learning conversations.
Please enrol through Tūhonohouno and if you have any questions about how to enrol in your given location (cluster) please feel free to contact Fiona.Twaddle@wmkindergartens.org.nz Induction and Mentoring Seminar 6 October 2021 We are looking forward to seeing all PCT’s and Mentors at our July seminar for 2021. Please remember that your attendance at our seminars is an important requirement for completing your Induction and Mentoring Programme. As we have over twenty kaiako who hold a Tōmua (or Provisional Practising certificate) and their mentors engaging in our Induction and Mentoring Programme, we are running our seminars in clusters in your region so that we meet the group size requirements for HWM PLD. The two workshops in this seminar are strongly linked to the Standards for the Teaching Profession and focus on: - Working with Whānau and
- An Introduction to internal Evaluation processe
We are doing some planning around where the clusters will be, but please make sure this date is in your diary in the meantime. As there is less travel involved using this cluster model, the seminar now starts at9.00am and finishes at 1.00pm (this is a change from the time advertised in the PLD calendar). Enrolments in the clusters will be open on Tūhonohono from next week. Please enrol in the cluster that you would like to attend so that we have enough resources (and morning tea😉) at each one… Please talk with your Senior Teacher if you have any questions, or contact Lynette. Students in kindergartens under level 2 Students are welcome back in kindergartens in Level 2, as long as they sign in and out each day and follow Health and Safety guidelines. All tertiary institutions have been in touch with Paula to check about placements for Term 4 so it is fine for you have any student that you have agreed to or any that the tertiary institution ask you to have.
From Term 4 Leanne Nelson will be taking over the student portfolio for placements or kindergarten based student enquiries in the Wairarapa, Kapiti and Wellington areas. Katie Fry will be the person responsible for students in Whanganui and the Central Plateau. For any queries or questions please check with either of these STs.
Cyber Security Update We will be sending an FAQ update to all kindergarten email addresses this afternoon. If you have further questions from that please contact your Senior Teacher, or for access issues please contact Tania Braybrook.
Fibre Installation A number of our kindergartens will be having fibre installed over the coming months. We will be in touch with you directly when your kindergarten is scheduled for this upgrade. Thanks so much for your patience as we work through this roll out with the external contractors.
Te Reo Māori Online PLD Opportunity For Kaiako - He Pātaka Reo It's great to see so many people enrolled into and doing this PLD. Please note the opportunity to complete this PLD finishes on 17 December so you have another 3 months to continue on. It is not too late to enrol, you can enrol and complete this PLD right up to the 17 December. If you are interested please contact Karen Craig.
First Aid Under Level 2(D), First Aid training is still going ahead but the numbers that can attend class are fewer. Depending on the Levels announcement, this could mean that we will need to ask a few people currently enrolled on each course to drop out for a future course. In recognition of the stricter class sizes, the Governing Body has extended the 3-month grace period (after your certificate's expiry date) to 6 months. Kaz is overseeing all of this and will be in touch if things need to change for you. In the meantime - if you are enrolled on a course please work on the theory that you will still be attending it unless told otherwise. If you now have a difficulty with attending, or feel uncomfortable with attending under the current circumstances, please contact Kaz as soon as possible.
Child Protection All Child Protection courses, apart from the one being held on 15 October, have been cancelled. The course on 15 October is now full. Plans are being made for Child Protection courses in 2022 and everyone will be contacted regarding those once plans have been finalised.
Vaccinations There has been a bit of talk in the media about whether, and how, employers should collect information about whether people have been vaccinated against COVID. We’re not actively collecting this information from you at the moment but it is possible that we may want to in the future. If/when we do, as always we will follow the official guidance provided to us and we will give you as much information as we can so you know what is being asked and why.
Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori  We hope you have had a great week celebrating Māori Language week. Did your kindergarten take part in the Māori Language Moment? Click here to see the cool things our kindergartens and offices did. Kia kaha te reo Māori!
Funding For Day-To-Day Relievers Under Rāhui As you know the government would not extend the school reliever funding for Covid Level 3 and 4 to the early childhood sector, but had suggested that our relievers could apply for the wage subsidy, which is what we had recommended our day-to-day relievers do. While some have been successful others have not. We are keen to hear from Whānau Manaaki Relievers how successful they have been with their applications. Contact Anna Barker at the office. A petition calling for funding for relievers has been circulating and is due to be presented tomorrow. If you haven’t already, you can sign the petition, begun by NZEI Te Riu Roa, here. The petition is being presented to MP Marja Lubeck who chairs the Education and Workforce select committee. It will be presented tomorrow ( Friday September 17) at 2pm by zoom. Marja will be asked to take it to the Minister and the Select Committee and to respond formally. Relievers are invited to join the zoom here. Meeting ID: 991 4906 7258 Passcode: 159213
Pay Parity Step Deferred The government has made changes to its proposals to improve pay for early childhood teachers outside of kindergarten, making teachers wait another year for step six of the KTCA agreement to apply. NZEI Te Riu Roa is organising against the delay, with a strong feeling from many teachers across the sector that they already had to wait too long for too little. Extra funding is available from next January for employers who agree to pay up to step six of the agreement, but that’s now been changed to step five. For many teachers this means their salary will be about $4,000 less than what they were expecting. Education Minister Chris Hipkins says the delay means more employers will opt into the system, but NZEI president Liam Rutherford described the government as betraying its commitment. “Essentially, these teachers are being asked to wait another year before they'll get paid fairly.”
Te Reo Resourse One of our Kindergarten Based Students, Sarah Godfree-Neal who is based at Paremata Kindergarten, developed the "praises" poster below to be used in her studies and day to day interactions with the children at kindergarten. Feel free to print off a copy and use it at your kindergarten. 
Farewell to Anne Perry Just before the recent Rāhui, the Wairarapa Kindergarten community gathered to farewell Anne Perry at Lansdowne in Masterton. It was a special time to share some of her highlights, celebrations, fun times and contributions to kindergarten experiences over her 45 years of teaching. 
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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