Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. It was great to join together in Whanganui this year for the AGM. Thanks to all those who were able to attend. You can read more about the AGM below. Jane. 
Annual Review 2020 In preparation for the 2020 Annual Review, we would like to give you a choice of two of the three areas of practice below to go through and evaluate yourselves against. These areas include: - Te Manawa-Intentional Teaching
- Te Manawa- Individual Portfolios
- Te Manawa- Planning for our Community of Learners
We suggest that each teacher individually goes through the criteria for the areas of practice that you choose and decide where the team might currently sit. Then come back together as a team and discuss your decisions. Document this discussion, including your feedback and feedforward (next steps) as your teams’ voice in the Annual Review process is valued. This documentation needs to be available for your Senior Teacher to look at on the day of your Annual Review. Senior Teachers will be sending out Annual Review dates to their teams. Click here to view the three sections (remember choose two of the three to complete) It is also available on Storypark in the Teachers Toolbox. ‘Annual Review Team Assessment 2020’.
New App For Organising Relievers We are excited to share the news that Whānau Manaaki is implementing an app-based programme for the coordination and management of relievers, to further support the two Reliever Co-ordinators in their roles. The app is called StaffSync. It is already used in our Whanganui and Central Plateau areas and it is used extensively throughout New Zealand in the Early Childhood Education Sector. We will eventually use the App across the whole of our region (likely by the end of 2020) but initially the rollout, from the beginning of 2020, will be for relievers in the following areas only: - Kapiti
- Horowhenua/Levin
- Wairarapa/Masterton
- Upper Hutt
We expect that there will be very little (if any) impact on teachers in kindergartens, it will be Relievers and our Co-ordinators who will be using the App. We will be providing training for relievers in the four areas throughout November and December. Nicki and Dhanaye, our wonderful Reliever Co-ordinators are on board and will be present at the training. All relievers in the 4 areas noted above will receive an email with the dates and details of the training. Please let us know, after 18 October, if you have not received this email. For teachers in our kindergartens, please chat with your reliever/s to ensure they have received the email. Some of you may have noticed you are getting email notifications from StaffSync. This is because we have begun the set up process for the roll out. You don’t need to worry about these notifications and you can feel free to ignore – please don’t reply to them. Any questions can be directed to trish.taylor-pope@wmkindergartens.org.nz .
PLD for Full year and/or Full Day Kindergartens 9 November 2019 WMK Office - Te Puna 9.30 -1.00pm Advance notice that we are holding a PLD seminar for our full day and/or full year kindergartens on 9 November. Please enrol on HR.Net ASAP to support our planning. There will be two separate workshops: Being an intentional teacher – How do I respond? Intentional Teaching is explained in Te Manawa as involving teachers ‘being deliberate, purposeful and thoughtful in their decisions and actions. This workshop will focus on: - What’s the point of being intentional?
- How, when, where, and about what, am I/are we being intentional?
- How do I/do we strengthen my/our intentional responses?
- What informs intentional teaching?
Using Storypark Effectively - what more can we use it for? This will focus on: - Using Storypark planning feature for a range of purposes, including:
- Internal Evaluation
- Appraisal
- Procedure
- Meeting minutes
- How do we use Storypark to enhance our communication across the team and with whānau
And more …..Bring any questions that you have for discussion on the day.
GOSH – Whanganui & Central Plateau Kindergartens Just to let teams know that all Whanganui & Central Plateau Kindergartens are now included in the Whanau Manaaki Association GOSH. You will notice when you go into GOSH that on the home page there is now the WMK logo and a few other reporting options. We will be meeting with HT’s in November to talk through the main changes but until then please just use the system the same way you always have. At the moment the main change that you need to be aware of is when you are entering something onto GOSH and you select the association using the drop down box, you will need to select Whānau Manaaki o Tararua and then when you click on the drop down box for Kindergarten, your kindergarten will be shown as an option Please feel free to contact Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergartens.org.nz or rachel.cronin@wmkindergartens.org.nz if you have any questions 
AGM On Tuesday evening the AGM was held, for the very first time, in Whanganui. It was a chance to reflect on our last 12 months in a more formal setting, reviewing the finances and budgets for next year as well as presenting the Annual Report. Congratulations to Monika Ciolek, Martin Robinson, Allanah Clark and Iona To'maga-Iona who were elected as Board members. We will profile our full Board members over the coming weeks. At the meeting we also took the opportunity to celebrate those who give so much of their time to our kindergartens, this year the volunteers in the Whanganui and Central Plateau area. We also recognized the life members from the Whanganui Association and gifted Marguerite and Fiona with flowers and a pin welcoming them as life members to He Whānau Manaaki.  The fantastic volunteers in our Whanganui area. Unfortunately the Central Plateau volunteers could not be present.
Marguerite and Fiona, life members of Whanganui Association, who were both made life members of He Whānau Manaaki.
Blocked Drains Just a reminder to ensure you do not put foreign objects into your kindergarten’s sewerage system. A number of our kindergartens have recently had blocked drains and in most cases these blockages were caused by wet wipes being flushed down the toilet. Please ensure it is only 1s and 2s that we send off into the never never!! All other items can be placed in the sanitary bins or wrapped and put in your general waste wheelie bins. 
Waste pipe blocked with wet wipes. Glad I'm not a plumber!!
Niuean Language Week We come to the end of Niuean Language Week. What have you done in your kindergarten to celebrate this week? We would love to hear about it or see your photos, please email them through to korero@wmkindergartens.org.nz 
Archiving Documents  We have been doing some work around the way we archive our documents both at the Association and in individual kindergartens. We are keen to ensure that we have a system to document/catalogue and where appropriate store this valuable information to ensure it is accessible and not lost! Dr Helen May, who recently published the book ‘Growing a Kindergarten Movement in Aotearoa/New Zealand, has kindly agreed to be our kaitiaki for this work and will be working with Kaz Craig (Whanganui Office) and Chanelle (Wellington Office). Over the next few months Kaz or Chanelle will be in touch with you to find out what historic information you have, so it would be great if you could dig out your old files, photos, documents, meeting minutes or any other memorabilia you may have. We are also looking at ways for ongoing gathering and storage of key documents and memorabilia for the future. This process will take some time and we will keep in touch as it develops.
Campaign For 100 Per Cent Funding For Early Childhood Education While the government has signaled it will spend more money on early childhood education, kindergartens, including Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens, are stressing the importance of funding 100 per cent qualified teachers as part of this. Finance Minister Grant Robertson has said the Government will make "record investments" in education, following a $7.5 billion surplus. The Prime Minister reiterated that early childhood education is a top priority in response to a question at the Council of Trade Unions (CTU) conference this week. The union for early childhood teachers, NZEI Te Riu Roa, has launched a new campaign to fix the pay gap in early childhood education. There is an average 23% pay gap between ECE and kindergarten teachers. Next year, some ECE teachers will be more than 49% behind kindergarten colleagues with similar experience and qualifications. Teachers covered by the Early Childhood Education Collective Agreement (ECECA) voted to endorse a claim for an immediate pay jolt of 11% and for a stepped out pay plan to fix the pay gap. The ECECA sets minimum rates for the rest of the sector. Employers have to attest to paying the minimum rate in the agreement. The campaign includes the launch of a website, which can be accessed here, where the union wants all ECE teachers to vote on the claim. A week of action is being held next month. Here’s a link to the Whānau Manaaki press release on the plan.
Education Hub  The education Hub is a free online resource for early childhood educators that you may find useful. The Education Hub is a NZ-based charity with a mission to bridge the gap between research and practice in education. Over the past two years, they have worked with leading experts to build up an invaluable online library of resources that are relevant to the practical day-to-day needs of ECE and school teachers. As a taster you might like to look at the articles and webinars in the culturally responsive pedagogy section, or read about Assessment approaches, or What matters in Infant and toddler pedagogy, or register for a webinar on Monday 24 October 8 pm on ECE: supporting children with autism. Click here to find out more.
Regional Public Health Vidoes  The Regional Public Heath team have created a series of videos you may find useful in your kindergartens. They were developed from their experiences of working and supporting centres closely. Click here to view these videos. The content is relevant for all kindergartens, however if you are outside the Wellington regions you can contact your local public health unit to confirm their requirements.
Carterton Kindergarten Teacher Wins Scholarship Nelly Kendall-Carpenter from Carterton Kindergarten has won a scholarship to further her work turning waste materials into educational resources. Nelly was one of four teachers to receive an NZEI ECE scholarship, worth $6000, which will help her travel to the REMIDA Centre in Reggio Emelia, in Italy next year. Nelly says the centre is like a warehouse full of recycled things that can be used by children. “You might get everyone from a builder donating offcuts they can’t use to members of the local community dropping off fabrics. The kids pick them up and can use them for projects.” “There’s a real focus on the environment as well, there’s plenty of light and colour.” Nelly hopes to set up a similar centre for Wairarapa’s kindergartens. She has made contact with a centre that’s already operating in Perth. Carterton Kindergarten children have already created a mural of the Wairarapa landscape with bottle tops, supported by a local artist. “Children are learning all the time about being kaitiaki, how to look after the planet - we’re teaching them to see value in things, to think that a bottle top can become something new.” 
Nelly Kendall-Carpenter from Carterton Kindergarten - photo courtesy of Wairarapa Times Age.
Plimmerton Kindergarten Star on You Tube Plimmerton Kindergarten teachers and children have appeared in a Department of Conservation YouTube clip about the benefits of teaching and learning in nature. You can check it out here.
This Week On Facebook  
Handy Facebook Pages  Well Homes is a Wellington healthy housing Hub aiming to ensure all families in the area have access to warm, dry and safe homes
While this page is for the Wellington region, you may be able to find the same or similar for your region. We shared some information from this group recently as they help equip families for the colder months.
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.
Thank you for taking the time to read Kōrero. Don't forget to check out some of the stories listed down the side menu. Just click between the stories of use the Kōrero bar to come back to this page. | 
