Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. This week has been a big week for me personally, as after much consideration and talking over with people who are close to me, I have decided that my time at Whānau Manaaki is drawing to an end. This has been a big decision, and one I have not taken lightly, sometimes the making of big decisions like this occur naturally, and at other times situations encourage them to be made. At various stages, and alongside many of you, we have journeyed through lots of significant changes, from the days of the Upper Hutt Association to the Remutaka Association, and then most recently to Whānau Manaaki. Leaving is hard, as after 23 years kindergarten has become such an integral part of who I am, and I know the time is right for this step. I’ve had so many amazing experiences, worked with fabulous people, negotiated a changing ECE landscape and am so much the richer for it. Much of the richness has come from what I have learnt from you all collectively, and I am thankful for that. I am currently working out what is next for me - it is likely to include finishing my Master’s thesis, engaging in some part time work (maybe in and around the kindy world) and spending more time with my lovely mokopuna. I will be finishing up at the end of May, until then I would love to catch up. Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei Jane Braun 
Nicki Cook Is Leaving Us  We are very sad to be losing our wonderful Relieving Coordinator, Nicki. Nicki has been with us since 2007, first as a Kindergarten Administrator, then taking on the Coordinator role, which we know so many of you have greatly appreciated over the last 10 years. Sadly for us, but exciting for Nicki, she has decided it’s time to move on to new adventures. We will have a farewell for Nicki on Wednesday 31st March, from 3.30 pm, at the Supply Room in Mana (Porirua), in the upstairs room. You are all welcome come along to say a big thank you to Nicki, say goodbye and wish her well. If you definitely know you’re coming, it would be great if you could let me know, but otherwise please feel free to just pop in.
Tūhonohono As mentioned at the recent Head Teacher meetings and in previous editions of the Kōrero, we have replaced HR.Net with a new HR and PLD booking system, named Tūhonohono. Tūhonohono, which means connecting/weaving, went live earlier this week for the HR team and is now ready to access for all permanent and long term relieving teachers, administrators and Association Office staff. Accessing Tūhonohono will allow you to book into PLD training courses, check expiry dates for your First Aid, Child Protection and Practicing certifications and view FAQs for any HR, Payroll or PLD queries. You will also be able to update some of your personal details like cellphone numbers and emergency contact details. Training for Tūhonohono is via a video and guide which can be found in the Teachers' Toolbox in Storypark. If you have any questions after viewing the video or if you have any access difficulties please contact Jan Hannon. All other staff, including Relievers, will be notified some time in the future when Tūhonohono will be available to them. In the meantime if you are wanting to attend any PLD please email Kaz Craig and she will book you in. HR.Net is no longer available for booking PLD, please do not try to access it.
Te Reo Māori Online PLD Opportunity For Kaiako - He Pātaka Reo In last week's Kōrero we announced that we were going to offer an online Te Reo Maori course Te Pataka Reo, for kaiako in 2021, in partnership with Te Rito Maioha, Early Childhood New Zealand. If you are interested in this course please complete this form here. And if you have any questions just contact Kaz.
Te Tiriti o Waitangi Workshop We have added another Te Tiriti o Waitangi workshop to the PLD calendar. It will be held on Wednesday, 7 April from 3pm until 5pm at Petone Kindergarten. If you wish to attend please enrol through Tūhonohono.
Fraedom Training If you are required to attend Fraedom training you will have received an email about it. The dates, venue and timings for these sessions are below: Mon 29 Mar - Southward Car Museum, McLaren Boardroom, pam to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm.
Tue 30 Mar - Association Office, Te Puna, 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm Tue 6 Apr: Association Office, Te Puna, 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm Wed 7 Apr: ASB Sports Centre, Ngake Room, 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm Thu 8 Apr: Association Office, Te Puna, 9am to 12pm and 1pm to 4pm If you have any questions please contact Kaz.
Giveaway Day We will be holding a giveaway day at Nuanua kindergarten on Friday at 6pm. We welcome any items of linen, kitchenware, furniture, clothing etc in good condition that you would be happy to donate. These items can be dropped off to the Association office tomorrow morning.
Mosque Attack Anniversary This week, we remember the tragic events of March 15 2019 when so many members of the Muslim community were attacked at their place of worship. We know that this is a difficult time for many of our families. Here’s the words of the Prime Minister at the memorial service last weekend: “We each hold the power, in our words and in our actions, in our daily acts of kindness. Let that be the legacy of the 15th of March. To be the nation we believe ourselves to be. As-salaam Alaikum. Peace be upon you.”
Free Children’s Book On Grief Following Mosque Attack A woman whose son was killed in the Christchurch mosque attacks has written a book for children to help them cope with grief. The book, “Aya and the butterfly”, in Arabic and English is by Maysoon Salama and it is being distributed by the Ministry of Education, as part of a series to support, reflect and celebrate the Muslim community in New Zealand. Maysoon’s son Atta died in the massacre two years ago, and she wrote the story for her granddaughter Aya and other children dealing with loss and trauma. She says the book does not focus on the attacks, but on saying goodbye to people we love. "In the face of such overwhelming loss, we must allow ourselves to remember and feel sad, but we must also learn to let go and keep going. There is hope” says Dr Salama." Aya and the Butterfly is part of a four-book series developed with the Islamic Women's Council and published by the Ministry of Education through Lift Education. "The book joins a growing collection that reflect the diverse culture and perspectives of children across New Zealand," said Ministry of Education spokesperson Ellen MacGregor-Reid. The book comes with a teaching guide to assist with conversations with learners around the topics of grief and loss, and the cycle of life in general. We thank Dr Salama for trusting us with her story and enabling us to share it widely.“ The online book can be downloaded for free here from March 15. Print copies will be delivered to early childhood services and schools later this year. 
Hazards Week 9 of each term, this week 15 March, there are two tasks for Hazard Management that need to be undertaken: - Review of Hazard Register
- Review of Termly Hazard Checklist
Review of Hazard Register This is an opportunity to update your Hazard Register including: - Does the hazard still exist?
- If it does, review it to see if there are any changes to the actions and approaches to manage this hazard
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. There is a new form called “Kindergarten Hazard Review Audit” (see below). This form has simplified the process for review as you no longer need to: - edit each hazard individually instead;
- a tick box has been created where you look at the hazards and if it still exists and you are happy with the ‘controls’ then you just tick the box.
Upon completing this record, all related hazard records on your Hazard Register will be updated to reflect this review. 
Review of Termly Hazard Checklist The Hazard checklist is able to be completed on GOSH and can be found in the “What would you like to report” section on the home page (please see the red circle below). Any hazards that are identified during this process that cannot be eliminated immediately are then entered onto your kindergartens Hazard Register using GOSH. 
Review of Accidents on GOSH Week 9 of this term, being this week, is the time to review your child accident registers on GOSH. We are currently working with GOSH to streamline the process, making it easier to review and also to be able to create graphs, but currently the best way to review your accidents is : Go into your Parent Summary in “My Kindergarten” and you can filter by using the search option (blue arrow). You can enter a specific primary category and you will see all the accidents related to that category (yellow arrow). You can select the dates you want to look at (green arrow) and check the ones you emailed (grey arrow). You can also look at how many times you provided accident reports to parents (orange arrow). 
Teaching Council Leadership Event The Teaching Council is holding an online event for all teachers and professional leaders, tonight Thursday at 7 pm. The event is being streamed on Youtube and takes about 45 minutes. It will stay available online, and introduces teachers to Rauhuia, the Teaching Council’s leadership initiative. Here’s the link to the event.
Pacific Language Weeks Here are a list of Pacific language weeks for your diaries: - Rotuman Language Week:Sunday 9 May – Saturday 15 May 2021
- Samoa Language Week:Sunday 30 May – Saturday 05 June 2021
- Kiribati Language Week:Sunday 11 July – Saturday 17 July 2021
- Cook Islands Language Week:Sunday 01 August – Saturday 07 August 2021
- Tonga Language Week:Sunday 05 September – Saturday 11 September 2021
- Tuvalu Language Week:Sunday 26 September – Saturday 02 October 2021
- Fijian Language Week:Sunday 03 October – Saturday 09 October 2021
- Niue Language Week:Sunday 17 October – Saturday 23 October 2021
- Tokelau Language Week:Sunday 24 October – Saturday 30 October 2021.
For more information about the various Pacific language weeks, you can click here.
Children’s Art Hits The Newspaper Art from Whanganui Kindergartens featured in the Whanganui Midweek newspaper this week, as part of the Artists Open Studios weekend. Working artists Lesley Stead, Mike Marsh and Lysha Brennan chose the work from a large selection. Art is usually displayed in the front window of the Whānau Manaaki office in Victoria Avenue, but it’s not usually chosen by outside artists. Karen Craig from the Whanganui office arranged for the kindergarten to take part in the event. The judges were full of praise for the children’s work. "I think with kindergarten kids it's all intuition," says Mike, "And there's no expectation of what they should achieve." He believes that gives a freshness to the work. All three artists have been involved with kindergartens at some time in their lives and Lysha, a primary school teacher, has a daughter who teaches at Putiki Kindergarten. In choosing the 19 pieces of art, they freely used words and phrases like cheerful, spontaneous, contrast of colour, robotic, development, variety of tools used, different styles, mixed media, gorgeous and much more. 
Art judging at the office!
Board News – Miranda Zander When Miranda Zander saw that Whānau Manaaki was looking for board members she saw a great opportunity. Her daughter Chloe was enjoying Paparārangi Kindergarten, and Miranda was enjoying the kindergarten ethos, including the fact that the kindergarten involves the whole family, not just the kindergarten child. As a lawyer and a celebrant, Miranda had skills to share, but could also learn about the early childhood sector and all it entails. She says it’s a lovely accommodating environment to be a board member, but board members are not afraid to ask tough questions when necessary, to enable good decisions. Miranda is a strong supporter of the move to Kindergartens Aotearoa, a larger organisation to represent the sector nationally. “It’s such a great opportunity for growth, such a plus.” She says every kindergarten currently has its own community feel, and she can’t see that changing with a stronger organisation backing each individual kindy. “Each kindergarten has got something special. I wouldn’t want that to be lost.” Now Chloe is at school she is flourishing and enjoying drawing and reading, building on what she learned at kindergarten. Miranda’s other daughter Bianca is set to enroll at Paparārangi in a few months’ time. 
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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