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Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero.  

Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in...

Can you believe it is May already!  Welcome to Term 2 to those of you who had a term break and to the rest who had the Easter and ANZAC day break.  It is shaping up to be another busy month.

Just a wee reminder, with winter just around the corner, to check over your kindergarten properties, clear leaves and debris from any drains and just make sure, generally, that you are ready for the cooler months ahead.

          Jane.

Hazard Registers

Just a reminder that once you have completed the review of your kindergarten hazard register, please print the reviewed register off and have a copy available in your sign in book or visitors book so it is accessible to visitors to the kindergarten.

Flu Injections                 

With the flu season just about here it is timely to remind you that you can get a flu injection and Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens will pay for it.

If you are 65 or older, are pregnant, or have any of a number of health conditions, you may already be eligible for a free vaccination from your GP.  Here’s a link to check out eligibility.  

Between 10 and 20 per cent of people get the flu each year, and it can be serious.

If you pay for your vaccination fill in a reimbursement form and send it with the receipt to Tania Braybrook at the office. 

New Itinerant Relievers for the Winter Terms

We have just appointed 9 new Itinerant Relievers across our region, for Terms 2 and 3, to get us through the Winter.  The intention is that they will mostly be used for the ‘urgent’, day-to-day relieving jobs.  Nicki and Dhanaye, our Relieving Coordinators, are coordinating their work so please make sure you go through them for any short-term relievers you need as it’s important we make sure that our Itinerants have work.  If you have any questions about this you can contact Karen on karen.skett@wmkindergartens.org.nz or on 021 857 826. 

Amalgamation With Whanganui Association

Further to the information about the amalgamation with the Whanganui Association in the last Kōrero we can now advise that the Special General Meeting for Whanau Manaaki will be held on Monday 20 May 2019 at 7.30pm in the WM office.

Further information about this meeting can be found on our facebook page.

In the meantime if you have any questions please get in touch with Jane at He Whānau  Manaaki jane.braun@wmkindergartens.org.nz.

Induction For New Staff

Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens is holding regular induction days each term to welcome new staff to our association. 

The next induction day will be on Thursday 16 May, and it will be for everyone who has joined the Association since the last induction day in February.  It will include support staff, teachers and head teachers.  Around 30 people are expected to attend.  Your Senior Teacher will be in touch if you are required to attend.

The idea is to introduce staff to the Whānau Manaaki family so that everyone feels part of the Association as well as belonging to their particular kindergarten team.

We also want to increase awareness of the work of Whānau Manaaki, and make sure that people know where to go if they need help or support in any area.

Our first induction day was held earlier this year, and those attending were very positive about the day.  

Finance Update

End of Month Infocare Cut-Off

A reminder that next week we will be working on our April Board and Kindergarten reporting.

To help us with this, we would be grateful if you could have your Infocare records for this week (being the week ended Friday 3 May) completed by the end of the day on Friday.

This means we would like you to complete the following tasks in Infocare up to and including Friday 3 May, as appropriate:

• Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
• Fee invoices created and committed
• Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) completed
• Online sign off of your monthly roll return
• Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Association (please call Tania or Cathryn)

Please let Tania or Cathryn know ASAP if you expect there to be any delay with completing these tasks by the due date.

Whānau Contributions & Donations

Your families may be starting to ask about Term 2 requests for Whānau Contributions.  Feel free to let them know that these will be emailed out later next week.  Hard copies will also be delivered to kindergartens for distribution through “child pockets”.

So that we have the most up to date information for our request letters can you please try and have all your children’s enrolment records in Infocare up to date by the end of day on Monday 6 May 2019.

2018/19 Donation Tax certificates were emailed to recipients last week.  These summarise all whānau contributions and other donations made to Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens (received and banked) in the period 1 April 2018 to 31 March 2019.

Any queries about the tax certificates can be emailed to donations@wmkindergartens.org.nz.

2019/20 Kindergarten Budgets

Thanks to all those who have completed and submitted your 2019/20 Kindergarten Budgets.  Remember these are due by Friday 10 May 2019.  Please email them to brendon.fyfe-gits@wmkindergartens.org.nz by the due date so your plans for spending are included in next year’s budget.

Celebrating Pedagogical Practice 12 July 2019

Te Puna WM Office (TBC) is our venue for July’s ‘Celebrating Pedagogical Practice’ PLD 9.30am to 1.00pm.

The Senior Teacher team is offering an opportunity for teams or individuals to share their pedagogical practice with colleagues to acknowledge and celebrate the great practices we as teachers offer to tamariki and whānau.

You may want to share about Effective or Innovative Practice, Bush Programmes, Enviro Schools, or anything that is unique to your Kindergarten or your own practice.

Each team or individual will have a 30 minute presentation slot to present their pedagogical practice (20mins to share and 10mins to allow for any questions).

If you are interested in being part of this, please send a blurb to Tania; tania.jack@wmkindergartens.org.nz for consideration by 24 May 2019.

Here are some photos of previous presenters:

Policy Reviews

The next lot of policies, due for feedback to Jane by 24 May, are below:

• Self Review Internal Evaluation
• Inclusive Education
• Infant and Toddler
• Excursions and Travel Arrangements

Just a reminder that feedback for the following policies are due back to jane.braun@wmkindergartens.org.nz by 10 May:

• Relieving Teachers 
• Police Vetting of Non Teaching Staff
• Privacy
• Professional Development For Non Teaching Staff
• Professional Development For Teaching Staff 

Rolls Low?

Kindergarten Teachers Union Meetings 

Union meetings start next week for kindergarten teachers, who are union members, to discuss the claim for the renewal of their collective agreement.

Here’s the schedule for the meetings.

Caroline Speaks Out For Families Facing Debt

Whānau Manaaki Senior Manager, Caroline Mareko, featured on breakfast TV this week, speaking as a Pasifika community leader about loan sharks and debt.

The government has introduced a new law to crack down on predatory lending but advocates say that by not having a limit on interest rates if will not be effective.

Caroline calls for a stronger stance and for fair pay so that families are less likely to end up in a cycle of debt.

She appears with representatives from the Salvation Army and from budgeting services talking about the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Amendment Bill.

Here’s a link to the item on TV.  

There’s an online petition, in partnership with the Council of Trade Unions, about this issue. Here’s the link.

Supporting Social And Emotional Competence In ECE: Consultation On New Resource

The Ministry of Education is seeking feedback from teachers on a new draft resource on social and emotional competence. 

The consultation on He Māpuna te Tamaiti: Supporting Social and Emotional Competence in Early Childhood Education closes on Monday.  There is a survey which is expected to take about ten minutes, but you need to have read the draft resource first.

Here’s a link to the draft resource, and here is a link to the survey.

Benefit Cuts Reduce In Number

The Child Poverty Action Group has welcomed the latest data from the Ministry of Social Development which shows a sharp drop in the number of families affected by benefit sanctions.

Sanctions are imposed when someone receiving a welfare benefit fails to meet requirements, which often occurs because a person cannot make appointments due to illness or transport difficulties. Sanctions are sometimes imposed as a result of communication or language difficulties, or because a letter has not been received.

Sanctions include cancelled or suspended benefits which harm children disproprotionatley, and there is no evidence they work to change adult behaviour.  Child Poverty Action says sanctions tend to put families, already under stress, into a worse position.

The government commissioned an experts group to report on the welfare system, and its report is due to be released later this month.

Term Break Property Work

Over the term break Ngaio Kindergarten received some earth quake strengthening.

Meta Riddiford had a new art/kitchen area installed!

Miramar Central had their storage area and clean up area renovated, the before and after shots are amazing!

If you had work done around your kindergarten over the holiday break, please send through your photos! We love to see what’s happening out there in kindergartens and it's great to share with our wider group.

Road Safety Week       

Road Safety Week is coordinated annually by Brake and involves hundreds of schools, kindergartens, organisations and communities each year.

Brake is a road safety charity that works to prevent road death and injury, make streets and communities safer, and supports the victims of road crashes. Brake started Road Safety Week in New Zealand in 2012 as an annual event to raise awareness about road safety and promote steps that everyone can take to stop these needless deaths and injuries year-round. 

Road Safety Week aims to inspire communities to take action on road safety and promote life-saving messages during the Week and beyond. It also provides a focal point for professionals working in road safety to boost awareness and engagement in their work.

All sorts of people get involved - kindys, schools, youth clubs, community campaigners, employers, sports clubs, fire officers, local councils, paramedics, driving instructors... you name it!

Your involvement could be as simple as making the Brake Pledge and promoting it in your school/organisation's newsletter and putting up the posters from your action pack. Or you could make a bigger splash by teaming up with others in your area to launch a local campaign or run an event or roadshow promoting safer road use.

Click here for more information or to sign up and receive your resource pack. 

Sign Language Week      

Next week is NZ Sign Language week.  Click here to have a look at what is happening this year and what you can do in your kindergartens.  You can also click here to see a really cool video featuring Anika Moa singing a children's song while someone signs beside her.

If you do acknowledge this week please remember to send through your photos to korero@wmkindergartens.org.nz so we can share them.

OMEP Meeting

This Week On Facebook     

Appointments And Resignations

Congratulations to the following on their recent appointments:

We wish all the best to the following who have resigned:

To Give Away

A local Porirua business, Rhino Rack, is giving away large boxes to kindergartens to use with the children.  You can see here the children at Titahi Bay Kindergarten having a ball with one of the boxes they received..

If you are keen on getting one of these boxes for your kindergarten you can contact Aaron by text on 0210593256.  He is happy to deliver in the Porirua area, some deliveries may be after 5pm.

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.

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