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REGIONAL NEWS

For a roundup of what has been happening across our regions click below.

Our latest news:

• Main Page 20/01/2022Main Page 20/01/2022

Nau mai ki te pānui tênei ko te Kōrero.

Ngā mihi nui me ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa.

To staff who are new to He Whānau Manaaki o Tararua, welcome; to staff who have been at work already this year, welcome to our first edition of the Kōrero for 2022; and to staff who are back at work this week and starting with children next week, welcome back!

For those who don’t know, the Kōrero is distributed each Thursday to all members of our Board, kindergartens and office staff, including relievers, and to other individuals and agencies that are interested to keep in touch with what we’re doing.

In efforts to streamline the communication that goes out to you, we try to put everything in the Kōrero so you’re not bombarded with emails from us every day.

So please make sure that everyone in your team gets to see the Kōrero. Some people print a copy off for each team member, others print one copy and hang it up for people to read, others read it online but then have each team member tick when they have read it. You can work out your system. Make sure the administrator sees it, and any other support staff or students. Most of our relievers are on the distribution list, but check with relievers that they have seen the Kōrero. You can also view it by going to wmkindergartens.org.nz/korero.

Some people have talked about 2021 as being a terrible year.  Sure, there were challenges, and there was heartache; but there was also great joy, and lots and lots of good stuff.  I’m sure 2022 will be no different.  And as we always do and always will do, we will face the challenges, support each other through the heartache, and celebrate the joys and good stuff.  You’ll see we have more information about operating in this Covid environment - you all did a fantastic job in 2020 and 2021, and you’ll be amazing in 2022.

Kia kaha, kia maia, kia manawanui e hoa ma.

                                           Xoxo

                                           Mandy

Covid 19 Update

A new Kindergarten Information Pack will be sent out. This pack provides an update of where we are at now that living in the Covid Protection Framework (CPF) has become business as usual. The pack is not specific to a particular colour setting, it is to support your decision making processes and support an understanding of what the CPF looks like in our kindergartens.

In addition to the Information Pack, we are sending out a parcel through the mail that contains volunteer vaccination evidence. Last year we indicated that we were moving the parent, whānau and community volunteer vaccination information to InfoCare. This is because you expressed a desire for this information to be more accessible and able to be managed at a kindergarten level. We have now completed this process and from next week you will manage your own volunteer information in accordance with the Mandatory Vaccination Order. The parcel includes a 'how to guide' and all the evidence associated with your already-attested volunteers. There is also more information on this in the Kindergarten Information Pack. We will continue to manage contractors and community-wide volunteers (those not associated to a particular kindergarten or child) at Head Office.

Please contact Tania Braybrook or covidvac@wmkindergartens.org.nz if you need any support with the process.

PLD And Tūhonohono

The PLD calendar has been updated and you can find it by clicking on the tab at the end of the Kōrero.  

Once you have decided which PLD to attend you will need to enrol through Tūhonohono.

Here is a tip for searching for courses/meetings in Tūhonohono - they are listed by the year and then the name of the course, for example 2022 Head Teacher Meeting or 2022 First Aid. 

If you have any queries regarding PLD or enrolling into courses please contact Kaz.

Child Protection Courses

Some of you will be getting email alerts to let you know that your Child Protection certification is about to expire.

Due to the unavailability of one of our facilitators last year we had to cancel a number of these courses, which means we are now trying to catch up.  We are working hard to organise courses for all those people that need to attend, however at this stage the only ones scheduled are in Porirua.  

We will keep you updated on availability of courses in your area through the Kōrero so please keep an eye out for updates.  

If you have any queries or concerns please contact Kaz.                                          

Farewells And Welcomes

You may have noticed in previous Appointments and Resignations that Yan has resigned from the Finance Team as she has accepted a position with a government agency.  Yan had been dealing with kindergarten fees and invoicing for families.

The Finance Team had a celebratory lunch early in the year to farewell Yan and to welcome Mugdha to the team.  Mugdha will be taking over the fees work from Yan.  

Brendon, Mugdha, Yan, Fiona, Robyn, Karyn, Lolenese, Christine and Julie

at the Get Fixed Bicycle Cafe at the Porirua waterfront.

Appointments and resignations

Congratulations to the following on their recent appointments:

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

Communications

This month Communications Advisor

Chanelle Huia-Rutten left the association to start

her career in primary school teaching! If you used to direct your communications enquires to Chanelle

you can now send them to our new Communications Advisor Kitty Payne. (pictured here with her children Nikola and Etta)

Please contact her for anything regarding your Facebook pages, promoting enrollments, flyers, brochures, our website and all things communications! She's available from 9am-5pm Monday-Friday at the Porirua Head Office on

04 2321744 or

kitty.payne@wmkindergartens.org.nz

Congratulations

Congratulations to Lauren Wray, Head Teacher at Newlands Kindergarten, and Senior Teacher Lynette Wray on the addition of a new pēpi to their whānau. Lynette’s daughter Megan and husband Jason gave birth to Te Kairangi on 22 December. The following are photos of te tama ātaahua (the beautiful boy) with his proud aunty and equally besotted grandmother!

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.