Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. Government Budgets are often looked forward to in anticipation, what will it mean for our industry, our families and whānau. As we prepare this edition of the Kōrero the budget reading is underway. We have tried to capture the relevant points at this time. Toitū te marae a Tane-Mahuta, Toitū te marae a Tangaroa, Toitū te tangata. If the land is well and the sea is well, the people will thrive. Jane 
Budget 2021  The government’s budget announced today included several initiatives that affect early childhood education, as well as initiatives that will help children and families. The biggest of these is an increase in benefits. All main benefits will go up by $20 a week from July 1, with further increases from April next year meaning all benefits will rise by between $32 and $55 a week. In early childhood education, as has already been announced, there is extra funding for salaries from January next year to bring early childhood teachers outside of kindergarten, closer to kindergarten rates. Teachers whose services opt in to the extra funding will have to pay the first six steps of the kindergarten collective agreement. This will bring some experienced teachers, who are currently on minimum rates, up to $65,794, an increase of around $15,000. All teacher led early childhood services outside of kindergarten will get an increase in July, to bring starting rates for new teachers up to the start of the kindergarten scale. Kindergarten funding will also be increased to cover for increases in our Collective Agreement, which has already been negotiated. This has previously been announced and is factored into our budgeting. The budget includes lots of extra funding for different programmes that will affect children and families. It’s not possible to provide a full analysis of these before the Kōrero comes out, in the meantime you can link to the Beehive website here. There’ll be more detail in next week’s Kōrero.
Farewell To Jane Braun - Our Deputy Chief Executive  After 23 years Jane Braun is finishing in her role as Deputy Chief Executive of He Whānau Manaaki at the end of May. Jane’s time in kindergarten has primarily been focused on ensuring the sustainability of the kindergarten movement for future generations. Jane became involved with the kindergarten movement when her own three children attended Cottle and Heretaunga Kindergartens. She was part of the Board of the Upper Hutt Kindergarten Association and became involved in a change process as the board transitioned from being a Management Board to a Governing Board. It was during this transition that Jane was employed as the General Manager to manage the day to day operations of the then 10 kindergartens. An amalgamation with Wairarapa Association followed and Jane became the GM of the Remutaka Kindergarten Association. In this role Jane saw the need to change the way kindergartens operated to meet the diverse needs of their communities. During that time the Remutaka Association acquired what was Whatman Childcare Centre and Palm Cottage now Kahurangi and Matariki. It was over this period that it became very clear that continuing diversity of services was needed. Jane made an approach to the Wellington Kindergarten Association to discuss how they could work together to ensure that kindergartens remained robust in a changing social landscape – He Whānau Manaaki came to be and Jane became the Deputy Chief Executive. As Deputy Chief Executive Jane has been influential in the merger of three existing organisations, the changes to operational models across our kindergartens, as well as continuing the discussions around ensuring kindergartens remain relevant and strong with her involvement in the proposal for a national organisation - Kindergartens Aotearoa. For Jane it is the impact on our communities of the work we do, and the people she has worked with over the years that she will miss the most. “Team is what makes you – success is linked to the work that everybody has done – and I have worked with so many fabulous people during this time”. Jane’s 23 years of involvement have cemented the importance of diversity and understanding different ways of being in the world. Jane will continue with her Masters and diversity and different ways of being will be a focus of this. Jane is also looking forward to spending increased time with her mokopuna and wider family and is grateful for all that she has learned at kindergarten “I have huge thankfulness for the career I have had”.
Senior Teacher Update Kia ora koutou katoa, Induction and Mentoring Programme 2021 This term we are offering a Zoom workshop for all new Mentors, “An Introduction to Educative Mentoring” on Tues 8 July at 3.00pm. This ZOOM workshop explores some key ideas around Educative Mentoring, and what it means to provide effective educative mentoring based on the NZ Teaching Council’s resource. It is a really useful workshop for anyone who is a new mentor for a Kaiako working through our WMK Induction and Mentoring programme (or anyone that would like a refresher😊) and will be an opportunity to meet other new mentors working across He Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens. Please enrol through Tūhonohono and then you will be able to access the ZOOM link. Please contact Lynette if you have any questions. We are also planning for our next seminar on 16 July for all kaiako engaging in our Induction and Mentoring Programme. Please put this in your diaries now and we will let you know more details over the next few weeks. This term’s mahi This term sees us continuing to engage with the: - Professional Growth Cycle- inquiring into your area of interest
- Quality Practice templates-continuing to have conversations about practice and how this practice connects with the standards/Ngā Paerewa
- Te Manawa 3rd edition-discussions around Communities of Learners and Learning Outcomes
Head Teachers Meetings The agenda went out yesterday to your email address, please bring a copy with you to your meeting. K/H | Monday, 24 May 2021 | Te Takere Levin | Hutt | Tuesday, 25 May 2021 | Matariki Community Centre | WH/CP | Wednesday, 26 May 2021 | St John’s Club | P1&2 | Monday, 31 May 2021 | Te Puna | CN | Tuesday, 1 June 2021 | Te Puna | W | Wednesday, 2 June 2021 | Carterton Events Centre | CS | Thursday, 3 June 2021 | Toitu Kilbirnie |
Regional Meetings Term 2 With the Senior Teacher team exploring different ways of working, we thought it would be a good idea to pause the Regional Meetings this term, but with a twist - keep what would have been your regional meeting date booked in your kindergarten calendar and instead of travelling to a venue, stay put, and spend the time together delving into Te Manawa. Closer to the time the Senior Teacher team will provide some suggestions, provocations and guidance for your Te Manawa team kōrero. For any pātai, contact your Senior Teacher. New Head Teachers Meeting Term 2 We are looking forward to seeing all our New Head Teachers for our Term 2 meeting. Please note that the date of this has changed. It is now on Monday 28 June at Te Puna, WMK offices, 10:00am to 3:00pm. Apologies for this change, if you have already organised a reliever please can you cancel them and rebook one for the new date. Just a reminder, if you are in your first year as a Head Teacher you get this day as extra to your HT release day for the term, if you are in your 2nd year as Head Teacher you will need to use your HT release day for the term if you want to attend the meeting. On the Agenda is Professional Relationships. This mahi will be linked to the PGC and also to Leaderful Practice and we will share with you strategies of how to have Learning Conversations. The agenda will be sent out closer to meeting date. As always these meetings are about networking, sharing with your colleagues and getting guidance and new learning to support you in your leaderful roles. Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu. Adorn the bird with feathers and it will fly. Annual Review Survey As discussed during our last RSM the Senior Teacher team have begun the review of the AR (annual review) and the realignment of our Annual Review with Ngā Tikanga Matatika Ngā Paerewa : Our Code, Our Standards. As well as reviewing the AR document, we are wanting to consider the AR process itself and to ensure that it reflects a collaborative and relevant process for everyone, including you, your team, and your Senior Teacher. In order that all teachers can be part of this review we have developed a survey monkey for you to complete. This survey will be available to each teacher in the association via a personal post in Storypark. We would appreciate you taking some time to complete it and adding your voice to the review of our AR document and process. Contact Fiona if you have any questions. Social Competency Strategy 2021 Remember you can now access the Social Competency Policy and Guidelines for Managing Extreme Behaviours here and you are now able to revisit and review your team Social Competency Procedures using the Strategy and guidelines as your reference points. Each teaching team will develop a social competence procedure outlining how they implement criteria into their programme. Your procedure, and practice, will be inclusive, culturally responsive and reflect a learning focused culture. The criteria and reflective questions will prompt you to consider how you build respectful and reciprocal professional relationships with whānau, and how those relationships inform what is valued and viewed as social competence and appropriate behaviour in your kindergarten. It is important that your procedure authentically reflects the shared values of your team, whānau and community. You can access the documents and other resources in the Teachers Toolbox Teachers Toolbox Social Competency Plan.
Finance Update Ministry of Education RS7 Reporting Just a reminder that the Association has to report “RS7” information about your kindergarten to the Ministry of Education for the current funding period (1 February – 31 May 2021) in by Friday 4 June 2021. All of the information we require is generated from your enrolment and staff timetable information in Infocare, so we need your help to ensure that all of this is complete and accurate. As with normal month end requirements can you please ensure that, for the all weeks in this funding period (which ends Monday 31 May), the following is completed in Infocare by 4pm on Tuesday 1 June: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance), including Monday 31 May
- Fee invoices are created and committed for the week ending Friday 28 May
- Staff timetables (“staff hour counts”) are completed as necessary; and
- Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Association (please call Tania)
- Print the Frequent Absence forms for May for all children that are highlighted Orange and Red (please call Tania if you need assistance)
If your administrator is unavailable to work on Monday or Tuesday (31 May or 1 June) can you please ensure arrangements are in place so that this deadline is met – this may mean that these tasks need to be completed by Teaching staff before the cut off. We will be reviewing your Infocare RS7 data so you may receive reminder emails or queries on Wednesday 3 June. Note that no changes to Infocare for the 1 February – 31 May 2021 funding period will be able to be made after 4pm, Tuesday 1 June. Kindergarten Budgets A huge thanks to all of you for working hard to complete your 2021/22 budgets for us. We’ve received 100% of kindergarten budgets which is a fanstastic effort! Management will be reviewing these in the coming week and we will be in touch with any questions we have. Your budgets will form an integral part of the Association wide WMK budget to be delivered to the Board in June so thanks again for all your input. Grants A gentle reminder that you should be advising us of any community grant applications you are making so we can keep track of all grant activity out there. Please email Mollie Coulton through the grants email address here or give her a call on 04 232 3069 with any details.
StaffSync We continue to work hard on getting things set up for the roll-out of StaffSync and this is going well. We have been busy testing the way the system talks to iPayroll and Infocare and things are progressing. We are now at the stage of testing with 3 Kindergartens. So for now, unless you hear from us about testing, please continue with what you’ve been doing. This means: - Apply for leave through your iPayroll kiosk
- Complete roster/Staff Hour Count on Infocare
- Send in the weekly reports and timesheets you are used to
Please do go in and use the rostering function in StaffSync – start re-familiarising yourself with how it works and you let us know if you see anything amiss. You can book your own relievers if you want to, or you can continue to use the Reliever Coordinators. After this testing we will be phasing in StaffSync in clusters/regions. We will let each group know as we are ready to bring you on. Please keep an eye out on the Kōrero every week as we will be updating you. If you have any questions you could create a case in Tūhonohono (if it’s not urgent) or you can contact Leigh.
Child Accident Reporting Just a reminder that if you are providing Parents/Caregivers with a paper copy of an accident form, you will need to manually update the accident record on GOSH to reflect this. “Has the child’s parent/guardian been given a copy” which is located on the right hand side of the accident record (see blue arrow below) will need to be ticked “Yes” manually then the record updated (orange arrow). 
Until “Yes” is ticked confirming that the parent has been provided with a copy of the accident form, the incident will show up as “RED” in the kindergarten “To Do” list. It will also show as “RED” in the Child Accident Register (Parent Summary) which is accessible in the “Kindergarten overview”. Until the record has been updated the incident will remain “RED” as a reminder to give the parent a copy of the report or to update the record that the parent has been given a copy. Please note that Parents/Caregivers should always be provided with a copy of the accident form. If you have any questions please contact Lorraine.
Evacuation Drills Just a reminder that we use GOSH to report on evacuation drills. We use the Evacuation Drill form in GOSH to report on the following: Earthquake evacuation drill (Monthly) Lockdown drill (Termly) Fire Evacuation Drill (Monthly) Notifiable Fire evacuation drill (6 monthly) When you are reporting on your drills using the Evacuation Drill form on GOSH, please ensure that you tick the box that indicates what type of drill it is (blue arrow below) If the drill is the notifiable 6 monthly fire drill, please tick “Yes” in the “Is this a notifiable evacuation drill” (green arrow below). By selecting “Yes” the Fire Service will automatically be sent a copy of the report. 
6 Monthly Fire Evacuation Drill Please remember that when you are undertaking the 6 monthly fire evacuation drill The Fire Service Communication Centre must be called 10 minutes before the drill, on phone 04 801 0812. The purpose of this is to ensure the Fire Service or nieghbours do not respond unnecessarily. If the Fire Communications Centre does not answer the phone, teachers will need to delay the drill. Even though this is a drill, you must respond as if this was a real emergency and make a call to 111 emergency services and evacuate as per your plan. You are able to access records of your previous drills on GOSH by logging into “My Kindergarten” and selecting “Evacuation Records” Please don’t hesitate to contact Lorraine if you need any clarification.
Te Reo Online – Te Rito Maioha Enrolment to the Te Rito Maioha Te Reo course is still open and will not finish at the end of the month as previously mentioned. The course is easy to do online and does not require a huge amount of time. There are two distinct courses - one suitable for teachers and one targeted for those in the office. You can enrol for the course here. Once you have received your log in details (check your junk folder) the course is very easy to access. Lou, our kaitiaki o kaupapa Maori, says any time you can dip into this course it is time well spent, even if you can't find the time until the Christmas break!
Child Protection Courses A Child Protection course has been advertised in Tūhonohono for the Central Plateau area, to be held in Waiouru, on 14 July. The course is available for all staff who have not had any Child Protection training or for those staff whose certification is due to expire. Tania Jack will be in touch with those people who need to attend. There are still some spaces available in Kapiti course on 13 July. There are 4 new Child Protection courses planned for the October term break, two each in Porirua and two in Whanganui. You can sign up for any of these courses through Tūhonohono.
Flu Vaccinations Don’t forget to get a flu injection if you choose to – it is recommended by the Ministry for all teaching staff. Just photograph the receipt and send it to accounts along with a reimbursement form. You can download the reimbursement form here. All staff including administration staff are eligible for a refund.
Computers We are part way through our three year computer replacement programme in all kindergartens: - As with last year we will continue to replace any identified desktops with laptops
- In the coming financial year
- we plan to continue our Windows 7 replacement programme, (presently all kindergartens have at least 3 computers that operate on the Windows 10 platform, this is our base position)
- we will look to replace any laptops that are more than 3 years old that make up the minimum of 3 per kindergarten
Unfortunately there continues to be delays to the supply of laptops across the country. We are doing the best we can to get supplies to you when we receive them however, with July being the next delivery date we have been given. Please keep this in mind when you are placing orders for your laptops. If you have an urgent IT issue though please contact Tania.
Regional Staff Meetings Please note the Regional Staff Meetings for this term have been cancelled.
Giveaway Day There is still time to drop any donated items to Una Williams Kindergarten (Wairarapa) tomorrow for their Giveaway Day which is this Saturday from 9am to 12pm.
Una Williams are looking for donations of clothing, toys, books, toiletries, sheets, blankets, shoes, nappies, curtains, heaters and small furniture etc. Unfortunately, they cannot accept electronics such as TV’s or computers. Your donations will be greatly appreciated.
New Itinerant Relievers Appointed Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens has appointed ten new itinerant relievers for the winter period, to work for six hours a day in different regions. Claire Aukett is working across the Central Plateau area, while Kerry Gillam will work in Whanganui. In Horowhenua, Kerri Hosey, Ashley Clark and Patricia Sunnex have been employed with Kerri and Patricia also working in Kapiti, while Ashley will cover Upper Hutt and Wellington city as well. Ann Anton, Lynley Stewart, Nuon Khat and Sandra Faulkner are working in the Porirua area, with Nuon also working in Tawa and Ann and Sandra also working in North Wellington while Lynley will work around Wellington city. Isabel Boyes is working in central and south Wellington. The winter itinerant relief teachers will join 15 existing permanent itinerant relievers. These teachers will support kindergartens who are full year or who are working to develop different opening models, as well as cover for winter illness. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens is always looking for relievers as teachers often transition into fixed term or permanent jobs. If you are interested in working as an itinerant reliever for a period of time, you should let your Senior Teacher know.
Sick Leave Changes The government has changed the law to bring in more sick leave. Every employee will now be entitled to ten days sick leave a year, up from the current five. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens is looking at the new law to work out how it affects employees and how it works in with existing employment agreements such as the KTCA (Kindergarten Teachers’ Agreement) the KASSCA for kindergarten support staff and the Office Collective Agreement for office staff. The law takes precedence over employment agreements, so everyone will get ten days sick leave, but because some agreements start from day one rather than six months in, individual calculations may need to be made. Some employers have criticised the change, but others say if people are encouraged to stay home when sick they may infect fewer people leading to less sick leave taken overall. More detail will be provided in future editions of Kōrero.
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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