Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. Thanks for your patience as we have introduced the new GOSH reporting using ipads. We know there have been hiccups and apologise for this. We have now developed a work around for these issues as described below under Accessing "My Kindergarten" In Gosh. Nahau te rourou Naku te rourou Ka ora ai te manuhiri With your basket of knowledege and my basket of knowledge the people will prosper. Jane 
COVID-19 update #9  Kia ora koutou katoa A shorter Update today :-) QR Codes Please remember to show the QR code on your premises – this is now a legal requirement which came into effect at midnight last night. (We were doing it anyway of course, but the legal requirement emphasises its importance) Display it in several prominent places to make it easy for your families to use and encourage them and all visitors to do so. Teachers must use the code too. Everyone should have the app downloaded and use it routinely. If you run into any problems please email Tania at tania.braybrook@wmkindergartens.org.nz Reminders: - Remember to minimise adults in your kindergarten
- With the weekend coming up, remember no-one should be using kindergartens for birthdays, meetings etc. If there is something tricky about this and you need to talk to someone about it, feel free to contact Jane at janebraun@wmkindergartens.org.nz.
Health Update From the Ministry of Health website: Case numbers
There are 5 new cases of COVID-19 today, 20 August 2020. There are now 101 active cases of COVID-19 in New Zealand. See our current cases page. Contact tracing and self isolation
We are tracing all close contacts of these cases, and getting them tested for COVID-19. All close contacts will remain in self-isolation for 14 days. Most casual contacts do not need to self-isolate and only need to be tested if they develop symptoms. Read more information on self isolation for close and casual contacts. Xoxo
He Whānau Manaaki Kindergarten Association Leadership Hui - save the date reminder! Kia ora koutou katoa, A reminder of the details for this year’s Leadership Hui for Head Teachers, Assistant Head Teachers, Senior Head Teachers, Visiting Teachers and Senior Teachers Date: Tuesday 29th September 2020 Venue: Southwards Car Museum, Paraparaumu, Kāpiti Coast Time: the venue is open from 8.30am for refreshments with a prompt start of 9.15am for the planned mahi The agenda, and menu will be sent out nearer the day – watch this space! If you have an additional questions or queries please contact Sharon Coulton or your ST 😊 We look forward to seeing you on the day! Ngā mihi nui The Senior Teacher team
Final Storypark PLD For Term 3 Via ZOOM: 27 August 2020 The focus for this session will be around using the Planning Function and in particular setting up your Appraisal Action Plans on Storypark. We aim to have time for responding to your questions too. The final session is scheduled for Thursday 27 August from 3.30 – 4.30. If you and/or your team are interesting in being part of either of these sessions, please enrol on HR.Net or contact Kaz on Karen.craig@wmkindergarten.org.nz and she will send more detailed instructions about joining in via ZOOM. Numbers for each session will be limited to 20 participants. If you have any questions, please email Lynette at lynette.wray@wmkindergartens.org.nz.
2020 Appraisal Goal/ Enquiry Survey As many of you will remember, we use a survey each year to gather information about teachers and support staff appraisal goals/enquiry questions. We use the information gathered through the survey to inform our Professional Learning and Development programme for the upcoming year. We have now updated the survey for this year and it is available here. All Head Teachers/Senior Head Teachers are asked to complete this survey for all their Teachers and Support Staff by 31 August 2020. Please contact your Senior Teacher or Lynette, lynette.wray@wmkindergartens.org.nz, if you have any questions around completing the survey.
Accessing "My Kindergarten" In Gosh Here are some instructions to help you through the process of getting into GOSH on your ipads: From your home screen, complete the following steps; Click on settings (see Blue arrow) 
Settings In the settings page, on the right-hand side of the screen please click on Safari (orange arrow) 
In Privacy & Security (on left side of screen) you will see “Prevent Cross Site tracking” (yellow arrow) - please ensure that this is switched to off. 
Return to the Home Screen Please ensure that you are using the GOSH App from the Home page (see Green arrow ) 
Margaret McDonald Retires Margaret McDonald is retiring from Bellevue Kindergarten after a teaching career of almost 40 years, that spanned primary, intermediate and kindergarten teaching . “I’ve loved every minute of it” she says. Originally from Glasgow, Margaret came to teaching through Playcentre, studying at Teachers College in Karori, graduating with a primary teaching diploma. She has taught in most of the schools in the northern suburbs of Wellington, ranging from new entrants to intermediate age. Later, she switched to early childhood and completed an ECE qualification. She began at Bellevue five years ago, taking two buses each day to get to Newlands from her Johnsonville home. Unusually for a fulltime teacher, Margaret also worked at McDonalds in the weekend, beginning there while her son had a part-time job. He came home with stories about his shift and Margaret thought it sounded like fun. When he suggested she would never get a job there as she was too old, she saw a challenge. Margaret stayed at Johnsonville McDonalds for 15 years and became a manager, working weekend shifts and some evenings. Margaret says children she taught were surprised to find her moonlighting at McDonalds, but she had a lot of fun. She says although teaching has changed, children have not changed and what they need is care and understanding. “We’re not there for the systems., we’re there for the children." Margaret plans to study creative writing now she has retired. A farewell function is planned when circumstances allow for bigger gatherings. 
OMEP Invite  The next in our webinar series (by Zoom) is presented by Dr Jane Ewens, drawing on findings from her recent PhD research. OMEP members and colleagues across Aotearoa are warmly invited to join us for what is a very relevant topic at this time: Title: "The Struggle for status - EC teachers: Are we our own worst enemies?" (See descriptor below) OMEP Auckland Webinar: Dr Jane Ewens Time: Sep 3, 2020 07:30 PM Join Zoom Meeting here. Meeting ID: 286 869 9932 Passcode: 340040 Profile: Jane Ewens Jane has been involved in early childhood and teacher education for 30 years and has worked in a range of ECE services including Playcentre and Home-based as well as a number of teacher education providers including Te Rito Maioha and Dunedin College of Education. She has also spent time in the Ministry of Education in both local and national roles. Jane currently works as Associate Dean Education for Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, where she has been for a year. Prior to moving to Rotorua she completed a PhD at the University of Waikato, graduating in 2019. Her PhD is titled “You kind of have to be a bit superhuman” Early childhood teacher beliefs about what it takes to be a good teacher: A discourse analysis. "The struggle for status – Early childhood teachers: Are we our own worst enemies?" Over the past 30 years, there has been a growth of interest in the importance of ECE at government and societal levels, partly due to the ever-increasing body of evidence linking participation in high quality ECE to positive outcomes for children. Despite this interest, the status of ECE teachers, as arguably the most gendered of all professions, remains relatively low. This presentation draws from PhD research which explored early childhood teacher beliefs within a New Zealand context, and the discourses shaping and being shaped by these beliefs. It considered how these discourses have the potential to enable or constrain teacher practice. Three discourses shaping the ECE sector were identified; the dominant essential maternal and neo-liberal discourses, and the marginalised discourse of democratic professionalism. The ECE teachers in this study were engaged in two significant struggles: the struggle to define and articulate what it takes to be a good teacher; and the struggle for recognition and status from government and society at large. Could these two struggles be linked, as suggested by some participants? Are early childhood teachers their own worst enemies on occasion, being unable to clearly articulate what they do and why they do it? This presentation explores how the emerging discourse of democratic professionalism may provide teachers with a shared language that moves them beyond a culture of ‘niceness’ and individual accountability by acknowledging the collective nature of teaching and the role of the teacher to be intellectual and an advocate for the sector, for children and for their families.
Books For Children And Families The University of Canterbury has a range of resources to help children’s literacy. These can be printed off or read from an electronic version. Here’s the link.
Whanganui Office Displays Artwork Back in March, Whanganui was supposed to host the Artists Open Studios, an annual celebration of art when artists all over Whanganui open their galleries up for people to tour, and people from all over New Zealand (and beyond) come and view. WM Kindergartens decided to celebrate this by displaying art from some of the Kindergartens, as we are on the main thoroughfare for people wandering around town. Covid cancelled Artists Open Studios and delayed the office's own set-up but they now have one window up and running, with the other window due to be completed once the election is over (because it is carrying the election banner at the moment). In October, Whanganui is holding a Heritage Month, and the team will put information and pictures about the Whanganui Kindergarten Association (as it was) in their window. The intention is to have a regular rotation of pictures from children and to actively participate in next year's Artists Open Studios by putting themselves on the galleries map.  
Irmgard Ritchie Celebrate 10 Years Teaching Together 
This Week On Facebook  
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