Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... It was a wonderful day at Fanau Pasifika yesterday celebrating the reopening of their renovated kindergarten. Lots of beautiful singing, dancing, sharing of food and of course sunshine! Jane. 
Some Changes To Office Roles There have been some changes to the roles undertaken by some of our office staff that you need to be aware of. Property Team Changes  Peni is taking over the administrative tasks for the property team. Therefore if you have any questions related to property and PA1’s these should be directed to Peni at Lupeni.Aitogi@wmkindergartens.org.nz. Lorraine is taking on some other roles within the association but will still be responsible for health and safety administration including GOSH. Changes To Senior Teacher Team Administration Support As Peni has moved full time into the property team we are delighted to announce that Hannah To’omaga will be supporting the Senior Teacher Team, and the main part of her role will be organising all aspects of the PLD programme and the coordination of the PLD calendars. Thanks Hannah and welcome to the team! Just a reminder that Peni will still be the coordinator of the Excursion requests and information.
Induction and Mentoring 4 October 9.00am-1.00pm @ Petone Working Men’s Club (please note change of venue) We are looking forward to seeing all PCTs and Mentors at our final seminar for this year. Teachers who hold Subject to Confirmation practising certificates are also welcome to attend. Please make sure that you enrol on HRNet so that we have enough food and resources for everyone. (Hannah will help if you have any issues enrolling – Hannah.Toomaga@wmkindergartens.org.nz) The programme will include the workshop on Educative Mentoring for Mentors that was cancelled in July, as well as a workshop on ‘Professional Relationships’ for PCTs and a workshop for both Mentors and PCTs around engaging in 'Learning Conversations' with your colleagues.
Storypark PLD  As we noted in a recent Kōrero, Storypark is a key tool for documentation and communication in many of our kindergartens. We now have over 70 Kindergartens and the Etu Ao networks using Storypark and over 420 teachers signed up for the Teachers Toolbox. If you can’t find your invitation to the Teachers Toolbox, please check your individual work email address or contact Tania Jack – (Tania.jack@wmkindergartens.org.nz) Are there some aspects of Storypark that you would like some support with, or would you like to learn more about using the planning section, creating templates or your portfolio? We have set aside some time to support individual teams with Storypark (at your kindergarten) over the term break. Please email Lynette (lynette.wray@wmkindergartens.org.nz ) by Mon 24th Sept if you would like a Storypark support session for your team at your kindergarten. Please include possible dates and times that would work for you. We will fit in as many teams as possible, but it will be on a first come, first served basis. If your team would like some support, but the term break doesn’t work for you, please email Lynette and we will look at further options over Term 4.
Infocare Cut-Off and Ministry of Education RS7 Reporting It’s that time again – we have to report “RS7” information about your kindergarten to the Ministry of Education for the current funding period (1 June – 30 Sept) by Friday 5th October. 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 completed as soon as possible. With next week being the end of term for most kindergartens we require all kindergartens to have your Infocare records for the end of next week completed by close of play on Friday 28th September. This means we would like you to complete the following tasks in Infocare up to and including Friday 28th September, as appropriate: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
- Fee invoices (for the week ending 28th September) created and committed
- Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) for the week ending 28th September are completed
- Online sign off of your monthly roll return
- Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Association (please call Tania)
Please also let Tania know this week if you do not think you will be able to complete this by next Friday. Banking As usual please ensure that there is little or no cash held at your kindergarten over the term break. If you could aim to bank all petty cash and other receipts (such as fee payments) before Wednesday 26th September. This will allow our Finance team to contact you with any queries they have before the end of the term. Can you also update Infocare with details of all deposits made please.
Playground Audits  The 2018 playground audits are now complete and available for kindergartens to access as of Monday 24th Sept 2018. This year kindergartens will be able to access their own audit using the GOSH system. If you click on the Playground Audit Issues (see below) on the GOSH homepage this will take you to a login and password screen. The login and password is the same one kindergartens use to access their Hazard Register. 
Next Steps: As with previous audits, responsibility for dealing with issues identified in the audit has been determined and can be found on the Playground Audit Issues list on GOSH. When the kindergarten is tagged as responsible for dealing with the issue stated on the audit report and the kindergarten feels confident to deal with the issue then they are welcome to go ahead with this. If kindergartens are unsure as to how to correct a particular issue there a couple of options; contact a contractor listed on your Maintenance Flow Chart for advice or enter a maintenance request using the Maintenance Request form in the property section on GOSH. If the kindergarten does contact the contractor directly requesting advice, the request for the work to be undertaken must still be entered as a maintenance request on GOSH. Please note, none of the identified issues are considered urgent and essential. Once an identified issue has been remedied, the Playground Audit Issues register is able to be updated by the kindergarten. Any hazards identified in the audit that cannot be eliminated immediately, will need to be entered onto the Kindergarten Hazard Register using GOSH. When the audit report includes a statement such as “continue to monitor” or is stipulated as a “low level risk”, kindergartens should discuss this and/or review this with your Senior Teacher at your next scheduled visit. When the association is tagged as being responsible for dealing with an issue stated on the audit report, these jobs will be added to the association’s job list and no action is required by the kindergarten. If you have any questions please contact Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergartens.org.nz.
AGM in Ōtaki He Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens held its AGM at Ōtaki Kindergarten this week, and one of the highlights was the honouring of volunteers from kindergartens in the Kapiti and Horowhenua region. Deputy Chief Excecutive Jane Braun says the event was a real community celebration, and it showed how many people are part of the ‘whānau’ of Whānau Manaaki – and not just the immediate families of children enrolled at kindergarten. “It was a great testament to the volunteers who have contributed to the work we do” says Jane. At the meeting, Emma McGregor and Tania Jones were re-elected to the board as community represenatives, and Christina Rizos was re-elected as a teacher representative. Others on the board are Amy Weightman (chair), Monika Ciolek and Jodi Watene as community representatives and Iona To’omaga as a teacher representative. The terms are staggered to ensure continuity on the board. This was the first year we tried electronic voting, and over 1100 people voted which is a good turnout, and represents greater visibility for He Whānau Manaaki and the work we do. Lots of staff were involved in making the event a success, and as Sue Barrett, the head teacher at Ōtaki said, “manaakitanga was in full swing”. This year the annual report was in electronic format and includes videos, which makes it more accessible to many people. Check it out here. 
Fanau Pasifika Celebrates Fanau Pasifika held a blessing of its new space on Thursday, after major renovations which created a new place for the community to share. The celebration included awesome performances from Levin Intermediate, and a combined Waiopehu and Horowhenua College group. The sun shone and there was wonderful food at the celebrations which was attended by the local church community, councillors and government officials as well as the kindergarten community. There has been great feedback from the community since the celebrations, which also profiled Whānau Manaaki’s role and services in Horowhenua. 
Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori  There were lots of things happening around our kindergartens last week for Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori. Here are a few of them. Katoa Kindergarten were lucky to have Ngati Toa School's kapa haka visit them and perform to the children. The children got to make flowers from harakeke, a koro made creamed paua, then they all shared kai before all the children played together.  
 
Petone Beach Kindergarten celebrated Māori language week by constructing a marae at their kindergarten. They called it Wharehoa – the significance of this name was that Petone Beach used be called this!
They learnt all about the protocols of Te Atiawa kawa and what it was like to welcome and be welcomed onto a marae.
Mum of Lucinda and Eddie made 4 panekoti [skirts] for the girls to wear as they performed the karanga for the pōwhiri experience onto the marae. They taught the children the basic tikanga of marae, protocol, so that the children would have some understanding of how this may look and feel when they experience it out in the real world!
Over the week tamariki became more comfortable with using te marae as a space to relax in, read pukapuka, show manaaki to their dolls and to rest and recover from play. On Thursday they welcomed whanau and manuhiri onto their marae. They then shared kai together. Cherish shared her knowledge and skills in the kitchen with preparing a boil up! MAURI ORA!  
  As part of the celebrations at Adventure Kindergarten for for te wiki o te reo Māori, the teachers gifted nga tamariki a simple beginners learner Maori book written in Maori and English. These books support learning about numbers, counting, colours, shapes, names, toys and simple everyday sentences. The teachers hope this will support and encourage the use of te reo Maori at home. They planned for every child to receive one this week. 
This Week On Facebook   
 There was lots of imaginative play at Masterton West Kindergarten this week.  
The team at Doris Nicholson took the children to the Carter Observatory Space Place. The children loved it! 
 
Paremata Kindergarten welcomed the teachers and children from Johnsonville Full Day Kindergarten. The children loved exploring and having adventures in the lovely playground.
Victoria University EdD Information Evening Victoria University are hosting an information evening about their EdD programme on 25th September. The EdD is aimed at education professionals with a masters level degree who might be interested in doctoral studies but cannot really leave their work to study full time. They already have some of our colleagues in the programme and they thought there may be others in our Association who may be interested. If this sounds like something you might be interested in click hereto read more.
Calling All ECE Teachers And Leaders! Kia ora! My name is Rachel Denee and I’m undertaking a PhD at Victoria University of Wellington. I am interested in finding out more about current practices and perceptions of ECE teachers about visual arts in early childhood in New Zealand. You are invited to participate in an anonymous survey (click on the link below) that explores teachers and leaders’ practices and perceptions about visual arts in ECE. I hope to gain responses from a wide range of teachers, not just the ‘arty’ ones! The survey will take about 8-10 minutes to complete. It’s part of a wider research project exploring ECE art teaching and professional learning about art. Results of this survey will be included in publications and presentations and will contribute to a greater understanding about effective art teaching practice and professional learning for teachers. This research has been approved by the Victoria University of Wellington Human Ethics Committee [#0000026462]. PRIZE DRAW! At the end of the survey, you can choose to give your details to go in the draw to win one of five fabulous art teaching books for your kindergarten! Visual arts PLC in Wellington: The second phase of the research will involve a professional learning community (PLC) focused on visual arts for ECE teachers in the Wellington region. If you wish to be contacted about participation in the PLC, you will have an opportunity to enter your contact details through a link at the end of the survey. Your survey response data will remain completely anonymous even if you identify your contact details for either the prize draw or interest in the PLC. It will be much appreciated if you can encourage your whole teaching team to complete the survey. Please complete by Friday 28th September. By completing this survey you are consenting to participate in this part of the research. Participation in this survey is optional and your responses will not be able to be identified. Once you submit the survey, it will be impossible to retract your answer. Please do not include any personal identifiable information in your responses. CLICK HERE TO START THE SURVEY
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