Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. Happy New Year and welcome back to kindergarten for the 2021 year! We hope for a year of less challenges than last :-) We have included some information today around the Food Policy for ECE centres. Have a read, check our draft policy and if you have any feedback email it through. Waiho i te toipoto, Kaua i te toiroa Let us keep close together, not wide apart. Jane 
Important - Early Cut Off - Wellington Anniversary Day Relievers As it is Wellington Anniversary on Monday 25th January can all relievers please make sure you have your hours correctly recorded in Staff Sync by 3pm on Fri 22 Jan so we can process your pay for this week 18-22 Jan 2021. Head Teachers All end of week returns etc need to be in by 12 noon Friday 22 Jan, please. Also, since it is the start of the year here are a couple of reminders regarding Staff Sync: - Please book your relievers through the Coordinators – this is really important as the Relievers need to be entered into Staff Sync for their pay.
- Head Teachers/Teachers - Please make sure you tell the Reliever Coordinator if you book a short term reliever in advance yourself, or if the hours you asked for a reliever have changed.
- Short Term Relievers - Please make sure you let the Reliever Coordinators know if you accept an advance booking from a kindergarten, so they can be loaded into StaffSync.
- If you have been asked to work in a Long Term Relieving position longer than 6 weeks or more please make sure you make yourself unavailable in the Staff Sync calendar, and advise the reliever coordinators.
- If you cannot make a job, after accepting it, please make sure you let Nicki or Dhanaye know so that they can remove you from that job in Staff Sync and find a replacement.
Thanks everyone. If you have any questions you can email Karen at karen.skett@wmkindergartens.org.nz or phone 021 857826.
Changes To Food In Our Kindergartens As you may know, from next week (January 25 2021), the licensing criteria for early childhood services are being amended, to minimize the risk of choking. What does this mean for our kindergartens? When we provide food, we cannot serve some food items, and we need to prepare other food items in a certain way. Where parents provide food, we need to make sure they have been given the Ministry of Health’s food guidelines, and that we promote these guidelines. These should be displayed at your kindergarten and provided on enrolment to new parents. We will continue to respect our families’ choices regarding the food they provide. Here is a list of the food items we cannot serve: - whole or pieces of nuts
- large seeds, like pumpkin or sunflower seeds
- hard or chewy sweets or lollies
- crisps or chippies
- hard rice crackers
- dried fruit
- sausages, saveloys and cheerios
- popcorn
- marshmallows.
Food that needs to be altered to lower the choking risk includes carrot, apple, celery, fruit with stones and seeds or pips, grapes, cherry tomatoes and raw green peas, food with skin or leaves such as chicken, lettuce and salad greens, pieces of cooked meat, food with bones such as chicken and fish, thick pastes such as nut butter, and fibrous stringy foods such as raw pineapple. These foods need to be cut, grated, or cooked and have bones or seeds removed Details about how to alter the food to reduce the risk are on the Ministry of Health’s website here. We recognise that this may be a significant change to our practice, with for example popcorn and apple slices and rice crackers being a commonly served in kindergarten, and sausage sizzles being part of regular events at some kindergartens. We also recognise that this change and the publicity around it may cause confusion and possibly anxiety for your families. We are working on a statement for families for you to use. Please use this statement rather than developing your own version. Please note that you can continue to have rolling kai times at your kindergarten, although all children need to be seated and supervised while eating, which we know you already encourage. We have developed a new draft policy to comply with the new criteria, which is included in this Kōrero. Please read the policy and provide feedback if you wish to, within the next two weeks if possible. Feedback should go to jane.braun@wmkindergartens.org.nz. You can download the draft policy here. As with all our policies, it will be reviewed regularly and can be changed when necessary to meet circumstances. There are three criteria that are being changed, for centre-based and home-based services. One of the criteria, HS25, is about first aid qualifications, and we already meet and exceed this in our services. The others relate to what food is served and how it is served, including that is developmentally appropriate for the children. Here’s a link to the criteria, which compares the new with the previous criteria.
To Do List On GOSH Teams maybe experiencing issues with the “To Do” list in “My Kindergarten” on GOSH. We are currently undertaking a major upgrade on GOSH so please ignore any issues you are having with your “To Do” list at present. If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to contact Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Election Banners There are still a number of election banners that have not been returned. This is one of our final pushes to have these sent back to the Association office. You can give these to your Senior Teacher to return when they next visit if that suits better. Would you please email Chanelle to let her know the arrangement you have made for the return of the banner. Thank you, and thank you to those kindergartens who have returned them. 
Te Reo Poster Here is a really cool resource to use in your kindergartens. You can download it here to print and hang in your office and around your kindergarten walls. 
Diversity Calendar Diversity Works NZ help organisations do diversity and inclusion well and do well because of it. Each year they produce a diversity calendar which highlights important dates. You can access that calendar here.
Appointments And Resignations Congratulations to the following on their recent appointment: Gabby Williams | .6 Teacher | Papakowhai | Michelle Hobbis | .65 Teacher | Birchville | Michelle Smithies | .6 Teacher | Heretaunga | Allie Hiemstra | Relieving Teacher | Martinborough | Jo Lowe | Relieving .4 Teacher | Martinborough | Kathy Rudolph | Relieving Teacher | Silverstream | Sarah Godfree | Teacher Support/ Student | Paremata |
We wish all the best to the following who have resigned: Anthony Bruges | Teacher | Titahi Bay | Terri Greenhalch | Itinerant Reliever | WMK | Diana Entwistle | Teacher | Taitoko | Amelia Honey | .8 Teacher | Owhiro Bay | Diva Bidgood | Fulltime Teacher | Owhiro Bay | Karen Stevens | Head Teacher | Raumati Beach | Ann Francis | .6 Teacher | Paremata Creche | Angela Stobo | .6 Teacher | Tawa Central | Sarah Talbot | Administrator | Tui Park/Tawa Central |
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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