Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... Have a great rest of the week. Jane. 
PLD Calendar Here is the link to the online calendar, all information on PLD is live. Please save this link to your computer desk top or save it as a ‘favourite’.
Term Dates We have been asked by a number of people to resend the term dates for this year. Please click on this link to take you to the dates, you can then print them out and keep somewhere handy.
HR.Net Help We understand it can be tricky finding and enrolling into PLD through HR.Net so we have attached some helpful hints as you navigate HR.Net, in particular booking a course session. If you have any problems just contact Hannah at hannah.toomaga@wmkindergartens.org.nz. HR.Net Help Book A Course Session
Team Photos  If you have a new team photo please send this through to Chanelle or Tania to be put on your kindergartens page on the website. chanelle.huia-rutten@wmkindergartens.org.nz Tania.braybrook@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Items For The Kōrero We love receiving your items for the Kōrero so please keep them coming. We do scroll through Facebook each week to see what you have been up to and put items in from there, however we equally love getting your items direct. So if you have something you want to put in the Kōrero please send it to the following email address korero@wmkindergartens.org.nz Please do not use individual email addresses for the Kōrero as we may miss it!
TONI Educators - We Are Looking For More!  We are currently recruiting for the next intake of people wanting to complete training to become an educator in our Etu Ao homebased service. The training will commence early March. Currently our homebased service operates in the Porirua area however we are wanting to extend this service into other areas so are "throwing the net wide" and will consider applicants from all areas. If you know of anyone who would love to work in our homebased service get them to give the HUB a call on 021 222 5997 or email etuao@wmkindergartens.org.nz
End of Month Infocare Cut-Off Next week is financial month end and we will be working on our February Board and Kindergarten reporting in the coming weeks. To help us with this, we would be grateful if you could have your Infocare records for the last week of the month (being the week ended Friday 1 March) completed by the end of the day on Friday 1 March. This means we would like you to complete the following tasks in Infocare up to and including Friday 1 March, as appropriate: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
- Fee invoices created and committed
- Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) completed
- Online sign off of your monthly roll return
- Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Association (please call Tania or Cathryn)
Please let Tania or Cathryn know ASAP if you expect there to be any delay with completing these tasks by the due date.
Logos Have you confirmed your logo with Chanelle? Have you received the files to start using the logos? If you have confirmed your Kindergarten logo but have yet to receive the file to enable you to start using the logo please contact Chanelle and she will email those files through to you. You can email her at chanelle.huia-rutten@wmkindergartens.org.nz We have recently confirmed the logos for some of our Horowhenua Kindergartens, we think they look amazing! 
Homebased Education Improvements Welcomed The government has reviewed homebased early childhood education and has decided that all educators must hold a level four qualification. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens welcomes the review and the increased training requirements which are likely to be phased in over three to four years. All our educators working in our Etu Ao homebased service, which caters for 120 children in Porirua, already complete a certificate in early childhood education and care through the Open Polytech. Our TONI educators (TONI stands for Teach, Observe, Nurture, In home) really enjoy the learning that occurs when they complete the certificate and it gives them a foundation for further learning. However, 70 per cent of educators across the sector, which caters for around 18,000 children, have not received any training. Here’s a press release that Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens put out to support the review findings. The Homebased ECE Association has supported the review, see there comments here. NZEI Te Riu Roa which represents visiting teachers has also supported the report. Here’s their release.
Review Supports Whānau Ora A government review has found that the Whānau Ora approach is working well for Māori and Pasifika families. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens runs a Whānau Ora programme supporting 260 Pasifika families to meet their goals. Minister Peeni Henare says the review found that Whānau Ora offers a successful way of working across government agencies, and its success could be expanded, with whānau centred approaches implemented across the government. “The findings paint a picture of progress and positive changes for families…the review found many examples of people’s lives being turned around.” “I’ve asked Te Puni Kōkiri to work with other agencies in the social sector to see where the Whānau Ora approach can be implemented. I will report back to Cabinet later this year with the findings…expanding Whānau Ora is the bigger opportunity.” Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens is responding to the review findings with a press release which you can read in next week's Kōrero. You can find more information, and a copy of the report, on Te Puni Kōkiri website here.
MPs Visit Tai Tamariki Opposition leader Simon Bridges and National’s early childhood spokesperson Nicola Willis visited Tai Tamariki Kindergarten at Te Papa this week, to learn about the service and what it offers children and families, and to hear concerns about early childhood policies. Tai Tamariki teacher Bridget Reid says the visit went well and both MPs were really engaged with the children and listened to what the teachers had to say. She says teachers took advantage of the opportunity to talk about funding concerns and the need for qualified teachers. She would “absolutely” encourage other kindergartens to host MPs. “It was great, far better than we expected.”  
Campbell Kindergarten Celebrates The New Year Campbell Kindergarten recently celebrated Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean New Year. It was a fun and engaging learning opportunity for their tamariki and wider learning community. They enjoyed learning through the concept of manaakitanga and whanaungatanga by sharing a happy new year song in Chinese and sharing traditional food, and stories.”  
Matatini Tickets Still Available Matatini is on in Wellington this week, the biggest Kapa Haka festival in the world, and tickets are still available. Go for the day or for the weekend. Here’s the link to purchase tickets. 
This Week On Facebook   These guys at Ascot Park Kindergarten are Te Matatini ready! One of the children has already declared his aunty's roopū will be triumphant ;)  At Brooklyn Kindergarten they shared the love around this Valentines Day 😊 
Tai Tamariki weren’t the only ones who welcomed govt into the kindergarten this week! Here Kris Faafoi visits Raumati Beach Kindergarten.
Handy Facebook Pages  With Te Matatini on at the moment, you can follow their facebook pages for video updates on each day’s events!
If you’re clever you might even find the livestream link on their page 😉
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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