Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. More and more we are undertaking PLD in our Te Puna room at the main WM office. This is a fantastic venue for PLD and meetings and it is wonderful today to see the new Head Teachers there. Jane. 
Induction For New Employees We will be holding an Induction day on Thursday 5 December, at the Porirua Office. This is for anyone who has started with us since August this year, or for anyone who started this year but hasn’t been to an Induction Day. Many of you will already have been personally invited, however, if you haven’t been, and think this day is for you, please talk to your Head Teacher or Senior Teacher. The day will begin at 9.15am and finish at 2.30pm. If this is outside people’s normal hours of work we will pay for those additional hours and we will also support with travel to and from the meeting. We will send out the agenda closer to the time, in the meantime please save the date and you can book a reliever if you need.
Full Year Kindergarten Over the past couple of years 20 kindergartens have moved their operational model to include being open during term breaks. This has been part of our response to providing a network of services to meet the diverse needs of our children, whānau, parents and communities. Although there has been some challenges for teams in the journey of providing full year kindergarten, the outcomes have been hugely beneficial in a number of ways: - Parents are able to choose kindergarten as their preferred option now they can come all year
- It has increased our income stream enabling us to continue to provide innovation within the organisation
- Teachers have increased autonomy over when they can take leave
Over the coming months we are looking to move more kindergartens to full year to ensure we are responsive and remain relevant to the families in our networks. Therefore we will be approaching some kindergartens who are not open during term breaks with the view to them providing a full year service. If you wish to discuss this further or if you have any questions please contact Jane Braun. Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia o tatou mahi. Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work.
Newtown Celebrates 75 Years Last Saturday Newtown Kindergarten celebrated 75 exceptional years with an Open Day. It was a wonderful day full of celebration and community - bouncy castle, birthday cake, face painting, live music, photos of Newtown over the years, bubble machine and plenty of food and togetherness! They had a great turnout of current and past whānau and families and it was lovely to see many past teachers and head teachers come to share the celebrations with them. This was also an opportunity to unveil the plaque commemorating the olive tree which they planted in April as a symbol of unity and aroha with their Muslim families after the terrible events in Christchurch. 
 
 
Waiouru Kindergarten Waiouru Kindergarten has a new logo, and new T shirts to match! Here’s head teacher Sam O’Connor and teacher Barbara Richards celebrating with the children. Parent Emily Mouldey helped with the logo design and parent Steve Smith put all three signs up on the kindergarten. 
Community Farewells Much Loved Reverend More than a thousand mourners, including many from Whānau Manaaki’s families and staff, paid tribute to the Reverend Perema Leasi who died suddenly in Porirua just over two weeks ago. Reverend Perema was the beloved Faifeau (Minister) of Christ the King Pacific Island Presbyterian church (PIC) in Porirua and was instrumental in the setting up of Nuanua Kindergarten, which he visited weekly. He had been a great supporter of our kindergartens for the past 20 years. Many Whānau Manaaki staff belong to his church, and helped organise the funeral and supported the hundreds of visitors paying their respects at the church hall in the week leading up to the funeral, in particular with organising the catering. Reverend Perema had a profound impact on the Porirua community and beyond with his social justice work. His lovely gentle manner, humility and warmth was appreciated by children and adults alike. He had been awarded a Queen’s Service medal for his contribution but the sheer number of mourners showed how many people’s lives he had touched. Here’s how he was described in the news website Stuff: “When people describe Reverend Perema Leasi, the same words surface again and again. They talk of his big heart, his belief in social justice, his love for his community and his never-failing support for the underdog. They say he was a leader, a man of unflinching faith, a quick-witted joker and a lover of life and all those who lived it. But mostly they just say how much they'll miss him.” 
30 Years Of The UN Convention On The Rights Of The Child Newtown Kindergarten was represented at a picnic at Parliament, to celebrate 30 years of the UN convention on the rights of the child. The UN convention was a landmark document in spelling out what children need and are entitled to around the world. Although it has a lot of clauses, on everything from clean water to being safe from trafficking slavery and being conscripted as soldiers, it was summarised at the celebration as children's right “to be safe, to be healthy and to be happy”. The celebration included the official opening of a playground on parliament’s front lawn by the Prime Minister, and entertainment that included Zappo the Magician. The UN convention has been reprinted in a “pocket edition” in Te Reo and English, and is available here from the website of the Commissioner for Children.  
Sharing Books Is Important, Study Confirms Reading books to children under two is a major factor in success in early learning according to new research from the Growing Up In New Zealand Study. Shared reading and having lots of books at home was also associated with fewer behavioural problems in young children. The research found reading books together was important across all ethnic groups, and children who are read to have better oral language at two. The full study, Factors of the Early Learning Environment that Promote Early Learning Outcomes in Aotearoa New Zealand, is available here.
Half Marathon For A Cause A number of our office staff took part in the Walking Stars half marathon last Saturday night to raise funds for the Cancer Society. The walk started at 8.30pm from Waitangi Park, on the Wellington waterfront, and wound its way through the city centre streets to return to Waitangi Park. Our office team was called the Walkie Talkies and they took out the top team for their fundraising efforts, well done! Can you spot the WM staff in this photo? There are 7 of them! 
Christmas Parade Welcomes Kindergartens  The Whanganui Christmas Parade will be held on Saturday 14th December. All kindergartens from the area are welcome to participate in this event. If your kindergarten is interested in participating Whānau Manaaki will pay the entry fee and provide fliers to be handed out. If you are interested, please contact Kaz (Karen.Craig@wmkindergartens.org.nz) as soon as possible.
Two Reasons To Celebrate Lolenese, Etu Ao HUB Co-ordinator in the WM Office, had two reasons to celebrate last weekend. She not only had a big "0" birthday but her partner of 21 years (and 3 children!) decided it was time to make an honest woman of her. He proposed at her surprise birthday party! Needless to say Lolenese said yes. She arrived at work on Monday to much celebration from the office staff! We wish Lolenese and Michael every happiness for their future! 
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