Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... We are heading toward Easter and the first term break so there are some important pieces of information and key dates below. Also time to start thinking about saying goodbye to summer and hello to winter and preparing the kindergarten for the cooler months ahead. Jane. 
PA1s For April Term Break Jobs  Just a reminder that any PA1’s for property work that teams are wanting to be carried out over the April term break need to be emailed to Lorraine Coulston before 5pm 28 March 2018. Any questions, please contact Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergartens.org.nz.
Low Cost Bins Easter Recycling and Rubbish Collection  Are your rubbish bins collected by Low Cost Bins? Here are your Easter detaiils. If your normal collection day is a Monday this is no change to your recycling/wheelie bin collections for Monday 2nd April. Please have your bin kerbside by 7am as per normal. If your normal collection day is a Friday your collection for Good Friday will be changed to Saturday 31st March. This also applies to your recycling collection. Please have your bins kerbside by 7am on Saturday morning.
Last Push for Census Completion  Let's have one last push with our families, whānau and communities to complete the 2018 Census. Continue to support them through your newsletters, making computers available and through your daily interactions. The Census team are currently visiting all addresses where a Census has not been recorded as being completed, however our message is, if you have received your Census number then go online and complete the form as soon as possible.
Termly Hazard Checklist Just a reminder to teams that the Termly Hazard Checklist is completed during week 9 of each term. The checklist is downloaded from GOSH and is then completed manually. Any hazards that are identified during this process that cannot be eliminated immediately are then entered onto your kindergartens Hazard Register using GOSH. Once you have completed the Termly Hazard Checklist, please upload this onto GOSH using the Hazard checks form (see below) and then follow the prompts. 
2017-18 Whānau Contribution Tax Certificates Your families may be starting to ask about their 2017-18 Whānau Contribution/Donation Tax Certificates. These are being generated in the coming weeks and will summarise all whānau contributions and other donations made to Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens (received and banked) in the period 1 April 2017 to 31 March 2018. If you’ve received any recent whānau contributions and donations at your kindergarten please bank these by the end of the tax financial year (Last banking day is Thursday 29th March) so that they can be recorded in this year’s tax certificate. It will also be helpful if you can check that your parent and whānau email details in Infocare are up to date as these will be used to distribute the tax certificates. Any queries about the tax certificates should be emailed to donations@wmkindergartens.org.nz.
Whānau Manaaki Responds To ‘Dangerous Daycare’ Headlines Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens reacted to radio news items about poor quality early childhood services with a press release stressing the role of qualified teachers in quality services. You can read our full release here. It is disappointing to notice the term ‘daycare’ still being used after a thirty year campaign to change the language. Click here for the original Insight documentary item from National Radio. And here’s a response from the teachers’ union, NZEI Te Riu Roa. The New Zealand Psychotherapists Association expressed concern about overcrowding in early learning centres, and the consequent stress on both children and teachers. Their release can be read here.
Cohort Entry To Schools Under Debate Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens responded to a Ministry of Education invitation to comment on cohort entry to schools. We stressed that cohort entry to schools has focused on the needs of schools rather than of the early childhood sector, and pointed out that transition into early childhood services is equally important. We also pointed out flaws in the current funding system which puts pressure on services to replace children as soon as possible, while settling several children at once is not desirable in an early learning environment. We were invited to comment on whether there should be one cohort group per term or two, but took the opportunity to raise some of the other issues this raises for our sector, drawing on the work of the Institute for Early Childhood Studies at Victoria University. Our full submission is available on the staff section of the website, under downloads. Here’s the link to that submission.
Political Update Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens met Finance Minister Grant Robertson last week, as part of our strategy of engaging with the government to maximise opportunities for children. We spoke about our work, including our innovations within our kindergartens, in our home-based services, in our Whānau Ora programme and in other government contracts, and about where we see potential if funding was available to expand services for families and children and educational opportunities for young people moving into early childhood work. The Minister was interested in our work and in our ideas, and also in our difficulties in attracting funding for work that spans several ministries because of our holistic approach, for example with the Y-men project or through Etu Ao that provides job opportunities and skill development. We continue to build relationships with relevant cabinet ministers and with politicians from all parties. We urge teachers to continue to build relationships with local MPs across our region. Study All Worth It, Says New Graduate  Tiana Ranfurly says she’s “really really happy” to have graduated from Whitireia Polytechnic with a Bachelor of Teaching last week. She says there were times when she thought she wouldn’t make it through, but now the late nights and the hard assignments are all behind her, and graduation day was a really good day. “I enjoyed it, I was so relieved.” Although her mother is an early childhood teacher, she says it was caring for her young cousins that really sparked her interest in a career with young children, and now that she’s a teacher it is living up to expectations. “I’m loving it” says Tiana, who is now teaching at Toru Fetu.
Scholarships For Early Childhood Teachers And Support Staff NZEI Te Riu Roa has two scholarships of $5000 for teachers working in the early childhood sector. Applications for the scholarships, to be taken up in 2019, are open now and close on 4 May. The scholarships are designed to strengthen skills, contribute to the sector as a whole, and contribute to NZEI’s goals for the early childhood sector. Find out about how to apply here.
Appointments and Resignations Congratulations to the following on their recent appointments: Phoebe Fang, .65 Teacher, Karori Fiona McQuatt, Head Teacher, Matairangi Elisapeta Faavale, Teacher, Fanau Pasifika Timmy Porter, Teacher, Strathmore We wish all the best to the following who have resigned: Joan Hollis, Teacher, Birchville Courtney Sherman, .45 Teacher, Johnsonville Sindy Li, .6 Teacher, Titahi Bay
Hot Tip  Are you fed up with your charger wire bending and breaking? If so this Top Tip is just right for you! Use a spring from an old pen, and slide it over the wire to protect it! Genius! 
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