Nau mai ki te pānui tênei ko te Kōrero. 
Senior Teacher Update Kia ora koutou katoa, Head Teachers Meetings by Zoom A reminder that the remaining head teacher meetings, that did not happen due to the rahui, will begin via Zoom next week. All head teachers should have received a Zoom meeting invite by now, sent via your office 365 calendar. Please note the date and time and send your acceptance. We look forward to having Mandy Coulston at each of these meetings to share some key messages. If you have not received your link or have any questions about your meeting please talk to the senior teacher who has set up your meeting (see below). Region | Date / Time | Senior Teacher Responsible | City North | Monday 27 Sept 3.00pm to 3.50 pm | Paula Hunt | City South | Monday 27 Sept 4.00pm to 4.50pm | Glenda Rowe | Wairarapa | Tues 28 Sept 3.00pm to 3.50 pm | Catha Ritchie | Whanganui/Central Plateau | Tues 28 Sept 4.00pm to 4.50pm | Raewyn McKenna | Porirua 1 &2 | Weds 29 Sept 3.00pm to 3.50 pm | Lyn Wright |
New Head teacher meeting As promised please find below the agenda for the new head teacher meeting on the 29th September. Any questions please contact Leanne.Nelson@wmkindergartens.org.nz 
Induction and Mentoring Seminar 6 October 2021 We are looking forward to seeing all PCT’s and Mentors at our October seminar for 2021 – Please remember that your attendance at our seminars is an important requirement for completing your Induction and Mentoring Programme. As we have over twenty kaiako who hold a Tōmua (or Provisional Practising certificate) and their mentors engaging in our Induction and Mentoring Programme, we are running our seminars in clusters in your region so that we meet the group size requirements for HWM PLD. The two workshops in this seminar are strongly linked to the Standards for the Teaching Profession and focus on Working with Whānau and an Introduction to internal Evaluation processes. We are doing some planning around where the clusters will be, but please make sure this date is in your diary in the meantime. As there is less travel involved using this cluster model, the seminar now starts at 9.00am and finishes at 1.00pm. Please enrol in one of the clusters through Tūhonohono so that we have enough resources (and morning tea ) at each one. Please talk with your Senior Teacher if you have any questions, or contact Lynette.
New Look Infocare You will have noticed the new look Infocare. Below are a couple of tips to help you: Toggle between the old and new look While you are getting used to the new look you can toggle between the old and new look. - On the top right hand side there is a toggle button. Clicking on the button will take you between the 2 interfaces
 Click on the person icon, top right-hand side, to find the What’s New button. The grey icon, top right-hand side is the favourites icon. This is where you will find Sign in Sheets, Staff Time sheets etc. 
Infocare Cut-Off and Ministry of Education RS7 Reporting Just a reminder for you about month end Infocare requirements. We have to report “RS7” information about your kindergarten to the Ministry of Education for the current funding period (1 June – 30 Sept). All of the information we require is generated from your enrolment, attendance 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 you all to have your Infocare records for next week completed by close of play on Friday 1 October 2021. This means we would like you to complete the following tasks in Infocare up to and including Friday 1 October, as appropriate: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
- Fee invoices (for the week ending 1 October) created and committed
- Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) for the week ending 1 October are completed
- Online sign off of your monthly roll return
- Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Wellington Association Office (please call Tania on 04 232 3069 or 0800 546 337)
Please let Tania know if you do not think you will be able to complete this on time.
GOSH Child Accident /Incident Just a reminder that you only have to complete the Right hand side – Investigation part of the Child Accident form, if it is a major accident/incident. You do not have to complete it for a minor accident/incident. To edit a child accident/incident record using the ipad: - go to the Parent Summary, accessed through "My Kindergarten"
- on the far left of the screen you will see a column, (next to the name of the teacher who reported the accident/incident).
- Click in the column, three dots will appear
- Tap on the dots and options of edit, duplicate or delete will appear
- tap and hold on the edit option until a new window opens (don't just tap on edit as nothing will happen, you need to hold)
- the new form allows you fill in the declaration and email parents (which is on the right of the form)
If you have any questions, please contact Lorraine.
Microsoft Teams We will be providing MS Teams PLD, via Zoom, during the first week of the term break. There will be three separate sessions covering the following topics: - Overview of MS Teams including Onedrive and Sharepoint
- Creating, Saving and Sharing documents
- Saving Photos and uploading to Storypark
You will be able to enrol into these sessions through Tūhonohono next week.
First Aid Courses Despite the increase in numbers allowed inside under Covid Alert Level 2, NZ Red Cross are still needing to restrict the numbers of people they can host for First Aid Refresher courses. This means that for the up-coming Refresher courses we have planned for this term break, fewer people will be able to attend than the original planned 18-20. Kaz will make decisions around attendance based on expiry dates and enrolment dates and will be in touch personally with everyone. However, please DON'T PANIC!! The "grace" period after the expiry date, usually 3 months, has been extended to 6 months and there are various public courses within the next few months that we could enrol people on. However! We do still have spaces available on our Wairarapa course on the 6th October, being held at the Carterton Event Centre. Should you wish to enrol on that, please contact Kaz as per above as soon as possible. For information on this and anything else to do with First Aid, please contact Kaz.
Annual General Meeting Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens is holding its annual general meeting in Masterton this evening. This is an important part of our processes as an incorporated society, and it’s a chance to report on the year we have had and to look ahead. As part of our democratic structures, we also hold elections for our board. New board members will be profiled in Kōrero in the future. Thanks to all those who voted and all those who are supporting our AGM tonight. There will be more on the AGM next week, including a chance to celebrate volunteers in our kindergartens and to look at our annual report.
Petition Delivered A petition signed by many Whānau Manaaki teachers and supporters was presented to the government by Zoom last Friday. The petition from NZEI Te Riu Roa called for all early childhood relief teachers to be paid during the Rāhui, and was signed by nearly 5,000 people. It was addressed to Education Minister Chris Hipkins and received by MPs Angela Roberts, Jo Luxton, Camilla Belich, and Marja Lubeck. It called for the Government to deliver a package comparable to the emergency support payments for school relievers during Alert Levels 3 and 4. Many early childhood relievers received no pay at all during lockdown. "We’re in the midst of a severe early childhood teacher shortage, and situations like this are driving even more people from the sector” the petition said. “ECE relievers are an absolutely critical part of our workforce, especially when teaching staff are under so much pressure.”
Regulations To Improve Quality For Children The government is changing the requirements for early childhood centres, to move to 80 per cent qualified teachers, up from the current 50 per cent. However the various options the government proposes may not result in improved quality for children. At the moment, a student in the last year of training can be considered a qualified teacher, and the teachers do not need to be full time or working with children to meet the regulations. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens considers that all children should be taught by qualified teachers, and those teachers need to be actually working with children delivering the curriculum and making sure quality happens each day. This position is supported by research, both within New Zealand and internationally. We support qualified teachers in regulated positions, with additional adults able to be employed over and above minimum ratios. This could include students, language assistants, teacher aids and others. Everyone can take part in the government consultation exercise, which closes on October 13. Here’s the link to the consultation information. Benefit Sanction To Be Removed The government is changing the law to remove a penalty on some beneficiaries. At the moment, those who have a child while receiving a benefit face a sanction known as the “subsequent child” sanction. This means those parents – usually sole parents - are pressured to go back to work when their youngest child turns one, rather than three as for other beneficiaries. The Welfare Working Group which reported to the government two years ago recommended removing the sanction. Children’s Minister Kelvin Davies says the bill adds to complexity in the benefit system, disproportionately impacts on women and Māori, and contributes to hardship and poverty. He says the Select committee considering the bill heard that the current sanctions have a negative effect on parents, caregivers and children, causes stress and impacts mental health. It is likely to affect more than 11,000 families.
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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