Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. As I reflect on my time in Kindergartens I am thankful for the people I have met, things we have shared together and the journey we have been on. I am proud of our collective experience and wisdom that has made Whānau Manaaki a strong and innovative place for children and their whānau. The strength of our organisation will continue to grow the kindergarten movement across Aotearoa. E hari taku toa i te toa takitahi, he toa takitini My strength is not as an individual, but as a collective. Jane 
Senior Teacher Update Kia ora koutou katoa, NZEI Te Riu Roa Learning Support Campaign Earlier this month NZEI launched a new campaign that not only advocates for kaiako but for parents and whānau as well. Below is a snippet from the media release. Ngā Aukaha All in for Tamariki will campaign on issues of funding and access to learning support for children. The current system means that the youngest learners are waiting an average of 104 days to access an early intervention service and approximately one third of Ongoing Resource Scheme (ORS) funding applications are rejected. “The learning support system is severely under-funded meaning many children are missing out on their right to a high-quality, inclusive education,” says early intervention teacher, Louise Hoggart. “High caseloads and long wait lists put pressure not only on learning support specialists but teachers, principals and support staff in classrooms and early learning centres across the country. This in turn impacts on tamariki, their whānau and the wider community.” Click on this link, for more information and to sign up to add your voice. This term’s mahi This term sees us continuing to engage with the- - Professional Growth Cycle- inquiring into your area of interest
- Quality Practice templates-continuing to have conversations about practice and how this practice connects with the standards/Ngā Paerewa
- Te Manawa 3rd edition-discussions around Communities of Learners and Learning Outcomes
Head Teachers Meetings Please bring a copy of the agenda with you to your meeting. P1&2 | Monday, 31 May 2021 | Te Puna | CN | Tuesday, 1 June 2021 | Te Puna | W | Wednesday, 2 June 2021 | Carterton Events Centre | CS | Thursday, 3 June 2021 | Toitu Kilbirnie |
Regional Meetings Term 2 With the Senior Teacher team exploring different ways of working, we thought it would be a good idea to pause the Region Meetings this term, but with a twist- keep what would have been your regional meeting date booked in your kindergarten calendar and instead of travelling to a venue, stay put, and spend the time together delving into Te Manawa. The Senior Teacher team closer to the time, will provide some suggestions, provocations and guidance for your Te Manawa team kōrero. For any pātai, contact your Senior Teacher. New Head Teachers Meeting Term 2 We are looking forward to seeing all our New Head Teachers for our Term 2 meeting. Please note that the date of this has changed. It is now on Monday 28 June at Te Puna, WMK offices 10am to 3pm. Apologies for this change. If you have already organised a reliever, please can you cancel them and rebook one for the new date. Just a reminder, if you are in your first year as a Head Teacher you get this day as extra to your HT release day for the term, if you are in your 2nd year as Head Teacher you need to use your HT release day for the term if you want to attend the meeting. On the Agenda is Professional Relationships. This mahi will be linked to the PGC and also to Leaderful Practice and we will share with you strategies of how to have Learning Conversations. The agenda will be sent out closer to meeting date. And as always these meetings are about networking, sharing with your colleagues and getting guidance and new learning to support you in your leaderful roles. Mā te huruhuru ka rere te manu. Adorn the bird with feathers and it will fly. Annual Review Survey As discussed during our last RSM the Senior Teacher team have begun the review of the AR (annual review) and the realignment of our Annual Review with Ngā Tikanga Matatika Ngā Paerewa : Our Code, Our Standards. As well as reviewing the AR document, we are wanting to consider the AR process itself and to ensure that it reflects a collaborative and relevant process for everyone, including you, your team, and your Senior Teacher. In order that all teachers can be part of this review we have developed a survey monkey for you to complete. We have shared the link to the survey with each of you through Storypark, but please let us know if you have any difficulty finding it! Thanks to those of you who have already completed it and if you haven’t had the opportunity to do this yet we would still appreciate you taking some time to complete it and adding your voice to the review of our AR document and process. Contact Fiona Twaddle if you have any questions.
Evacuation Drills Just a reminder that we use GOSH to report on evacuation drills. We use the Evacuation Drill form in GOSH to report on the following: Earthquake evacuation drill (Monthly) Lockdown drill (Termly) Fire Evacuation Drill (Monthly) Notifiable Fire evacuation drill (6 monthly) When you are reporting on your drills using the Evacuation Drill form on GOSH, please ensure that you tick the box that indicates what type of drill it is (blue arrow below) If the drill is the notifiable 6 monthly fire drill, please tick “Yes” in the “Is this a notifiable evacuation drill” (green arrow below). By selecting “Yes” the Fire Service will automatically be sent a copy of the report. 
6 Monthly Fire Evacuation Drill Please remember that when you are undertaking the 6 monthly fire evacuation drill The Fire Service Communication Centre must be called 10 minutes before the drill, on phone 04 801 0812. The purpose of this is to ensure the Fire Service or nieghbours do not respond unnecessarily. If the Fire Communications Centre does not answer the phone, teachers will need to delay the drill. Even though this is a drill, you must respond as if this was a real emergency and make a call to 111 emergency services and evacuate as per your plan. You are able to access records of your previous drills on GOSH by logging into “My Kindergarten” and selecting “Evacuation Records” Please don’t hesitate to contact Lorraine if you need any clarification.
Finance Update Ministry of Education RS7 Reporting Just a reminder that the Association has to report “RS7” information about your kindergarten to the Ministry of Education for the current funding period (1 February – 31 May 2021) in by Friday 4 June 2021. All of the information we require is generated from your enrolment and staff timetable information in Infocare, so we need your help to ensure that all of this is complete and accurate. As with normal month end requirements can you please ensure that, for the all weeks in this funding period (which ends Monday 31 May), the following is completed in Infocare by 4pm on Tuesday 1 June: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance), including Monday 31 May
- Fee invoices are created and committed for the week ending Friday 28 May
- Staff timetables (“staff hour counts”) are completed as necessary; and
- Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Association (please call Tania)
- Print the Frequent Absence forms for May for all children that are highlighted Orange and Red (please call Tania if you need assistance)
If your administrator is unavailable to work on Monday or Tuesday (31 May or 1 June) can you please ensure arrangements are in place so that this deadline is met – this may mean that these tasks need to be completed by Teaching staff before the cut off. We will be reviewing your Infocare RS7 data so you may receive reminder emails or queries on Wednesday 3 June. Note that no changes to Infocare for the 1 February – 31 May 2021 funding period will be able to be made after 4pm, Tuesday 1 June. Grants A gentle reminder that you should be advising us of any community grant applications you are making so we can keep track of all grant activity out there. Please email Mollie Coulton through the grants email address here or give her a call on 04 232 3069 with any details.
Delays In Police Vetting And Reliever Shortage Means It Pays To Think Ahead At Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens we always need relievers, and sometimes we need unqualified relievers, so it would be great if each kindergarten could identify suitable parents who could get police vets right now, so that if needed they are available for work in your kindergarten. At the moment, police vets are taking longer than usual to process, and the Ministry of Education and Police have advised us of delays. So it pays to think ahead, approach parents you think might be interested and start the process. Please make it clear to any people you approach that work is not guaranteed.
StaffSync Work continues of getting things set up for the roll-out of StaffSync. We are still testing with 3 Kindergartens and this is going well. If you are not one of the three test kindergartens please continue to apply for your leave via iPayroll. Please do go in and use the rostering function in StaffSync – start re-familiarising yourself with how it works and let us know if you see anything amiss. You can book your own relievers if you want to, or you can continue to use the Reliever Coordinators. If you are booking your own reliever please make sure you have the correct hours recorded against that reliever, including lunch breaks. After testing has been completed we will roll out StaffSync in clusters/regions. We will let each group know as we are ready to bring you on. Please keep an eye out on the Kōrero every week as we will be updating you there. If you have any questions you could create a case in Tūhonohono (if it’s not urgent) or you can contact Leigh.
Pacific Language Weeks  Next week is Samoan Language Week, May 30 to June 5. Many kindergartens have activities planned to celebrate the week, either with your own kindergarten communities or in conjunction with local schools. Samoan language week is the second language week for this year, after Rotuman language week earlier in May. Samoan is the third most common language spoken in New Zealand, after English and Te Reo Māori. The theme of Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa - Samoa Language Week 2021 is Poupou le lotoifale. Ola manuia le anofale which means “strengthen the posts of your house, for all to thrive”. Activities and events will be held through Aotearoa to celebrate Vaiaso o le Gagana Samoa, see the official Gagana Samoa i Aotearoa Facebook page. Information to support celebrations and learning is on the website of the Ministry for Pacific Peoples. Language weeks coming up this year include: Kiribati July 11-17, Cook Island Māori August 1 – 7, Tongan language, September 5- 11, Tuvalu September 26- October 2, Fijian, Sunday October 3-9, Niuean, October 17-23, Tokelauan October24 – 30. Please send any photos of your celebrations of language weeks to the Kōrero email address.
Flu Vaccinations Don’t forget to get a flu injection if you choose to – it is recommended by the Ministry for all teaching staff. Just photograph the receipt and send it to accounts along with a reimbursement form. You can download the reimbursement form here. All staff including administration staff are eligible for a refund.
Giveaway Day Una Williams Kindergarten (Wairarapa) held a very successful giveaway day last weekend. Thanks so much to all those people that donated goods. Your generosity is very much appreciated.
Last Week’s Budget - What Does It Mean For Kindergarten? The main spending item in the budget was the increase in benefits, which takes effect from July 1, with further increases next April. This should reduce financial stress for many of our families. All main benefits will rise by $20 in five weeks’ time, while there will be further increases of between $12 and $35 next year. There was small change to the criteria for childcare assistance from Work and Income, but this is expected to only benefit 1,000 families across the country. For kindergartens, there is an increase of 1.2 per cent in our operational funding, which is to compensate for inflation. For early childhood centres outside of kindergartens, an increase in funding has been provided for salaries in line with the new kindergarten teachers’ rates which go up on July 1. Additional funding had previously been announced for kindergartens to pay for the KTCA increases. More money has been allocated for services outside of kindergarten to pay teachers on the first six steps of the kindergarten teachers’ collective agreement. Services need to opt in to receive this money, and attest that they are paying the KTCA rates. It is not clear how many services will take up this offer. The Child Poverty Action Group organises a post-budget breakfasts around the country each year to discuss what the budget means for children. At this year’s breakfast, the issue of housing as a priority for child wellbeing, family stability, health and reducing financial stress and community connections was made repeatedly. While changes to housing settings were announced earlier in the year, the budget made provision for funding for Māori housing, including new houses on Māori land and upgrading existing homes. Māori make up more than half of those on the social housing waiting list. Another issue raised was the over-representation of families affected by disability in the poverty data. The disability allowance was not increased in the budget. One change that is welcome, is the reintroduction of the Training Incentive Allowance for level seven study, which includes teaching degrees. This allowance supports people on benefits to study, with up to $114 a week available for fees, course costs, travel and childcare. Here's a link to a fuller analysis of the budget. And here’s a link to the Child Poverty Action Group’s more detailed analysis including graphs about how different families are affected. Appointments and Resignations Congratulations to the following on their recent appointments: | Name | Position | Kindergarten | | Jessica Ashworth | .5 Teacher | Petone Beach | | Jodi Calder | Head Teacher | Paraparaumu |
We wish all the best to the following who have resigned: | Name | Position | Kindergarten | | Sam Bielak-White | Teacher | Matariki | | Kirsty Stanbrook | .4 Teacher | Durie Hill |
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