Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... Only one week left of term, where has that gone! We are very much looking forward to seeing you all at conference during the first week of the term break. Enjoy the sunshine! Jane. 
Conference Update - New Information Welcome to the eighth Conference update! Conference Presentations We are aware that there was a high demand for some of the presentations, and due to limited places some teachers were disappointed that they were unable to book into them. Therefore, we are seeking opportunities to present a Symposium with some of these presentations included later in the year – watch out in the Korero for future PLD updates! Conference Information for Monday 9th July: Conference opens at 8.30am for Etu Ao TONI Educators, Community Navigators, Transport Team, Administrators and Teachers Aides. Registration for teachers and kindergarten based students opens at 11.30am in the Angus room. Please come and enjoy the Tuatau tamataora ‘Time to enjoy music or entertaining’ in Amokura from 12.15pm. The All Staff Meeting begins at 1.00pm in Amokura. Monday 9th July: Afternoon break (2.30pm to 3.00pm) Given the short timeframe please note that we will not be serving refreshments. Therefore, this is the perfect time to enjoy the water and snacks in your Conference bag! Monday 9th July: Evening Drinks and Nibbles These will be served in Oceania from 5.15pm. Please note that for all alcoholic drinks there is a $2.00 charge. Please ensure you have $2.00 coins to use as there is no eftpos facilities available. Non-alcoholic drinks will be free of charge. Monday Night Conference Dinner from 6.30pm (optional) The venue for this year’s Conference Dinner will be at Mac’s Brew Bar which is located at the start of Taranaki St on Wellington's beautiful waterfront. The cost of the dinner is $35 and the menu can be viewed here. (Please note that attendance at the dinner is at the participants’ own cost). If you want to go to the dinner and did not indicate that on your registration please email Hannah at hannah.toomaga@wmkindergartens.org.nz. Conference Information for Tuesday 10th July Arrival from 7.30am. Registration desk will be open in Angus room. Tea and Coffee available in Oceania from 7.30am to 8.00am. Please can everyone be seated in Amokura by 8.10am ready for the opening of the Conference by the Kapa Haka performance at 8.15am. Car Parking There will be a reduced parking rate at Te Papa if you are able to find a park there. You will need to bring your carpark ticket to the conference Reception Desk and scan it through the machine. However, please note that it is term break and parking can be tricky at Te Papa due to this. We look forward to seeing you there! The 2018 He Whānau Manaaki Kindergarten Association Conference team.
ECE Census  The Annual ECE Return Week this year is 18 to 24 June. The ECE Return is completed on Infocare. Please see the instructions here. The Census needs to be completed by Wednesday 4 July. If you require assistance to complete the ECE Return please contact Tania Braybrook 04 232 3065 or by email tania.braybrook@wmkindergartens.
Teachers Who Work Part Time - Support Hui Over the term break there will be a get together for teachers who work part time. It will be held on Wednesday 11th July (the day after conference) from 1.00pm to 4.00pm in Room Five at the Johnsonville Community Centre. Please note a change of time from earlier emails. All are welcome! Please spread the word among teachers who may not read this notice. If you can only attend for a short time, that is fine also. For more information please contact debby.king@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Kindergarten Committee Newsletter We are coming to the end of another financial year! Thanks go to all of the committee members and whānau groups who work very hard for each kindergarten. We appreciate the fantastic work they do to support each and every one of you. There are a number of tasks that need to be completed by the committee/whānau groups over the next couple of weeks. A newsletter outlining these tasks is here. Please share this newsletter with your committee or whānau group.
Get In Touch With Kōrero  We want to hear from you ..... and we have a new email address. If you have any feedback for kōrero, if you have an idea you want to spread, if you have cool things happening that you want others to know about, if there are things you want us to write about, email us at korero@wmkindergartens.org.nz.
Team Photos As many of you will know we have been doing a few updates on the kindergarten website pages lately. Most of this is done, so be sure to check out your kindergarten web page for any small changes! The last thing to do is the team photos, a lot of the team photos on the website are out of date, so if teams could please work on getting a new team photo and send it through to chanelle.huia-rutten@wmkindergartens.org.nz that would be amazing!!
Term 3 PLD Calendar Please click on the links to access the latest: These are designed to help you with your planning and workload for 2018. You can use them as we have suggested or use your own system – whatever works best for you! All Staff Professional Learning and Development information for 2018 The annual PLD Wall Planner enables you to see the whole years PLD at a glance. We recommend that you print this updated version on A3 and stick it onto your office wall - you won’t miss an opportunity to choose and plan your PLD for 2018! The Term three PLD and Meeting Calendar is designed to provide more detailed information, so that you can make your PLD decisions and plan ahead. The PLD online calendar can also be accessed through Outlook 365. This is already uploaded to your Kindergarten e-mail system and can be accessed by clicking on the calendar icon which is usually on the bottom left hand side of your e-mail screen. The online calendar is constantly updated and will provide you with ‘real-time’ information, whereas the planner will only be updated each term. Just a quick reminder to please ensure that you enrol for all your choices of PD through HR.Net. These enrolments help us to plan for any additional seating etc., and also helps us to make sure that we have enough tea, coffee and kai to keep you going throughout the session! The other advantage of enrolling through HR.Net is that it sends confirmation of course enrolment to both work and personal email addresses (if you have provided a personal email address). This process also means that you will receive additional emails if there are any changes to the PD regarding enrolment, venue or time. We are aware that sometimes it can be tricky accessing or navigating HR.Net, therefore, if you have any questions or you are having trouble enrolling onto a session please contact Hannah who will be happy to help you: hannah.toomaga@wmkindergartens.org.nz. Annual Administration Wall Planner information for 2018 The annual Administration Calendar enables you to see what’s required of you by the office over the coming year. You also have the option of adding your own administrative key dates and events to the planner. As promised we have attached the updated version, we recommend that you print this on A3 and stick it onto your office wall - you won’t miss the opportunity to meet your deadlines! Cancelled PLD Setting The Compass PLD has been cancelled as this was presented at each of the regional meetings. New workshops focusing on Pasifika teaching and learning will be highlighted in the Kōrero within the next few weeks. Te Manawa Group Planning workshop: this is being cancelled as we are currently reviewing our key messages as a Senior teacher team. Once this process is completed these workshops will resume. Thank you everyone, Sharon, Senior Teachers, Lupeni, Tania and Hannah
Thanks!  A very big thank you to those who donated items for our giveaway day. It was a very successful event with some very happy families. Thanks again for your generosity.
Politics In The Kindergarten Newtown Kindergarten hosted new Wellington-based National MP Nicola Willis recently, and used the opportunity to explain to her the importance of 100 per cent qualified teachers for young children. Head teacher Erin McFlynn said it gave parents the chance to speak to a local MP who is also the National Party’s spokesperson for early childhood education. Several of the parents also spoke about to her about the importance of qualified teachers and funding. Erin says the children welcomed Nicola with waiata and practiced manakitanga, showing her around their kindergarten. The MP read a story to the children, and asked teachers about the challenges of teaching in such a diverse community. Teachers also spoke of the issues in accessing learning support for children who need it, and about the importance of ongoing professional development. Erin says the MP was interested in the work of kindergartens and the views of teachers and parents, and the occasion was “super easy” to organise. Kindergartens are encouraged to have relationships with MPs in their region, and now is a good time to build relationships with National MPs and encourage them to improve their party’s policies about quality early learning, qualified teachers and funding. 
Plunket Educational Workshops Following on from the Regional Meetings please find further information about the Plunket Educational Workshops. Plunket is able to provide your kindergarten with health promotion sessions on the following topics: - Preventing germ transmission and good hand washing
- Skin Care and Sun Smart
- Nutrition and Dental
These free sessions are fun and interactive with props and books to reinforce these important messages. Each topic is approx. 10-15 minutes and Plunket cover 2 topics at each session. Plunket are also able to offer workshops to parents if requested. Please contact Melissa Kenworthy, Wellington Wairarapa Clinical Services on 0276054609 or by email: Melissa.Kenworthy@plunket.org.nz.
This Week On Facebook  Bellevue got a new entrance!! 
The construction site at Johnsonville Full Day continues to inspire the children’s learning!  
Petone Beach got stuck in and helped out with a beach clean-up over the weekend! 
One New Organisation? A new national organisation for kindergarten is being discussed, to replace New Zealand Kindergartens and the individual associations, to give a stronger voice to the kindergarten movement and to make kindergarten resilient and responsive for the future. The idea arose from the conference in 2016 which considered a vision for the future of the kindergarten movement, and a working group reported back to NZK last year, in May and September. The working group represents kindergarten associations large and small, and includes board members as well as associations’ general managers. Jane Braun from He Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens has been on this group, although the membership has rotated to increase involvement from different associations. At the moment there are 30 kindergarten associations in New Zealand, and 25 of them belong to NZK. Some of the associations are very small, with He Whānau Manaaki one of the biggest. All have very similar philosophies and ways of operating, and are committed to similar principles and fulfil similar roles. The new organisation, if it goes ahead, would have seven regional offices under current thinking. The regional offices would manage employment issues such as payroll, leave, appointments and relievers. They would also provide leadership in teaching and learning, and professional support such as senior teachers, Pasifika advisors, pouāwhina, social work support, and community liaison staff, to suit regional needs. Each kindergarten would have its own identity and would be flexible to respond to its community, as currently happens. One of the reasons for the idea is the increasing difficulties kindergartens face to maintain quality and affordability in a heavily privatised sector with reduced funding and greater needs in the community. With declining populations in some areas, growing migrant and refugee communities, increased transience, changing families circumstances, complex social issues, ongoing child poverty and housing problems, kindergartens are increasingly stretched. A bigger organisation could offer ‘economies of scale’ and play a great role in advocating publicly and at government level. The proposal will be discussed at the NZK conference in September, and then if there is enough interest from invdividual associations by June next year, the new organisation would be set up. A document with information about the proposal will be circulated, and it is accompanied by the whakatauki, Whakapuputia mai o manuka kia kire ai e whati – cluster the branches of the manuka, so they will not break. A paper on the new organisation proposal says “we want to be well placed to grow and remain relevant to our communities in the future, meet changing demands, ensure we continue to provide high quality teaching and learning, and remain viable within a competitive environment.” More information is available on the NZK website, at this link.
To Give Away! Waikanae Kindergarten has a couple of large plastic containers of puzzles available for pick-up. You don’t need to call. Come and collect what you want! 
Congratulations! A very big congratulations to Olivia Mouat (Heretaunga) and her partner on the birth of their baby girl. Willow Jane Kibblewhite is now 4 months old. Olivia says "this motherhood gig is a real whirlwind! We're all doing well in our household, making the most of this special time". Enjoy your wee girl! 
Hot Tip  There has been a lot of vomiting and diarrhea going around lately in particular cryptosporidium. Did you know that cryptosporidium is hard to kill with disinfectant and bleach? 
Hot soapy water is more effective at removing the cysts that carry the illness so use hot soapy water on all surfaces and toys.
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