Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. Just thought I would take the opportunity this week to remind you of this year's conference dates so you can put these into your diary. This might assist you as you plan your other PLD. Conference will be held on 6 and 7 July. More information about conference will follow in future editions of the Kōrero. Jane. 
New Centre Joins Whānau Manaaki Family Paremata Plunket Creche will be joining He Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens from 1 March. The crèche caters for 24 children, many under two, and it is located in the Porirua suburb of Whitby. The five staff working at the centre will join Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens. The centre will keep the name of Paremata Creche for the moment, and we will work with the community and staff over the coming months to find a new name. The Whānau Manaaki network continues to grow. This is part of our strategic intention to ensure we have a range of early childhood services for families and whānau to choose from. There’ll be more information about the new centre in future editions of Kōrero.
Storypark PLD We are looking at new ways to reach more teachers with our Storypark PLD, to support teams and individual teachers in building their knowledge and capability in using Storypark. Online meetings using ZOOM have been successfully trialled for other PLD so we are keen to trial it more widely across Whānau Manaaki for Storypark, with two initial Storypark Zoom Meetings planned for this term. The focus for this term will be around using the Planning Function and in particular setting up your STLP Overview and STLP Action Plans on Storypark. We aim to have time for responding to your questions too. We are hoping to record each session so that you can also revisit the information shared. The first one is scheduled for Thursday 27 February from 3.30 -4.00 pm, if you and/or your team are interesting in being part of this, please enrol here on HR.Net or contact Kaz on Karen.craig@wmkindergarten.org.nz, and we will send more detailed instructions about joining in with these ZOOM meetings. Numbers for this initial session will be limited to 20 participants. If you have any questions please email Lynette (lynette.wray@wmkindergartens.org.nz) The second one this term will be on Thursday 19 March from 3.00-4.30pm.
Finance Update Term 1 2020 Whānau Contributions Your families may be starting to ask about Term 1 requests for Whanau Contributions. Feel free to let them know that these will be emailed out tomorrow. Hard copies will also be delivered to kindergartens for distribution through “child pockets” early next week. 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 October 2019 – 31 January 2020) by Monday 10 February 2020. 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 tomorrow), the following is completed in Infocare by 4pm Monday 3 February: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
- Fee invoices are created and committed
- Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) are completed
- Online sign off of your monthly roll return
- Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Association (please call Tania or Cathryn)
If you have staff away 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 Tuesday 4 February. No changes to Infocare for the 1 October 2019 – 31 January 2020 funding period will be able to be made after 4pm, Monday 3 February 2020.
Registration Fee Increase The Teaching Council is suggesting that registration fees will more than double, from $220.80 to $470 or $500 for renewing a Practising Certificate. New graduates would face an increase of around $80 under one of the options. The new higher fees could come in on July 1. The Council says fees currently only cover 40 per cent of costs. It is also proposing to offer some new services including setting up a leadership centre for the teaching profession. The Teaching Council is seeking feedback on its proposal. Here’s a link to the survey. Here’s a link to the full registration document. And here’s a link to NZEI Te Riu Roa’s Facebook page which has a survey that members and non-members can also complete.
Election Date Announced With the election now less than eight months away (Suffrage Day, September 19), it’s time to take action to ensure that early childhood education gets the profile it deserves. In the coming months, Kōrero will highlight what we can do in our kindergartens and services. We will include information on encouraging parents to get on the electoral roll, and encouraging awareness about the importance of voting. Later in the year we will look at policies, inviting MPs to our centres, and for those interested, attending election forums to ask questions about early childhood education. Watch this space!
Creekfest 2020 A number of our Porirua and Wellington teachers will be involved in this year's Creekfest being held on 29 February. They will be hosting an Early Learning Village. So if you are attending Creekfest why not stop by and see what they are up to. There is also a great lineup of entertainment, definitely something for everyone. 
Reusable Balloons Waitohi Kindergarten have been using reusable balloons. The children love them and they are great for the environment, and great on these hot days....... are we having any!!  There are a couple of options for purchasing these, you can click below:
What A Cool Idea! Betty Montford Kindergarten have had their logo printed on to their mats at their entrance way, how cool does this look! 
This Week On Facebook  
Handy Facebook Pages  The National Heart Foundation of New Zealand is a charity whose mission is to stop kiwis dying prematurely from heart disease and to help those with heart disease to live full and productive lives - 'Hearts fit for life, for this generation and the next'. 
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