Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... There is a great item in here about Storypark and what value it is to our kindergartens. Jane. 
AGM 
New Electronic Voting For Board Representatives Board voting papers for Community Representatives will be distributed early next week. This year we are implementing an electronic voting system for Community Representatives and the Staff Representative. How this will work is: Community Representatives - each primary caregiver (as indicated on Infocare) who has an email address listed on Infocare will receive a link with an invitation to vote
- if both primary caregivers listed have separate emails then a link will be sent to each email
- if only one email address is listed the link will be sent twice, one for each primary caregiver, to that email address
- if there is no email address listed (or it has been indicated that they do not wish to receive emails) we will print voting papers and send these to your kindergarten for you to place into the relevant child's pocket. These paper voting papers can either be returned to PO Box 50-743, Porirua 5240 or scanned and emailed to agm@wmkindergartens.org.nz by Friday 14th September 2018.
Staff Representative - all staff members will be sent a link for the staff representative to their wm email address
- please note we will not be providing paper voting for the staff representative position, if you haven't got access to your wm email then you will need to contact Tania who will help you
- they online voting forum for the Staff Representatives will look the same as the Community Representative forum (except for the names). We have designed it this way, so that you are able to provide support to families if they have any questions about how the link works.
Any members attending the AGM on Tuesday 18th September 2018 are able to vote at that meeting, we will have spare voting papers available at the meeting.
Appraisal Update 2018-2019 Here is the link for the Appraisal Goal Survey for this year. It also includes Support Staff as well as all teachers. All Head Teachers are asked to complete this by 31st August 2018. We use the information gathered through the survey to inform our Professional Learning and Development programme for the upcoming year. We’ve also had some queries about the support staff appraisal kit and this is now available on the Appraisal Information Plan in the Teachers Toolbox on Storypark. You can access this by clicking here.
PCTs And Mentors - Induction And Mentoring Seminar The next seminar is the 4th October, details about venue will be in next week's Korero.
End of Month Finance Update A reminder that tomorrow is financial month end and next week we will be working on Board and Kindergarten reports for the month of August. As detailed in the Annual Administration Wall Planner 2018, your Infocare records for August are due to be completed on Monday 3rd September next week. This means we would like you to complete the following tasks in Infocare, up to and including Friday 31st August, as appropriate: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
- Fee invoices created and committed
- Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) 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)
Tania or Cathryn will follow up with you next Monday if they have any questions related to your records.
Promo Packs We have begun creating promo packs for each region. We will be allocating 2 promotional flags per region for you to share around when you have community events etc. We are hoping that we can slowly build on this, eventually adding banners and flyers etc. The flags will be located in the following kindergartens: Porirua – Awatea Kindergarten
Wairarapa – 1 x Una Williams Kindergarten and 1 x South End Kindergarten
Upper Hutt (plus Petone, Petone Beach and Eastbourne) – Silverstream Kindergarten Wellington – Pikopiko Clyde Quay Kindergarten
Kapiti – Raumati Beach Kindergarten
Horowhenua – Fanau Pasifika
Wellington North – Tawa central Kindergarten It will be important that we keep track of where the flags are, so if you are using the flags please ensure you return them to the kindergarten in your area who is responsible for the flags. (listed above) These are for everyone so please share around. 
Kia Kaha Te Reo Māori - 10-16 September 2018 Celebrating Te Wiki O Te Reo Māori  
The 14th September is Māori Language Day commemorating the presentation of the 1972 petition on the Māori Language to parliament. Hundreds of people now celebrate September as Mahuru Māori, in which they dedicate themselves to speaking only Māori. The theme this year is 'Kia Kaha te Reo Māori’ following on from the success of last year’s theme ‘Kia Ora te Reo Māori’. ‘Kia Kaha’ is well known in New Zealand English with its correct Māori meaning of ‘be strong’. We often talk about languages as if they are people – talking about language health, strength and revitalisation. So when we say ‘Kia Kaha te Reo Māori’ we’re saying - ‘Let’s make the Māori language strong'. There is a parade on September 10 leaving Parliament 12pm – here is the link for info. If you are after resources for Maori language week you can find them here. Storypark Every kindergarten teacher is expected to have a Storypark logon, to use the Storypark toolbox which is where useful forms, readings and other essential information is stored. If you are not yet using Storypark for assessment you still need access to the toolbox. While most of our kindergartens on Storypark started using it for learning stories, now people are increasingly using it for planning, annual review and appraisal, as well as for things like staff meeting minutes. This can all save time and keep things together in one place for easy retrieval. Martinborough Kindergarten is one that has just started using Storypark for appraisal. Teacher Ally Diamond says the transition has been “pretty easy”. “It streamlines things a little bit – it will save trees.” She says it’s useful to be able to write reflections straight onto Storypark and she expects people will get used to scanning documents in to be used as evidence. Her advice to kindergartens that are thinking of using Storypark more? “Give it a try – it’s an intuitive system.” If there are problems there is assistance available online, usually immediately by way of email chat. Christine Macilquham from Titahi Bay kindergarten admits she had some apprehension about the shift to Storypark, but says she would never go back. “It’s great. We love it.” She says the best thing is the response from parents to learning stories. “They love the photos, and they are happy to comment – we get much more response.” Titahi Bay Kindergarten has just started using Storypark for planning, and the kindergarten uses the community pages “all the time” for notices. If you need help with moving to Storypark, contact Lynnette Wray, or for assistance with accessing the toolbox, Tania Jack.
As You Know, Kindergartens Are Very Much Alive A story appeared in several newspapers and online websites this week suggesting that kindergartens are dying. The opinion piece from Canterbury advocated for kindergartens, and recommended that parents check out their local kindy, because the service is at risk. Some of the details and particularly headlines, were somewhat misleading. One point the article made was that kindergartens are losing “market share” of children. Leaving aside the idea of children being a marketable commodity, which is not part of kindergarten philosophy, it is true that the number of kindergartens has remained relatively stable at around 600 while the private ECE services have mushroomed. So, a smaller proprtion of children go to kindergarten – but this is because of expansion, not because we have lost half our roll as has been reported. In fact, a quarter of all four year olds go to kindergarten, and 15 per cent of all children enrolled in services attend kindergarten. While the six hour day may not be long enough for many parents, thousands of families still find it meets their needs and increasingly, kindergartens are opening for longer hours and catering for children under two, to meet changing community needs. Generations of children have attended kindergarten, and look likely to do so. Kindergartens will continue to evolve, while retaining what makes us special. However, we do need to make sure kindergartens remain visible, and it’s a good idea to alert your community newspaper if you have an event or activity that could make the local news. If you need help, email jenny.davies@wmkindergartens.org.nz. New Zealand Kindergartens (NZK) is working to counter stories like this in the media, and make sure the health and vitality of kindergartens is recognised. Here’s the original story, if you missed it.
Rental Housing The government has released a discussion document into proposed changes to New Zealand’s rental housing laws, to shift the balance slightly in favour of tenants. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens will be making a submission, because of the impact housing has on children’s and family’s health and well-being, and education. More than 60 per cent of those renting are families. Anyone interested can make a submission. You have until 21st October. Here’s the discussion document, which includes some questions you may like to comment on. The news and lifestyle website, The Spinoff, has made a series about rental conditions which outlines many of the more serious problems renters can face. Here’s a link to that website.
Fanau Pasifika Re-Opens Fanau Pasifika re-opened last week – check out some of the pictures!  
 
JOBfest At Pataka Nga Ropu (HT Tui Park), Rangi Kalman (KBS Student Awatea) and Andrea Godfree (HR) represented Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens at the 3rd Annual JOBfest at Pataka last Wednesday. JOBfest is an annual event that brings together employers with local students and young job seekers who are eager to enter the workforce. Partners Porirua leads the Youth 2 Work Movement in conjunction with Whiteria New Zealand and the Porirua City Council. WMK was there to show students the different pathways to becoming an Early Childhood teacher. Rangi came along to encourage the students, in particular the young men at the festival, to have a look at our stand where he talked about his experiences as a YMan, and now a student in his second year of Teacher Education. Rangi said it was a really great experience and is keen to do it again next year.  
 
This Week On Facebook  
At Arohanui Kindergarten we are in the process of developing a new wall display in our entrance way and thought we would share with you how it is going. Fluer came up with the idea of everyone being represented through a puzzle piece, that would then be put together and displayed on the wall as you enter He Whare Manaaki Tangata. As with lots of great plans, progress has been a little slower than intended and it turns out that the puzzle pieces will not interlock to make one big puzzle. Lucky we value flexibility!! The display will still look awesome and it is nearly complete. We thought we would share what we have so far. 
The kaiako at Adventure Kindergarten have noticed that the tamariki have had an interest in learning about science through water. This included gravity, cause and effect and trajectory. We placed out the magnetic board, ping pong balls and small gutter's to extend their scientific research. There was lots of concentration as they worked out how to get the balls from the top of the board to the bucket at the bottom.This is working theories in action! 
At Wadestown Kindergarten we have been learning some great facts about volcanoes at mat time and listening to one of our favourite stories “Battle of the Mountains”.
Appointments and Resignations Congratulations to the following on their recent appointment: | Jasmine Day-Berkland | Teacher | Karori | | Jodie Hanna | Teacher | Silverstream | | Te Wai Mitchell | Teacher | Toru Fetu | | Vienna Chambers | Teacher | Toru Fetu | | Teresa Kells | Relieving Head Teacher to December 2018 | Paremata | | Cheyanne Talbot | Administrator | Martinborough |
We wish all the best to the following who have resigned: | Lisa Nalder | Administrator | Pikopiko Clyde Quay | | Julianna Mohacsi | Administrator | Raumati South | | Loren Squires | .4 Teacher | Strathmore Park | | Sharee MacDonald | LTR Itinerant Reliever | WMK |
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