Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... Hope you have had a great week, remember no kindergarten on Wednesday as we celebrate Waitangi Day. Jane. 
Tapasa PLD Please don’t forget to enrol through HR.Net onto the Tapasā sessions being offered in your area. If you haven’t completed the Turu 1 we are running two catch up sessions next week, Turu 2 follows on from this. Tapasā Turu 1 – Cultural competencies framework for teachers of Pacific learners Identities, languages and Cultures Catch up sessions (for those who have not completed this PLD Session yet) Teachers will demonstrate awareness of the diverse and ethnic-specific identities, languages and cultures of Pacific learners. They will explore all the indicators for beginning and experienced teachers and leaders responding to focus questions indicating where they are currently in their own practice, within their team and kindergarten environment. Teachers need to understand their own distinctiveness, identity and culture in deep and meaningful ways in order to genuinely engage and respond to the distinctive identities, languages and cultures of others. Tapasā Turu 2 - Cultural competencies framework for teachers of Pacific learners Collaborative, respectful relationships and professional behaviours Teachers will establish and maintain collaborative and respectful relationships and professional behaviours that enhance learning and wellbeing for Pacific learners. They will explore and understand key aspects or values that contribute to building strong relationships with Pacific learners, families and communities.
PLD Calendar Here is the link to the online calendar, all information on PLD is live. Please save this link to your computer desk top or save it as a ‘favourite’.
HR.Net Help We understand it can be tricky finding and enrolling into PLD through HR.Net so we have attached some helpful hints as you navigate HR.Net, in particular booking a course session. If you have any problems just contact Hannah at hannah.toomaga@wmkindergartens.org.nz. HR.Net Help Book A Course Session
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 2018 – 31 January 2019) by Friday 8 February 2019. 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, Friday 1 February), the following is completed in Infocare by 4pm tomorrow: - 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)
If your support staff are unavailable to work tomorrow 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 Monday 4 February. No changes to Infocare for the 1 October 2018 – 31 January 2019 funding period will be able to be made after 4pm, Monday 4 February 2019.
Term 1 2019 Whānau Contributions Your families may be starting to ask about Term 1 requests for Whānau Contributions. Feel free to let them know that these will be emailed out later next week. Hard copies will also be delivered to kindergartens for distribution through “child pockets”. So that we have the most up to date information for our request letters can you please try and have all your children’s enrolment records in Infocare up to date by the end of day on Monday 4 February 2019.
Content Banks If you haven’t been in contact with Chanelle regarding your kindergarten’s photo/content bank please do so asap! There are still a few outstanding photos for confirmation!
Kindergarten Logos Almost all of our kindergartens have now confirmed their new logos!! This is super exciting!
Now that you’ve got your new logo a great idea would be to use this as your facebook profile photo, this way our families will begin to recognize your logo and associate this with your kindergarten. They may also see other kindergartens' logos and recognize the similarities linking us all together!
If you need a hand with this please email Chanelle at
chanelle.huia-rutten@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Kindergarten Events Let us know if you have an upcoming event! Or add us as a co-host to your event page on facebook! We’ve had some interest from potential stall holders wanting to know when our kindergartens are holding their fairs and festivals. The easiest way for us to share this information with the largest audience is to share these events from our Whānau Manaaki Facebook page. So if you have any events coming up that you would like us to share on our page please either let Chanelle at the office know or add the Whānau Manaaki Facebook page as a co-host to your event, this way your event will be visible from the WM page to be seen by over 1000 followers! Not only that but if you have something special happening at kindergarten we’d love to hear about it! Chanelle would love to get some more snaps of our kindergartens in action!
Policy Reviews Just a reminder of feedback due tomorrow on the policies, in the Korero of the 6 December, as below. Feedback on these policies is due back to jane.braun@wmkindergartens.org.nz.
Position Available – Driver’s Assistant  Whānau Manaaki is looking for a new Driver’s Assistant to join our Transport Team. The role of the Driver’s Assistant – commonly called the ‘Runner’ – is to work with the Driver and whānau to support children in and out of the van, taking them to and from their kindergarten or Home-based Educator, around the Porirua area. It is a 5-day a week job, for 32.5 hours a week. For a position description and application pack, please email andrea.godfree@wmkindergartens.org.nz or call Andrea on 04 2321 652. Applications close Friday, 15 February, at 12 noon.
New Signage Some of the new signage for our kindergartens was erected over the start of the year. We have received a lot of positive comments about these signs.    Plan For Early Learning All teachers, and as many parents as possible, should have their say on the government’s plan for early learning, which is likely to set the agenda for our sector, and could be a major influence on the way early childhood education is delivered. Consultation finishes on 15 March. The new plan includes priorities like 100 per cent qualified teachers, better ratios, more planned provision of early childhood education and a move to lift pay rates and improve conditions particularly in the private ECE sector. The Ministry is holding some hui to discuss the plan. You need to enroll, and the Wellington hui is next week, 7 February, at the James Cook Hotel on the Terrace at 6pm. Another hui is being held in Porirua, at the Te Rauparahau Events Centre on Monday 11 February at 6pm. You need to register for these hui. Here’s the link. Whānau Manaaki Senior Teachers have been meeting about the consultation, and have developed some key points. Teaching teams should discuss the plan at meetings, and make sure you have input into the plan. Here’s a link to the summary. This summary is available in other languages for your parent community. There’s a survey which is suitable for parents to complete as well. It’s available in five Pasifika languages and in Chinese, Korean and Hindi as well as English. Here’s the link. The survey takes about 20 minutes to complete, but you don’t need to answer all the questions. Unlike many other online surveys it has an option to return and complete it later. Have your say!
Young Children And Woodwork An expert in carpentry for young children has been visiting New Zealand, and is conducting a survey about how young children learn through woodwork. Pete Moorhouse from Bristol was at the recent Art as Dialogue, International Art in Early Childhood conference, hosted by Victoria University. He has written a book about creative woodwork in the early years. He is looking for teachers to fill in the survey as part of his research through the University of Bristol. It is mainly multi choice. Here’s the link to that survey. 
Iwi, Hāpu And Marae Contacts Te Puni Kokiri has available on its website a list of contacts for various Iwi, Hāpu and marae within New Zealand. Te Kāhui Māngae – the director of Iwi and Māori organisations can be accessed here.
Te Matatini Comes To Wellington  Te Matatini, the most important Māori performing arts event, which takes place every two years, is being held in Wellington this month at the Westpac Stadium. It is one of the most highly anticipated events for performers, their whānau and passionate kapa haka fans from around the country and overseas. The 2019 event is from 20 to 24 February, and tickets are on sale now. Children under five can attend for free, while adults can get a one day pass for $40.00. Those over five and under seventeen can get tickets for $20 a day, and there are also kaumatua concessions for Gold Card holders. The festival is a whānau friendly, smoke and alcohol-free event where all people are welcome to come and experience the timeless tradition and spectacle of kapa haka. You can get tickets here.
OMEP Meeting  The first OMEP event for 2019 will be held on Monday 18 February 2019 at Te Rito Maioha 191A Thorndon Quay, Thorndon. Carmen Dalli will be leading a session on: He Taonga te Tamaiti: Every Child a Taonga. Strategic Plan for Early Learning 2019-2029. Draft for Consultation. The presentation will commence at 6.15pm - 7.30pm. Come any time from 5.30pm onwards and enjoy some shared kai :)
This Week On Facebook  Time to get back into it!
Hi everyone! Now we’re back to work it’s time to get back onto our kindergarten facebook pages too!
Some of you have been maintaining your facebook page down to an art, for others it has been more of a difficult ride. But we have good reason to maintain these pages, think of your facebook page as show casing your kindergarten to potential families. It’s the best free advertising you can get and it also opens up another platform for communication with families and extended family members. It also promotes visibility for those kindergartens who aren’t situated in the most visible locations.
The start of a new year is a great time for you to re-fresh your ideas and approach to your facebook page. If need be you can plan out your posts in advance or delegate different people to maintain the page on different weeks/months/terms.
Facebook is one of the first things we look into when rolls are low, so keeping these maintained makes it a lot easier if/when your kindergarten needs promotion. If you need support with this please contact – Chanelle   At Miramar Central they have been making the most of the fine weather with water-play activities, construction in the sandpit, gardening and making exciting new discoveries in the garden.   Carterton Kindergarten have been busy tending their gardens! The team at Betty Montford trying to keep cool!
To Giveaway Matairangi have this box of blocks to give away. It is, however, missing some axels for the set. If you are interested please get in touch with them directly.  A family from Awatea Kindergarten have access to some large heavy cardboard tubes which are available free to any kindergarten that wants them. These tubes are located in Upper Hutt so if you do want them you will have to collect them from there. The contact details are Jackie or Wayne at Bespoke, 42 Main St, Upper Hutt, phone 04 5266511. 
Appointments and Resignations Congratulations to the following on their recent appointments: | Fiona Bevan | Head Teacher | Hataitai | | Amanda Dibley | Teacher | Raumati South | | Lucy Lake-Ryan | Teacher | Hataitai | | Karen Fowke | .65 Teacher | Shannon | | Joanne Blackman | .64 Teacher | Shannon | | Anthony Bruges | .6 Teacher | Paremata | | Yvette Crichton | Administrator | Churton Park | | Rachel Grant | Administrator | Sunshine | | Catherine Veale | Administrator | Johnsonville West and Ascot Park |
We wish all the best to the following who have resigned: | Rose Gawn | Administrator | Ascot Park | | Yingchun Zhou | Administrator | Churton Park | | Helen Hansen | Teacher | Fanau Pasifika | | Carmella Tovo | Teacher | Shannon | | Tennesse Eccelston | Administrator | Awatea | | Manami Ozawa | Part time Teacher | Waitangirua | | Leah Gamboni | Part time Teacher | Brown Owl | | Dee Tingle | Teacher | Toru Fetu |
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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