Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. Throughout this last year we started holding Induction Days for new employees where we introduce them to our organisation in a more formal setting. Today we welcomed 10 new staff at the last induction for the year. Induction Days are a great opportunity for new staff to meet others in our organisation and to hear the kaupapa of Whānau Manaaki. Jane. 
Giveaway Day Our next Giveaway Day is on Saturday 7 December. If you have any household items, furniture, linen, clothing, toys etc that you would like to donate them please drop them to the Association office by 3pm tomorrow or directly to Nuanua Kindergarten after 3pm tomorrow. If you are having a clean out at your kindergarten there might be some items that could be donated to children or their families. All items, in good condition, gratefully accepted.
Enrolment Advert Kindergartens may use this to advertise on their facebook pages alongside their specific kindergarten information. If you want to download it click here. 
Support For Samoa – Your Kindergarten Can Help  Kindergartens and Etu Ao services are encouraged to think of ways to help support the campaign against measles in Samoa, in whatever way is appropriate for your community. The measles epidemic is devastating communities in Samoa, with the death toll standing at 60 today, 25 of them infants under one. Samoa has a state of emergency, with everyone told to stay home today and tomorrow, as mobile teams go door to door to try and reach 90 per cent of the population with vaccinations. Schools and early childhood services are closed until next year. The size of the epidemic is equivalent to 80,000 people in New Zealand contracting measles – that’s nearly twice the size of Whanganui for example. Whānau Manaaki Kindergarten is in touch with the Ministry of Education in Samoa to see how we can support ECE services there. Donations of cash or cheques should be banked in the normal way and deposits should be itemised with the words Samoa Funds (there is a 12 digit limit). Any bank deposits should go into the 02 account - that’s 06-0541-0220620-02. Again, deposits need to be identified as Samoa funds. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens is unable to issue tax receipts for these donations, so you should make that clear to your families. Each service should decide what is best in your community – having a collection bucket with your Christmas parade float, doing a coin trail or a gold coin traditional siapo design, having a donation box in your kindergarten, whatever you decide.
Action Plan For ECE Includes Restoring Funding The government has relased a ten year action plan for early childhood education, He Taonga te Tamaiti (Every Child a Taonga). It proposes making various improvements to early childhood education over time, including funding for 100 per cent qualified teachers, and later, regulating for 80 per cent qualified and then 100 per cent qualified teachers. This follows the draft strategic plan which many teachers will have responded to earlier this year. The plan includes restoring funding for 100 per cent qualified teachers from July next year. It also includes improving ratios for children under two (to one to four, from the current one to five), and improving ratios for two year olds, although this is several years off. Although the plan indicates a commitment to restoring 100 per cent funding, it is important for teachers to continue to pressure the government to make sure this is a reality in terms of the funding in next year’s budget. The government is continually balancing different priorities, and the more we can do to ensure quality ECE is a priority, the better. The plan is based around five objectives, and includes 25 actions that work together to achieve a vision over ten years. The plan links into wider educational changes and to the government’s child and youth well-being strategy. While the plan has been welcomed by the sector the union for early childhood teachers, NZEI Te Riu Roa, says it needs to be implemented rapidly and it is disappointing it does nothing to stem the tide of privatisation. Te Rito Maioha/Early Childhood New Zealand also says the plan needs to be implemented quickly, and without moves to immediately address the disparity in salaries across the sector, the government will be unable to implement improvements. Here’s a link to the full plan. And here’s a link to a comprehensive story about the plan from the site Newsroom.
Whānau Manaaki’s Archive History Project Otago University’s Emeritus Professior of Education Helen May has taken on the role of Kaitiaki to the project assisting Whānau Manaaki get its historical archives collected, catalogued and stored. Various kindergartens have collected records, minutes, photos, objects and newspaper clippings over the past 100 years, as have the various Associations that preceded or joined Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens (including Wellington Free Kindergarten Association and the Wellington Regional Free Kindergarten Association). Getting these archives in order to be properly stored for the future is a significant piece of work and will continue for some time. Helen is a historian who has written widely on early childhood education and on the history of education in New Zealand, in both kindergartens, the wider early childhood sector and schools. Helen has started sorting, identifying and cataloging the material that Whānau Manaaki holds centrally. This includes artifacts such as a ceremonial plates, shields, old teaching resources, photographs, jubilee records, personal papers from past kindergartens, plus official records such as minutes, correspondence, clippings, annual reports, posters, etc. 'While there is sometimes tedium sorting mounds of paper there is also excitement as lost documents are found or surprises emerge that tell stories of our past or recognise the work of others from past times.' The second phase of the project will be to centralise and catalogue the collections of individual kindergartens, keeping each kindergarten’s collection separately stored and available when needed. Already there are boxes and folders for many of the kindergartens in the region that includes material found in the central collections. For example, all newspaper clippings and photos are being attached to the kindergartens concerned. The Whānau Manaaki work follows a project Helen undertook sorting and cataloguing New Zealand Kindergartens - Te Pūtahi Kura Puhou o Aotearoa records, which have now been lodged with the Alexander Turnbull library. Some earlier collections of the WFKA and the WRFKA are in the Turnbull, but the library will now only take national collections, not regional collections from indiividual kindergartens or associations, so decisions on where to store the kindergarten archives are still to be made. The idea is not only to preserve our history, but to make the material available to researchers, academics and historians, as well as being available for celebrations and anniversaries. Some items are likely to be displayed at Whānau Manaaki’s offices so that they can be seen easily. At the moment Helen is not looking for extra material to peruse, although she urges teachers and kindergartens to keep anything of value or historical or interest. A useful project would be for teachers to try and name, describe and date any photos where possible. A small team has been established to guide the project, developing policy around archiving, storage and access including considering where material is best stored. For example, the Whanganui Kindergartens’ material will possibly go to the Whanganui Regional Museum. In the meantime Helen has prepared two documents that might be of interest: Helen can be contacted at: helen.may@otago.ac.nz 
Te Reo Revitilisation  Te Ahu o te Reo Māori - Te Reo Maori is a programme offered to schools and Early Childhood Services allowing teachers to give children a lived experience with Reo. The programme is facilitated by an expert panel with the key focus of Reo revitalisation and community engagement. There are four regions that are providing this providing including Te Taiuru (Taranaki/Whanganui) and Kapiti-Horowhenua-Porirua. The programme’s focus is on supporting teachers to use Reo in classrooms in a natural and normalised way that values Reo. Several regions have been participating and each region has been challenged to propose the type of programme that best supports tamariki and rangatahi, with a focus on an immersion approach that supports learners to become automatic and subconscious users of Reo. There are 6 release days required but these are fully funded external to the ECE service. In 2020 the first course commences 23 February of which there are 150 places available for teachers across Whanganui, South Taranaki and Taranaki. Registrations will open on Monday 16 December (once the Minister has announced it on 4 December) and teachers/Early Childhood Education leaders will be notified. Teachers/services can lodge an expression of interest and those teachers/services will be notified when and where to apply. Closing dates for application will be late February. The key focus of this programme is English medium schools and services and the key priority is teachers who have had very little experience with Te Reo Maori. The Ministry of Education’s Intent is that by 2025 Te Reo Maori will be integrated into all classrooms/ECE Services across Aotearoa. If you are wanting to enrol in this fabulous free PLD opportunity, to extend your knowledge and use of Te Reo in a safe and fun learning environment, or to find out further information, click here.
Ngā Pepī Ukurere Ngā Pepī Ukurere are looking for other pepī to join their rōpū (group). They meet, normally once a month, starting from February next year, at 7.30pm until 8.30pm either on a Wednesday or Thursday. The first practice is Wednesday 26 February at Petone Kindergarten. The group would love to see you there. 
Etu Ao Excursion Last Friday 120 children and 80 adults visited the Wellington Zoo for an end of year excursion. The children, their TONIs and families, are from our Etu Ao Homebased service. While it was a very hot day, everyone loved the trip and enjoyed seeing all of the animals as well as picnicing in the grounds. 
Tōtara Puku Kindergarten Tōtara Puku Kindergarten held an open day last week to invite the community to explore its space and to celebrate its new name and logo. Tōtara Puku Kindergarten was formerly known as Te Puna Ako ki Tōtara Puku – Whanganui East Community Early Learning Centre. The name “Tōtara Puku” comes from an iconic totara tree in the Williams Domain opposite the kindergarten site, which had a growth on its side resembling a puku. Head teacher, Tiffany Wagstaff, says the open day was a great success, with lots of people coming through including families from the school, the playgroup, and the community. While some were familiar faces, others were new to the kindergarten, and already there has been three enrolments as a result of the event. Tōtara Puku Kindergarten takes children from six months old and is open all year from 8am to 4.30pm. Tiffany says it is on the grounds of an incredible school, Whanganui East, which has a strong place-based programme. She says the kindergarten offers a great deal to families with its 20 hours, and its whānau groupings contribute to the success of the learning environment for families.  
It's Birthday Time  Owhiro Bay Kindergarten turns 10 on 10 December. They are having a birthday party to celebrate. It will be held at the kindergarten on Tuesday, at 3pm. All past staff, children and whānau are encouraged and welcome to attend.
Iron Māori Success For Jess Last weekend Jess Firmin, teacher at Marie McFarland Kindergarten, completed Iron Māori in Napier, with a previous student's mum. Through a kōrero at kindergarten one morning at drop off time they started their journey together doing triathlons as a team, with Jess's then 9 year old son doing their swim. They competed in Tri Whanganui and Mounga series in Taranaki, which led them to entering Iron Maori Half. Jess completed a 2km swim, 90km bike and 21.1km run... crazy right? There were alot of things that helped her through this event, especially while she was on the bike. Marie McFarland kindergarten, the team and children was one of them. Jess wants to thank all those who wished her well on her journey. These wishes helped her cross the finish line. If you have ever thought about doing something like this, kōrero to Jess at kindergarten, she will tell you that not only does it help you become fitter and healthier, it also makes you stronger mentally which you can take into all aspects of your life. Well done Jess!  
Facebook Safety  It’s always good to keep an eye on who is following your kindergartens Facebook page.
It’s not unusual that people unknown to us might start following our Facebook pages, these could be extended family members from the kindergartens or people who are interested in learning more about your kindergarten. However, from time to time, it can be that someone completely unknown to the kindergarten, even living in another country, might begin to follow your page. Again this could be extended family, as many of our tamariki come to us from all over the world!
It is important, though, to be wary when need be, and, if it doesn’t seem right, check it out. We are able to ‘ban’ unwanted followers from pages; your Facebook admin is able to do this via the settings tab, otherwise Chanelle is happy to help you out with this.
You are able to keep tabs on who is following your page by following: - settings
- people and other pages
This will then produce a list of people following your page, this is also where you are able to block/ban users from the page. Any questions, feel free to contact Chanelle – chanelle.huia-rutten@wmkindergartens.org.nz
This Week On Facebook  
To Give Away Meta Riddiford Kindergarten have three ‘display pockets’ to give away. The dimensions of the one with 5 A4 size pockets is (W) 1350 mm x (H) 540 mm. The two with 30 small pockets are (W) 850mm x (H) 1410mm The team are happy to put these on a courier.  
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