Welcome to our latest update of information and stories you may be interested in... You will note some important finance and payroll deadlines below. Jane. 
Giveaway Day Thanks A very big thank you to those that donated goods to the giveaway day. It was a successful day and our families were very much appreciative.
Gift Policy It’s that time of year when we start receiving requests related to staff gifts. Just a reminder that there is an organisation policy related to this, click here to view. Section 2 of the policy is particularly relevant, but if you have any questions please contact your Senior Teacher who will be happy to provide any additional guidance required.
PA1s for Christmas Break  Just a reminder that any PA1’s for property work you are wanting to be carried out over the Christmas break need to be emailed to Peni before 5pm 10th December 2018. Any questions, please contact Lupeni.Aitogi@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Christmas Leave The end of the year is fast approaching, and the payroll team have commenced inputting leave requests for all staff for the compulsory leave periods over for the Christmas closedown. You may receive an email advising that your leave has been approved - please don’t be alarmed - this just enables us to get on top of the end of year rush and ensure that all pays can be processed on time over the Christmas/New Year period.
Christmas Pays You will receive your pay as usual on Tuesday night, 18th December 2018. The following pay that is due on Tuesday 1st January 2019 will be deposited early and be available to you on Monday night, 31st December 2018. Please can you have your timesheets, returns and staff hour counts in before 9.00am Friday 21st December at the latest. Any received after this date will need to be processed in the pay of Tuesday 15th January 2019. The office is open from 3rd January, however there will only be a skeleton staff as many people will be on leave, including the payroll team. Urgent queries only will be able to be responded to. If you have an urgent query about your pay please call the main office number and tell Reception you have an urgent pay query, or call Karen on 021 857 826. Otherwise, you can leave a message on the payroll number and someone will get back to you after 7th January.
Health and Safety Committee  Are you interested in health and safety? Have we got an exciting opportunity for you! We are calling for registrations of interest from Association staff who are interested in being part of the Health & Safety Committee in 2019. The committee oversees health and safety in the Association and meets each term. If you are interested or would like more information, please email Lorraine.Coulston@wmkinderegartens.org.nz Expressions of Interest will close on 10/12/2018.
Policy Reviews Thanks for the feedback we have been receiving on policies, some useful changes have been able to be made to policies – so please keep it coming ☺ This week there are 4 policies for your comment: Feedback on these policies is due back to jane.braun@wmkindergartens.org.nz by Friday 1st February 2019.
End of Year Infocare Cut-Off It’s that time of year again when we have to close off Infocare for the end of month and term (and year!). As with normal month end requirements can you please ensure that the following is completed in Infocare by 3pm on Friday 21st December: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance)
- Fee invoices (for the week ending Friday 21st December) created and committed
- Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) for the week ending Friday 21st December completed
- Online sign off of your monthly roll return
- Any ratio, attendance or roll issues are communicated to the Association (please call Cathryn or Tania)
If your support staff are unavailable to work on Friday 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. Payments Processing over the Christmas Break: Due to staff absences at the Association over the holiday break there will be changes to the timing of the weekly Association payment cycle. Payment of invoices will occur as follows over the coming weeks: Invoices received at the Association by Friday 7th Dec Paid on Monday 10th December Invoices received at the Association by Friday 14th Dec Paid on Monday 17th December Invoices received at the Association by Wednesday 19th Dec Paid on Friday 21st December Invoices received at the Association by Friday 4th Jan Paid on Wednesday 9th January Invoices received at the Association by Friday 11th Jan Paid on Monday 14th January Please ensure that regular suppliers to your kindergartens are made aware of these payment timeframes. Also, we’d encourage you to get all your December invoices emailed in prior to 21st December so we can arrange prompt payment for you. During the coming weeks all requests for urgent payments should continue to be emailed to accounts@wmkindergartens.org.nz Banking: Please ensure that there is little or no cash held at your kindergarten over the Christmas break. If you could aim to bank all petty cash and other receipts before Tuesday 18th December this will allow our Finance team to contact you with any queries they have before the end of the term. Can you also update Infocare with details of all deposits made. Fee Invoicing and Statements: The timetable for fortnightly fee statements being issued to families over the coming weeks is as follows: Statements for fees up to Friday 30th November Distributed Thursday 6th December Statements for fees up to Friday 14th December Distributed Thursday 20th December Statements for fees up to Friday 28th December Not Distributed Statements for fees up to Friday 11th January Not Distributed Statements for fees up to Friday 25th January Distributed Thursday 31st January Head Teachers will need to ensure that their support staff complete all invoicing for the last week of Term 4 by Friday 21st December. Please note that this will probably mean preparing invoices in advance for some children. Kindergarten Reporting: Kindergarten accounts for the financial year to 30th November 2018 will be emailed to kindergartens on Monday. Accounts for the financial year to 31st December 2018 will be circulated by Wednesday 23rd January 2018. As always your kindergarten accounts should be passed on to your Treasurers and Committees as appropriate. Infocare Lock Dates for 2019: Details of Infocare Lock Dates for 2019 will be circulated in the new year.
Hazards Just another reminder that the Termly Hazard Checklist is completed during week 9 of each term. The checklist is downloaded from GOSH and is then completed manually. Any hazards that are identified during this process that cannot be eliminated immediately are then entered onto your kindergartens Hazard Register using GOSH. Once you have completed the Termly Hazard Checklist, please upload this onto GOSH using the Hazard checks form (see below) and then following the prompts.  Hazard Reviews Also week 9 of each term is the time to review your kindergarten Hazard Registers. This is an opportunity to update your Hazard Register, including deciding if the hazard still exists within the kindergarten environment, if there are any changes to the actions and approaches you are taking related to each hazard and ensure that hazards that do exist in your environment are included on the Hazard Register. As seen below, you will see that on the bottom right hand corner of each hazard on your register (using the edit option), there is a place to add the date the hazard was reviewed and by who. All reviews will show up on the Hazard Register. 
Whānau Manaaki Helps The Prime Minister This week Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens hosted a focus group for the Prime Minister’s department, looking at the needs of children and families. It’s part of the government’s commitment to make New Zealand the best place in the world to bring up children. Danny Mareko and the Whānau Ora navigators helped organise the focus group. Thanks to all those who took the time to contribute.  
Child Wellbeing Strategy Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens made its own submission to the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet about the child wellbeing strategy. We stressed the inter-related factors of poverty, housing, health and mental health, and how they affect families and child wellbeing in both the short and long term. We emphasised the role that culture plays in the lives of children and families and the need for cultural understanding to be embedded in any effective strategy. We also stressed the way that early childhood education can enhance child and family wellbeing and raised concerns about current funding levels for qualified teachers to maximise the benefits of quality ECE. Our full submission will be available on Storypark through the Toolbox.
More And Better Mental Health Services Needed The Mental Health and Addiction inquiry report came out this week with lots of recommendations about improving access to services and getting organisations to work together more effectively. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens made a submission to this inquiry. Here’s a short video that summarises the report.
Teachers Reject Latest Pay Offer Primary teachers have rejected the government’s latest pay offer, and are talking about further industrial action next year, possibly co-ordinating with secondary teachers. Primary teachers have so far held two strike days this year. They are asking the government to present them with a new offer early in the first term of 2019. The kindergarten teachers’ collective agreement has a clause that means any pay settlement for primary teachers will be passed onto kindergarten teachers.
Irmgard Ritchie Celebrate Filipino Day At Irmgard Ritchie kindergarten they support the cultural identity of all children, affirm and celebrate their cultural differences and aim to help children gain a positive awareness of their own and other cultures. Last week they celebrated Filipino Day at kindergarten led by one of their mothers. She led the morning mat time with Filipino action songs, storytelling and explaining the meaning of the Philippines' flag. During the session the tamariki were taught the crab song called “Tong, tong, tong pakitong kitong.” It is a very catchy song and the tamariki really enjoyed it. Bahay Kubo (Nipa Hutt) story was read to everyone. The mum and Rowena sang the Bahay kubo song to the tamariki. There were Filipino books and activity sheets prepared by mum available for all tamariki on the day.    
This Week On Facebook  What a great day at Tui Park Kindergarten, tamariki having fun decorating their Christmas tree in the morning and singing Christmas songs in the afternoon!  Wohoooo it's December. Kate put on the Christmas music at last and Vicki helped the children decorate the tree at Birchville Kindergarten.  Carterton Kindergarten gets into the Christmas Spirit.   Tamaiti at Fanau Pasifika Kindergarten have been enjoying the peas and strawberries that Papatuanuku has nurtured and that they have been involved in caring for. Their garden has supported discussions about healthy kai. Tamaiti are loving looking for the pea pods and strawberries that are ready.
Free To A Good Home Heretaunga Kindergarten have this book case and shelving to give away. If you are interested give them a call. 
Congratulations Congratulations to Jemma Gray, Itinerant Reliever, who welcomed wee Claudia to their whānau on 21st November. 
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