Nau mai ki tenei wiki Kōrero. This week we have been celebrating Tokelau Language Week with the theme of ‘Apoapo tau foe, i nā tāfea i te galutau. Ke mau mai, ke mau mai’ which translates to, 'Never give up hope, even amidst chaos and much uncertainty. Stay united, stay strong'. According to the Ministry for Pacific Peoples website: The theme “Apoapo tau foe, i nā tāfea i te galutau” is part of a traditional Tokelauan prayer, asking the people rowing a canoe to hold on dearly to the paddles and row in unison so we are not washed away by the tidal/big waves. “Ke mau mai, ke mau mai” is an encouragement to be strong and maintain rowing consistently/non-stop. This years theme was influenced by the events of 2020 and how the COVID-19 outbreak has shaped a new normal for the Tokelau community and everyone worldwide. Jane 
End of Month Infocare Cut-Off
A reminder that this week is financial month end and we will be working on Board and Kindergarten reports for the month of October next week. Your Infocare records for October need to be completed by noon on Monday 2 November next week. This means we would like you to complete the following tasks in Infocare, up to and including Friday 30 October, as appropriate: - Sign in sheets marked in Infocare (actual attendance) - Fee invoices created and committed (for the week ending Friday 30 October) - Staff timetables (“staff hour count”) completed - Online sign off of your monthly roll return Any ratio, attendance or roll issues should be communicated to the Wellington Association Office (please call Tania on 04 232 3069 or 0800 546 337) Tania will follow up with you if she has any questions related to your records.
Health and Safety Documents Just a reminder that all relevant health and safety documents can be found in the “Key Documents” section on the home page of GOSH. Any questions please contact Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Evacuation Drills Just a reminder that we use GOSH to report on evacuation drills. The drills we report using the Evacuation Drill form on GOSH are : Earthquake evacuation drill (Monthly) Lockdown drill (Termly) Fire Evacuation Drill (Monthly) Notifiable Fire evacuation drill (6 monthly) When you are reporting on your drills using the Evacuation Drill form on GOSH, please ensure that you tick the box that indicates what type of drill it is (blue arrow below) and if the drill is the notifiable 6 monthly fire drill, please tick “Yes” in the “Is this a notifiable evacuation drill” (green arrow below). By selecting “Yes” the Fire Service will automatically be sent a copy of the report.  6 Monthly Fire Evacuation Drill Please remember that when you are undertaking the 6 monthly fire evacuation drill The Fire Service Communication Centre must be called 10 minutes before the drill, on phone 04 801 0812. The purpose of this is to ensure neighbours and the Fire Service do not respond unnecessarily. If the Fire Communications Centre does not answer the phone, teachers will delay the drill. The 6 monthly drill is to provide practice for what would happen in an actual emergency. For example, if a fire alarm is activated in a real fire, then this must be activated, if the group would leave the grounds to get to their place of safety, then this must be practiced. An actual call to 111 emergency services must also be part of the 6 monthly drill. You are able to access records of your previous drills on GOSH by logging into “My Kindergarten” and selecting “Evacuation Records” Please don’t hesitate to contact Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergartens.org.nz
Kindergarten Daily Hazard Checklist Please note that we have updated the Kindergarten Daily Hazard Checklist. We have added some new potential hazards for teams to be aware of when you are undertaking your visual inspection at the beginning of each day. The potential hazards we have added are: 
The updated Kindergarten Hazard Checklist is available in the documents section on GOSH. If you have any questions, please contact Lorraine.Coulston@wmkindergarten.org.nz
Senior Teacher Update
Senior Teachers have been engaged in a variety of work that is the result of our own reviews and reflections, feedback we have had from teachers after Covid-19 lockdowns and from our own internal evaluations.
The priorities for our work are interrelated so we are using this term and some of term one to progress them all together. Thank you so much for all of the contributions you have made through feedback so far. We will be updating you regularly in Kōrero about how things are going and we welcome your input at any time. We are currently working through the:
- Te Manawa Review - Social Competence review, in light of He Mapuna te Tamaiti and learning support mahi - Professional Growth Cycle (previously appraisal) design process with teachers - Annual Review changes so that it is led by the Standards for the Teaching Profession.
As we continue to work on these priorities, we have made the following decisions to acknowledge the effects of Covid-19 on teams:
- We will not undertake Annual Reviews at the end of this year nor the beginning of next year so that we can introduce a new Annual Review over the year with everyone. - Instead, Senior Teachers will support teams in term one to evaluate your progress on Strategic Teaching and Learning Plans so far. - The STLP and Internal Evaluations continue as improvement processes for teams and you will plan for further progress or discuss next steps with your Senior Teachers.
Learning Support Kia ora whānau,
Check out our first Learning Support (WMKA) Webinar on "How to make a Request to Learning Support MOE for Communication". You will find this PLD stored on our Storypark Teachers Toolbox under the new folder of "Learning Support Webinars".
Each fortnight we will post a new 5-10 minute webinar on the Storypark Community Page – Make sure that you keep an eye on your notifications. These webinars will be supported with relevant resources or articles. We would appreciate your feedback as this will help us to effectively support you and your teaching teams with learning support. If you have any topics you would like us to cover - let us know.
Here is a quick the link to this week’s webinar. Nga mihi Soreen and Learning support Team 
End of Year Celebrations We have been thinking about how to support teams to celebrate the end of the year in this environment of Covid-19. We had thought about regional get togethers, but are aware that they would have to be cancelled (or postponed) if we were to move up Alert Levels. So we decided that we would support teams to celebrate the end of the year by providing money towards event/s that teams determine themselves. It could be that everyone goes for dinner, or use the money to pay for an activity to do together, you may choose to join with another kindergarten. To support you to do this, we will contribute the following amounts: - Up to 30 child places - $200 per team - Up to 40 child places - $250 per team - Up to 60 child places - $350 per team - More than 60 child places - $450 per team These amounts have not been determined per staff member because some teams have administrators, teacher aides and lots of part time staff. However, we recognise that kindergartens that are open for 8 and 10 hours per day have larger teams. Jane Braun will send out an email tomorrow letting you know the amount we will contribute to your team. The payment is a gesture or contribution towards an end of year celebration that you, as a team, can choose how to enjoy.
St Johns Hill Celebrates New Sandpit
Lofi Shares Tokelauan Song and Dance
This Week On Facebook  
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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