Christmas Parade 12th December Barsanti, Marie McFarland and Totara Puku Kindergartens have registered an interest with Kaz about working together on a Kindergarten float. If there are other Kindergartens who would like to get involved, please let Kaz know on karen.craig@gmail.com.
Artwork In The Victoria Avenue Office Window We now have 20 picture frames available to fill with children's artwork, so please send Kaz some! Criteria: no more than 5 from 1 Kindergarten; put a name and the name of the Kindergarten on the back so that I can return them to you; needs to be no bigger than A3 and preferably not 3-d. Perhaps you could work on a Christmas theme? But up to you. People stop and look all the time, and don't forget that people gather here for the Christmas Parade so the work will be seen!!
And Speaking Of Art Whānau Manaaki have paid for advertising space in the 2021 Artists Open Studios (which are the last 2 weekends in March). We will be asking kindergartens to make this part of their schedule for next year, with the idea being that each kindergarten will enter some pieces to be curated by a guest artist to put in our windows during that time. Watch this space for more information!
Happy Hour Christmas Get-Together Hi all - following on from Raewyn's email, the Happy Hour at Lucky Bar on the 11th December is for those who wish to come. People pay for their own drinks. It's just a chance to get everyone together, knowing that the kindergartens will each be having their own Christmas get-togethers (as per the budget they have been assigned to do so) NOT one big Christmas get-together. Details again: Friday 11th December, 5pm to 7pm, Lucky Bar.
New Baby Dempsey Broad (Transport) and his wife Becca welcomed new baby girl Krissie last week. Congratulations to the whānau.
Recommendations Sybille at Aramoho Kindergarten highly recommends the gardening services of Marc Higgie of Genesis Trees, who redesigned Aramoho's outdoor lunch area (see below). (NB: Kaz can recommend him too as he has re-designed her garden at home). 
The team at Harriette Vine Kindergarten had a visit from Simon Dibben, of Wanganui Rugby Football Union, who worked with their children to provide a wide range of rugby skills activities. These activities targeted different children's interests and they were so much fun kaiako joined in too. It was definitely an action-packed session that sparked some strong interest in Rugby. Since the session the team have had lots of feedback from families and inquiries about clubs which is awesome. We want our families more involved with community organisations and clubs - supporting the wrap-around approach. Simon has offered to come again and is really keen to get more ECE services on board." See his contact details below.
St Johns Hill Makeover The following story appeared in the Whanganui paper during the week:  Oscar and Rose cut the sandpit cake, watched by Sam Hardy and Catherine Bonisch. The play area of St Johns Hill Kindergarten has a brand new look, thanks to a team of workers and generous sponsors. A brand new sand pit takes centre stage, shielded by a huge sun sail, donated by Hardy Construction, the firm who did the building work for the playground. Head teacher Catherine Bonisch addressed everyone at the opening last week. “Five years ago we drew up plans for a new play ground and redevelopment. A Friends of the Kindergarten group was formed and many people gave generously of their time towards fundraising efforts. “We eventually also applied for grants and we were lucky enough to receive $10,000 from Four Regions Trust, and the Lion Foundation gave us $6426.06, which meant the project could get underway. “Sam and Stacey [Hardy] have worked with us from day one. Sam was determined to get the sandpit built before Oscar [Hardy] went to school … Oscar went to school the day after the sand pit was finished.” Catherine thanked all those who helped with the project, including Hardy Construction … “who provided countless hours to the redevelopment. The lads came in and worked over the weekend… they worked tirelessly.” Two of the Hardy Construction team are former pupils of the kindergarten and Catherine was their teacher. “They built the new sand pit at the end of last term, they laid new grass, planted new trees, then Sam said, why don’t we have a gravel pit? . . . The children watched the whole project.” Catherine thanked a list of people and businesses who helped, including Hardy Construction, Bark& Boulders, Whanganui Garden Centre, Thompson Plumbing and more, as well as the teaching team and parents. The ribbon on the wooden bridge over the sandpit was cut by five-year old Oscar Hardy, assisted by his father, Sam. Sam thanked all the subcontractors involved with the project, with special thanks going to Paul McKee [digger driver]. “He worked all weekend on every other site in Whanganui, including this one, so a big thankyou to Paul and Jo from Bark and Boulders, they were amazing. Also my boys who worked Saturday and Sunday and I didn’t find out until Monday that they didn’t want any payment for the hours they worked over the weekend. “Also thanks to the kindergarten for paying it forward by donating to my cousin’s charity, Starlit Hope. “Let’s hope everybody gets plenty of enjoyment out of the area . . . and don’t call me for the next stage.” Oscar Hardy and Rose Kenny cut a sandpit replica cake made by Rebecca Black. Sam Hardy made sure he wasn’t singled out for praise. “It wasn’t just me and my company: it was a big circle of people to make it all happen and the reason we wanted to make it happen was because of all the connections. My sisters went here, boys from the company went here and my kids were here. We started fundraising for it when my daughter started here five years ago.”
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