1

Weekly Newsletter

Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens Formerly Wellington and Rimutaka Kindergarten Assn

102 6 October 2016

Issue

Kōrero

I n t h i s i s su e :

Se n i o r Te a ch e r A l l o ca t i o n s

Te rm 4 Me e t i n g Da te s

Cu r re n t Va ca n c ie s

Ap p o i n tme n ts

YMe n In ta ke

Sp e c i a l Ed u ca t i o n Pe t i t i o n

N Z Ph o to g ra p h y Exh i b i t i o n

Sch o o l V i s i t s

Hello - Kia Ora - Talofa lava - Kia Orana - Fakaalofa lahi atu - Malo e lelei - Malo ni - Talofa - Ni Sa Bula Vinaka - Ming la ba - Hola - la Orana - Halo ola keta -

Mauri - Sabaidee - Namaste

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND MEETING DATES

MAORI WORD OF THE WEEK

Ko koe taku toa!: You're my star player!

Tuesday, 11 Whiringa-ā-nuku 3.00 pm Head Teacher Meeting Tawa Central Kindergarten

Wednesday, 12 Whiringa-ā-nuku

3.00 pm Head Teacher Meeting Copthorne, Masterton

Thursday, 13 Whiringa-ā-nuku 3.00 pm Head Teacher Meeting Cossie Club, Upper Hutt

Tuesday, 18 Whiringa-ā-nuku 3.00 pm Head Teacher Meeting Churton Park Kindergarten

Thursday, 20 Whiringa-ā-nuku 3.00 pm Head Teacher Meeting Ngahina Kindergarten

Friday, 21 Whiringa-ā-nuku 3.00 pm Head Teacher Meeting Miramar Central Kindergarten

Tuesday, 25 Whiringa-ā-nuku 3.15 - 5.00 Sustainability Cluster Trentham Kindergarten

7, 8, 9, 10,15, 16, 17 November Staff Meetings See list on website

Monday, 24 Whiringa-ā-rangi 9.30 - 3.00 All new Head Teachers WMK Offices

SENIOR TEACHER ALLOCATIONS

MEETING DATES FOR TERM 4

Please find attached at the end of this Korero the list showing Senior

Teacher Allocation of kindergartens. This is also also available under

Downloads on the website. With changes to the Senior Teacher team, we

have made some minor changes to the allocations for term 4.

Also attached is a confirmed list of meeting dates. Please note that for term

4 the Head Teacher Meetings will start in Week One. This is to ensure we

don’t clash with ERO reviews happening in the Wairarapa.

Niue Language Week is being celebrated from 16 October to 22 October 2016.For more info check out this site:https://www.hrc.co.nz/your-rights/race-relations-and-diversity/language/our-work/vagahau-niue-week/

2

Head Teacher – Salary Scale K2 Brian Webb Kindergarten – Permanent Fulltime Head Teacher: There is a Permanent Fulltime Head Teacher posi-tion available in this kindergarten situated in Tawa. It oper-ates with five 6-hour sessions per week. An ability to meet the key tasks specific to this kindergarten, outlined in the Job Description, will be an advantage. Duties to commence from 25 October 2016 or as negotiated. Applications close Wednesday, 19 October 2016 at 12.00p.m. Teacher – Salary Scale K1 Matairangi Kindergarten – Fixed Term Fulltime Teacher: There is a Fixed Term Fulltime Teacher position available in this kindergarten situated in Hataitai, in Wellington’s eastern suburbs, not far from the CBD. Duties to commence asap or as negotiated and will conclude end of Term 3, 29 Septem-ber 2017. It operates with five 6-hour sessions per week. An ability to meet the key tasks specific to this kindergarten, outlined in the Job Description, will be an advantage. Appli-cations close Wednesday, 19 October 2016 at 12.00p.m.

CURRENT VACANCIES CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to the following on their recent permanent appointments:

Lisa Baker, HT Matairangi

Lakshmi Menon, .4 T Newlands

Michelle Kendrick .4 T Raumati Beach Also to the following on their fixed term appointments:

Debi McLean, Maraeroa

Celia Fairfax-Darrall, Khandallah

Minka Koivisto, Island Bay

Bev Toothill who is finishing as a reliever and moving down south. Bev has been with the Association as a Teacher, Head Teacher and most recently as a valued relieving teacher for 8 years. We wish her only good fortune in her adventures on the Mainland.

FAREWELL AND GOOD LUCK TO:

YMEN PROJECT - 4TH INTAKE

Our 4th intake of 8 YMen have now began their 26 week programme with us and were

welcomed at the office this morning.

A bit of background info about the Ymen project follows: “The YMen Project”, an innovative project, was developed in 2008 by Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens to address the chronic shortage of men working in early childhood education and the high rates of unemployment among men under the age of 24 years. This project is designed to introduce unemployed young men, who are clients of Work and Income New Zealand, to the Early Childhood Education profession and career pathways . By building skills in the participants, removing barriers to learning and offering an opportunity through work experience, this project prepares young unemployed people for further opportunities within the workforce with the aim of moving the participants into possible permanent employment and/or further training within the Early Education sector or within other sectors. Each “YMan” will undergo induction and then work alongside a kindergarten team for 6 months. We thank the teams who have welcomed the opportunity to work with them. Check out here for more info: http://www.wmkindergartens.org.nz/About-Us/Innovations-__I.960

3

QUALITY

Kindergarten teachers joined a rally at Parliament organised by Education for All last Thursday to highlight the inadequacies in funding for special education and dissatisfaction with the way a review of special education is going. Education for All is a collaboration of the disability and education sectors, and represents many families of children and adults with special needs. Its component organisations are sceptical about the government’s current Special Education Update, which is expected to restructure the current system without spending any more money. One proposal involves taking money from young adults with special needs and spending it on early childhood support. There are no details as yet about how such a proposal would work. Families have concerns about this because of the difficult time many adults with high needs have transitioning from the structured environment of school. Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens is not looking to gain funding for early childhood services at the expense of young adults with high needs. Mark Potter, principal of Berhampore School, said in a media release about the rally that the Special Education Update could actually make things worse. “We already have a system where children and schools have to compete against each other for funding, and now the Update is proposing to increase the competition by taking money from one part of the system in favour of another.“ The organisation has launched an online petition that calls on the government to meet its obligations by providing inclusive education for all. You can sign the on-line petition here: https://www.change.org/p/minister-hekia-parata-education-for-

all

SPECIAL EDUCATION PETITION AND RALLY

The children from Tai Tamariki Kindergarten really enjoy visiting Ngā

Toi | Arts Te Papa! A favourite exhibition last season was New Zealand Photography Collected – one of the largest showing of photography collections here at Te Papa. The exhibition was based on the recent book of the same name, written by our Curator Photography, Athol McCredie.

This interest in photography has been followed at the Kindergarten, and Maisie Chilton Tressier, kaiako (teacher) at Tai Tamariki shares this story with us:

It must have been over a month ago now that we were visiting Ngā Toi | Arts Te Papa upstairs, and I noticed that the tamariki were not only drawn to, but totally compelled by, a collection of black and white photographs, including some long-exposures that reminded them of “storms”. We take the ten oldest tamariki at our centre into the Mt Vic forest for half a day, once a fortnight, and so a few days after our trip to the galleries, I set a camera into “black and white mode” and asked the children to capture their own experiences of Ngahere tamariki – our forest group.

The photos that came out blew us all away, particularly those taken by River (aged 4). He seemed to have picked up on the focus on light and shadows that we saw in the photos upstairs, and that we can photograph the things that are important to us. River chose to capture his bag, and his friends. The photos were beyond beautiful; and River was beyond obsessed. ..... Check more out here http://blog.tepapa.govt.nz/2016/09/15/photography-craze-at-tai-tamariki-kindergarten/

TAI TAMARIKI AND NZ PHOTOGRAPHY EXHIBITION

4

School visits happen every week at Moira Gallagher Kindergarten , and each child gets the chance to visit their school as part of their kindergarten’s programme. This means the kindergarten has been building relationships with up to nine or ten schools in the Porirua area. Visits are made by car when schools are not in walking distance. Moira Gallagher has four car seats which can be used to get to schools that are further afield. Head Teacher Francheska Te Naihi says children have fortnightly visits to Windley School, and they go to Holy Family School on alternate weeks. Visits to other schools are scheduled as children are nearing five. Each child gets a transition story about their first visit to school. “We have found this empowering for children and help their sense of belonging” says Francheska. A display in the kindergarten has photos of schools and of children to specify who is going where. This means children and parents can see who else is likely to be in their class. All teachers are involved in school visits, and each teacher makes sure they have another adult to accompany them, either a student or parent. Through the transition programme teachers have built up really good relationships with schools. With Windley School and Holy Family School in particular, there are opportunities for exchanges to see concerts or involvement in other joint activities. This has helped to support relationships within the community. Francheska says some school teachers are amazed by the kindergarten programme and by what children are learning and achieving. “Principals and teachers have asked if they can come down and visit which has happen quite a bit and they keep us informed of what is happening in the school and invite us up.” On the visits, children choose what photos they would like to take, providing them with the opportunity to visit areas of school they may not be sure about. Photos of the playground, the toilet, where you put your lunch and where the lockers are, are popular. Francheska says when the kindergarten just had regular visits with nearby Windley School, some children got confused, if they were going to a different school. “Now they are clear about where they are headed and have the chance to discuss it at home and at school. They are more confident to talk about where they are going because they see the photos too.” Children take a transition portfolio when they go to school. This includes a letter to teacher that children sign with their name. Links between their learning journey at kindergarten and the school curriculum, with copies of stories also included. “We include a sheet with info that is specific to children. Parents also fill out a “me” sheet of info about them.” Francheska said children and parents are now more confident about the transition to school process, and it is easier to talk about it in both settings as the venue is familiar to everyone. “We have had feedback about that. Children settle better and are not fearful about starting.” If parents have English as an additional language, teachers take them to school to enrol and help them through the process. Francheska says the teaching team regularly talk about the school visits and any issues that arise with them. “We are determined to maintain a really great transition programme.”

SCHOOL VISITS - MOIRA GALLAGHER KINDERGARTEN

FAREWELL (FROM MARAEROA KGTN)

At the end of term we had a farewell umu in our sandpit for Nikki Bishop who is moving on to Plimmerton Kindergarten. Good luck Nikki in your new position.

5

6