Newsletter - July 2012

For those families who were on holiday at the time we ate....... smoked fish, garlic and chilli muscles, kumara and chicken straight from grandpa Gary’s smoker.  We had smoked fish from the smoky place, wild vension, wild pork, home grown salads and veges, rhubarb and apple desert, fry bread, rewena bread, seafood chowder......... the list goes on and on...  AND we were reminded of our amazing world that provides all this bounty!!!

Our veges in our garden are growing nicely and our potatoes sprouted over the holidays... it was just as well Gary came in, mounded them before the frost could kill them off.  The garlic has pushed up and made an appearance on earth, and the shallots are moving along.  We will continue on our path of introducing new plants to our gardens by the phase of the moon, and fingers crossed our spring/summer harvest will be plentiful. 

This year Matariki promises to be the BEST ever.  It has been several years since the stars of Matariki have shown themselves so clearly.  So get planting now and take advantage of this prosperous time

Graduates Day

During the last week of term we had a day where some of our children who had recently graduated Kindy, came back to share their experiences of school.  It was very exciting meeting with these now very experienced school children.  The turn out was extremely high and the food delicious.

ORAL HEALTH

Oral health week is 10^th – 14th September.  During this time we will be experiencing many ways  to encourage our children to take charge of their dental hygiene.  We will be encouraging different foods that have good teeth acids in them that balance out the mouth, we will be writing our own teeth songs and celebrating our healthy white smiles.  Our logo is going to be “teeth like little white diamonds for life”

LOST PROPERTY

We have a huge amount of lost property.  Please claim your child’s property and take it home.  Lost property can be found on the outside table.

SLOW DOWN

Please slow down coming out of the driveway. There have been a few close calls with walking children on their way to school.

New Purchases

We have purchased a new printer, some new toy animals and roads.

Disco

Thanks to great demand we will be having a Disco here at kindy on Friday 10^th August 5.30-7pm. Please bring a plate to share and your dancing shoes.

SCHOOL VISITS TO KATIKATI PRIMARY

School visits will resume on 20^th July. Jody has the pleasure of leading our transition to school program this term. School visits are determined by how many children are attending each visit. Alternative arrangements can be made. Please see Jody for more details

Maori language week, 23 July

Be surprised when you come to kindy and all our books are legends, are full Te reo, that our puzzles are of Tane Mahuta and that your children have become your teachers of Te Reo.

PLACES AVAILABLE

Due to several children leaving for school, we have places available for more new families. If you know of any families who are looking for a wonderful place for their children, please give them our details and invite them to come along and see the wonderful learning that happens in our kindergarten.

Olympics

We will be supporting the many cultures we have at kindy by staging our own olympics with children representing their own heritage. We intend of having medal ceremonies and representing many different kinds of sports eg wrestling, biking, running etc.

FRUIT

Thank you all for your fruit. Please remind children not to take fruit out of the basket to eat on the way home.

Baby watching

Thanks to Pauline, we have resumed baby watching. Isla our baby is crawling and has more teeth. She is more active now, which enables our children to determine her growing milestones. They are very comfortable asking questions about Isla and comparing her to other small children they know. Baby watching learning for our children is a priceless tool of observation, enquiry and sharing.

Pukeko Corner turns 5

We will be having the biggest 5^th birthday in October to celebrate our wonderful kindergarten...... we'll keep you posted for details.

EDUCATION REVIEW OFFICE

ERO, will be visiting our kindy between 4 – 6th September. They will be helping us recognise our teaching, learning and practises while they are here. This is a wonderful opportunity for us as a learning community to extend professionally and personally. Their visits are greeted with a little nervousness and a lot of enthusiasm.

Thank you

Grandpa Gary for bringing in your smoker, and cooking our smoky foods,

Thanks to  "Smokey Smoked Seafood"  for donating generously to our matariki celebration.

Thanks to Jade (Gina’s daughter) for taking charge of the kitchen during our celebration.

Thanks to the wonderful teachers who never seem to run out of passion, patience and peace.

Biggest thanks to our Lord who has brought us all together.

Up and Coming Events

Maori language week         23 July

Olympics                           27 July

Disco                                10 August

ERO                                  4 -6^th September

Oral health week               10^th -14^th September

God Bless you all.

Cathy, Gina, Jody, Corina, Gary, Kim, Diane and, Dianne