Newsletter - July 2014

What’s  happening AT Pukeko Corner?

What a magical find Jody had with our tree stumps. We have

created a wonderful gross motor experience as children jump,

balance and stretch from one to another.

Matariki

Finally our celebration day of Matariki arrived, and what a great day it was.  Sorry to those families who missed out due to it

being in the holidays.  Next year it will be in term time. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and eating together.  The children were very busy preparing kumara for the fire in the harmony

garden, smoking fish and making pumpkin soup. Several days later the children toasted marshmallows in the fire pit.

Te Wiki o te Māori

It was wonderful how Māori language week flowed on from Matariki, as the children have loved learning new words and

singing waiata.  We will be focusing soon on Kei te pēhea koe? How are you feeling, as emotional literacy (understanding and

controlling emotions) is so important for your children.

Whānau Tree

It is such a thrill to see your child proudly show their whānau tree with family photos to us all.  We look forward to getting more and displaying them on our wall. 

Kōhanga Reo Visit

On Friday 4 July the Kōhanga Reo came to play for the whole day.  It was an amazing experience as we built a closer relationship and learnt together.  We are very keen to invite them back soon.

Kapa Haka

The children have been asking when were we going to visit the Kapa Haka group at Katikati Primary again, so we have committed to visiting them fortnightly on a Friday.  We always finish off with a visit to the tree park, another highlight for the children.

Sports BOP Workshop

What a great night of fun and education.  Kirsty shared with us lots of ideas using hoops, balloons and ping pong balls. It’s easy at this time of the year to put on a DVD.  I challenge you to try and limit T.V time, instead push all the furniture to the sides and have a dance party, bat balloons with fly swatters, make huts, blow ping pong balls with a straw.  Children need to be active to develop to their full potential. This is particularly important for formal learning. The impact of sedentary behaviour on children beginning school is lack of focus, inability to read and write, and to concentrate.  We also know of older children who have to see eye specialists as they have occular lock (muscles not developed properly from fixing eyes on one spot) from too much TV time.

New Staff

We are excited to welcome Christina Smith to our teaching team.  She will be working 9-1.30 on Mondays and Fridays.  Christina speaks te reo Māori, has worked in a Kōhanga Reo, and is part of our local iwi from Te Rereatukahia  Marae.

We were so sad to say goodbye to Sela, our wonderful student from BTI, but  we are all so happy to announce that she will be working here two hours a week.  We are looking forward to us all learning some Tongan phrases and songs.

Little Blue House Art Exhibition

We are now booked in for the first week of September.  It is such a wonderfully empowering and inspiring creative experience for your children to display their incredible art work for the whole community to view at the Little Blue House in Katikati. 

Please keep that week clear as we will need lots of volunteers to help out. We are also looking for those adults with artistic

abilities and passions to share their technique with us. If you

enjoy art and have some inspiring art that you would be willing to show us we need you too. We have people from Avalon visiting to share their creative talent and several local artists too.

Teachers Professional Development

Wow, we have been busy with our literacy learning.  We hosted a workshop at our kindy in June.  The other early childhood centres  made many favourable comments, and took some ideas away—as we have done when visiting their centres. 

On 24 July after lots of preparation and hard work we gave a

presentation on our literacy journey to conclude our professional development.  The feedback from the facilitator Lynn and an early childhood expert was so positive and favourable.  We are

discussing how we can show you some of our literacy journey

presentation as we learnt so much and are keen to share this with you. We still have many plans including a questionnaire on the

literacy you have at home, and your thoughts on the literacy here.

Radio Broadcast, What 3-7 year olds need to learn

In our literacy journey we came across an amazing broadcast for

parents on Radio NZ by Nathan Mikaere-Wallis, a children’s counsellor and lecturer on brain development.  He said “how your 3-7 year old  perceives themselves as a learner is most important”, not cognitive skills (alphabet, numbers, colours).  We highly recommend you check out the broadcast—google Radio NZ Nathan Mikaere-Wallis.

http://www.radionz.co.nz/national/programmes/ninetonoon/audio/2595176/what-3-to-7-year-olds-need-to-learn-nathan-mikaere-wallis

Sexual Abuse Workshop

On 3 September we have the privilege of Eric Hollis from the

Rotorua Sexual Abuse Centre coming to speak to us on how to

protect children from sexual abuse, and the signs of abuse.  Eric owns an early childhood centre and came here 2 years ago.  It was a very informative and helpful evening.

Disco

Get your boogie moves and your dance outfits sorted, as our annual disco is coming up on Friday, 19 September.

Book Club

Pauline, Isla’s Mum has kindly offered to help organise this for us.  Basically, 4 times a year you will be given a pamphlet in your pocket and if you choose to order some of the wonderful books then fill out the form and pay by the given date.  We receive 20% of the total to buy our own books.

Premier Books

You may have noticed a display of books, toys and other

goodies in the window to the kitchen.  Again these are there for you to order at your pleasure.  Place order on envelope with payment. Orders are filled Wednesdays fortnightly.

Sickness

It’s the time of year for colds and the flu. We pay special

attention to washing hands, and sneezing/coughing into an elbow. Please keep your child at home if sick, and if they require Pamol.  Please don’t feel offended if we ring to pick up your child if unwell.

Important Dates:

Lexham Park:                                Thurs  31 July,  Wed 10 Sept

Art Exhibition                              Mon to Sat on  1—6 Sept

Sexual Abuse Workshop                      Wed 3 Sept

Disco                         Friday 19 Sept

Thanks for all your wonderful support

God Bless from Cathy, Jody, Kim, Corina, Gary, and Dianne.