Newsletter - June 2015

What’s  happening AT Pukeko Corner?

Matariki, Matariki, Matariki is the big focus at the moment.

 Te tau hou o te iwi Maori e! Happy Maori New Year!!

We are talking about stars, the moon, our families, and of course our feast celebration, with kai from the moana (sea) and whenua (land).  .

Friday 19th June 5.30 to 7pm.    All welcome!!

We will have a telescope for the night to look at the stars.  If anyone else has a telescope please bring it too. Matariki celebrations run for a month so after the feast we will continue the focus. Part of Matariki is to korero (talk) and remember family that have passed. So if you would like to bring in a photo we can put them on the Wall of Remembrance.

Animals

Another interest at the moment is animals.  Lots of our children enjoy talking about their pets and have been very dramatic in their animal play around the kindergarten. We have started a animal/pet wall.  If you have a pet at home we encourage you to take a photo of your child with your pet, a pet that has died, or if no pet, a friends or a favourite soft toy.  We may if theinterest keeps going do a pet week, thanks to Vene’s suggestion. 

Mat-times

How are you feeling about our mat times?? Have you noticed a change?? We have been reviewing our mat times, taking formal  observations of children's involvement/interest/learning.  Reflecting on them in relation to the our vision “to inspire the love of learning for all children” and current research.  If you have any comments or suggestions please let us know, it’s important to us.

ERO Visit

We have our friendly visitors from the Education Review Office visiting us on the 14-15th July.  A visit from ERO used to be very scary and stressful event but now we look forward to it.  They will be looking at our environment, relationships with our children and you, our whānau.  And of course all our paper work on self review,   planning etc. There are always room for improvements so it’s great to have some professional outside eyes to see what we are up to. 

Child Protection Policy

Do your know what our Child Protection Policy states?  90% of  parents would say no.  That is one thing that came up at the workshop we had a couple of weeks ago. We are going to change this.  On enrolment everyone is going to get a copy so you as parents/caregivers know what we do to keep your children safe.  One thing that parents who attended the workshops said they found useful was to call private body parts their proper name.  It can be tricky at first but if your child uses the words penis/vagina and finds themselves a victim of attempted  sexual abuse the perpetrator doesn’t like it and are more likely to stop.  We have some booklets from the workshop if you would like to learn more.

Bus Trip

Big thanks for all your support on our bus trip to Tauranga, we had such a great time. We have started thinking about our next bus trip already. Maybe  an animal park or farm… any thoughts??

Regular Visitors to our kindy

Did you know….

• Once a month on a Monday we have Nana Mereana  (Christina’s Aunty) visiting us to share stories about our community Katikati.  Next visit she is sharing her knowledge on Matariki.
• Once a fortnight on a Tuesday we have Ruth and her baby Graeme visiting.  We watch and make observations about Graeme—the way he learns, develops and his relationship with his Mum. It’s a programme called BASE Baby watching Against Aggression.
• Once a fortnight on a Friday a group of 12 children go to Kapahaka to learn waiata, sing the ones we know and learn the actions. 
• Once a fortnight we have Sela (Fane and Finau’s Aunty) visiting at mat time to teach us Tongan songs.

 School Holidays

Just a reminder that we are open for the school holidays, please let us know if you will not be in for that time, so we can schedule teachers hours and time off.

 Relievers

Helen our Tuesday reliever is off to her home land Australia. It’s wonderful to welcome Juliet into the Tuesday position. Corina and Jody work 4 days a week,  Cathy and Kim do 3 at the moment to spend time with their daughter/s.

Walks

At this time of year we still enjoy going for walks, whether to climb trees, go to the library, explore the park, Lexham Park or Kapahaka so it is a good idea to pack raincoats in your child’s bag.  Even when it is a little rainy at kindy there’s lots to learn and discover in the rain.

Arrival and Leaving Times

We base what we do on a kindergarten philosophy.  We think there is real value in starting the day together and finishing the day together. Please arrive in the morning between 8.30 and 8.45am so that your child is here for mat time.  The same in the afternoon, we play and learn all day.  To help teach children responsibility and respect for their environment they need to be here for tidy up time.

Important Dates:

Matariki                                                  Fri 19th June 5.30—7pm

Lexham Park                                           Thur 2 July and Tue 18 Aug

ERO visit                                                13th-14th July

Earthquake Drill                                       19th June

Thanks for all your wonderful support

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