Newsletter - July 2016

What’s  happening AT Pukeko Corner?

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

Finally our celebration of Matariki arrived, and what a great night it was. We had a wonderful time of fellowship and eating together.  Most of the children stated that their favourite thing was the sparklers and the marshmallows.  The children were very busy all week, learning waiata,   creating pumpkin lanterns, cooking pumpkin soup and scones, and baking star biscuits.  On the day, preparing kumara for the fire in the harmony garden, smoking fish and chicken and of course toasting marshmallows.  We have continued celebrating by singing our new waiata we have learnt and we have toasted marshmallows and fried kumara in the fire pit several times.

Te Wiki o te reo Māori

It was wonderful how Māori language week flowed on from Matariki, as the children have loved learning new words and singing waiata.  We have been focusing on our mihi. It’s amazing how fast little brains learn language.  You should all be proud!!  Morena, Ko Cathy tōku ingoa, Kei katikati tōku kainga.  Good morning, my name is Cathy and Katikati is my home.

We still have a big interest in fitness, yoga, gymnastics, and being healthy.  This will flow on nicely to the Olympic Games coming up in August.

The mud pit is seeing a lot of experimenting and fun lately, especially when it turns into a muddy lake.  We are aware of children getting cold so the time is limited and only children with spare clothes can go in there.

Positive Behaviour Policy

Corina, Kim, Jody and Cathy have now all taken part in the Incredible Years professional development. This runs for 6 months and is all about how we as teachers/parents can help children be emotionally and socially competent at every stage/behaviour in between.  Our mindset has changed, therefore we completely overhauled our Positive Behaviour Policy. The policy has been posted to Story Park and we implore you to read it. This will help you as parents understand some of the strategies we use.

Teacher’s Social Event

This is what your children’s teachers and relievers get up to…...a team building night out at “Mad Hatters Tea Party” at Bethlehem Baptist Church.

Lexham Park

Raewyn from Lexham Park has organised a Multicultural Day for the residents and has kindly invited us to join them to share some different cultural songs we know.   This is on Wednesday 27th July.  Come dressed in your special cultural outfit if you have one.

Wellness Evening…..12th August at 7pm

We have talked about having such an evening for a while now.  A fun social evening for everyone, where we can learn a little bit more about how to keep ourselves and our whanau healthy. 

So far we have Rachael from Cherish Life, sharing her knowledge of how natural oils can keep us and the environment around us healthy. For info  www. naturalessentialoils.co.nz.  We also have Jen McCready, a personal trainer and advocate for all things healthy, she will be talking about how to read food labels. Ruth Jenkins will demonstrate some of the World Organics Range of face and body products and Angie Clark will have Nutrimetics. 

Story Park

We hope by now you all know about Story Park and a little bit about how it works.  We have heard the phone app can be a little hard to read.  You can login on any computer to read and add photos and comments. 

Don’t forget to invite your family members so they can see what your child is up to and in turn they can add photos or comments. This online profile will stay with your child forever; so great to bring out on their 15th or 21st birthday. 

 If anyone would like more support we can have a little play together at pick up time.  Children still get their paper profile book as they often want to sit down and review their learning.

Literacy

It comes up in conversation again and again, parents concerned about their children not learning their ABC’s etc.  In 2014 we as a teaching team took part in a 6 month Literacy discovery and research with the Ministry of Education.  It confirmed that children learn best when it occurs naturally within their play (what they are interested in) as it is more  meaningful and in context. The most important thing that came out of our journey was for parents/whanau to read, read and read to their children.

 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.

Teacher’s Professional Development

Christina and Stacey attended two workshops on how children’s language develops, called ‘Much more than words.’ Cathy and Corina will be attending a Christian Early Childhood Association conference on 19th-20th August.

Three pieces of fruit a week

Please remember to bring in your 3 pieces of fruit each week for your contribution towards the children’s morning teas. 

Spaces available

As you are probably aware our numbers have dropped lately due to children going to school or leaving Katikati. So if you know anyone who has preschool children tell them to pop in to visit us.

Staffing

We have four lovely trained teachers who relieve for us; Helen Bosson, Janet Horn, Janet Grant, and Stacey Temple.

ECE Student

Sela Vakasiuola (Fane’s mum) has started her last student practicum with us. For 3 weeks out of the 6 she will be taking on Corina’s role as part of her learning .  

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, or if they require Pamol.  Please don’t feel offended if we ring to pick up your child if unwell. We need to consider the health of all the children.  Please help us to keep our children well.

We have lots of cool things planned for the next few months.  Please note them in your diary or calendar.

Important Dates:

Lexham Park                                Weds 27th July, Thurs 4 Aug

Summerset                                  Tue 26 July

Wellness Evening                          Friday 12th August

Disco                                             Friday 9th Sept

Fire Drill                                       26th August

Thanks for all your wonderful support

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