Newsletter - June 2017

We have lots going on yet again so get your pen ready to mark all the dates on your calendar.  The biggest event we have coming up is our Matariki Celebration on Friday 14 July 5.30-7pm. All family are invited to this wonderful night. Matariki is the name of a star cluster which is known to astronomers as Pleiades.  The matariki star cluster drops below the horizon in April and rises again in May or early June.  It is a great time to go for a night walk to see the stars and moon.  It’s dark early so take advantage of it, as we have been discussing the changing moon with the children. In the past the appearance of the matariki stars has marked the Maori New Year; a time of family and celebration.  It’s a time to celebrate the earth, thankfulness to God who created it, to remember those who have passed away, and to show respect for the land in which we live…. A Land of Plenty. 

We have a playhouse planning meeting Wednesday 21st June at 3pm for those who would like to add their ideas to our plan.  The playhouse has been on the agenda for a “do-up” for a while but we want and need your ideas, skills and a little bit of time. If you can’t make it we welcome your input too.

We have had Jizzy Green visit us twice to share with us the impact of plastic bags on our world.  We have made the first step in purchasing “wet bags” to replace using plastic bags for wet and dirty clothes.  Thanks to those of you who have paid their $6 for yours, it’s a bit of a slow process.  If you want one please see Cathy.

We love storypark!! Do you know about the learning tags? These are attached to most stories, to show the learning that is happening. If you click on them it will tell you more information about the skill/development/area of learning. We have added some new learning tags that align with our Christian philosophy eg showing love, kindness, gentleness, and respect.

Grandpa Gary is away in Canada at the moment for a month, back just in time to smoke the fish for our Matariki Celebration. Corina and Kim are both having a week off soon, Sela will be filling in for them.  We welcome Jazmine (Jaz) Mitchell-Rakete from Katikati College here for 5 weeks.  She is part of the Gateway programme and will be learning what is to be an Early Childhood teacher.  Her younger brother Etana came to our kindy.

The July School Holidays are approaching fast.  We will have a form on the sign in sheet for you to let us know if your child will be attending in the holidays.  There will also be a sheet  for “End of Term Cleaning.”

Bible Verse  - One of our values is encouraging kindness

              Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body

                                                                              Proverbs 16:24. 

Latest Budget—Sadly the funding from the government has not been increased again (now 7 years!) and of course our costs have gone up significantly. 

We have our termly Graduates day on Thursday 20th July.  This a day when we invite all the children who have gone to school over the past several terms to come back for a morning.  We celebrate their learning and transition by inviting them to share about their school experiences.  This is a special day for both the school children, and their old friends here.  Of course teachers love to see our friends come back.

We have a few public bus trips into Tauranga coming up.  We started these  last year but with new/young children and the bus fee going up we put them on the back burner. The bus picks us up from Fairview Rd on Tuesdays and Thursdays.  In the past we have been to Omokoroa Beach, Tauranga Art Gallery, Tauranga Library and of course the Hairy McLary playground.  On Thursday 6th July we are taking 12 four  year olds to Tauranga Art Gallery to  see whakairo rākau (wood carving), alongside cast bronze and drawing by local artist Todd Couper.  During our time there we are lucky enough to attend an art session to create and illustrate  our own paper bird sculpture. Very exciting!!! If your child does not get to go we will be going again.  These type of trips are fun, exciting and a wonderful learning experience however they do cost so we do have to pass on the costs.  Permission forms will be out closer to the time.

Children love seeing photos of themselves, even more so showing them to people who care about them. So have you taken your child’s profile book home lately, or shown them their stories on story park??

Please be careful when taking photos of your child while at kindy or when we are out and posting it on Facebook.  We have several children who are not safe to be seen on social media.

We are always busy with lots of learning! We had Max visit and talk about emergency services, Jizzy talked about the hazard  of plastic bags, and chalk drawing in Cherry Court.

Important Dates

21 June                                Playhouse Planning meeting

2 June/27 July                   Lexham Park

6 July                                    Bus trip to Tauranga Art Gallery

14 July                                 Matariki Whanau Celebration

18 July                                 Summerset                             

20th July                            Graduates Day