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Nga mihi nui, nga mhi mahana ki a koutou. Tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou, tēnā koutou katoa. To staff who are new to He Whānau Manaaki o Tararua, welcome; to staff who have been at work since the 4

th of January, welcome to our first edition of

the Korero; and to staff who are back at work this week and starting with children next week, welcome back! Already in the last three weeks, we have had sunshine, rain, storms – yay for Summer! Hopefully, wherever you have been over the last month or so, you have experienced some good weather. For those who don’t know, the Kōrero is distributed each Thursday to all kindergartens and office staff, and to relievers, NZEI, NZK, and other individuals and agencies that are interested to keep in touch with what we’re doing. In efforts to streamline the communication that goes out to you, we try to put everything in the Korero so you’re not bombarded with emails every day. Please make sure that everyone in your team gets to see the Kōrero. Some people print a copy off for each team member, others print one copy and hang it up for people to read, others read it online but then have each team member tick when they have read it. You can work out your system. Make sure the administrator sees it, and any other support staff or students. Most of our relievers are on the distribution list, but check with relievers that they have seen the Kōrero. This year is going to be an exciting year. This is our third year of transition to the new He Whānau Manaaki o Tararua Free Kindergarten Association – we have achieved so much so far, and faced some pretty huge challenges head on. You guys are incredibly cool, our Office team is fantastic, and what we do is sooo worthwhile. 2017 can only be exciting! Have a great week people: Kindergarten Rocks!

Hello - Kia Ora - Talofa lava - Kia Orana - Fakaalofa lahi atu - Malo e lelei - Malo ni - Talofa - Ni Sa Bula Vinaka - Ming la ba - Hola - la Orana - Halo ola keta -

Mauri - Sabaidee - Namaste

MAORI WORD OF THE WEEK

moutere, motu: island E kauhoe ana ia ki te moutere. She is going to swim to the island.

WELCOME FROM MANDY

Above: images of children from Nuanua Kindergarten “A beautiful first day back at Nuanua. Making most of the sunshine. Exploring and discovering new things, being creative in the sunshine and fresh air. #summertimelearning

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CALENDAR

Saturday, 25 Hui-tanguru 9:30am - 1pm Induction and Mentoring Silverstream Kindergarten

Wednesday, 8 Poutū-te-rangi

3:30pm - 5pm Storypark Workshop Johnsonville West

Saturday, 18 Poutū-te-rangi 9:30am - 3:30pm

Full Day Kindergarten Workshops Head Office

Wednesday, 29 Poutū-te-rangi

3:15pm - 4:30pm

Learning Through Movement Khandallah Kindergarten

Wednesday, 26 Paenga-whāwhā

9:30am - 12:30pm

Carrying The Tapa Head Office

Thursday, 27 Paenga-whāwhā

9:30am - 12:30pm

Dispositional Workshop Head Office

Thursday, 27 Paenga-whāwhā

1pm - 3pm Induction Workshop Cossie Club

Thursday, 27 Paenga-whāwhā

9:30am - 12:30pm

Social Competence Workshop Cossie Club

Thursday, 27 Paenga-whāwhā

9:30am - 12:30pm

Te Manawa Revisited Johnsonville Club

Thursday, 27 Paenga-whāwhā

9:30am - 12:30pm

Te Manawa Revisited Greytown Library

Friday, 28 Paenga-whāwhā 9:30am - 12:30pm

Priority Learners Aotea Lodge

Friday, 28 Paenga-whāwhā 9:30am - 12:30pm

Storypark Workshop Arohanui

Friday, 28 Paenga-whāwhā 9:30am - 12:30pm

Working with Under 3’s Paraparaumu Library

KAPA HAKA CALENDAR

Thursday, 2 Hui-tanguru 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Head Office

Thursday, 16 Hui-tanguru 3:15pm - 4:45pm

Kapa Haka Greytown Kindergarten

Thursday, 23 Hui-tanguru 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Totara Park Kindergarten

Thursday, 2 Poutū-te-rangi 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Head Office

Thursday, 16 Poutū-te-rangi 3:15pm - 4:45pm

Kapa Haka Totara Park Kindergarten

Thursday, 23 Poutū-te-rangi 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Greytown Kindergarten

Thursday, 30 Poutū-te-rangi 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Head Office

Thursday, 6 Paenga-whāwhā

3:15pm - 4:45pm

Kapa Haka Totara Park Kindergarten

Thursday, 12 Paenga-whāwhā

4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Greytown Kindergarten

Thursday, 4 Haratua 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Head Office

Thursday, 11 Haratua 3:15pm - 4:45pm

Kapa Haka Totara Park Kindergarten

Thursday, 18 Haratua 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Greytown Kindergarten

Thursday, 1 Pipiri 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Head Office

Thursday, 8 Pipiri 3:15pm - 4:45pm

Kapa Haka Totara Park Kindergarten

Thursday, 15 Pipiri 4pm - 5:30pm Kapa Haka Greytown Kindergarten

Thursday, 6 Hōngongoi TBC Combined before Conference TBC

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PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CALENDAR DATES AND CHANGES—APRIL TERM BREAK

On 30 December we emailed out a Professional Learning and Development (PLD) calendar for the April Term Break. The courses/workshops being offered are all in the second week, following ANZAC Day, on Wednesday 26

th, Thursday 27

th and Friday 28

th April. These dates differ from the calendar we sent out in the middle of last year

which showed the periods of Annual Leave and Professional Time for School Day Kindergartens – the weeks in the April Term Break have been swapped around. When discussing this we felt that many teachers would prefer to have Annual Leave in the first week, with no PLD, as this provides an opportunity to make the most of the time between public holidays, with your partners/whānau, who may take leave between Easter and ANZAC Day. We appreciate that some of you may already have made plans for a holiday in the second week based on the calen-dar we sent last year. This change doesn’t affect your ability to take that holiday as the PLD provided in the April Term Break isn’t compulsory and we don’t ‘keep tabs’ on you. However, we also appreciate that there may be PLD opportunities you are not now able to access. We’re keen that no-one misses out on PLD they want or need and so, if this change impacts you and there is a particular PLD ‘event’ you want to access but are unable to because you have made other arrangements in the second week of the break, please let your Senior Teacher know and we will do our best to provide that PLD to you at another time. We apologise for any confusion or inconvenience this may have caused. If you would like to talk to us about it you can get in touch with your Senior Teacher or with Karen Skett at the office. We have attached the updated calendar for Teachers in School Day Kindergartens showing the change in April.

CAMPBELL KINDERGARTEN UPDATE

Thanks to all those who signed and promoted the petition to save Campbell Kindergarten and Karori Kids Childcare centre. We need to continue our fight, as the future of the two centres is still in doubt. Please continue to circulate the petition – www.change.org/p/minister-of-education-keep-campbell-kindergarten-and-karori-kids-open You could put it on your Kindergarten Facebook page – and encourage your families to sign AND share. The link to read the article from the 14 December 2016 issue of the Herald is below https://issuu.com/the.star/docs/216349ih?mode=embed&layout=http%3A%2F%2Fskin.issuu.com%2Fv%2Flight%2Flayout.xml&backgroundColor=010101

TORU FETU KINDERGARTEN

Water play, sand play and turn taking with the bikes proved to be very popular today! The children are loving the weather, and are having lots of fun engaging with each other and building on their relationships and friendships

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ARTICLE—INTELLIGENCE IN YOUNG CHILDREN

Nurturing your young child and giving them a chance to play is the way to create an intelligent child, says Nathan Mikaere Wallis of the Brainwave Trust. When a baby feels nurtured, their survival networks are calmed and their higher intelligence can develop, he says. “Feeling really safe and like the centre of the universe and really nurtured – that’s creating intelligence in the brain.” Parents often make the mistake of thinking their child will be intelligent if they’re taught to read early, he says, but that isn’t how the brain develops. The best food for a baby’s brain isn’t anything you can teach them, he says, it’s play. “Encourage the child to explore, to generate solutions, to be allowed to get things wrong, to be creative.” A child that’s been taught ‘right and wrong’ answers and numbers and letters will develop “a type of intelligence that’s like a parrot”, he says. But creative discovery-type play creates much more in-depth cognition. Parents of under-sevens, especially, should focus less on academic performance. “There’s plenty of time when you are seven to get those right and wrong answers and literacy and numeracy.” According to Mikaere-Wallis, the three most important things for helping a young human brain reach its full potential are ‘relationship, relationship, relationship’. “Enjoy the baby. Have your face in front of the baby and be talking to the baby, responding to them, making them feel safe, singing, laughing – it’s not about academics.” From RNZ Nine to Noon programme, December 15, 2016 Listen to the full interview here: http://www.radionz.co.nz/audio/player?audio_id=201827816

ARTICLE—INTELLIGENCE IN YOUNG CHILDREN

INTRODUCTION FROM SHARON COULTON

Tēnā tātou katoa, Firstly, I would like to thank you all for the really warm whānau welcome! I am really enjoying my first week and it’s been great to meet the office team, and those teachers who have popped into the office over the week. I am looking forward to meeting everyone else in the near future and apologies in advance if I forget anyone’s name!...I really do think Mandy may have to set me the ‘remember the name quiz’ as promised! I am excited to begin my role as Team Leader Senior Teachers as I am passionate about actively promoting safe, culturally secure and responsive quality education and care provision which fosters a learning culture that enables tamariki, whānau and teachers to become successful, enthusiastic and independent learners. I strongly believe that the key to quality in all aspects of teaching and learning is responsive and effective mentoring and coaching and professional development. Consequently, I value the wonderful opportunity to be able to work within the Senior Teaching team and deliver opportunities for teachers to develop and extend their own knowledge, practices, professional attributes and values which are consistent with the Ministry of Education, and Education Council expectations and in alignment with He Whānau Manaaki’s vision, values and beliefs. Ko te ahurei o te tamaiti arahia o tatou mahi. Let the uniqueness of the child guide our work. Sharon

Above: Alysha and Sharon C

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CALENDAR FOR TEACHERS IN SCHOOL DAY KINDERGARTENS