Newsletter December 2016

December 2016

Term Dates:

Term 4:

Older Group: 10 Oct – 21 Dec

Younger Group: 13 Oct – 16 Dec

Term 1 2017:

Older Group: 24^th Jan – 12^th April

Younger Group: 26^th Jan – 13^th April

Teachers’ Update

The term seems to be speeding by. We are enjoying the beginning of warmer weather and spending a lot of time outside. Our new sunshades have been installed so we are able to be sunsafe in more areas of the kindergarten. This was made possible using the money that we raised at this years quiz night.

We have been working on our fabulous items for our Christmas Concert and the tamariki (children) are really looking forward to sharing this with their families. I am sure you have been hearing some of the waiata (songs) at home already.

With our older group we have also been working on putting together a pepeha for our kindergarten.

A pepeha is the way of introducing ourselves in Maori. We first talk about our maunga (mountain), our moana (ocean), awa (river) and our kurakohungahunga (learning place).  The children have been talking about the landmarks that are important to them and expressing this through korero (talking) and art. We have been sharing stories from other children that include their pepeha, and with the help of Ali, who is working with our kindergarten to further our learning journey in Te Reo and Tikanaga Maori, we have written a pepeha that is a reflection of our kindergarten.

Having a pepeha that is unique to our kindergarten affirms the children and whanau sense of belonging at kindergarten and the wider community.

We hope to share more of this learning journey with you in the new year and we are sure your children will be coming home talking about their ideas.

End of Term 4 Tidy Up

The holidays are fast approaching and at the end of the year before the big holiday we like to do a few additional cleaning jobs so that our environment is lovely and fresh when we return in the new year. We really appreciate parent help during this time and a list of jobs will be going up on the door. These will need to be done in the last couple of weeks of term. Many hands make light work so if you can do a small job please add your name to the list.  

Christmas Party

Our Christmas parties are coming up for both the Older and Younger group.

These will be held during session on Wednesday 7^th and Friday 9^th of December. During the day we will be having a special visitor and a party lunch. Children will only need morning tea on this day.

At 1:30 we will be having our Christmas concert. Families are invited to join us from 1:15 to enjoy the wonderful performances from the children.

Santa Claus Trip – Older Group

On the last Monday of term our older group will be attending the Santa Claus Show at the Pumphouse. All children have been given a trip form and permission slip. We now have as many helpers as we can take. Thank you to everyone who has offered to help out. If you didn’t get to come this time you will be given priority for the next trip.

Dates to Remember

Date	Event
Wed 7th Dec	Christmas party (Older Group)
Fri 9th Dec	Christmas party (Younger Group)
Fri 16th Dec	Last day of Term 4 (Younger Group)
Mon 19th Dec	Santa Claus Show (Older group)
Wed 21st Dec	Last day of Term 4 (Older Group)

Donations and fees

Since January 2015, all the fee payments are now passed on to our Head Office at NAKA. This money goes towards repairs and maintenance at an Association level.

The donation amount is now even more important to the kindergarten as we use this for all resources- consumables (paint, paper etc) and equipment (games, toys, furniture etc).

We are sorry that we nag you to pay these amounts but it really does have a huge impact on how we run the kindergarten. Around 75% of our families have already paid this term. Thank you for being so supportive, we really appreciate it.

Sunblock and Hats

These are a must for term 4 and term 1. Please sunblock your child before they arrive at kindergarten.

Parking

Again we would like to remind you to please not park any highsided vechicles in the parking spaces outside kindergarten. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS. If you have a high-sided vehicle (this includes people movers, SUV’s and vans), please park on the road. We have had a few near misses when people are trying to back out of the car parks; they are unable to see the traffic coming down the hill.

We have reserved the right to park behind the teachers cars for families that have special needs. Please do not park there unless you have seen a teacher about this.

Beach Explorers

Our Beach Explorer trips continue and we will manage one more before the end of term, weather permitting. Next term should see us going more consistently as the weather will be more settled.

The children are all eagerly waiting for their turn. Don’t worry if your child hasn’t been yet, we only take the oldest children, usually in the term before they are due to go to school. Everyone will get to come when the time is right. These trips have a real focus on caring for the environment and the role we have in looking after our Turangawaewae, our local standing place.