December 2016
Term Dates:
Term 4:
Older Group: 10 Oct –
21 Dec
Younger Group: 13 Oct
– 16 Dec
Term 1 2017:
Older Group: 24th
Jan – 12th April
Younger Group: 26th
Jan – 13th 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 7th and Friday 9th 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.
