August
2017
Term 3 2017
Older Group: 24th July – 27th Sept
Younger Group: 27th July – 29th Sept
Term 3 Update
Welcome back
to Term 3 and a big welcome to our new families that have joined us and those
that are starting in the next few weeks.
These winter
terms can be a bit more challenging with the weather and also colds going
around. Encouraging your child to blow their own nose and cough into their
elbow are ways to help us to stop the spread of bugs. Sometimes a day or two at
home is what’s needed to really kick those winter nasties.
During this
term we get outside when we can, making the most of our concrete and bark
spaces. Our vege gardens are planted out now so we will be keeping an eye on
whats growing, although there isnt much need for watering at present.
Our Pepeha
Ko Rangitoto
te Maunga
Ko Waitemata
te Moana
Ko Deep
Creek te Awa
Ko Torbay te
Kura Kohungahunga
At Torbay
Kindergarten we have our own pepeha. This is unique to our Kindergarten and
represents who we are within our community.
A pepeha is
a form of introduction that establishes identity and heritage. In its
simpliest form a pepeha will tell you about a persons maunga (mountain), moana (ocean), awa (river) and place.
Our
kindergarten pepeha represents the land marks that are special to us,
Rangitoto, the Waitemata, Deep Creek and of course, our Kindergarten.
Our pepeha
promotes a sense of belonging for our tamariki and whanau. It affirms our
connection to our turangawaewae – our standing place.
We often say
our pepeha during mat time and individual children take turns to lead.
Your childs
portfolio has a copy of our pepeha in it.
Introducing Cathy
It was with
much sadness that we said goodbye to Angela, our wonderful administrator, at
the end of last term. On a brighter note we are very lucky to introduce the
lovely Cathy Hanna. Cathy is a local mum and her daughter Pippa is currently in
our older group. If you haven’t met Cathy then she would love you to pop into
the office and say Hi! Cathy is here every morning from 8:30.
Beach Explorers
Our Beach Trips will start up again in the 3rd
week of term. This term these may be weather and tide dependent. We will endeavour
to go fortnightly when possible. Please don’t be disappointed if we need to
postpone a trip. Your child will then be put on the list for the next trip.
Remember that we only take our oldest children. Your child will get a turn when
the time is right.
These trips focus on our roles as guardians of the
environment and the role we have in looking after our Turangawaewae, our local
standing place.
Our beach trips bring our kindergarten pepeha to life
supporting our links to the land, to our maunga – Rangitoto, our moana –
Waitemata and our awa – Deep Creek. As we explore the beach we can see all of
these special places and the children have a wonderful sense of belonging.
Quiz Night
Our big fundrasier for the year is
our annual quiz night on Saturday 2nd September. This will be our 9th
event and, as always, is sure to be a wonderful evening.
We already have many live and silent
auction items. Keep an eye out for notices on Storypark Community Page, your
mail pockets and on the blackboard for ways that you can help.
We really appreciate your support for
this event as it allows us to raise money for some of the bigger projects at
kindegarten. This year we are fundraising to cover in our back deck in the same
style as our verandah. This will give us an extra space at kindergarten,
particularly in the winter months when this deck has always been too cold to
use.
Student Teacher
This term we are lucky enough to have
Mel as a student with us for the next 5 weeks on practicum. You may have met
Mel last term as she spends 16 hours in our kindergarten per week for work
experience.
Clothing for Kindergarten
One of the
areas where we strongly encourage independence is toileting. To enable children
to go to the toilet independently we ask that you dress your child in clothes
that are easy for them to pull down and up by themselves. Shorts, trousers, skirts or tights with elastic waists tend to be
best as buttons, domes and denim can be really tricky when you are in a
rush. We are happy to support children in this process while they are learning
to use the toilet.
Waiting List
Our waiting list is looking healthy at
104 children with 47 children over 3. This does mean that our entry age has
increased slighty as we have only a few children heading off to school this
term and next.
We take children in order of age from
our waiting list. Please bear with us as we do our very best to ensure all
families are catered for.
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).
You will be receiving an invoice either
by email or in your mail pocket within the next week or so. It would be great
if we can get these paid as soon as possible. Your support is much appreciated.
Gate
Please be
mindful when you are entering and leaving kindergarten that only your own child
is going through the gate with you. We ask that you make sure that the gate is
never left propped open, and is closed properly behind you.
Parking
Again we would like to remind you to
please not park any highsided vehicles 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 under any circumstances unless you
have seen a teacher about this.
