Torbay Kindergarten

Tuesday, 4 April 2017

Seasonal Harvest Market - Tuesday 11th April

Tuesday, 21 March 2017

March Newsletter

March 2017

Term 1 2017

Older Group: 24^th Jan – 12^th April

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

Teachers’ Update

With bugs and insects being very popular now the children are learning about Kaitiakitanga and they are being guardians of our environment; protectors of our trees, gardens and the creatures that live in there.

We encourage the children to observe the insects in nature rather than removing them, and we are continuously researching and finding more out about our own working theories.

Our younger group is settling in well now with the children gaining a sense of belonging. We are able to concentrate on building confidence, independence and positive social interactions. This is supported by lots of fun new and exciting learning experiences.

Clothing for Kindergarten

One of the areas where we strongly encourage independence is in the area of toiletting. 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.

Market Day

The first day of autumn provided us with the perfect excuse for a market day. This was again a wonderful success with children delighting in bringing in fresh produce from home, popping it on the table and selecting something yummy to take home. Those that didn’t have produce to share brought in a coin and ‘shopped’ as well. There was plenty to go around. Parents enjoyed hot drinks and this was a wonderful opportunity for chats, a chance to meet new people, catch up on community news and to slow down and enjoy these moments with our children. Thanks for supporting us

Hearing and Vision this Term

Hearing and Vision is a national screening service that happens in Early Childhood Centres for all 4 year olds. All children are seen once in the couple of terms following their 4^th birthday. They will only be seen again if there is a recommendation for a follow up. When you enrolled at kindergarten you filled in all the paperwork needed for these checks to be carried out. The checks are done in a fun and interactive way with children playing a listening game and then wearing a ‘pirate patch’ and looking at shapes for the vision test. Our children find this experience fun and non threatening as it happens in an environment where they are already comfortable. If you would like to know more then please chat to a teacher about the process.

There is no need to do anything special on the day. The checks are carried out in our usual session times for both the older and younger group.

Waiting List

Our waiting list is looking heallthy with 65 children aged between 2-3 and 23 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.

Beach Explorers

We have been so lucky with the weather for our beach explorer trips this term. We have been alternating the weeks slightly to coincide with the best tides to give children the most opportunities for exploring. Remember that we only take our oldest children on these trips so your child will get a turn 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.

As we spend more time exploring our kindergarten pepeha (the way we introduce ourselves in Maori), the beach trips support our links to the land, to our maunga – Rangitoto, our moana – Waitemata and our awa – Deep Creek. As we wander along the beach we can see all of these special places and the children have a wonderful sense of belonging.

Dates to Remember

Date	Event
Mon 13^th March	Hearing and Vision (Older Group)
Wed 15^th March	Bug Man (Older Group)
Mon 20^th March	Committee Meeting and Ride-a-thon working bee
Tues 21^st March	Rangitoto Trip (Older Group)
Fri 24^th March	Ride-a- Thon (All Welcome)
Wed 12 April	Last Day of Term (Older Group)
Thurs 13^th April	Last Day of Term (Younger Group)

Ride-a-Thon

We have booked the Ride-a-thon in for Friday 24^th March from 5pm-6:30pm. We will be having raffles, sausage sizzle and of course the races. Pop the date in your diaries. More details will follow so keep an eye on your mail pockets for flyers.

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 have received an invoice for term1 either in your mail pocket or by email. We would really appreciate if these could be paid as soon as possible. Your support is much appreciated.

Increase in Fundraising Levy

From next term we are having to increase our fundrasing levy slightly to $20 per term. We have not increased the amount since introducing this levy in 2007 however costs are increasing so this will allow us to maintain the same resourcing levels without needing to increase our fundraising obligations.

Sunblock and Hats

These are a must for Term 1. Please sunblock your child before they come to kindergarten. By afternoon we are sticking to the shaded parts of kindergarten, as it has been too hot to be out in the sun.

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 unless you have seen a teacher about this.

Tuesday, 7 February 2017

Newsletter - February 2017

February 2017

Term 1 2017

Older Group: 24^th Jan – 12^th April

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

Teachers’ Update

A big welcome back to 2017. Welcome to all our new families and to our children and whanau returning after the long holiday. We hope you all had a wonderful break with your children and we are looking forward to an action packed year ahead.

The term has started off busy as ever with us adding 14 new children to our roll in the first 2 weeks.

The focus for our younger group has been supporting the children to settle in and get to know the teaching team as well as the other children. This is also the time for them to learn about our routines and the way we do things here at Torbay Kindergarten. We have a strong focus on respect, respect for ourselves, each other, the environment and the wider community. This is something that we foster in all our children by supporting them to build and maintain respectful relationships and modelling what respect looks like through our interactions both with the other teachers, the children, families and visitors to the kindergarten.

Fostering Independence

One of the key skills that we encourage in our children is independence. This move towards independence can be supported in many ways through our program, and with the help of you our parents and extended whanau.

You can help by encouraging your child to walk in the gate independently and carry their own bag. This helps give them a sense of ownership and responsibility for their belongings. When they hang up their own bag they will always know where it is. When children choose a locker and hang up their bag they then take out their lunchbox and drink bottle and put them on the shelf. This quickly becomes part of the morning routine. By completing these tasks themselves they are fostering habits that will follow on to school.

Opportunites for developing independence are woven throughout the day at kindergarten, from putting on/taking off their own shoes, getting changed when they are wet and putting away their own belongings or things that they have made. Initially teachers support this process but as children develop these skills they move towards completing all of these tasks themselves.

These independence skills help in the transition to school as children arrive ready to learn rather than focusing on self help skills in their first few months at school.

Entrance Way

As you walk into kindergaten you will have noticed our wonderful new entrance way. This job was done by Ryan Hanna’s company RTH Building and Management Ltd (rthbuildingltd@gmail.com). It is fantastic to have a safer space to wait so that children and strollers can be off the footpath during our very busy times. Landscaping is on its way!

Sunblock and Hats

These are a must for Term 1. While we do have many shaded spaces at kindergarten and our new sunshades are working well it does get very hot here when there is no wind.

Please sunblock your child before they arrive at kindergarten.

Our Teaching Team

This year Rachel is studying for the year and has one release day per week. We are lucky enough to have Dale Gamby relieving for us on a Wednesday for the whole year. Jackie is also taking one days leave for the first term so Dale will be relieving on a Monday during this time.

Beach Explorers

Our Beach Explorer trips start again from next week for our Older Group. This term should bring us settled weather so we hope to run these every fortnight where possible.

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 a turn 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.

Dates to Remember

Date	Event
Mon 6^th Feb	Waitangi Day (holiday)
Wed 12 April	Last day of Term 1 (Older Group)
Thurs 13^th April	Last day of Term 1 (Younger 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).

Invoices will be coming out over the next few days so please check your mail pocket or emails. Thank you for your on going support.

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.

Wednesday, 14 December 2016

Merry Christmas

The team at Torbay would like to wish everyone a Merry and Safe Christmas and New Year.
Thank you for all your support throughout this year. It has been a busy one with many exciting things happening.
We look forward to seeing all our children and whanau in the New Year and welcoming new families to Torbay Kindergarten.
Our Older Group return to kindergarten from Tuesday 24th January and our Younger Group from Thursday 26th January.
We look forward to hearing stories of your summer holidays and hope that you enjoy time with family and friends.

Happy Christmas

Check out some of the photos of our Older Group Christmas Concert

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

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.