Wellington Region Free Kindergarten Assn (WRKFA) is a not for profit organisation supporting 62 kindergartens across the Wellington region.
Term 2, 2012 Newsletter
An update for the families and whānau of Wellington Kindergartens
Kia Ora and welcome to our Term 2, 2012 Whānau Newsletter Well, winter is definitely upon us. Feels like each week the temperature drops a few degrees. Those mad people at Plimmerton Kindergarten hosted their annual mid-winter dip last week with record numbers of dippers! After a hail and southerly filled Saturday, Sunday dawned a sunny but brisk morning. ‘The dip has definitely become an anticipated event on the community calendar. This year our swimmers ranged from families, firefighters, politicians, coastguard. And the dip Crazy dippers take the plunge at Plimmerton Kindergarten mid-winter dip 2012 costumes have also taken on a life of their own! We had Mr Potato Heads, all manner of sea creatures and some dubiously dressed life guards and male ballerinas. I think a major part of the success is down to the fact that not only the kindergarten families but the whole Plimmerton community, local businesses and community groups get behind the event’ (Aaron Sherriff, kindergarten committee). So don’t fight winter, embrace it! Ka kite āno koutou katoa, from all our teachers and staff. See you all in term 3! Happy reading!
Kindergarten trial holiday programme a success Last term break we ran a holiday programme at Wellington South Kindergarten in Newtown. Children from all over Wellington attended the programme. Enrolments were open to children at all of our kindergartens. ‘We had great feedback from parents and caregivers. It was quite a different environment to traditional kindergarten because many of the children and whānau didn’t know each other or the kindergarten. As a teaching team, we focused on creating a sense of belonging for the children and it didn’t take long for them to build relationships amongst themselves and with us’ says Wellington South Head Teacher, Hayley Whitaker. The programme is running in the second week of the term 2/3 break. We still have a few spaces available for 3 and 4 year olds: Freddy the rabbit was a favourite with the children. 9 – 13 July, 8.30 – 2.30 pm each day. Please call us on 232 3069 if you would like more information. We are hoping to offer holiday programmes at our other kindergartens so look out for a programme near you.
Wellington Kindergartens Strategic Review for 2013-2017 Wellington Kindergartens strategic direction is set by our 5 year plan. This includes our vision, mission and goals. This year marks the end of the previous 5 year plan. As part of the review we ask for feedback from whānau, committees, teaching teams and other interested groups. In May, the Association sent out response forms to families, committees and kindergartens inviting ideas and feedback on our current plan. This feedback, along with environmental considerations like political impacts and the increasing diversity of our service (we now have under 2 year old children at some kindergartens, full day kindergartens and home based services to name but a few), will form the basis of our 2013-2017 plan. Thank you to all of those who took the time to respond. A working group made up of staff and Board members will be putting a draft plan out to you all at the beginning of August. We look forward to hearing from you. You can view the current strategic plan on our website homepage – www.wn-kindergarten.org.nz
Using IT and social media in our kindergartens Berhampore Kindergarten had a focus on ‘building relationships’ for term 2. Extending this focus to include children’s whānau and the wider community, they hosted Grandparents Day inviting grandparents to visit kindergarten. With many grandparents living overseas or other parts of the country they seized the opportunity to get the children using social media by skyping their grandparents – ‘The children were very excited to show off their grandparents to us and their friends, it was a huge novelty to have them at kindergarten. They also insisted we hold up the computer so grandparents could have a look around the kindergarten! We skyped grandparents in Southland and as far afield as Canada and England. Distance is no barrier to us. They could join in the singing but unfortunately couldn’t pass over a cuppa and a biscuit!’ (Head Teacher Margaret Jamieson).
2012 Teachers’ Conference
Professor Margaret Carr, Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit.
Over the holiday break, all of our teachers will attend Teachers’ Conference 2012. We are lucky to have recognised early childhood academics, researchers and specialists sharing their knowledge with our teachers. Professor Margaret Carr, Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her services to early childhood, is one of our keynote speakers. Co-director of the group that developed New Zealand’s early childhood education curriculum, Margaret is world renowned for her research in to how young children learn. Her work has laid the foundation for our influential curriculum and belief that qualified teachers are needed to provide the best environment for learning. We hope to provide excerpts of her speech on our website at the beginning of the new term if you are interested.
What’s happening in the early childhood sector in 2012? In Early Childhood Education (ECE), the Government’s ultimate aim is to improve participation of children in ‘quality’ ECE services. Our Association shares this goal and supports the need to improve quality across the sector. The 2011 report from the taskforce on early childhood education, An Agenda for Amazing Children, recognises the need for 100% qualified teachers. The government established the taskforce advisory group to make recommendations on lifting the quality of ECE services for all children and families. The Minister of Education recently released the group’s recommendations. Those relating to the importance of qualified teachers are: 1. Centre-based teacher-led services with low proportions of qualified and registered teachers were at higher risk of delivering low quality education. Therefore raising minimum standards around staff and qualifications would be one effective way to improve poor quality education. 2. The group recommends a target of 80% registered teachers from 1 July 2013 and a longer term goal of 100% registered teachers (given current fiscal circumstances). (http://www.lead.ece.govt.nz/ManagementInformation/RecentAnnouncements/ECEAdvisoryGroups.aspx) A further announcement on how the recommendations will be implemented will be made in August. We will let you know when the announcement is made.
Whānau Contributions – Supporting 100% qualified teachers It’s fantastic to see that contributions are being received from every one of our 62 kindergartens. Thank you to those kindergarten communities from Seatoun right through to Levin who have made a Whānau Contribution this term. Any contribution is gratefully received. All contributions go toward our teachers’ salaries, bridging the 2011 funding cut which penalises services with 100% qualified staff. All families should have received a receipt for their payments marking the end of the 2012 financial year. If you have not received a receipt, please email Sandra Beddow on sandrab@wn-kindergarten.org.nz.
Ko te tamaiti te pūtake o te kaupapa The child - the heart of the matter