Kia Ora Karori Kids Whānau,
I hope you are all well and safe.
Welcome to our new children who have joined us in March this year: Milo and Lewis. We look forward to getting to know you and your whānau. We also would like to say farewell to our kaiako, Eva Wang who had her last day this month. We would like to wish her the best of luck as she embarks on a different learning journey.
BUSY KARORI KIDS TAMARIKI
We are very fortunate that we have such a large outdoor area where our children can explore various play experiences while enjoying the benefit of being outdoors which is important for our health and well-being.
We have been encouraging our children to play outdoors, not only to meet Covid-19 public health measures, but also to recognise the value of having outdoor play in early childhood education. Apart from running, biking, and digging the garden, we also make sure that our tamariki do not miss out on traditional ‘indoor play’ activities such as construction, dramatic play, painting and drawing by providing these outside too.
Vincent and Catherine have been busy getting our whare ready which has been a very popular area amongst our tamariki. It has become a meeting place and quiet area for our tamariki to rest, have mat time, read books, and reenergise in preparation for the rest of the day.
Māori myths and Māori concepts have also been prominent this month.
· The power of pūrākau which is a story about the creation of the world, people and the natural environment was introduced to our tamariki. This was also re-enacted by our Thunderbirds group.
· Papatūānuku – the mother earth has also been associated in looking after our mother earth. Therefore, sustainable practices such as gardening, composting, reusing, and recycling have been promoted to Karori Kids.
· Kaitiaki- a New Zealand Māori term used for the concept of guardianship, for the sky, the sea, and the land. It is a guardian, and the process and practices of protecting and looking after the environment and is referred to as kaitiakitanga. This concept was also introduced to our tamariki as they participated in gardening.
· Tuakana-teina model- This Māori principle has been very popular as we have a lot of younger children who are new to our Centre. Our older children have taken a lot of initiative to assist our younger ones in settling in. We would like to acknowledge our older tamariki for supporting our younger ones in making them feel welcomed and engaged. (The tuakana–teina relationship, an integral part of traditional Māori society, provides a model for buddy systems. An older or more expert tuakana (brother, sister or cousin) helps and guides a younger or less expert teina (originally a younger sibling or cousin of the same gender).
Fees increase
From 1st of April, the fees at Karori Kids will be increasing by 5% to:
· $315 per week for two year olds.
· $231 per week for 3-4 year olds.
This is the first-time fees have been increased for more than 3 years. The fee increase is primarily driven by a need to:
Maintain a high standard teacher to child ratio and ensure that we can provide pay parity with kindergarten teachers which will help to attract and retain teachers.
Ensure enough provisions are set aside to continue to maintain a fit for purpose building and outdoor facility.
Autumn
As we approach the colder season, we encourage our parents to bring named warmer clothes for their child.
Dates to Remember:
Teachers Only Day: Tuesday, 19th of April 2022
Friday, 21st of October 2022
Parent Helpers
We continue to encourage our parents to help us maintain our outdoor area (i.e. lawn mowing, gardening) Please let us know if you could help us with this.
Covid-19 Protocols
We would like to continue encourage our parents to observe the public health measures to ensure the safety everyone:
- wear mask when onsite
--hand sanitizing/handwashing
- stay home and get tested if unwell
- maintain a metre distancing between/amongst adult
Policies Reviewed:
We have reviewed and updated the following policies: Fees policy, monthly health and safety checklist, procedures for soiled children and risk management plan for Ryman healthcare. These will be emailed to you before the end of the month.
Reminders: Up to date immunisation records
Please be reminded that we are still waiting for your child’s up to date immunisation record. Thank you to our parents who already gave me a copy of their child’s immunisation records.
FACEBOOK AND GOOGLE Please continue to like, share, and add reviews to our Karori Kids Preschool Facebook page and google. This will help in promoting our Preschool and getting our name out into the community.
GENERAL
Finally, I would like to thank everyone for their cooperation, kindness and understanding especially during this uncertain time. He waka eke noa!