September
2016
Term Dates:
Term 3:
Older
Group: 25 July – 21 Sept
Younger Group: 28 July – 23 Sept
Term 4:
Older Group: 10 Oct – 21 Dec
Younger Group: 13 Oct – 16 Dec
Teachers’ Update
This
term has been a busy one.
For our older group we
started with much interest around the upcoming Olympic Games. This gave us many
learning opportunities from flags, world maps, currency, languages and of
course sports. We started trying out our own Olympic events at kindergarten,
and found we had many budding weight lifters, long jumpers, gymnasts,
shotputters and runners. We extended on
these activities with a trip to the North Habour Gymnastic Centre where we had
the opportunity to try out the high beams, parallel and uneven bars, vault,
trampolines and more. We then had a medal ceremony on our return to
kindergarten, acknowledging all of our childrens amazing effort.
Market
Day has returned to kindergarten this term with children bringing in citrus
galore as well as herbs, carrots, leafy greens and eggs. We also contributed
bok choi out of the childrens kindergarten garden. This was another wonderful
opportunity for families to come together for a coffee and a chat while the
children had a chance to ‘shop’ amongst the delicious produce.
For
our younger group there has been a real focus on settling in new children and
getting to know the way we do things at kindergarten. It is great to see our
new children exploring our wonderful environment and establishing their sense
of belonging here.
Scholarship
Earlier
this year we applied for, and were lucky enough to be awarded a scholarship
from NAKA to further our Te Reo and Tikanga Maori. We now have Ally Gamby
coming in weekly to work with the children and teachers. She integrates
language, waiata (songs), myths, cultural practice and games into our morning
session. As teachers we are embracing this opportunity to extend our own
learning alongside the children. Have you noticed your children singing songs
or saying our karakia. We hear them in the playground sharing with their
friends.
What is your fundraising being used for?
We are grateful to everyone for helping out with
fundraising and paying your fundraising levy. This has enabled us to buy new
resources this term. We have purchased some new items for the light table
including coloured blocks, liquid timers and a full set of anthropods. We have
also purchased a full pa site complete with whare, fencing, waka and people.
This is a wonderful wooden set and has already been well used.
We are in the process of upgrading our outdoor
equipment and have installed a retractable hose and bought some new soccer
goals. We have new outdoor mats on order and will be having our shed refitted
so that our new equipment is stored safely and with easy access.
Quiz Night
A massive THANK YOU to Nicole Thompson and our
wonderful committee for bringing together a fantastic quiz night. The evening
was well attended with 17 tables, much laughter and some healthy competition.
A big thanks to everyone who contributed hamper items,
auction items, sponsorship, sold raffle tickets and attended the evening.
The evening raised $9200, which is impressive! This
will be used towards our shade sails to cover our concrete area, which gets
very hot in the summer.
Beach Explorers
Our Beach Explorers expeditions have continued through
winter but we are being a little bit flexible during this time due to weather
and tides. 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.
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.
Survey
Have you seen the survey on the ‘Torbay Facebook
page’ that has been set up to make Deep Creek Road safer for our children?
Please support this as it directly affects our community and ideally we would
like to see a zebra crossing to help slow traffic and make the road safer for
everyone. For more information you can visit Road Safety Petition
