December Newsletter 2023
Pongo pānui/Newsletter
Term 4 2023
Kia ora koutou
Well, we haven’t had a newsletter for a few months, so I’m finishing off with an update for term 4.
We have had a few new families start since the last newsletter was sent out. So, a big welcome to all our new families. Everyone is settling in really well to Moa.
The spring bugs have been out and about this month and I feel they are never ending. We often find in spring where we get the odd warm day and then back to cold that we often see a spike in colds and other winter bugs. This has been the case recently. I just want to say a huge thank you to everyone for keeping their children off when they are not 100%. I am hoping with summer now upon us we start to see the decline in these bugs. Covid has certainly changed the way bugs tend to float around. Bring on Summer.
We have a new fundraising committee and focus at Moa. We would love to get Solar Panels on our roof, so this of course is a big goal, but something I feel Moa can chip away at. We have had few fundraising events over the last term and I just a want to thank everyone for all their support and help on these. We have our ‘’Power Quiz’’ coming up on February 17. Make sure you pencil this in your diary and get your team together.
This year our team has been doing work on an internal evaluation around ‘Culture, Language and Identity.’ One of these is our whanaungatanga page that goes in the start of each child’s profile book. A few have emailed back these; we would really love if all families get these filled out for the start of next year.
With the Christmas break just around the corner, please can families email through any holiday dates so we can apply the holiday rate to your bookings. We close at 3pm on Friday 22nd December and open on Monday 8th January at 8am.
Our children are very excited for the Childrens Christmas concert. Please see below for all the details of the
Christmas party and Picnic on Thursday 7th December. We ask that children wear festive clothing or colours this year:
4.00pm – 5.30pm
4.00pm: start to arrive. Bring a picnic blanket and picnic dinner. Find a place to set up in the park by the swing area.
4.10pm: children's Xmas concert, we will start this at 4.10pm sharp, in the park.
4.30pm: Loopy Tunes will perform (Music entertainment).
5/5.15pm: Santa will arrive.
5.30pm: it will be all over for another year. Families often stay around in the park with their picnic.
With the event in the park, if the weather doesn't play ball we will cancel this event. With the numbers we have now it is too big to have in the centre. But I haven't had to cancel once yet, so fingers crossed. Any questions please feel free to email through.
My last day for the year is the children’s Christmas concert. What a way to finish the year. We are heading back to Ireland for Christmas. So, I’ll be on annual leave from the 8th of December and will be back on the first day of Moa on 8th January. I just want to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their continued support this year. It certainly has been a busy one with a few staff changes added in. I’m looking forward to our holiday and break. I look forward to what next year brings for us at Moa and working with you all again.
Enjoy the last weeks of 2023.
Nga mihi maioha
Hayley
Welcome to our new families
They are all settling in well and making the most of their time here.
We said goodbye to Ida, Heidi, William, Ameila and Cara this term. They all have started their primary school journey. We wish them all the best.
Reminders:
· Lunch boxes: You have most probably noticed the very full lunchbox shelf in the preschool. We would really appreciate it if all children’s lunch boxes, drink bottles and food contain could be named, as well as food that needs to go in the fridge. There is a permanent marker attached to the basket for the food that needs to be kept in the fridge. Thanks.
· Nut Free Zone: Moa Kids is a “nut free” zone. Lately we have been noticing a lot of nut products coming in - cashews, almonds, peanut butter sandwiches etc. Please can you remember that we are a nut free zone when you are making your child’s lunch.
· Lost Property: We have a large amount of lost property. Please come and have a look to see if the treasures and clothing belong to your family. The lost property is in the foyer. Please name all clothing that comes to preschool as this really helps us to return clothing and hats back to the correct person. Thanks.
· Show and tell: Each child who attends the preschool room has a show and tell day. This is the day where they can bring in something special to show their peers. We know lots of our friends like to bring in toys and often it is the same toy from the week before. We are not saying no toys, but if parents could get the children to have a think of something different each time, this will help their child when they get up to talk about their “show and tell”. Remember that you are most welcome to email in any photos of what they have been getting up to over the weekend. This goes down really well and the children normally have lots to say about it. Can you please remember to take home your child’s show and tell item? The basket seems very full.
· Moved House? We know many of you have recently moved house. Can you please ensure you have updated Hanna or myself in the office so we can make sure our system is up to date.
· Nappies: Some parents choose to bring a bag of nappies in for their child and we let the families know when they are running low by writing on the daily role sheet. Please make sure when you see “please bring nappies” that you bring them in as soon as you can. We have emergency nappies if children run out, but these need to be replaced if used. We unfortunately are not in the position to be supplying nappies to children.
· Preschool Door: Please can all families make sure you are shutting the preschool door behind you. 9am and 3pm are a busy time with children and families coming in and out. If all families can please make sure there is a parent with each child it would be much appreciated
Governance Committee
We have finished our meetings for the year. The next Governance Committee meeting is Monday 15th January and will be held here at the centre at 7.30pm.
Preschool News
Wow I cannot believe we are so close to Christmas already! There is a flurry of excitement at Moa.
We have been so busy over the term and have taken every opportunity possible to get out and about to the field and to the Redcliffs playground as well as the library.
We have managed two school visits this term which is fantastic as it can be a very busy time of year in schools now, so we were lucky that they were able to fit us in. We also had a small kapa haka group come and share with us waiata and actions from Redcliffs school which was a highlight.
We have many trips coming up in the coming weeks, such as going to the botanical gardens, off to see the Ballantynes Christmas window, and we also have a trip coming up to the retirement village in Sumner. We will dress up and sing our Christmas waiata to all the wonderful people there. The tamariki will also make cards and biscuits to take with us to share.
The tamariki are very excited about the Christmas concert and you would have noticed this coming home as we are in full swing practicing all our songs. We will be recording the tamariki in preschool practicing and will share this after the concert. We would also like to ask for all the tamariki, if they want to, to dress up in Christmas clothes for the concert. We will also have plenty of spare dress-ups here as well, so there’s no pressure to do this.
We have been working on an emergent review at Moa around culture, language, and identity, this had taken us on a wonderful journey of learning and growing as teachers and understanding where we need to improve and how we can grow as a preschool and community. So, with this in mind we have decided that our project will be about culture connectiveness. This means that we would really like to get to know our whānau in a deeper and more meaningful way. We are keen to know about your traditions at home, the things your whānau care about and what is important to you. We will be asking for favourite recipes and will make our own Moa kids recipe book, as well as knowing what the meaning is behind your tamariki names and going deeper into understanding the culture, identity, and languages of all our whānau. We would love you to share with us in this and it to be a real partnership. The project plan is on the wall in the classroom. Check it out and come and have a korero anytime.
Make sure you check out our whānau Facebook page, as on here you will find a lot of the learning that we get up to at Moa as well as the important events and birthdays, and being able to see what we are up to and the amazing learning that comes from this.
What an awesome year of learning and growing and we thank you for allowing us to be part of your lives and teaching your amazing Tamariki. I cannot wait to see what next year brings and the learning that will come from this.
Nga mihi
Shay and the preschool team
Nursery News
This term we have welcomed Olive, Copper’s little sister, and Summer. They are both settling in well and enjoying their time at Moa.
We have also said goodbye to Onai and Bodhi’s families this month. We wish them all the best for their next adventures.
Transition into the preschool has been super busy this term. Mack, Prue, Winnie and Eleanor are now all settled into the preschool life and routine. Harriette has just turned two and is enjoining the new adventures and opportunities on offer. Lottie has also just begun her journey into the preschool.
A number of our tamariki have had 1st birthdays this term - Ollie, Olive, Autumn and Frankie.
The have been very foutrne to have a new pram to go on outings with. The tamariki are loving the opportunites to go out and explore our community. We often walk down to the Yacht Club to see all the boats. We are also enjoying trips to the field to kick a ball around or watch all the people walking their dogs.
A big thank you to all the support we had at our Nursery Christmas party. It was a great time to come together and celebrate with special mat time and to share Kai.
Dolphin Club
We have been getting into the Christmas spirit this term. We are doing the Kiwi Xmas book to reenact, and making props.
Learning Term 4 Dolphin Club
· Christmas craft, making cards for the community
· Te Reo Māori, waiata, karakia.
· Trips in the community
· Scavenger hunt to the gardens
· School visits to Redcliffs and Sumner
· Nursing home visto in Sumner Village to sing Christmas songs
· Welcoming different traditions within the preschool room
· Name recognition
Christmas gingerbread reindeer
Ingredients
· 1/2 cup butter (softened)
· 1/2 cup brown sugar (lightly packed)
· 1 egg (yolk only)
· 1/2 cup golden syrup
· 2 1/2 cups plain flour
· 1 1/2 tbs ground ginger
· 1 tsp mixed spice
· 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
· white writing icing
· black writing icing
· red mini-M&Ms
Method
1. Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan-forced). Line a tray with baking paper and set aside. Beat butter and brown sugar together using an electric beater, stand mixer or food processor. Add egg yolk and golden syrup and mix until combined. Add flour, ginger, mixed spice and bicarb soda and combine.
2. Place onto a piece of baking paper and then cover with another piece of baking paper – using a rolling pin, roll out the dough until 5mm thick and cut out shapes (kids can help here). Re-roll as needed, but keep using the baking paper.
3. Move the cut shapes over to greased baking trays with a spatula/egg flip and bake for 8-10 minutes. Once baked, let cool for 10 minutes on the tray and then transfer to cooling rack.
4. Using the white writing icing, outline the ears, draw antlers, eyes and eyebrows. Using the black writing icing, dot the eyes and draw a mouth. Place a red M&M's MINIS on the nose.