January /February 2023 Newsletter
Who would believe that I am writing the first newsletter for 2023 and we are 2 months into the year already?
A big Moa welcome to all our new families that have joined this year. Everyone is settling in well and making the most of their time.
For our new families we send Newsletters out at the end of each Month. With us being closed at the start of January, we tend to send out the first one in February.
We hope you all had a wonderful break over Xmas and the January period. It was so nice to have everyone back. We have been back in full swing since after Waitangi weekend.
We have lots of our friends turning 5 over the year. We have a very large waitlist at Moa, so our system automatically has the children leaving when they are 5. It is really important we have your child’s last day dates in our system. If you are planning on sending your child later on, and not on the cohort entry they would normally start, this is absolutely fine, please just make us aware of this.
We have a few Friday spaces still left in both rooms. If this is something you would like to pick up, please come and see me, as these will not last.
We are excited to have our annual fish and chip/picnic evening at Moa on Thursday 3rd of March. This is a relaxed event where we welcome in all our new families to our centre and it’s a good chance for everyone to catch up.
Details:
· BYO: Bring along your Dinner/Picnic Fish and chips
· 5pm- 6pm here at Moa, in the preschool playground.
· If you have a picnic blanket feel free to bring, we will have a few out.
Governance Committee:
With new families joining Moa, it’s a good time to explain about us being a community-based preschool and what that is all about. With being a non-profit preschool, we are required to have an active governance committee which is made up of parents. We meet once a month, which is normally the third Monday of the month, here at the centre @ 7.30pm.
It means every year at our AGM (May) we look for new families to come onto this. This year we have some very long serving/amazing parents leaving. So, we will be looking for new families to join us this year. If anyone is interested, or would love to pop along to a meeting to see what it is all about, please come and see me. We have a great brochure that explains the roles and I am happy to have a chat with people and explain a bit more.
With Moa Kids being a not-for-profit community-based centre, fundraising events play a very important part in our way of life. It is really important that all our fundraising events are supported by our families. Over the last few years with covid we have really struggled to have these events, without them being cancelled. However, this year we are hoping to set up a separate Fundraising committee, where they will come up with a goal and arrange events. If you think, this sounds like you, please email Dawn or I and we will set this up.
If you have a sibling that is wanting space for 2023 at any stage, please make sure you come and see me. Siblings of course get preference; I just need to be aware of when you are wanting to start and also the day required. Please remember that my door is always open. Please feel free to come and see me if you have any questions or concerns.
My personal Moa email is Hayley.flanagan@moakids.org.nz if you would prefer to send straight to me.
Hayley
Welcome to our new families:
A big welcome to Hugo, Tommy, Sophie, Harriette, Willow, Eleanor, Onai, Maisie and Casey to Moa Kids. They are all settling in well and making the most of their time here.
Goodbyes
Imogen, Romy, Leo, Norah and Toren have all turned the big 5 and have headed off to school. We wish the all the best for her next adventures.
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 containers 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 Dawn 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.
· Bread bags: Please bring in any used bread bags for the preschool. These are used for toileting.
Governance Committee
Next Governance Committee meeting is Monday 20th March 2023. This is online due to current alert levels. Please make sure Committee members are checking your Moa emails for meeting links and also information that needs to be read before meeting.
Preschool News
We are in full swing into our project of “All about me”. Kaiako have been very busy with different activities and mat time experiences. Examples: learning numeracy through counting out how many we have in our families and putting this into a graph. Some Kaiako have been making posters with the Tamariki and these will be on display in the classroom. All our project work is Reggio inspired and goes into the project book which is located on the shelf just as you walk into the classroom. You are more than welcome to browse through this and even take it home for a night!
Over the next few weeks, we will be observing the Tamariki in their learning and seeing what our next project will be as this is Tamariki led, so watch this space.
We have some trips coming up to Redcliffs school and Sumner school. These trips are for the eldest four-year-olds to get an understanding of what school is all about, routines, stations etc, regardless of whether your Tamariki is going there.
We are also making links with the retirement village in Sumner. We will be exploring the next part of our Moa Pepeha by visiting the Opawaho awa (Heathcote River) taking some photos from a distance and communicating why this is important to Moa and what lives in the awa (river). If you have any questions about trips, please feel free to communicate with me (Shay).
Planning for Tamariki is in full swing. Keep in contact with your children’s planning Kaiako and they will be able to share with you the goals and aspirations they are working on with your Tamariki. It is important to know that this is a partnership between Whānau (parents) and Kaiako (teacher) and we want to provide the best possible learning outcomes for your Tamariki while they are here at Moa. The individual goals for each Tamariki are displayed on the wall to your right as you walk into the classroom. Your Kaiako will be approaching you over the next two weeks to fill in the whanaungatanga page at the front of the profile books. This is the all about me page and also helps us to know more about your whānau and your tamariki. Thank you to those who have already done this.
We have had some amazing weather over the last couple of months so remember to pack plenty of clothes for water and messy play. These are amazing sensory activities which help Tamariki to connect with nature and have a real sensory experience. This can also be a very calming space for Tamariki to play as they are actively relaxing while also learning all about math concepts such as fractions, empty, half full, full; Learning about estimating and conservation of volume, making friends and developing a sense of enjoyment.
We have had quite a few Tamariki settling in from the nursery at the moment and we are teaching the Tamariki all about the routines at Moa. One aspect that we are teaching is “Walking feet inside”, so with this in mind you might see a few changes to the furniture to support this learning in the preschool, with us being a young preschool with plenty of two- and three-year-olds.
The Tamariki are engrossed in Waiata time at Moa and love retelling the legends of Te aō Māori. If you want a list of some of the Waiata, please feel free to communicate with the Kaiako and we can provide this for you. We are moving into acting out the legends at the moment. The Tamariki have been really enjoying the legend of Ranganui (sky father) and Papatuanuku (earth mother), as well as the legend “Tamatea to pokai and the fireball sisters”.
We’re looking forward to what the year bring us and the amazing growing and learning we will see throughout the preschool.
Nursery News
Wow, what a busy start to the year. We have had lots of new friends start in the Nursery. It is so nice to have everyone settling in so well. A big Moa welcome.
With a lot of new families and our old friends returning from holidays and new children starting, the nursery Kaiako are focusing on extending children’s sense of belonging and finding their place. We have a wall display up in the nursery of all our holiday snaps.
So, our focus board has been celebrating the connection between home and Moa. The tamariki have enjoyed looking at their summer fun photos on the display wall.
Thomas, Grace and Xavier have completed their transition into the preschool room. Mala and Isabella have started their transition into this room. They are enjoying lots of new things in the Preschool and making the most of the time in there.
The children have been loving the warmer weather and getting outside more and more. They just love any type of water play. We have been starting to get out the sprinkler on warm days, which they have also loved. This is a great way to keep cool during the warmer weather.
The nursery tamariki are really into reading books at present. Exploring books starts the literacy journey for tamariki. They enjoy recognizing pictures and repeating words that are read out loud to them.
Dolphin Club
Wow, we are back into full swing in the Dolphin club.
This term we have Emily and Terehia running it.
It is really working really well just having the 4 years olds at Dolphin Club. There is a lot more buy in from the children, allowing the teachers to extend the project more.
“All about me” project activities:
Who is in our family, who lives at our house; our families and what we like to do with our families; describing and drawing our homes. We’ve also made a road to add our homes too.
We have also been ending our session with positive love hearts with saying what went well today.
Gluten-free ham and corn fritters
INGREDIENTS
100g sliced gluten-free ham, chopped
125g can corn kernels, drained
2 spring onions, thinly sliced
1/4 cup (35g) gluten-free self-raising flour
1 egg, lightly whisked
2 tbs milk
2 tbs olive oil
METHOD
Step 1
Place the ham, corn, spring onion, flour, egg and milk in a medium bowl. Stir until well combined. Season.
Step 2
Heat the oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add four 1/4-cup (60ml) portions of the egg mixture to pan. Use a spatula to flatten slightly. Cook for 2-3 mins each side or until golden brown and cooked through. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towel. Set aside to cool slightly. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Contact Us
Centre Manager: Hayley Flanagan
Centre Administrator: Dawn Critchley
Address: Main Road, Redcliffs, Christchurch 8081
Email: admin@moakids.org.nz
Phone: 03 384 1910 Web: www.moakids.org.nz
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