Newsletter April / May 2023
Kia ora koutou,
Just like that, we have nearly finished the last month of Autumn and are heading into the winter months. I cannot believe it is June at the end of this week.
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.
We are heading into a long weekend this weekend. Just a reminder we will be closed on Monday 5th June. If you are taking advantage of the long weekend and extend this weekend, please remember to let us know if your child will be away.
Well, as always, there has been a lot happening at Moa over the last few months. Throw in my annual leave there as well, it has been all go.
We had Deb and Rebecca hand in their notices in April. We will miss them both and thank them for their 5 year service to Moa kids. This of course means we are on the hunt for our next two super stars.
Kat has moved into the nursery room and we have Olivia starting with us on Monday 29thJune. Olivia is a young, fully registered teacher who has a passion for working with infants and toddlers and is especially experienced in the RIE philosophy. We are really excited to have her come on board and join our team.
We continue to look for a preschool teacher, to cover Kat’s place in the preschool room. We did have an extra teacher in there, so we are looking for a teacher. However, we are looking for the right fit. So, until that person comes long, we will be able to cover it with the teachers we have and our relieving team. If anyone has any questions around this, please come and see me.
With travel back to full swing after covid, I know a few of our families are planning to head back to UK, Ireland and other places to visit family this winter. It is really important that you let me know when this is happening and for how long. This is so we can work out a plan getting you back in, especially if it’s longer than 3 week 4 weeks. Please feel free to come and have a chat with me if you have any further questions around this.
With Moa being a community-based preschool, it means that we are required to have an active governance committee. We have had to move our AGM to the next meeting which is Monday 19th June. We have a lot of new families join us recently. If anyone is it interested in coming on, or hearing more about the governance committee, please let me know.
Covid: Just a reminder that Moa has RAT tests if you need them. We know COVID is still floating around and also in the community. So please feel free to come grab some if you need. At this stage the isolation period still sits at seven days. If there are any changes around this, I will update as soon as we know. With winter upon us, please remember to keep children home if they are unwell. We understand if we kept every child off with a slightly clear runny nose and cough, we would have no one here in winter. But if you child is full of a cold, not 100%, we really appreciate that they are kept off, until they’re back to full health.
Matariki is just around the corner. We will be having a family event around this. So, watch this space. We will be closed on Friday 14th July for the Matariki long weekend.
Remember my door is always open. My personal Moa email is Hayley.flanagan@moakids.org.nz if you would prefer to send straight to me.
Nga mihi maioha
Hayley
Welcome to our new families
A big welcome to Autumn, Arabella, Cadence, Nayvie, Frankie, Hendrix, Winston, Anya and Bodhi
They are all settling in well and making the most of their time here.
Hugo, Milo, Anthea and Imogen have all headed off to school. We wish them all the best and can’t wait to hear how they are all doing.
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 our AGM, Monday 19th June 2023. This will be held here at the centre at 7.30pm. Please make sure Committee members are checking your Moa emails for meeting links and also information that needs to be read before the meeting.
Preschool News
Wow it’s that time already!! We have been very busy in the preschool this term with children heading off to school and many 5th birthdays!
We have had a wonderful holiday programme in April, as you would have seen on our Facebook page.
We have been on many trips around the community such as the Redcliff’s playground for children to be able to challenge themselves in another way, which is developing their gross motor skills. There will be another trip coming up to the schools in the area, so watch this space.
Our project is “Developing social and emotional competency” you can read about what this involved on our project board in the classroom. This will help children with their social skills and develop emotional maturity as well. We look forward to watching the learning that will come from this.
We are also thinking of joining Te Raekura Redcliffs School kapa haka group for a session in the future. Shay and Terehia’s visit went well to rapaki and we were able to connect with the marae as well as share some of the amazing te reo that we have been doing in the classroom with rapaki. We hope to hear from them in term three and begin working on our own cultural narrative for moa.
We are going on a journey with our profile books and we are starting to include more te reo and traditions that are important to your family.
If there is any te reo in the learning journals you don’t understand please see your child’s teacher or Shay and Terehia and they will be happy to help unpack this.
The more we know about your family and the traditions that are important to you the better we get to know your child and your family as a whole. This then will also create opportunities in the classroom to make those important connections to home.
We are revamping our whanaungatanga page at the front of the profile books. So, if you could please fill this page in, as this is all about your child and your family.
Can we please also make sure your children’s clothing is named, as this makes it easier for teachers to put items where they belong.
As winter is coming the children will need jackets and gumboots, as we like to get outside no matter what the weather brings.
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 welcome to Oliver this month.
Our focus board has been looking at our nursery tamariki family time . With this information we can build a strong connection between home and preschool.
Dolphin Club
Learning Term 2 Dolphin Club
· German Language
· Learning the calendar, days of the week, months, seasons, dates.
· Literacy: Upper- and lower-case letters
· Te Reo Māori, waiata, karakia, place names
· Learning ‘All about me’ project
· Emotional regulation
· Breathing exercises
Pumpkin soup
Ingredients
1 kg pumpkin, peeled, chopped
3 cloves garlic
1 medium brown onion, peeled, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups (750mL) chicken stock (or vegetable stock for veggies)
2/3 cup (160mL) cream
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, finely chopped
Salt
Method
Preheat your oven to moderately hot (200°C or 180°C fan-bake).
Combine pumpkin, garlic and onion in a large baking dish; drizzle with oil.
Roast for about 40 minutes then remove garlic and put aside. Continue roasting the pumpkin and onion for about another 20 minutes or until soft.
Squeeze the roasted garlic out of its skin, then blend or process the roasted vegetables with stock until smooth.
Place the pumpkin purée in a large saucepan, stir over heat until hot; stir in cream and thyme.
Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Serve your pumpkin soup with hot crusty bread. Garnish with roasted pumpkin seeds and a large dollop of sour cream if desired.
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