Pongo pānui/Newsletter March 2023
Kia ora koutou,
Just like that we have had our first month of Autumn and we’re nearly through term 1. Everyone has settled in well at Moa and making the most of their time with us.
A big thankyou to everyone that came along to our first family evening of the year. The annual picnic/fish and chip evening is always nice to connect with each other and put names to faces for our families. Community is the heart of Moa, so we always love that these events are so well supported.
Last week you would have seen my email regarding fee increases from May 2023. If anyone missed this or needs me to unpack this further, please come and see me.
We have our first set of school holidays just around the corner, so can families please make sure they let us know if they will be away.
We are open school holidays, but will be closed Good Friday 7th April, Easter Monday 10th April then Tuesday 25th April for Anzac Day. At Moa, over the school holidays, we always do a holiday programme in the preschool room. This is to help get children excited to come in, even if siblings are at home. We will get this sent out the last week of term (next week), so you know what will be on each day.
With travel back to semi normal 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 how long for. 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 we are required to have an active governance committee which is made up of parents. Consequently, every year at our AGM (May 22nd), 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. If anyone is interested, 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. There will also be cheese and wine, if that helps.
At Moa we continue to review and evaluate our practices to ensure the best outcomes for our learners. This year our big focus across the centre is “Culture, Language and Identity’’.
Our evaluative question is ‘’ How effectively are we supporting the cultural and linguistic diversity of all tamariki as part of promoting an inclusive environment? “
Over the next few months, we will be reviewing different processes throughout the evaluation and seeking feedback from families as part of this process. So, watch this space.
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 them.
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 Flossie and Casey and their families.
They are both settling in well and making the most of their time here.
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 17th April 2023. This will be online due to school holidays and lower numbers. 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
Wow, what a term we have had. We have been busy wrapping up our “All about me project”
We are now looking into a project around developing social and emotional competency! We are not sure how this will look yet; however, we have noticed children are needing support to manage emotions and support in the process of making friends. We will have the new project, learning outcomes and the activities we will be doing, at the start of term two. Please check this out and if you have any suggestions for the plan, we would love to include this.
We have brought in a big pirate box which is full of dress ups and the children’s imaginative play has been extended within this. It has been lovely watching this learning through play unfold.
We have managed our first school visit to Sumner this term, which was awesome to connect with the teachers and children. It was really pleasing to see the connections of learning we have made through dolphin club and that we are on the same page with being school ready.
Terehia and Shay are heading to Rapaki Marae this week and will be representing Moa Kids, which is exciting. We are hoping to make connections with our local iwi and begin our Moa kids’ cultural narrative journey.
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.
Mala has completed her transition into the preschool room. She is loving joining her other friends that have already transitioned through.
Isabella is also on her transition into this room. She is enjoying the new opportunties in the preschool as she heads towards her 2nd birthday.
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.
The nursery tamariki have been enjoying many baking opportunites. We have been creative and made some date scones, cupcakes, cheese toasties and even some afghans.
They sure love the end process, eating their final product at Kai time in the afternnoon. Through these experiences the tamariki have been increasing their social awareness, sharing equipment and each other’s space. Also creating working theories, how things are made, what happens when …., why we do this ….
Dolphin Club
Learning Term 1 Dolphin Club
· Practising our vowels
· Learning the calendar
· Numeracy and literacy
· Te Reo Maori, waiata, karakia, place names and legends.
· Community outings: Lyttleton, Cashmere, Opawaho river and our local neighbourhood
· Learning ‘All about me’ project
· Fine motor skills
Traditional hot cross buns
· Serves Makes 16
· Prep time: 20 mins
· Cooking time: 20-25 mins
Ingredients
6 teaspoons compressed yeast
1 teaspoon flour
1 teaspoon White Sugar
1 1/4 cup milk, scalded
4 cups flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon mixed spice
60g butter
1/4 cup White Sugar, extra
1 cup sultanas or sultanas/currants/peel
1 egg, beaten
1 cup flour (cross paste)
cold water (cross paste)
1 tablespoon Caster Sugar (glaze)
1 tablespoon water (glaze)
1 teaspoon gelatine (glaze)
Method
Dough
Crumble yeast into a small bowl, add the teaspoon each of flour and sugar. Mix in the milk which has been cooled slightly, cover and leave in warm place for 10 mins.
Sift the flour, salt and spice into a large bowl; rub in the butter and add the sugar and sultanas.
Add the beaten egg to the sponged yeast mixture and beat into the flour mixture until a soft dough is formed.
Knead until light and smooth and no longer sticky.
Place dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap and a clean cloth and allow to stand in a warm place until double in bulk (about 40 mins).
Turn onto a lightly floured surface, punch down and knead dough until smooth and elastic.
Divide dough into 16 even-sized pieces - knead each into a round shape. Place on a greased slide tray 1cm apart. Cover and stand in a warm place until well risen (about 10-15 mins).
Cross Paste
Mix sufficient cold water into the flour to make a soft paste and pipe a cross on each bun.
Then bake at 220°C conventional (200°C fan forced) for about 20 minutes.
Glaze
Heat the caster sugar, water and gelatine in a saucepan and simmer 1 minute.
When the buns are cooked glaze them with the gelatine mixture while still hot.
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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