June Newsletter 2023
Kia ora koutou,
It has been a busy June for us a Moa. Term 2 done and dusted! We are about to head into school holidays next week. If you are going to be away at all, please make sure you email through to the office.
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.
Over the last month, the management team have been super busy recruiting for our centre. Olivia started in the nursery room this week. Olivia has a huge passion for infants and toddlers. It so great to have her come on board.
We have employed Matt for the preschool room. Matt has been working in primary schools as a teacher aide. He has made the call to go into training, as an early childhood teacher. So, he will come on board as a teacher in training. We think Matt will be a fabulous fit for out preschool team. Once we have all his paper worked sorted, he will be starting with us. Hopefully next week or the week after.
We had our AGM last week. Firstly, I would like to take this opportunity to say a big thank you to all our wonderful members who came off this year. We have had a few. I just wanted to make a special mention to Kylie, Steve and Richard. A big thank you to them all, for all their hard work and support over the last 6 years. With Moa Kids being a community-based preschool that is not-for-profit, we have to have an active governance committee. So, I really appreciate all the support. We have had parents’ step into new roles, which is super exciting.
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. If you have covid in your household, children can still come in, as long as they are negative and have no symptoms. Call the office if you need to do a contactless drop off and we will sort out the best time for that.
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 your 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. This year we have decided to have a breakfast family event on Thursday 13th July at 7.30am. All the details were sent out with the holiday programme. But we are looking forward to having a shared kai in the morning, eating toast, drinking milo’s all in our p.js. We will be closed on Friday 14th July for the Matariki long weekend.
Last week I got some exciting/daunting news. I have been nominated to go up for the Early Childhood Council board for NZ. So, I will be now be off to the ECC conference in Wellington in July, where I’ll find out whether I have been elected. I personally have a huge passion for ECE education and believe that all tamariki should experience high quality early childhood education, no matter where a centre is located. Since coming aboard Moa and stepping into the community-based field, running a community-based centre, is where I have fallen in love with what community preschools have to offer. I have been a huge advocate for other community preschools, with the last 4 years sitting on the executive board of ‘’Canterbury community preschools’’. So, it is all very daunting, but exciting at the same time. I just wanted to say thanks to our governance committee, for supporting to me to do this.
Nga mihi maioha
Hayley
Welcome to our new families
A big welcome to Anya, Arabella and Frankie.
They are all settling in well and making the most of their time here.
Staff news:
A big congratulations to Margie. Her full teacher reg came in last week. Margie has worked extremely hard over the last few years and we are so happy that all her hard work has paid off.
Governance Committee
Next Governance Committee meeting is Monday 17th July 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.
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.
Preschool News
What an awesome couple of months we have had in the preschool.
We are well underway with our project around social and emotional competency and you will see some of this learning up on the wall.
The Kaiako have been communicating to the tamariki about being a “Bucket filler”. This is a concept of learning around being a good person and being kind to others, for example:
If the children are kind to each other and including their friends, they make their friends feel good which fills their bucket. The same applies when they are not being kind, it can empty their friends and their own bucket. We have found this to be very successful and a great strategy to use. I have heard the tamariki in the classroom communicating to each other about being a good friend and filling each other’s buckets. This really warms my heart as they are learning what we have been teaching and applying this to their friendships.
We have had a couple of visits to school, one to Redcliffs which was awesome as the tamariki got to showcase their amazing waiata to the tamariki at school and they have also had a visit to Sumner. Isn’t it fabulous that they get to visit their friends and have the experience of going to school.
We are well under way with our Matariki planning for the school holidays with a celebration the day before Matariki which will be a special breakfast. We will let you know more about this closer to the time. You will begin to see the Matariki stars go up in the classroom and the Tamariki singing the songs of Matariki, which is awesome.
We have, as a team, gone over what our expectations are around the different areas in the classroom so we are all on the same page. This helps the tamariki learn about this and being responsible for putting their resources away when they have finished using them. This is working well as we are empowering our older Tamariki to be Tino rangatiratanga in the classroom, which is being a leader and helping the tamariki younger than them to follow the expectations at moa.
Please can we ensure that names are on the tamariki’s clothing that is coming in. It makes it easier to put their things in the right bag to go home. Please keep bringing wet weather gear in, as we love to get outside and enjoy our beautiful environment, no matter the weather.
The Kaiako have been going on a course around te reo in the classroom. This has been seen in the classroom with the tamariki. They seem to be picking the new sentences up quite quicky. If you are unsure about any of the te reo Māori we are using, feel free to come and see one of the Kaiako, I am sure they can unpack this for you.
We have had lots of family play and hut building in the preschool, as well as the tamariki have been enjoying constructing with the mobile. We have printed some real-life pictures for them to use in the classroom that will support their learning. The tamariki have been actively engaged in baking and often request toast in the afternoon, so we have been getting creative with this as well.
Remember to check in with your Kaiako around what your Tamati is learning. We would love to unpack this with you and gain insight into the things they get involved in at home. Building relationships at Moa is most important to us.
Looking forward to a fun filled learning experience of Matariki this school holidays.
Nursery News
We have had a few new friends start in the Nursery. Anya, Arabella and Frankie.
It is so nice to have everyone settling in so well.
A big welcome to Olivia this week. It is really nice to have her on board and the children are loving getting to know her.
Emmie has almost completed her transition into the preschool room. She is very excited to spend time with her old nursery friends.
Teddy has now begun this exciting new chapter in his moa journey.
We said goodbye to Deb this month. We know she will have a wonderful time in her next lot of adventures.
As we have a number of older tamariki in the nursery room, we have been using more challenging obstacle courses and climbing equipment. Also setting out the plastic balls so the tamariki can practice their gross motor skills of catching, throwing and kicking.
Dolphin Club
Learning Term 2 Dolphin Club
· German Language: colours, numbers 1-10, days of the week, and greetings.
· 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: Alpha breaths, breathing exercises and have extended this by adding new alpha breathing exercises
· Matariki and naming stars, waiata songs and making a mural for Matariki.
Easy tuna bento balls
40 mins prep, 20 mins cook, makes 22-26
2 cups sushi rice
1/3 cup sushi seasoning
425g can tuna in brine, drained
125g can creamed corn
2 tbsp Japanese mayonnaise, plus extra to serve
1 avocado, peeled and seed removed
1/3 cup sesame seeds, toasted
Soy sauce, to serve
Method
Step 1
Place rice in a sieve and rinse under cold running water until water runs clear. Set aside to drain well. Place rice and 3 cups of water in a rice cooker and set to cook (see note). Stand, covered, for 10 minutes. Transfer rice to a large glass or ceramic bowl. Using a spatula, break up any lumps. Gently fold through sushi seasoning, lifting and turning until rice has cooled. Cover with a damp tea towel.
Step 2
Place tuna, corn and mayonnaise in a bowl and mix to combine. Finely chop 1/4 of the avocado and fold through.
Step 3
Using damp hands and 1 rounded tablespoon at a time, press firmly and shape rice into 22 to 26 balls. Holding 1 ball at a time, press 1 finger into the ball to form a hole. Fill with 2 teaspoons tuna mixture. Shape and fold rice to cover tuna. Roll balls in sesame seeds and refrigerate until required.
Step 4
Slice remaining avocado. Serve bento balls with avocado, salad leaves, edamame, Japanese mayo and soy sauce.
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
Don’t forget to like us on Facebook