With winter fast approaching the days are starting to get cooler. Please put into your childs bag plenty of warmer clothes and also a winter hat to keep them warm.

Introducing two new teachers in our Infants & Toddlers. Daniele joins the Morepork group fulltime. She is a qualified teacher from Brazil and has had her qualification assessed and given equivalence to degree level in Early Childhood Education. She is working hard on her English and hoping to sit and gain an appropriate level so that she can apply for Provisional Teacher Registration in the next month or so. We encourage you to talk to her so that she can work on her oral and aural skills prior to her test. Carla joins us in the Kea team three days per week. She is working hard on her masters thesis and needs the other days to focus on this. Her thesis is on bi-culturalism in Early Childhood Education which she hopes to submit by December this year.

John has decided to take a position at another centre where, on completion of his degree, he can start on his Masters focusing on special needs children and children from disadvantaged backgrounds. As he lives almost next door we think we may still see him visiting occasionally.

Congratulations to Shalini and Joel who got engaged in April.

Jojo our infant teacher is pregnant and due in December a brother or sister for Jonleo and Jodeci.

Amy our Morepork teacher is on practicum at Mangere Kindergarten for seven weeks and when she comes back she will be fully qualified and working full time again.

These are a time that the children and teachers come together to share ideas/theories and hypothesis together. It sets the tone for their time together as a group, where activities available can be discussed. It is a time where we value and respect the child’s voice but also challenge them to go even further with their thinking. It is a time to revisit and reflect upon work that has already happened during the course of previous days, a chance for these children who hadn’t been present to ‘catch up’ on the news. Even when the children are very young we try to set the tone for our meetings so that as they grow up and move through the centre they are already comfortable with sharing ideas and listening to others. For even our littlest children it is not about singing and dancing but a coming together, a chance to listen to others, share perspectives and ideas.

There has been a lot happening recently with staff away on courses. As mentioned in the last newsletter we were privileged to be able to listen and converse with Per (an educationalist from Sweden) and Tiziana (from Reggio, Italy). One of the many aspects that they accentuated was the role that we play as teachers, in creating an environment that is full of possibilities and opportunities for our children to encounter. It is through our observations, our dialogue and collaboration with our co-teachers about these & our understanding of what we have seen that allows us to create an environment of purpose, of intrigue and meaning. We, as teachers, set up these situations of investigation in the centre, and we have a clear idea or purpose as to what we are trying to aim with this proposal. “What are we wishing for the children to engage in and why?” I suppose for me what I came away with from that week of discussions was the phrase “what is the purpose of this?” All our teachers attended some form of professional development during this time, everyone came back inspired and of course with more questions.

Hopefully this winter we have no outbreaks of swine-flu or other flu epidemics! But the reality is winter will soon be upon us and with the colder weather comes an increase in colds and flu bugs. In order to contain these quick spreading viruses we will need to work together to keep both our children as well as our teachers healthy.

Having children who are unwell in the centre first impacts on their day but also means illnesses get spread to others around them. This in turn affects many families as parents and whanau need to take time off work which we understand is difficult for everyone involved. Another issue of illnesses being spread that often gets overlooked is that our teachers are exposed daily to every bug that is circulating. Teachers being away from the centre effects every child and so it is important that we consider their wellbeing as well. When a child is unwell during the day one teacher is taken away from the group to look after and comfort them. Again impacting all the well children within the centre.

If your child has a temperature, conjunctivitis or has diarrhoea or vomiting they must be collected immediately from the centre to prevent spread of infection to others and for their own well being. If your child has green nasal discharge and is generally unwell they must be at home until they are better and can benefit from their time at Bear Park.

We understand you all have busy lives but we believe if we work together to be responsible about illnesses we can minimize the impact of winter bugs. We appreciate your understanding and co-operation in this important issue as we head into winter.

Entertainment books are available to purchase in order to raise funds for Eden Creative Recycling. The books have all sorts of great vouchers in them for restaurants, zoo, cafes, movies etc. You only need to go out for dinner twice to pay for the book, maybe share it with a friend! Orders need to be given to us by the 19th May.

We have now had our door handle break twice this month. Our handles do see a lot of action during the day, however, children hanging off them as they enter and leave the centre is a contributing factor. Please do not allow your child to hang off the handle.

Our daily diaries are displayed in our foyer for you to read as you pick up your child. Daily Diary is a great way to start a conversation on the way home as it highlights something that has happened in the day. Daily diary can be a collection of photos, a variety of activities experienced by children in the group that day, or it maybe a story on one moment with one child. The idea is for you to get a ‘taste’ of something that’s gone on today. These can be spontaneous magic moments or planned for activities, however we don’t plan to include/cover all children over a period of time. Be assured your child has been busy and engaged with their friends and teachers. If you want to know more about your child’s day feel free to talk to a teacher.