Changes at kindergarten and childrens interests

Here it is the beginning of term four and changes are happening. During the term break Chrissy left us to be part of the team diversifying at Rangitoto Kindergarten so now Leanne and I are the two full time teachers left. All part of the diversification procedure. We have working with us two teachers who are what is commonly known as .775 teachers. That is they work 31 hours a week most of which is contact time with the children and some professional time each day.
The change certainly means that we all have to rethink some of our practises especially around the end of session happenings but that will work itself out no doubt.
We have also changed our data base system which is proving a little challenging but our very capable administrator is coping well and will soon be on top of it all.

However these changes do not affect the children and so life continues to roll along for them all. By the time Dale arrived back from her overseas trip the term was two weeks underway and the children were already showing a variety of interests - insects, gardening, and sword making to name a few. The fine weather has provided the opportunity to undertake a great deal of outdoor sports events and the carpentry table has been well used with some new tools and equipment being provided.

With all this sunshine we have encouraged the children to embrace being safe in the sun. Hats must be worn outside and suncream applied after lunch. It certainly promises to be a very warm summer if this weather continues.

yeah. Permanent fourth teacher

It is with great pleasure that we announce that we now are a diversified kindergarten with a fourth permanent teacher. Karen has been appointed as our .775 teacher and it is great to know that this is a permanent placing. The team is working very competently together, taking up opportunities to be involved in professional development with each other and discovering commonalities of their teaching practises which impact on the learning environment of the kindergarten.

Term One 2010

Staring back for a new year was fantastic. Eveyone, children, teachers and parents/whanau were pleased to be back and the children just got straight into the swing of things. there were many opportunities for us to extend their learning through the interest in Butterlies and their life cycle, Frogs and Tadpoles and Sea Life. Later in the term there was a flurry of returning interest in swords and armour related to Knights and also paper planes, which provides many challenges for the teachers as well as the children. Some of the children were also very interested in sending little cars hurtling up and down pipes and exploring the forces of gravity.