A warm Manaaki welcome to our new Tamariki and whānau. We look forward to you all feeling a sense of belonging and being involved in our programme.

In Manaaki we have been discussing ‘what it means to be kind’ and how can we be kind and respectful at Preschool. The Tamariki came up with these ideas :

· Look after younger children

· Remind our friends not to drop their rubbish

· Use our manners

· Talk nicely to each other

· Use gentle hands

· If someone is crying give them a flower to cheer them up

Following on from these discussions and ideas, we talked with the Tamariki about starting a kindness jar. This jar sits on the shelf and the Tamariki will be able to add a pom pom to it when they are acknowledged for their acts of kindness at the end of the day mat time. When the jar is full the Tamariki and kaiako will decide on a special day – PJ and movie, disco, bring your bike.

Establishing our kindness jar and what it means to be kind and respectful aligns with our centre values which the tamariki have been introduced to. Our centre values are:

Manaakitanga – respect and kindness

Whanaungatanga – relationships

Whakawhiti Korero – communication

Tiakitanga – enviroschools, guardianship, protection

If you have any questions regarding this, please speak with Kaiako and we will be happy to discuss it with you.

We have been enjoying the beautiful spring days that have arrived (not the wind though) and with this it reminds us that we need to now remember to bring in a named sun hat. We will be applying sun screen to everyone at 11am each day. If you would prefer your Tamariki to have their own sun screen applied, please bring a named bottle, which can stay at Preschool. Thank you.

From all the Manaaki Staff.