We have sadly said goodbye to Chontelle, as she has made the decision to leave Swannanoa Preschool to spend more time with her family. We will all miss the kind, caring and nurturing person that she is, but look forward to her coming back to do some relieving for us – so we will see her soon.

As we say goodbye to Chontelle, we also welcome Tamara, who joined us in Manaaki on the 2nd of Aug. Please introduce yourself to her. 

Tamariki are showing a strong interest in construction, which continues to grow. We continue to see amazing designs and ideas with the different construction equipment. The tamariki are really enjoying discovering different ways in which they can use the equipment and that their imaginations can go anywhere. As well as construction with different equipment, there are amazing ideas being created with boxes, paper, stickers, cards etc. With the extra space that we now have, the tamariki are finding themselves in an area that allows them to spread out and really grow their ideas. Enjoying time and space to explore, play with ideas and materials allows tamariki to generate their own working theories and find their own creative ways to represent their ideas. If you have any old cards, wrapping paper, boxes (no egg cartons), or other materials that we can use for creative exploration, we would greatly appreciate them, thank you. 

We have all been enjoying following the Olympic games – with lots of discussions on what we have seen and how New Zealand is progressing in different sports. To celebrate the games, we held our own mini Olympics – with hurdles, long jump, bean bag shot put, bike races and running races. It was a lot of fun. 

A big welcome to the new Tamariki and whānau that we have welcomed into Manaaki. We look forward to spending time together and growing your sense of belonging. 

Please speak to kaiako if you have any concerns, highlights, laughs or would just like a chat.

Manaaki team