J E N Z N E W S
Message from Jen
Welcome back everyone! The children have quickly got back into the work cycle following the holidays which is great to see, the classroom is working nicely. This week we celebrate Chinese New Year. At the end of last year we introduced ukulele’s to the classroom and the children often have turns strumming along to the beat of songs at mat times. It’s also wonderful to see that children are bringing their own ukulele’s from home to share at news time – I feel a challenge here to develop this area!
Excitingly our Jenz community continues to grow; we have had four new children start with the beginning of term, and a couple more waiting in the wings. Our roll for Term 1 is chocka, which is a good place to be. It is encouraging to see our current families getting on board and booking in for extra days. Please bear with us as we await places for you, as per policy our current families have priority, and keeping in mind we manage a waiting list where in some instances children have been waiting for over 12 months.
Social Graces
Our focus for Term 1 is Social Graces, which includes manners, grace and courtesy, consideration, respect and helpfulness; all part of practical life skills. We will also explore social graces of other cultures. I share with you a paragraph from an article “Grace and Courtesy”, from a MANZ newsletter dated 1997:
“Good manners are never outdated. The overly artificial manners of Victorian times have rightly gone their way – but good manners are really a way of caring about people – of showing them respect – a way of easing social interaction. No matter how casual our lifestyle may be, simple good manners – grace and courtesy – are never amiss. We want our children to be able to conduct themselves in a socially acceptable manner". – Marie Russell, New Plymouth Montessori 1997.
Welcome ~ Nau mai, Haere Mai!
This month we warmly welcome Mikayla Hardie from Hastings, Max Harris from Napier, Asha Hania from Haumoana, and Harleen Klair from Clive. Welcome to all the new families too, it is great to have you on board!
Upcoming Events
Parent Meeting – Emergency Procedures
7.30pm, 15 February
Updates/Events
Attendance Register
A special reminder to all to please sign your child in on the Attendance Register when you arrive in the morning, and out when you collect them in the afternoon. We must have these records as they are linked to Ministry funding. It is a lot of extra work chasing up people who haven’t signed in or out. New parents: The attendance register is located inside the entrance door on the tray cabinet where the children choose their name in the morning.
Lateness
Late arrivals
We have a number of latecomers in the mornings. Please be mindful, the day starts at 8.30am. The period until 9.00am is a welcoming and settling-in time. Should you arrive after 9.00am you will need to assist your child to get their name tag and choose a tray, and then allow your child to quietly choose an activity to do at a table.
Lateness at pick-up time
It is becoming a concern that an increasing amount of parents are arriving to collect children after 3.30pm. When children are still at the centre after 3.30pm, we are required to have a qualified staff member remain at the centre until all children have been collected. To cover this cost we have introduced a late fee of $5 per five minutes after 3.30pm. This amount is payable on the day to the qualified staff member rostered on.
Ideally, we appreciate children arriving between 8.30-9.00am, and collected promptly by 3.30pm.
Thank you
Trial Evacuation to Rudolf Steiner
Further to our off-site evacuation we attempted to organize last year, we will be holding a Parent Meeting on Tuesday, 15 February at 7.30pm. Warren Meldrum, Emergency Management Officer from Hastings District Council will be speaking to the group as an authority on emergency planning in regards to what we do as a centre in an emergency, effects of an emergency to Clive and surrounding areas, and generally ‘what to do’ and ‘what not to do’ in an emergency. He will also be able to answer any questions you may have.
So, if you have questions around emergency planning, if this is an area of concern or interest, and/or if you would specifically like more information on our procedures as a centre it is important that you attend. Please keep in mind, we organise these meetings particularly for information for our parents and families. This involves time and preparation and often time of outside people as in this case. With this particular topic, it is our intention that as a community we are all on the same page and are clear about procedures and rationale in such an event.
Do schedule this and be part of the discussion!
Website
Check out our website and go to 'Latest News' from the homepage. We have set up a blog-type page posting our special events, occasions, term topics and photos etc, do take a look. We have also set up an email notification of our latest newsletter out, which will provide you with a link to the newsletter posting on the website. If you wish to receive these please give your email address to the office.
Parent Group
At the Christmas party last year, Helen Beaufill, Madelaine’s mum, put a call out for parents interested in forming a Parent Group to support Jenz. She shared a number of ideas, which would develop and enrich our community. If you are interested please give your contact number or email address to the office and we will put you in touch with Helen.
Policy Review
We updated our Centre Philosophy at our Staff Meeting on Thursday; a copy is posted on the notice board. Please have a read, if you have any questions or comments please write them on the form and sign to indicate you have read it. This helps to provide evidence of parent involvement in policy development. Thank you.
Staffing
- Dee is progressing well through her Montessori diploma with Montessori Centre International, London.
- MANZ are holding their annual conference in Rotorua in April during the term break; we are planning for teachers to attend so will keep you posted.
Stork Report!
We extend a warm welcome and acknowledge the new babies to our whanau… this month Freya Boyle’s mum had a baby girl, and Zane Devonshire’s mum had a baby girl named Tiara-Jean. Towards the end of last year Josh Lindsay’s mum had a baby girl named Greer, and Jeremy Jones’s mum had a baby boy named Hugo.
Blessings from everyone at Jenz.
Experienced Gardener Wanted
We are on the look out for a keen gardener who would like to be responsible for the general maintenance of the gardens at Jenz, and to help set up our gardening projects as required.
Please see Jen for more info.
Jenz is on Facebook! If you have a Facebook account, Like our page!!!