New

sletter Term

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18

& Early Learning Centre

Kia ora koutou,

As term one draws to a close we are celebrating a highly productive start to 2018.

We farewelled 13 leavers at the end of last year, with everyone transitioning onto further study, employment or full-time parenting after having completed what they set out to achieve while at Karanga Mai. Congratulations to all those students and we wish you all fantastic success in your next endeavours. Don't forget to come and visit!

We began the year with just 3 new enrolments to join our returning students. They have all settled in remarkably well and one of them, Te Ara, shares her impressions thus far overleaf. This year we also welcome a new teacher of English, Kerri Sullivan. Kerri is a passionate and committed teacher and colleague who is already giving her all in her dual role teaching English at Karanga Mai, and junior Social Studies at Kaiapoi High. We know that students will flourish under her guidance and she is a great addition to the team. You can find out a bit more about Kerri as she introduces herself overleaf.

You may have heard about our wee glitch just as the year got going - a 10 day closure due to one of our students contracting and being hospitalised with measles. As all our children are under the age to be fully vaccinated, the Medical Officer of Public Health felt it was an essential protective measure for them and for the wider public, for them to remain home until the risk of contracting the disease had passed. So - we became a remote and mobile service! There was lots of emailing, texting and visiting students at home to support them with parenting and schoolwork while they were in isolation and they were keen to get straight back into things upon their return. Every-one is making great progress towards their academic goals. Students were motivated to complete assessments for Deadline Week in Week 9, and we celebrated their efforts last week with a sumptuous Celebration Morning Tea. We are looking forward to continuing to see achievement on track and increasing success for our hard-working stu-dents.

Our Well-Being and Parenting Support Programmes are well underway with a range of opportunities available for students some of which Christine and Jacinta outline further in this newsletter.

As the term draws to a close it's all action here. Our new Project Based Learning focus has seen students plan, or-ganise and fundraise for the first ever Karanga Mai Carnival. They organised an Easter Raffle, and have made deli-cious tomato chutney (still some left @ $5 a jar!) to help fund the day. Look out for carnival day photos in our next newsletter!

At the same time, we are preparing for our long awaited renovations to the central part of our building. Term Two will be a hive of construction with a brand new purpose-built whānau based space including kitchen and laundry, dining and lounge areas, plus 2 light and spacious break-out rooms for meetings and group learning to take place. We won't know ourselves!

As well as arrivals, this term has also seen some farewells. The time has come for us to make a change to the way our transport service operates, so after a long and positive association of six years with Banbury Transport, the end of term sees us thanking and saying goodbye to Craig and his team of fantastic drivers. We have so appreciated their flexibility, generosity of spirit, reliability, and acceptance of the changing needs of our students and their children. We are sorry to lose you and sincerely thank you for all your wonderful service. We do hope you keep in touch.

Lastly, from a staff point of view we are very sorry to say goodbye to our much loved, long-serving English and Ca-reers support teacher, van driver, and musician extraordinaire, Dimitri Gibara. Dimi's asso-ciation with Karanga Mai has been over 14 years and his contribution over that time has been enormous. Students will always remember him for his calm, encouraging and ac-cepting nature, and his unflinching belief in their capability. Thank you Dimi for all you have given and we all wish you the best for the next chapter. Your positive influence is held in the hearts of many.

We are all looking forward to a well-earnt break before squeezing into our cleaning cup-board/kitchen/dining/all purpose classroom for Term Two!

Until then,

Mā te wā!

Page 2

We spent a sunny summers afternoon at Spencer Park and

got the teachers on the BBQ! Friday 9 February

Science Field Trip to Corsair Bay

We began the Term with

Nutrition Talks, which

covered topics; food

groups and how to put a

balanced meal together

using all of them, how to

read food labels, along

with a ‘sugar in drinks’

demonstration.

Whanau Fun Time—Cooking with the

Children in the ELC

Friday afternoon’s Recreation Activity

organised by Social Worker, Christine Bentin

Pro

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earn

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A word from our Social Worker, Christine ...

Malo lava, and warm greetings to all.

It’s been an interesting Term One, with various setbacks at the onset due to health and weather..!

Despite this, we have achieved much and experienced many highlights. Among these, my favourite has been running the new recreation slot on Friday afternoons; a massive thank you to Jess McJorrow from Canterbury Sport for coming out to teach us some awesome games. Our ‘Minute to Win It’ comp was a hit with the girls and the sound of music accompanied by lots of laughter has been a great way to end our school week.

We also had Mikaela Battaerd from the Heart Foundation come out to present her Nutrition Talks, which we found engaging and informative. In keeping with this theme, I created a Recipe Book for the girls with easy, healthy food ideas. We also trialled utilising the leftover food from our Satisfy Food Rescue boxes to make

delicious, hearty soups for everyone to enjoy once a week. This proved really popular and my hope is that by continuing these communal meals, we can create an environment where simple, cheap and healthy food options are the norm.

A warm thank you as well to Maree Stace, for delivering her Personal Development workshops once a fortnight - this went through and explored with the girls their strengths and weaknesses, as well as providing a definition of helpful and unhelpful boundaries.

Always a highlight, our Tamariki Talks this term included a return to Mums ‘ n ‘ Bubs swimming, and a trip to the new Kaiapoi Food Forest, where we discovered a treasure trove of food resources!

I look forward to Term 2 and further planning of activities as part of our Wellbeing/Parenting sessions. Have a restful holiday,

Christine x

Kia ora, I am really proud to be teaching English at Karanga Mai. I have been teaching for nine years, at various schools in the South Island. I have a keen interest in sport, especially combat sports and distance running. I also love reading, writing, baking, and eating. I have had a great start at Karanga Mai, meeting everyone. Thank-you for making me feel so welcome. Kerri

Introducing our new teacher; Kerri Sullivan . . .

A new student’s perspective of Karanga Mai ...

At the beginning of 2018 I joined the Karanga Mai Young Parents College (KMYPC). For myself, a young mother and having left school 2 years ago, the thought of further education seemed so far into the distance and just did not seem possible, being in my situation. I was lucky enough to come across a brochure for the young parents college, but still wasn’t 100% sure how it would work considering I had sole care of a 8 month old, who needed constant attention. Hesitantly, I got in contact with Rachel (Director of KMYPC) and set up a time for an

interview. After meeting with Rachel, suddenly education seemed a lot closer than what I had thought. With the early learning centre on site and reassurance that I was able to breastfeed and comfort Mila when needed, every-thing was heading in the right direction. I am now nearing the end of term 1 and thoroughly enjoying school. With the help and support of the teachers and staff, I am not only gaining NCEA credits to reach my goal of be-coming a radiologist, but also confidence in being a parent and gaining quality life skills along the way (such as healthy cooking, self-wellbeing and gaining my full driver’s license). With the love and support of the Early Learn-ing Centre my daughter, Mila, is thriving and loving the interaction with the other babies and children. We are greatly supported by both the young parents college and early learning centre with Mila’s routine, growth, breastfeeding journey and also in the quality of time we spend together. Joining Karanga Mai Young Parents Col-lege has been one of the best decisions I have made for Mila and I, and doing it alongside other like minded young parents, and encouraging teachers and staff has made a world of difference. I strongly encourage other young parents to reach out and know that there are options to strengthen yours and your child's future.

Te Ara

… News from the ELC

Congratulations to the following students for their outstanding achievements in 2017:

Jenny Hindin-Miller Award for Academic Excellence: Jessica Knight

Clayton Cosgrove Cup for valued & consistent contribution to the community of KM: Jacquetta Holden

Dan Gordon for Culture at KM: Lewina Wenmoth

Kate Wilkinson Cup: Brianna Johns-Mills

Rachel’s House Award for responsibility of being a parent & continuing your education because of this: Antonia Mayers

Matt Doocey Endeavour Award: Emma Hamilton

Lynette Brice Young Woman of Courage Award: Tayla Leatham

The Citizenship Award for recognition of your positive contribution to the wider community within college, childcare and

community: Jaydah Brown-Riley, Antonia Mayers, Bethany Heaney-

Hargraves

Outstanding First Year Progress: Katie Brott

Outstanding Attendance: Jaydah Brown-Riley & Jacquetta Holden

Awhina Award: Jaydah Brown-Riley & Jacquetta Holden

The North Canterbury Soroptimists Reading Award: Katelin Cox

Subject Award—Mathematics: Anna Rankin

Subject Award—Science: Jessica Knight

Subject Award—English: Danielle Donovan

Subject Award—Health: Anna Rankin

Need to contact the school? Here are our details:

Karanga Mai Young Parents’ College & Early Learning Centre, Robert Coup Road, Kaiapoi 7630 Admin E: ypc@kaiapoi.school.nz Rachel E: r.hawthorne@kaiapoi.school.nz Phone: 03-3278386

PRIZE GIVING 2017

Welcome to: New Babies: Te Ara & Mila Aida (Jacquetta Holden) Shanae & Mila Emily (Katelin Cox) Dawn & Alakai Kiara ( Grace Chuter) Justiss & Kataraina & Te Ngaro Kaizah (Tayla Strachan)

Comings & Goings...

KEY EVENTS IN TERM 2: first day of Term Monday 30th April

Week 2: Careers Expo Thursday 10th May

Week 4: Class Hui Wednesday 23 May

Week 5: Tuahiwi Marae Visit Thursday 31 May

Week 10: Matariki Activities

TERM ONE ACHIEVEMENTS:

Congratulations to Te Ara Mercep for her Excellence grade achieved in L3 Mathematics and to Shanae Marsters for her Excellence grade achieved in L2 English. First credits achieved in Term 1 went to Tayla Strachan for English. Best attendance for Term 1 went to Te Ara Mercep and Shanae Marsters. Most points achieved for ‘Habits of Learning’ went to Brianna Johns-Mills and Te Ara Mercep.

Congratulations and well done to Shanae Marsters & Te Ara Mercep who both passed their Full Licence Practical tests.

2017 PG Award Winners (L to R);

Brianna Johns-Mills, Jessica Knight, Lewina

Wenmoth, Antonia Mayers, and Jacquetta Holden

Kia ora te whānau

Nau mai haere mai welcome to all our new tamariki and whānau who have joined our learning community in 2018.

This term has zoomed by. It feels like a long time ago we had our whānau picnic at Spencer Park and so much has happened since then that is for sure!

Our focus this year is to explore how we en-gage with parents/whānau hopes and aspira-tions for your children while also highlighting the rich learning that occurs in the early years. We are evaluating this using Te Whāriki, the Early Childhood Curriculum.

We are lucky at Karanga Mai that as a learning community we have many op-portunities to spend time together talking, playing, and learning from and alongside each other. Sharing hopes and aspirations is a natural part of life.

This term has been full of rich and diverse learning opportunities including;

Home visits, mums and bubs swimming, community waiata and fortnightly whānau fun sessions. These times pro-vide moments to notice, be involved, celebrate and support children’s learning.

Over the past six months Maddison, Jackson, Elijah, and Kasey have become PROUD tuakana with the birth of their brothers and sisters. Leilani has also taken on this role with her love for Kyza and I’m sure by the time this panui is printed Kurtis’s sibling will also be born. The early learning centre has provided time and space for the tamariki to practice and develop knowledge and skills about caring for babies. The empathy, love and expertise shown is delightful to observe. We are also mindful of what a big deal it is to suddenly have to share your mama! All these children have a strong sense of belonging in the centre so for them it has been a home away from home, time to adjust, be yourself in your own right, time to play, be adventurous, be noisy and much more…

For more on what this looks like keep an eye on the videos posted on storypark. We look forward, when the time comes, to welcoming all the new pēpi to Karanga Mai.

WHAT’S HAPPENING IN TERM 2

TAMARIKI TALK - Marlena and I will be facilitating 4 sessions focusing on topics related to parenting and child development.

TE REO LESSONS – The Kaiako are continuing to learn from Jadah on Mondays 4-5pm we’d like to invite any whānau interested to join us. Our focus is on increasing our vocab in ways that can support the tamariki with their learning, children are welcome, Kyza comes. Transport home is available if needed.

KARANGA MAI NOHO MARAE - planning is underway for our community stay at Tuahiwi Marae on 31st May. Whānau and past students are welcome to join us for this experience. More info will follow.

Have a great holiday everyone, take care, have fun with your children.

We all look forward to seeing you in term two.

Ngā mihi mahana ki a koutou

Nā Jacinta

EXCITING NEWS ... Karanga Mai

Renovations begin! In the

holidays the ELC layout is being

changed. The kitchen is being removed

from the office, the sleep room is directly

exchanging places with the staffroom, a

new sliding door will be put into the

toddler home-base, creating a much

better indoor outdoor flow. The entry to

the centre will be from the carpark

through the playground gate, the existing

back entrance and ramp will be

demolished and new locker room/store

space created leading through to the new

laundry.

During term two, the port-a-coms

adjoining the YPC and ELC will be

removed and replaced with a new

building. It will contain additional

classroom spaces, breakout rooms, and a

new-shared kitchen and laundry.