​Haere Mai/Haere Ra: We have said farewell to Ra and Ana who have gone to Australia for a while.  We hope to see Ana back at pre-school next year when they return.  We do have a few spare spaces available now so if you are interested in picking up days this year speak to Annabel ASAP before they get filled. 
Learning Environment:
You may have noticed that when you arrive in the mornings that the teachers have been working on setting the environment differently every day.  We have been doing some professional reading on Reggio Emilia and we working on introducing a Reggio Emilia inspired environment.  Reggio Emilia has a natural learning environment where children can explore and make discoveries and believes that the environment should be considered as an extra teacher.   As we work on this change we have been collecting interesting loose parts and natural resources.  We have been op shopping and were very excited with some interesting things that we found.  If you have any interesting loose parts or natural resources at home that you are no longer wanting please see a teacher as we would be grateful for any contributions that are made.   We are looking for loose parts for outside and inside.  The idea of loose parts is that they are materials which can be moved around, designed and redesigned, and tinkered with; create infinitely more opportunities for creative engagement than static materials and environments.  We have put up a wall display by the name trees of some ideas of different loose parts. 
 
Children writing their name:
We have noticed a number of children showing a keen interest in writing at the moment.  When working with your child and their writing we encourage to you to use lower case letters as it is important that they learn to write in lower case letters apart from a capital at the beginning of their names.
 
Pet Parade:
We are going to have our annual pet parade on Wednesday 27th September at 9.15.  We invite all children to bring their pets along to pre-school to join in the parade and have an opportunity to show all their friends their pets.  This will last half an hour to an hour at the maximum.  If you child doesn’t have a pet we encourage the children to decorate a fancy hat to parade.
 
 
 
 
 
Planning:
The teachers continue to work on their professional development around planning and improving learning stories.  Please remember to check our planning wall around by the small mat.  This is a work in progress wall and is changing all the time as children achieve their current learning goals and new goals are developed.  We have a space on the wall for you to share stories from home.  You will find some sticky notes by the sign in sheet that you are welcome to note a story on and stick them with the stories from home on the planning wall.  We always love to have input from home on what your child is learning and interested in so we can continue to build on this at pre-school. 
 
Child Health Policy:
We have had many children who have been unwell and away from pre-school over the past couple of weeks.  Attached with this newsletter is our updated child health policy for you to have a read and familiarise yourself with to help us limit bug spread. 
 
 
Emergency kit:
It is the time of the year that we need to update our emergency kit.  We are asking if parents could all donate something towards our kit.  We have plenty of water and canned food so we are looking for food such as chips, crackers, biscuits, chocolate, lollipops, muesli bars etc.  We would really appreciate any donations that we can get. 
 
Reducing Rubbish:  We are wanting to decrease the amount of rubbish that we collect at pre-school to continue to be more sustainable.  If we could all please work together to decrease the amount of packaged food by using reusable packaging or containers in children’s lunches boxes we would really appreciate it.  
Playground development:  We have had Richard Ashcroft come in to talk to the teachers about our playground redevelopment.  He has redeveloped many play grounds around the Wairarapa/Wellington/Palmerston North areas.  He will be drawing up a couple of plans and we look forward to sharing these with you next term.     
Pre-School Photo:  We will be having our pre-school photo next term on Wednesday 1st November at 9.15.  We will provide you with more information next term.
Enrolling in Hadlow School:  Just a reminder to all families who are thinking of sending their child to Hadlow School in the future you need to fill out a separate enrolment form at the school office.  Please note they do have a long waiting list so it is best to have their name down in good time.    
 
Important Up Coming Dates:
Monday 11th September – Grandparents morning tea 10am
Wednesday 27th September – pet parade 9.15am
Friday 29th September – Term 3 ends
Monday 16th October – Term 4 Starts
Wednesday 1st November – Pre-school photo 9.15
Wednesday 13th December – Pre-school Christmas concert – 9.30
Thursday 14th December – Term 4 Finishes at 12.45  

​Haere Mai/Haere Ra: We welcome Ana, Declan, Sofia, Amanda and their whanau who are starting pre-school this term.  We are also saying farewell to Evie who is off to school. 
2018 Days: It is a good idea to start planning for next year.  Our roll is currently full until the end of the year and our waiting list is continuing to grow.  If you are wanting to pick up extra days in the future it would be a good idea to let Annabel know.  If you have any friends who are interested in sending their child to Hadlow Pre-School please pass on to get their names on the waiting list ASAP.  They can do an online enrolment on our website. 
Up Coming Events.
Little Dog Barking Performance.  Tuesday 8th August at 9.30am in the pre-school.  If your child doesn’t come on a Tuesday and you would like to come in and stay with them for the performance please speak to a teacher.  There will be a charge of approximately $8.40 per child which will be added to your invoice.  The performance is called ‘Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge.’   
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge is a  book that is so well loved by young children and now a magical stage play that deals so powerfully with childhood and age, with memory and with relationships. A play that uses the magic of storytelling, puppetry and live performance. A wonderful work for both children and adults.
Wilfrid Gordon McDonald Partridge is just four years old, he lives next door to a rest home for old people. He knows all the residents very well but his favourite person is Miss Nancy Alison Delacourt Cooper because she has four names, just like him.
 
Trip to Aratoi:  Tuesday 15th August Departing at 10.10am returning 12 noon.
We are going on a trip to Aratoi to the Te Marae O Rongotaketake Education Programme.  This education programme will provide both teachers and students a unique opportunity to learn about some of the local stories of Kahungunu ki Wairarapa, though touring the exhibition alongside a museum educator, and participating in activities designed around the exhibition. 
They have said that children participate in art activities and only have limited aprons available so please either send your child in clothes that can get messy or bring a big old shirt for them to wear when doing the activities. 
We will be travelling by bus departing pre-school at about 10.10am and leaving Aratoi to return to pre-school at 12noon.  There will be a small charge of $2 per child which will be added to your invoice.  We will be giving you a permission form to fill out closer to the time.
We will be needing parent helpers for this trip so if you could come along with us we would really appreciate it.  Please talk to a teacher.
 
 
 
Morning Drop Offs:
Please remember that we are only licenced to start at 8.30am.  8am until 8.30 is an important time for the teachers planning and meetings.  Please can you stay with your child until 8.30 when the teachers are available.
 
Scarecrow Fair:  Gladstone school is holding their annual scarecrow fair on the 4th November.  We thought it would be a fun idea for the pre-school to create a scarecrow to go in the fair.  If any parents would be interested in coming in one day and helping the teachers along with the children to create a scarecrow, please speak to a teacher.  I am sure the children would love to have their parents helping. 
 
Reducing Rubbish:  We are wanting to decrease the amount of rubbish that we collect at pre-school to continue to be more sustainable.  If we could all please work together to decrease the amount of packaged food by using reusable packaging or containers in children’s lunches boxes we would really appreciate it.  
Playground development:  We are hoping to get plans for our new playground drawn up this term.  If you have any ideas, please share these with a teacher.     
Pre-School Photo:  We are working with our photographer to book a date of this.  We are looking towards the end of term when the weather improves.  We will notify you when we have a date.
Important Up Coming Dates:
Tuesday 8th August:  Little Dog Barking Performance
Tuesday 15th August: Bus trip to Aratoi
Friday 29th September – Term 3 ends
Monday 16th October – Term 4 Starts
Thursday 14th December – Term 4 Finishes   

​Mother’s Day Raffle: Congratulations to our Mothers Day raffle winners: 
Maureen Connor 
Kim Whiteman 
Ruby Everton 
Jason Forbes 
Prize for the most tickets sold went to Kristy Boderick
We made $1662. Grateful thanks to Kristy Boderick and Alice Henderson for organizing everything and Clint Rogers for coming in to draw the raffle. 
Haere Ra: On June 2nd we are going to be saying goodbye to Nicola Pearce who has been with us for two years as our teacher aide on a Thursday and Friday.  She will be truly missed by the teachers and the children.  We wish her all the best and we look forward to her popping back in to relieve for us.  Desiree Cretchley, our teacher aide on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday will be taking over Nicola’s days. 
Teacher Only Afternoon:  The Ministry of Education requires all the teachers to attend professional development related to the updating of Te Whariki, The New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum.
To facilitate this, the pre-school will be closing early on Thursday 15th June 2017. All children will need to be collected at 12 0'clock. 

We apologise for any inconvenience this may cause.
Picking up extra Days: We have limited days coming available next term and these days will be the last for the year.  If you are thinking of picking up extra days please let Annabel know by the 26th May.  After this date, we will be offering the days to the waiting list.
Jenny Away:  Jenny will be going overseas for a family reunion.  She will be away from Wednesday 31st May and back on 22nd June.  We will have El Berry in during this time.
Matariki Shared Lunch:  We will be holding a shared lunch on Tuesday 27th June.  We invite all our families to join us at 12 noon in the pre-school to celebrate Matariki.  We ask for everyone to bring along a plate of food to share. 
Meeting with Teachers:  Please remember you are welcome to make a time to come and talk to the teachers at any stage if you have any thing you would like to share with us or if you have any concerns about your child or the pre-school.  We always welcome new ideas and feedback. 
Newspapers and carpentry wood:  If you have any spare newspaper at home we would appreciate some as we have run out.  We would also appreciate some untreated wood that the children could use for wood work.   

Haere mai and welcome to Jay, Monik, Teimana and their whanua who have started at Pre-School this month. 
 
Parent Committee: 
We are wanting to form a parents committee to help organise fun events in the pre-school such as disco’s, help with fundraisers such as , Easter raffles etc to help raise funds to up grade our play ground to be a more natural environment for children to extend their imagination.  If you are interested in joining this committee please speak to a teacher.
 
Washing Roster:
Each week we put out a small bag of washing out to be done.  We will be starting a washing roaster so everyone will get a turn.  We very much appreciate the help. 

Art Folders:
Please remember to check your child’s art folder each week.  There have been some very busy creative children and some are getting full.  Please ask a teacher if you are unsure where you can find these. 
 
Important up coming dates:
17th March—St Patrick's Day—Children to come dressed in green.
21st March—Teddy Bears picnic at pre-school
13th April—Last day of Term 1
1st May—Term 2 starts
 
 Teddy Bears Picnic  Tuesday 21st March:
The children have been asking if we could have a teddy bears picnic.  Please remind your child to bring their favorite teddy to Pre-School on Tuesday.  The children will help prepare a picnic at pre-school that we can enjoy altogether. 
 
Planning:
Children have been very interested in fire fighters which has led onto other emergency services.  We had a visit from the fire fighters which the children thoroughly enjoyed.  We will be getting a visit from a policeman also soon.
We have Amy, Lucas’ mum, coming in to do some cooking with the children as this has been another big interest.  If anyone else would like to come in to do some baking, please see a teacher. 
If anyone enjoys sewing and has a sewing machine at home who would like to come in to do some sewing with the children, please let us know. 
 
Plastic Bags:
We are getting low again on plastic bags so if you have any spare at home we would greatly appreciate them.
​
Gumboots:
With the cooler and damper weather children might like to wear their gumboots to pre-school.  Please could you encourage them to take them off at the door in the morning so we don’t have gumboots inside.  Thanks
 

We had such a fun day at sports day today.  The children and parents participated in obstacle courses, jumping and ball activities and enjoyed exploring the play ground at the school.  The running races were very popular with the children and the parents.  Thank you to everyone who came along.  

Haere mai (Welcome) to Hugh, Richie and their whanua. 
Haere rā (Farewell) to Kai, Isabella, Tanisha, Ryan and Jayziah who will all be leaving at the end of the year to go to school. 
We will also be saying a sad good bye to Mrs Maclean at the end of the year who is our teacher aide/teacher on a Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday.  Lyn has decided to put her family first.  We thank Lyn for everything she has done for the pre-school and wish her the best of luck in the future. 

Pre School photo
Photos can be ordered here at pre-school for $12.  Please full out the order form by the sign in sheet. 
Please order and pay for your photo by 25th November.  Your photo will not be ordered if payment hasn’t been made. 
Thank you to Robyn Kippen for kindly taking the photo for us.
 
Planning
The children have enjoyed having a pet shop in the pre-school.  Thank you to everyone who contributed to extending this interest by bringing in soft animals, pets and photos of their pets. 
We are now moving onto Christmas so we are turning what was the pet shop into a Christmas corner.  We plan on setting up the nativity scene, have our Christmas tree up so children can create decorations.  If anyone has any fun Christmas ideas we would love to hear about them.  
We thought it would be a nice idea to ask families to bring a small gift wrapped to put under our tree to be donated to families in need to teach our children about giving.

Extra days 2017
If you are interested in picking up extra days or extending your hours next year please speak to Annabel ASAP as spaces are filling fast for next year.  
 
Christmas Concert
This will be held on the 13th December in the school hall at 9.30am.  You will be receiving a letter towards the end of the month with Information about your child’s costume.
At the conclusion of the Christmas concert we will return to the pre-school play ground for a picnic morning tea (you are to provide your own picnic).
 We will have Father Christmas visiting at about 10am after the concert back in the pre-school. 
Please can everyone provide a small present for your child, wrapped with their name on it by Monday 5th December.  
 
Hats
Please remember to provide a sunhat for your child everyday otherwise they will have to stay inside. 
 
Important up coming dates
5th December  Last day for Santa presents
13th December  Pre-School Christmas concert
14th December last day term 4, closing at 12.45
30th January 2017 First day term 1