Tena ra Koutou
(Greetings to you)

SAVE THE DATE
APRIL SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
If your child will be absent during the school holidays, please fill in a non-attendance form so we can plan or staff needs. Thanks

WELCOME – NAU MAI
We welcome Emilia Cahill, Rosalee Leslie and Benjamin Silcock who joined Creative Corner in the Kākā room. We also welcome Archie Clough who joins us next week in the Under 2s.

FAREWELL – KA KITE
Farewell to Freya Haggart and Isabelle Stevenson. Happy school days’ girls!

We recently farewelled our Pukeko teacher, Tanyka.
The team at CCELC will miss her organised and efficient manner, as well as her friendly nature. We wish her well for her future life in Christchurch.

DAILY ABSENCE REMINDER
If your child is going to be absent, please call the Centre before 8.30am to receive your 50% discount on the fee for the day. This also helps with the organisation of our staffing for the day.

CHILD SIGN IN/SIGN OUT
A reminder to please always sign your child IN and OUT.
The Ministry of Education requires that every child is signed in and out every day. If the Centre holds a practice fire drill and children are not signed in for the day, theoretically they cannot be accounted for.
We use sign in sheets as the roll in an emergency so it is important your child is included in our checks. Thanks

TIMEKEEPING
Please ensure that you are collecting your child by their booked time. If you come in early we welcome you to stay with your child until their booked start time.
We need to be quite strict on this as we run to ratios and if parents are early dropping off or late collecting we may not have either the space or the correct amount of teachers.
If you need to drop off early or collect late you need to discuss this with either Amy, Kate or the head teachers in advance so we can check that we have enough space and staff to facilitate your request. Thank you for your attention to this.

BINGO FUNDRAISER
Thanks to our wonderful staff and BOT for the hard work they put in on the night and parents who supported this fundraiser by supplying chocolates, cakes, etc. It was a fantastic night, enjoyed by all who came. The money raised will be going towards buying new children’s resources.
We raised $4800 which is a fantastic achievement!

KIA ORA FROM THE PUKEKO ROOM
Race relations day was officially celebrated on Sunday, 21 March 2021. Many organisations and individuals are running events for the coming weeks and months, acknowledging the celebration of a multicultural Aotearoa New Zealand. This provides the opportunities for our tamariki to deepen their knowledge and understanding of other cultures.
Recently, the children got to revisit learning some moves and Irish dancing. (This was tried and tested originally by many on St Patrick’s Day.) Along the way we have discovered we have some very keen and talented dancers.
A large group of children were eager to learn about Aboriginal boomerangs. What they are? What they do? And how they are made? They then applied their new knowledge by exploring with decorating their own cardboard boomerangs.
On Friday the children and teachers dressed up. It was great to see the amount of effort put in by whanau. Thank you. Building on from this, the children will be keen to take part in a range of Easter related experiences. There was a lot of talk about Easter bunny. What he looks like? Where he makes his eggs? So be sure to check out some of the children’s answers, which we recorded on Storypark through the past week. We hope you enjoyed your Easter break. (Kerry – Head Teacher)

KIA ORA FROM THE KĀKĀ ROOM
Kia Ora whanau
You may have noticed that we have had a massive group of tamariki turn 2, alongside that we have also had a few new faces and families start. We farewell the 2 year olds and welcome the new faces!
During this month we have had lots of messy play with the tamariki. I made up some gloop that had the tamariki engaged for such a long time. Messy play is wonderful as it gives children the opportunity to experience a wide range of sensory experiences. It also gives them new opportunities to learn about different textures, tastes and materials. While exploring the gloop today the children were learning about mixing colours and extending on their hand eye coordination by pouring, mixing and scooping.
At home a way you can support the use of messy play is by joining in and allowing them that it’s okay to get messy, encouraging experimentation and using fantastic words like slimy, running, soft, cold or wet. The Kākās love getting messy and so do we!! (Katy – Head Teacher)

Tena ra Koutou

(Greetings to you)

WELCOME BACK
To our families and whanau
Tau Hou Hari Happy New Year and welcome back

We hope everyone has had a good chance to recharge your batteries over the Christmas break. We look forward to another successful year at Creative Corner.
It is great to see the children returning to Creative Corner, sharing stories about what they have done, with their friends and teachers. When we slip out of our normal routines, like when we are not at work/school over summer, remember it doesn’t take long for children to lose their normal behaviour patterns. It can take children (and adults) a couple of weeks to return to “life as normal” and sometimes we all need a little bit more time for our bodies to catch up with what our head wants to do.

WELCOME – NAU MAI
We welcome in the next couple of weeks Murphy Dunn, Nate Macpherson, Archie Howard, Archie Macpherson and Chloe King who join our tamariki in the Kākā room.

WELCOME – KA KITE
We farewelled MacKenzie Walther from the Pukeko room. Happy school days MacKenzie!

AMY’S TWO CENTS
It’s been lovely catching up with everybody on their return to preschool. Everybody certainly seems to have had a lovely holiday.
With COVID still being around in our lives, it is timely to remind everybody that we will be continuing our slightly stricter than normal wellness expectations of children. If your child has a green runny nose, fever, cough or any other flu like, cold like symptoms we request that you keep them away.
As most of you will know we had new Food Regulations come out from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health. For us, at Creative Corner, this means that we will be educating parents about making healthy choices for their children. We will not be banning any foods; we believe that parents will make suitable choices for their children. All families were emailed a copy of the new healthy eating guidelines. If you require more information, please see Amy. We will also be creating a display in the weeks to come.

NEW CHILDREN’S RESOURCE AT CCELC
And just like that Choo has a happy new home. Check out those smiles, the kids were super excited!
Thanks to The Complex 300 Hilton Highway (Toddy Mudie) for their kind donation to Creative Corner.

KIA ORA FROM THE PUKEKO ROOM
It has been lovely having the children settled back in for the New Year. Happy to reconnect with their preschool friends and whanau. Many have shared exciting stories about their Christmas and holiday adventures. The new ride along train has been a huge hit with the children. It was a great distraction for some on their first week back and it has also provided many opportunities to practice turn taking and waiting with patience. The inconsistency in weather has allowed for lots of fun digging and building in the sandpit, racing around on the bikes and getting wet from head to toe. While on our cooler days many of the children have been exploring writing and drawing at the art area, dancing and caring for their baby dolls.
Kerry

KIA ORA FROM THE KĀKĀ ROOM
Kia Ora from the Kākā room, it has been so wonderful seeing all your faces again after the Christmas break. It has been so lovely to hear all the new words the tamariki are sharing with us all. We have also seen a big shift in their physical development, as their confidence has grown during the few weeks.
Over the last few weeks we have also had lots of new faces visiting or starting in the Kākās, make yourself known to our new parents as I know they will appreciate it. On the 37-degree day we had a pool party that the tamariki enjoyed as a way to cool down and enjoy the morning before it reached too hot for us to be outside!
Katy

SAVE THE DATE
FAMILY PICNIC
Wednesday, 18 February
5.30-7.00pm
Caroline Bay Children’s Playground
Bring along some dinner and join us with other families. Keep this night free!

PARENT EVENING
Tuesday, 16 February
(More information to follow)

Dear Parents and Whanau

Well what a year 2020 has been! I’d like to thank everyone for their patience and support this year as we traversed the challenges that 2020 has thrown at us. I feel very confident in saying that while we would like to see the back of this year, for us at Creative Corner, 2020 has shown us time and again how lucky we are with our families , community, staff and Board of Trustees. Not once during this time have I or my team felt that we couldn’t manage of didn’t have the support of our Board or families.
 
It is my sincere wish on behalf of myself and my talented team that  everyone gets a well-deserved break with family over Christmas. I hope that you all can have some time off, some wine and some relaxing time with your families and friends.
 
We look forward to seeing every one of the week of the 11 January 2021.
 
Have a happy, safe and fun Christmas.
 
Warmest wishes
Amy and The Team

MERRY CHRISTMAS FROM THE BOARD
The Creative Corner Board of Trustees would like to extend a warm thank you to all of our whanau and teachers who have helped make it through this most interesting of years.
Possibly this year we really have learnt to appreciate the enormous and wonderful job our teachers do every day with big smiles and encouragement for our tamariki.
Creative corner has the most amazing community and we are so grateful to all of our families’ support.
Wishing you all a happy and relaxing holiday.
Koa kirihimete

The festive season is well under way as the children engage in a range of Christmas theme activities, from decorating the Christmas tree with their own handmade decorations to making Gingerbread cookies. Elf and Elfalina have kept the children entertained with their daily antics and they have enjoyed looking out for them each morning. We are all looking forward to coming together at the Christmas Party, celebrating with the children and whanau the end of one weird and crazy year. Finally, from all the Pukeko Room staff we would like to wish you all a very Meri Kirihimete and a relaxing, fun holiday. We look forward to your safe return in 2021. Kerry

Kia Ora Whanau
 
Last newsletter of the year, wow! I just want to say thank you for all being a wonderful part of the Kākā room for 2020. We have had an incredibly challenging year, but we have made it through with smiles on! Everyone's contribution has been noted and we have appreciated the support to make this a successful year for our tamariki. The Kākā team wish you a Merry Christmas and I hope you all have a wonderful and safe New Year! 
Katy ?

Tena ra Koutou (Greetings to you)

FAREWELL – KA KITE
We said goodbye to Harry Carter and Mia Febery from the Pukeko Room, and Isla Febery from the Kākā room. Happy school days Harry!

CALENDAR FUNDRAISER
Don’t forget to view your child’s painting and put your calendar order in by Monday, 30 November. $10.00 each. Payment by automatic payment preferred to 03-0887-0265519-01.

CHRISTMAS PICNIC – KEEP THIS DATE FREE!
Thursday, 17 December 5.30-7.00pm
This will be held at the BOTANICAL GARDENS PLAYGROUND, on the corner of Domain Avenue and King Street.
Over 4s will be performing a song, and Santa will be visiting with a gift for all Creative Corner children.
This is a nice time to meet and enjoy time with other parents and staff.

HOLIDAY FORMS
Please return the holiday form with your child’s absences for the Christmas period. This enables us to sort ratios with class numbers over this period. Thanks to those who have already returned theirs.

ACCOUNT PAYMENT REMINDER
We would appreciate all children’s accounts being paid in full by 23 December, as 31 December is the end of our financial year.
Please see Amy should you have a concern around this.

ANGEL FAMILY
Family Works were overwhelmed with the number of presents Creative Corner families and staff provided for our Angel Family.
Thank you to each and every one of you who provided presents, vouchers and cash.

KIA ORA FROM THE PUKEKO ROOM
As many of you will know Emma has been working as a student within the Pukekos through the past four weeks, while Georgia has replaced her in the Kakas.
It has been lovely to see the children connecting with Emma in both their learning and play, and it has been great having Georgia building relationships with those children soon to transition into the Pukeko Room.
We would like to thank Emma for her contribution and congratulate her on a successful placement. We look forward to Georgia joining us in the Pukekos next week.
We would like to add that our tamariki are very excited about Elf and Elf Alina arriving at preschool next week. We look forward to posting some of the fun things they get up to with the children over the next couple of weeks.
We also encourage tamariki to join in with staff by dressing up Christmassy on any day they come, to help us celebrate the lead up to Christmas.
(Kerry)

KIA ORA FROM THE KĀKĀ ROOM
With Christmas nearing, the children this month have enjoyed creating their calendar art.
We gave them a free reign to create their own master piece. They all look wonderful!
This month we have also had a big group transition into the Pukeko room, so you will notice these changes. As I'm writing this it is Isla and Mia’s last day at Creative Corner as their family is off on an new adventure down south! We wish them all the best.
Also just a gentle reminder to name all clothes as the sun is starting to shine and we are enjoying playing in water.
I look forward to the Christmas season beginning!
(Katy)