News

Tena ra Koutou
(Greetings to you)

WELCOME – NAU MAI

We welcome Jesna Kolovatu, Noah Smith, Aroha and Freddie Webb to the Kākā room.
We also welcome our new teacher Georgia Gormack who joins our Pukeko team. Please make yourself known to Georgia.

Kia ora I’m Georgia! I’m from Timaru and I have spent the last two years teaching at another centre in Timaru. I spent the beginning of this year living and teaching in Melbourne with my partner, but we returned to Timaru due to COVID. I am passionate about promoting tamariki’s holistic well-being and enjoy any experiences that involve being creative and messy play! I’m eager to meet all the whānau and friends of tamariki at Creative Corner so please don’t hesitate to introduce yourself to me! ?

FAREWELL – KA KITE

We farewelled James Pye and Grayson McCone from the Pukeko room. Happy school days Grayson!

KIA ORA FROM THE KĀKĀ ROOM

Wow these weeks seem to be flying by! Over the past few weeks we have focused on settling back into the customs and routines of the room and have continued to enhance our relationships with all.
This month in the classroom we have been doing lots of dancing and singing with our new colourful scarfs. The children have loved hiding themselves under them and singing 'hop little bunny'.
It has been very chilly outside in the mornings so we are wrapping ourselves up warm to go play on the deck until the playground has thawed enough to be safe. Please ensure that the tamariki have a warm Jersey or

KIA ORA FROM THE PUKEKO ROOM
Exploring worlds beyond our imaginations has become a bit of a theme throughout the past couple of weeks. The children pretended to be pirates searching for golden treasure, dressing up, and helping to create a pirate flag to hang and fly in the wind at the top of the slide.
Many of the children have also had a fabulous time digging and searching for dinosaur bones deep within the sandpit. This was further extended when our awesome teacher Michael created a gigantic pterodactyl which lay ready for the children to explore when they arrived on Monday morning. They have also enjoyed a range of small world dinosaur provocations. We hope you enjoyed these morning table set ups.

DAILY ABSENCE REMINDER

If your child is absent for the day, 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. Thanks

SCHOOL HOLIDAY NON-ATTENDANCE FORMS

The school holidays are not far away, please fill out a non-attendance form if your child will be absent during this time which will help with staffing organisation. Thanks.

TENA RA KOUTOU
(Greetings to you)

WELCOME BACK
Hoki mai to all our Creative Corner whanau.
Coming back to preschool after COVID-19 lockdown comes with some emotions, for both parents and children, however familiar faces of both teachers and tamariki restores calm and confidence. Generally, Creative Corner children have been super excited and happy to return to see their friends and teachers, and have settled very quickly.
It is great seeing everyone so happy to be back.
Thanks also for your patience with taking on board all the extra information we require during this COVID 19 period. Hopefully life will be back to normal very soon.

SPACES AVAILABLE
We have some afternoon spaces available in both the Pukekos and Kakas. If you are interested, please see Amy.

WELCOME – NAU MAI
We welcome Mila O’Brien, Isla Febery and Artie Kippenberger to the Kākā room.

FAREWELL – KA KITE
During COVID-19 lockdown the Pukekos farewelled Mya Lewis, William Bates and William Adams. Happy school days!

TRIKEATHON FUNDRAISER
Thank you to our tamariki who participated in this event back in March. Also, to the parents who supplied the amazing cakes and bottled items for our mini fair, a big thanks also to you!
Prior to the Trikeathon, our staff helped children decorate their bikes – this prepared the children for the event and they were very excited. On the day, the tamariki had a fantastic time racing around the courses set up for the Pukekos and Kākās, and whanau shared in the fun of our mini-fair held.
Kate and Carmel, the battle of the sister-in-laws, both had keen interest from families in dunking them – thankfully it was a nice day and not an icy experience for them!
We raised $2500 plus - well done everyone in supporting Creative Corner once again.

KIA ORA FROM THE KĀKĀ ROOM
Tena koutou,
Welcome back all, it is so lovely to see everyone back with smiles on their faces!
It has amazed us all on how resilient and content the tamariki have been as they have all done amazing over the last two weeks. What has amazed us most has been how much the tamariki have grown, not only physically but their language skill set too! We have all enjoyed having conversations with these tamariki.
You will also see over the next week new faces as we have a few newbies within the room, as we had lots of 2nd birthdays during the lockdown. Over the next month we will focus on settling back to normality and continue to build our strong relationships with all.
(Katy)

KIA ORA FROM THE PUKEKO ROOM
Kia ora,
Kerry has been away on an extended weekend so was unable to contribute to this newsletter. I am sure she would reiterate everything Katy has said above. She looks forward to sharing more information about the Pukeko tamariki in the next newsletter!

SUPPORT LOCAL
Last week a flyer was emailed to you, as well as being shared on Storypark, supporting Creative Corner families who own businesses in the South Canterbury region. We encourage you to support these families.
“Start the trend – shop small – eat local – enjoy local – and support the small local businesses that support our community.”

Mauri mahi, mauri ora
Do the work, get the treats

Tena ra Koutou
(Greetings to you)

WELCOME – NAU MAI
We welcome to Jacob Bacon, George Wilson and Chloe Rosanowski who join us in the Kākā room.

FAREWELL – KA KITE
Farewell to Liam Doran and Louisa Norton from the Pukeko room. Happy school days Liam and Lou Lou.

WORKING BEE AT CENTRE
Thank you to the group of parents that offered to help at the working bee recently. This amazing group cut hedges, water blasted, added new plants to the garden and generally gave the Centre a fantastic tidy up. We appreciate your support.

HOUSEKEEPING
***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. Our most recent fire drill last Friday had some children not signed in. It is important your child is included in our checks. Thank you.

***Daily Absence Reminder
If your child is absent for the day, 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.
We have noticed during this holiday period some parents have their child absent from Creative Corner and have not rung to advise us of this. You will therefore be charged full fees for your child’s absence.

***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 or Kate in advance so we can check that we have enough space and staff to facilitate your request.
Thank you for your attention to this.

KIA ORA FROM THE KĀKĀ ROOM
Tena koutou
First of all, I would like to welcome back Kirsty to the Kaka room! Kirsty was a member of the Kaka room THREE years ago before she had two of her own. Kirsty will be working Friday mornings, so please make yourself known to her.
In the Kakas this month there has been a huge interest in the three wheeler trikes. To support this interest, we have created obstacles for the tamariki to ride over as they are learning all about balance and that they speed up when they go down a ramp. It has also been a learning opportunity as the children have had to wait and learn about taking turns. We are also supporting our tamariki within their transition to the Pukeko room; we have been having wonderful afternoons in the Pukeko room to help them with this process. So If you cannot find us we will most likely be in the Pukeko room having a blast!!! (Katy)

KIA ORA FROM THE PUKEKO ROOM
Kia ora, we would like to thank some of those in the community who recently gave up their time to share their knowledge and resources with Creative Corner.
Firstly, Sasha from St John, who came and talked to the children about her role as an ambulance officer and how they are there to help and make others feel better.
Also, Jess Bacon, who gives up her time each week to conduct a music and movement session. The children love the musical instruments, dancing with scarves, ribbons and stretchy lycra. We would also like to thank Jess for lending us her sensory swing, which many of the children enjoyed.
(Kerry)

SAVE THE DATE
***WHIMSICAL WEDNESDAY
Wednesday, 4 March 2020
(Dress up day)

***TRIKEATHON FUNDRAISER
Saturday, 7 March 2020
Timaru Girls’ High School Tennis Courts
(10-12pm – see you all there)

***CCELC AGM
Wednesday, 29 April 2020, 8.00pm
(At Creative Corner)

***CASINO NIGHT FUNDRAISER
Saturday, 20 June 2020
Oxford Restaurant
(More information to follow)

Ehara taku toa i te toa takimano
My strength is not that of an individual but that of a collective

TENA RA KOUTOU
(Greetings to you)

SAVE THE DATE
****FAMILY PICNIC
Thursday, 20 February
5.30-7.00pm
(Caroline Bay Children’s Playground)
****TRIKEATHON FUNDRAISER
Saturday, 7 March 2020
Timaru Girls’ High School Tennis Courts
(More information to follow)
****CASINO NIGHT FUNDRAISER
Saturday, 20 June 2020
Oxford Restaurant
(More information to follow)

WELCOME BACK 2020

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 Sasha Shaw, Danica Wilson, Lachie Small and Matilda Lindsay to the Kākā Room.

FAREWELL – KA KITE
Farewell to Cooper Heywood, William Campbell and Leilani Tealei who leave the Pukeko room. Happy school days Cooper, Leilani and William!

WELCOME TO NEW STAFF MEMBER KIRSTY MCINTYRE
We welcome Kirsty back to Creative Corner. Kirsty worked for us a few years ago and will be back in the Kaka room on Friday mornings. Please make yourself known to her.

WELL DONE!
The Pukekos celebrated Gay’s 30-year anniversary of working at Creative Corner recently. She received a beautiful bunch of flowers in recognition and the children sang to her.
Fantastic commitment and dedication to Creative Corner and the children who have attended the centre. Congratulations Gay!

KIA ORA FROM THE KĀKĀ ROOM
Kia Ora
Welcome back to the Kākā room for 2020! I hope you all had a well-rested break and are ready for the fun year ahead. After having three weeks off it was amazing to come back and hear the language that the tamariki are speaking; they have all just blown us away with what they have absorbed over the break.
I am really looking forward to all the new learning and discoveries that we will all make this year! Bring it on!!
(Katy)

KIA ORA FROM THE PUKEKO ROOM
It is great to see our tamariki well rested and excited to be back, after the long break. It has been awesome to hear stories about what they got up to over the Christmas period. From camping, going on long hikes to hanging out at CBay, but mostly their stories focused on spending enjoyable amounts of time with family and friends.
Over the past couple of weeks many tamariki have displayed an increased interest in exploring ways to be creative and expressive themselves. In small groups they have been building cities out of mud and water, blocks and loose parts. This has also extended in to re-creating experiences familiar to them from within the home or their local community. For example, being a doctor, vet, fireman, policemen and/or looking after babies and other small animals. Through these experiences the children are often found working together in small groups, providing opportunities for them to further develop such social skills as sharing, turn taking, listening to others thoughts and ideas.
(Kerry)

Whāia te iti kahurangi ki te tūohu koe me he maunga teitei.
Aim for the highest cloud so that if you miss it, you wil hit a lofty mountain.