Bellevue Kindergarten

Kia ora whānau!

We are ready and waiting to start learning about Matariki, the Māori New Year, together! Stories, waiata, puzzles, games and art works are all waiting to be explored and created as we learn about this very special time of the year. Your tamariki will have lots to share with you over the coming month as we learn alongside each other. One of the learning outcomes of our curriculum, Te Whāriki is that "Over time and with guidance and encouragement, children become increasingly capable of: making connections between people, places and things in their world" - this is the very essence of Matariki!

He aha te mea nui o te ao? - he tāngata, he tāngata, he tāngata!

What is the most important thing in the world? It is people, it is people, it is people!

Why the Early Childhood Regulatory Review Matters for Your Child

Kia ora whānau,

You may have heard about the Government’s review of early childhood regulations. One proposed change is reducing the requirement for qualified teachers.

Why does this matter?

Qualified teachers have specialist knowledge in child development, learning, and wellbeing. They play a huge role in providing high-quality education and care for our tamariki.

Reducing the number of qualified teachers could mean:

Less experienced staff working with children

Lower overall quality of care and education

While this change may reduce costs for centres, it doesn’t guarantee lower fees for families—it may simply increase profits.

Why this matters for kindergartens

Kindergartens have traditionally been known for employing fully qualified teaching teams and providing high-quality, education-focused programmes.

…it’s important to make your voice heard through:

Submissions

Community discussions

Voting in elections

Attached is a QR code you can scan to check you are enrolled to vote in the General Election

Ngā mihi
Kaiako Sandra

Kia ora whānau

To enhance the mahi that our team is doing to support the social competence of our tamariki we were lucky to have Harold the Giraffe and ECE teacher Emma visit us at mat time. Harold and Emma talked to us about some of the core values from our team teaching philosophy like manaakitanga, whanaungatanga and kaitiakitanga as we listed to stories about the kiwi helping Tane and other ways to be great friends to each other at kindergarten. What a fun way to engage our tamariki in our mahi - we are all learners together at Bellevue Kindergarten!

Kia ora whānau!

Transition to school can be both exciting and stressful for tamariki and their families. We support children in this space with visits to our nearest school, Bellevue, to grow their understandings of what school looks and feels like. For families there is plenty of information on our transition to school wall in the entrance hallway and as always our team can chat through any concerns/questions you have. One of the learning outcomes of our early childhood curriculum, Te Whāriki, is that "over time and with guidance and encouragement children become increasingly capable of making sense of their worlds be generating and refining working theories" and these visits help children to develop a confident understanding of the next stage in their learning journey.

Ngā mihi
Kaiako Anne

Celebrating Our Amazing Support Staff

Last week was Support Staff week and this week we got the opportunity to celebrate the incredible support staff here at Bellevue and to acknowledge the vital role they play in our kura.

To Leanna and Harriett — thank you! Your hard work, dedication, and commitment to the team do not go unnoticed. You make such a difference every single day, and we are truly grateful for all that you do.

Ngā mihi nui ki a kōrua.

Kaiako Sandra

Kia ora whānau,

It’s been a busy but exciting term so far, with a number of tamariki leaving kindergarten to begin their new adventures at school. We wish them all the very best on this next step in their journey. A warm welcome also to the new whānau who have recently joined us at Bellevue Kindergarten – it’s wonderful to have you with us during such an exciting time. At Bellevue, part of our teaching philosophy is kaitiakitanga — embracing a Te Ao Māori perspective of caring for people, place, and the environment. This week, I’ve captured tamariki in action as they take responsibility for their own belongings. From walking in with their bags, finding their photo, placing items in their locker, and putting lunch boxes and drink bottles away, it is fantastic to see their growing independence before they head off to explore the day’s activities. This is such a valuable opportunity to foster confidence and self-management skills. He tino pai tō mahi — you have done a great job!

Play continues to be a powerful learning experience for tamariki. Through play, children develop a wide range of skills while having fun. An important part of this learning is also kaitiakitanga — remembering to tidy up after themselves before moving on to something new. Kaiako and tamariki work together to care for our resources and keep the kindergarten environment safe and welcoming for everyone. This ensures that others can also enjoy the activities afterwards. Mahi pai to those who are remembering, and tūmeke — awesome work — to those who are still learning and may just need a gentle reminder.

Ngā mihi
Kaiako Trish

Kia ora whanau! As a team we are working on our understandings and strategies for supporting social competence in our tamariki. Simple matching games with rules like the "Lunchbox Game" are an amazing way to grow their understandings of waiting for turns, showing manaakitanga to others, and developing resilience when things don't quite turn out the way you want them to - alongside amazing maths and literacy concepts of matching and sorting visual information. A rainy weekend might be the perfect opportunity to practise this at home as a family. Enjoy!

Kia ora whānau

Our E Tū Kaha notice board has been moved to the locker room for whanau to engage more easily in new information as it arrives.

If anyone needs help enrolling to vote we have Ipads available and are happy to support anyone that needs it.

"Our voices matter. Our choices matter. Our vote matters. Enrolling to vote is quick, easy, and one of the most powerful ways we can honour those who came before us and help shape the future for our tamariki. Let’s do this together, whānau.

Me rehita. Me pōti. Kia rangona. Enrol. Vote. Be heard".

Ngā mihi
Kaiako Sandra

Kia ora whānau!

One aspect of our team teaching philosophy is founded on Manaakitanga. An important part of this is Mana Atua, where Kaiako and Tamariki show kindness, care, and respect for the wellbeing of themselves and others.

The following photos capture these moments beautifully.

After a week of mixed weather and so much rain, it’s lovely to see the sun shining again. We hope you all enjoy the ANZAC Day commemorations and look forward to seeing you back at kindergarten on Tuesday.

Ngā mihi
Kaiako Trish

Kia ora whānau!

Our curriculum, Te Whāriki, has a learning outcome for tamariki that "over time and with guidance and encouragement, children become increasingly capable of te whakahua whakaaro/managing themselves and expressing their feelings and needs"

Morning drop offs can be a tricky time for both tamariki and whānau as the rush to get everyone where they need to be - work, kindy, school etc. As part of our mahi this year we are looking at ways to support tamariki at transition times and came across this really useful poster that reinforces our ideas around validating children's feelings and supporting them to feel safe and able to tackle things that feel hard. Chat to us anytime about this if you need more ideas to make the morning drop off smoother!