Term 3 Week 8

Wow ... another busy week this week ... Te Wiki o te Reo Maori - Maori Language Week,  GJ Gardner Homes Clean Up & our 'Where have the Tui's Gone?' investigation continues!

Kia Ora tatou (Hello to everyone)

We've shared legends, greetings in promoting Te Reo ... tumeke to mahi!  Also the new App Kupu is extremely user friendly - give it a go!

Gardner Homes - Clean Up Week - Keep NZ Beautiful Week  

Let's start by cleaning up around our playground!

How poignant is our display.  We've shared a  discussion topic 'Are there enough rubblish bins around 'Our Place'?         Great question to consider.

Kaitiakitanga - Investigation: "Where have all the Tuis gone?"

We continue with our investigation & with our Winton Garden Club Spring Flower Show group Art  entry.  Here's a challenge ... can you find a Tui, take a pic & post it onto our Winton Kindergaren Closed Group FaceBook page.  

Thur/Fri 'Explorer' group have also taken up our 'Where have the Tui's Gone? investigation.

A 'real' live Tui Sophie Excell ... we can tell!

You are right Lacey Hunt ... it's NOT a seagull it's a Tui!

Hayley Spice ... How do you draw a beak Judy?

I can draw a Tui all by myself.  Awesome pic Ella Lark!

Taiao Tuhura - Forest Kindy

As eco-warriors & Kaitiakitanga (Guardians of the Forest) it was a morning of respecting 'Our Place'  so off we set to collect ALL the rubbish in the Reserve!  It has indeed been a very meaningful way for our caretakers to 'take charge' of our local 'green space' public place. 'Successful public places are successful not just because of the design but also because of the management. How to involve community in the management?  We need to think about our parks more as outdoor community playscapes.  When we improve our Parks & Reserves, we're really improving quality of life' (Healthy Parks - Healthy People).  Great to start this dispositional thinking with our youngest citizens!

Customised bird feeders ... what does a feeder need?  Something intriguing, somewhere for the Tuis to land to feed, somewhere to put water & food?  But WHAT food?  What do Tui's drink?  One thing we found out is that the feeders need to be 'brightly coloured'. Why? Leave us a comment!

Ah ... sugar water.  Bailey can you visit the Reserve & let us know if the Tui's have found our feeders?

Another great investigative week shared.   Our Celebration of Learning - Family Evening is next week Wed 19 Sept 2018 5-6.30pm. What do you need to do or bring?  Have a read of the notice on our FB Event post or on our poster on the Sign-in desk. See you there!

Go the AB's this weekend against South Africa & Silver Ferns take on the rest of the world in the Quad series & Southland Stags v Otago @ Rugby park!!! Busy sporting weekend! And we are thinking of all the families affected as they brace themselves for Hurricane Florence!!! Keep Safe!!!

And don't forget our challenge this week ... Can you find a Tui, can you take a pic & can you post it on our Winton Kindergarten Closed Group page!!!

The Teaching Team.

Term 3 Week 7

Daffodil Day Artists Exclusive!
Thank you to all our fabulous Art Collectors for supporting our Cancer Society appeal - limited works of art are still available for purchase - but be quick, these one-off masterpieces won't last long!!


Principles of Kaitiakitanga - Investigation: "Where have all the Tui Birds gone?"
This week we introduced the delicate Native Birds of New Zealand Dress-Up Wing Set, as a provocation following along from the question posed by Ivy and her Mum Hollie on their first day in our Taiao Tuhura Discovering Nature Programme: "Do we see Tui Birds at Ivy Russell Reserve?" "No," was our response, not since the end of last year, when the pine trees were cut down and the Tui's relocated to the tall towering trees around our Kindy Castle, for a brief few weeks. Since then, we listen and look -  but alas, no Tui song can be heard. Thankfully, Hollie shared about Tui Bird Feeders and how these help to attract the Tui Birds...Perfect! And so the seed was planted - let's try and encourage the beautiful birds back to Ivy Russell Reserve!
At Te Wananga Time/Discussion Time on Monday, we shared our dilemma with the group, seeking advice, ideas, and fabulous problem solving dispositions! And they delivered!....

Charlie M: "Maybe we could plant the seeds of the kind of trees that they like to live in!"

Archie: "We could catch them - with a fishing rod - and take them to Forest Kindy!"

Ashton: "Why don't we make the sound that the Tui make and they will hear us and come back to Ivy Russell?!"

Heidi: "We could make our own wings and we could fly to where they are and then fly with them back to Forest Kindy!"

Then we discussed what they like to eat and drink...mmmm, sugar water! But how would we get the sugar water to them? Following along on the ideas and creations Linda had instigated with some of the children at the beginning of the Term, we set about designing feeders for the Sugar Water. On Tuesday, some of these ideas came to life, as we constructed and tested these out at Kindy, ready to take with us to the Reserve next week....watch this space, or should we say, watch out for the Tuis!!





Signage for our Bespoke Kitchen
Hollie made a special sign to accompany the beautiful Mud Kitchen kindly donated by the Roskam family, with pallets from the Hunt family at the end of last Term. "Roskam's Mud Kitchen" ...  perfect!


Fire Engine Fun!
Sooo much hands-on learning this week! A big thank you to Poppy and Hollie's parents  - Steve and Mike of the Winton Volunteer Fire Brigade for bringing down the Engine to both Kindy AND Forest Kindy on Tuesday! Testing out the helmets, sitting in the seats, getting soaked under the powerful hose, and learning about Fire Hydrants as we refilled the empty tank - all in a day's work for our next generation of Emergency Service Recruits!


Principles of Kaitiakitanga
We have set up a special place to share our Taiao Tuhura Discovering Nature Ecological Journals with everyone. These journals sit beautifully alongside our Curriculum Design - Group Learning Focus: "What if we lived our lives as if Nature mattered?" Each week our Discovering Nature children share their ideas, values, principles of Kaitiakitanga, ecological discoveries and learnings through The Language of Art and verbal storytelling, narrating and illustrating entries into their personalised learning journals. Please to take a moment to enjoy our mahi.


Principles of Kaitiakitanga - Holders of Takitimu knowledge.
Today we had a special visit from Carol and John, whom having heard about our research and Takitimu Waka Project, got in contact with us, with Carol wanting to build her connection to the Takitimu Mountains and her whakapapa. It was very humbling to have them acknowledge our mahi and show such personal interest in what we do here at Winton Kindy. Our learning is touching the hearts of so many groups of people throughout Southland and afar - we continue to be blown away!