Christmas 2011

s
Season
ngs
Greeti
Christmas 2011
This year has been very challenging for all of us; earthquakes, snow days and the aftermath of all of that. I am
so glad that it is December and that we could all celebrate with our Te Ao Tamariki Concert. If we can measure the success of the concert by the smiles on the parents faces then we know that it must have been a really
great show. We are all looking forward to the DVD that is
going to be produced by the University of Canterbury Audio-visual department. We felt that our children coped
really well with the fact that they were being videoed and
that they had to adapt to an audience. The tamariki are
getting used to developing their stagecraft skills. It’s a
few days after the concert now and our children are starting to prepare and think about items for their next concert.
Lots of smiling faces in the Audience
The Tiger who came to tea
Term Dates
Jack in a box, Jack in a box, quiet and still ,,,

Last Day of term - Friday 16 December at
12:30 pm

Extra Days are being offered this year as well.
Mon 19 – Wed 21 December, Enquiries to Maria.

First Day back next
year Monday 16 January
2012
Dress-Up Day Getting into
character...
1st November 2011
Spider-Men, robots, lady-birds, pirates, buzzy-bees, masked
children, angels and fairies are just some of the exciting characters
that turned up to Te Ao Tamariki on this bright and wonderful
Tuesday. Our tamariki had been asking and asking for a dress-up day,
and our friend Amos has been very excited about celebrating
Halloween. He and a number of friends come from America where
this celebration is huge for them, and Amos had been planning the
most exciting Robot outfit with his family. So a dress-up day was
called to action. Many had been planning for what they were going
to wear on this exciting day.
It was such an amazing day as we watched the tamariki (and the
teachers) act out their characters. Some were very scary while
others were gentle and kind. This day was a perfect way to prepare
for our concert in December, our tamariki were able to develop an
understanding of what it means to be an actor. They are developing
their imaginations.
HEAD LICE
We have noticed that one or two children have head lice. Can everybody please check
their child’s hair carefully. The Christmas break is a great time to get your children
treated while the children are away from the centre and not re-infecting each other.
You can get advice and information about treatment options from any pharmacy.
Page 2
Christmas 2011
Background to the story of...
Little Blue, Yellow and Red Riding Hoods
Children: Pieta, Emma, Nicole, Aphra and Jessica
Over the past few days many of you have been involved in a game the involves Little Red Riding Hood and
the Big Bad Wolf. On this particular day you all came and told me that you were doing a play that focused
on these interesting characters. I was told how there were three little red riding hoods, and a big bad wolf.
It all sounded so interesting so I suggested that we could write down all of your ideas and come up with a
performance we could show to our friends and whānau.
Nicole, as we started talking you told me you wanted to be Little Blue Riding Hood, not red. Then Emma,
you told me that you wanted to be yellow and Pieta you told us that you still wanted to be red J. So, this
meant we had three different coloured Riding Hoods, what a fabulous idea you had girls. Jessica, you
thought you would make a great Grandma “I can do it like this,” you said with your fabulous creaky
Grandma voice, and Aphra you told me with a very impressive fierce voice that you would be “The Big Mean
Fierce Wolf!”
We all sat around the table and you all worked together (me mahi tahi tātou, let’s all work together). You
came up with the most amazing story of the three Riding Hoods going to Grandmas house for a picnic,
where you did hip hop and ballet dancing. When you fell asleep the ‘Big Bad Fierce Mean Wolf’ came and
stole all your ballet things and your picnic food. You decided to go and find him in his cave where you used
your magic wands to turn him into a kind wolf.
“Abracadabra zella ma zam, make that wolf into a nice and kind wolf,” was the phrase you came up with
together so the wolf could be kind, and would dance and eat with all you all the time.
Girls, not only are you discovering new ways to express your creative ideas, you are also developing
concepts in team work as you take on others ideas and contribute your own. You are also discovering how
the world of literacy can come in many forms, and that a story does not just need to be in a book, but you
can tell wonderful stories yourselves.
Katie Pickles kept everyone entertained
between set changes
Senior Teacher’s Column
Kia ora koutou, greetings to all,
PhD research presentation
I hope the approaching end to
2011 brings with it good health
and renewed energy for everyone
after what has been a very challenging year for us all.
I’d like to thank the parent committee of ECLC/SWU for the opportunity to present my PhD
research, and the teachers and
parents who attended it. This
presentation was something I
had wanted to do for a while,
especially since my research
was conducted at ECLC in 2009.
I enjoyed the interactions and
the conversations that took
place on the night and even in
the days after the presentation.
Professional Learning Journeys
Both the Sheila Walker Unit (SWU)
and the Te Ao Tamariki (TAT) Under-2 teams have finished their
team learning journeys for this
year. SWU teachers have successfully tweaked the indoor environment to encourage a more peaceful environment in the mornings
and are interested in looking at
other aspects of a peaceful curriculum next year. TAT Under-2
teachers have articulated their
shared philosophy and next year,
they would like to make their philosophy more visible in the physical environment and in children’s
learning stories.
ECLC and TAT Over-2 will continue with their team learning
journeys into next year. ECLC’s
journey will continue
to investigate two transition processes: from SWU to the Toddler
Unit, and from ECLC to
school. TAT Over-2’s focus on
strengthening creativity currently
revolves around organising their
second concert for the year, with
the likelihood of more concerts
next year.
Please feel free to talk with the
teams about their journeys.
Page 4
Some parents and teachers
have said that they were interested in attending the presentation but have been unable to.
lenges and Opportunities. I
have chosen this theme to
reflect the current climate
which is characterised by
rapid change and uncertainty, and to prompt us to
think of ways to transform
expectations and challenges into opportunities
that are meaningful for
ourselves, each other and
our teams.
I wish you all a relaxing
and rejuvenating holiday,
and a new year of opportunities.
Kia kaha, Hanin
We can make creativity more visible through organising our
concerts so that they are based around the children’s interests
and draw upon the strengths of our community
So I decided to video-record the
presentation and combine this
video-recording with the powerpoint, which I will make available to anyone who is interested. I am still in the process
of working on this, and will let
you know when it is ready.
Teacher only day
Teachers from the three centres
will get together for our
Teacher Only Day on 13 January
2011 at the Hinoki seminar
room. The seminar room is located amidst a serene Japanese
garden at the Sonoda Campus
on the College of Education.
The theme is Expectations, Chal-
Christmas 2011
We all love the Very Hungry
Caterpillar story by Eric Carle.
The ballet was set to music by
Jean Michel Jarré, the Proclaimers, Hirini Melbourne and Chinese bamboo flute music . Sue
together with the Te Ao Tamariki teachers and the children
designed the choreography for
this ballet. Our community and
our children contributed to the
costumes and props.
We hope you all enjoyed this fun
ballet. Our children certainly
enjoyed performing in it.
Popping Dance
Hungry Caterpillars
Wind Dance
December 2011
Page 5
Royal NZ Ballet comes to town
Even Santa made it to the concert ...
University of Canterbury
Early Years Care & Education Centres
Puna Kohungaghunga
Te Ao Tamariki
Cnr of Parkstone & Solway Ave:
Early Childhood Learning Centre,
Sheila Walker Unit
Teachers’ contacts
[email protected] (Head
Teacher)
[email protected]
[email protected]
megumi. [email protected]
[email protected]
nora.brown.canterbury.ac.nz
[email protected]
Phone: +64 3 3642821
E-mail: [email protected]
www.canterbury.ac.nz/earlyyears
vasati.fa’[email protected]