A Note From Sherryll
- Kidsfirst
- Nov 7, 2023
- 3 min read
Kei te whiti te rā, he rā tino ataahua tēnei! The sun is shining, it’s a beautiful day... and it’s been a great start to term four which is always such a busy term. Do try to pace yourselves – the countdown to the silly season has begun!
Jen and I have been busy too, with the Chief Executive Cluster meetings taking place over the last month. We’ve seen all 66 teams at 12 meetings, and travelled to Central Otago and the West Coast to meet the regional teams at Cromwell and Hokitika.
We always come away from these meeting with our cups filled from your professionalism, commitment, passion and sense of fun. It gives us such a boost to be kanohi-ki-te-kanohi with you all, to hear your korero and to tell ours. Thank you to our host kindergartens, the other teams love having a look around and gather ideas and inspiration, and our hosts are so proud to showcase their space. Neroli, your baking went down a treat, and the welcome at Niu and the beautiful singing was very special!
To refresh your memories, the topics covered were:
Marketing
A reminder to use our Kidsfirst Kindergartens logo on everything you do. We’ve invested 25 years in building this iconic brand, and we need your help to continue this mahi.
A look at our sales landing page https://teaokindy.kidsfirst.org.nz/, our #betterbecause messages, and the new kindergarten experience fern.
A sneak-peak at Kindy+, a new initiative to offer places at two additional locations during the term break, promoted throughout our Canterbury network in 2024. More info to follow.
An update on our History pages, and a commitment from Sherryll to bring the information to the present day over the next two years.
A reminder to take care of your waitlist families, as we hit an all-time high in numbers.
Uara
A preview of our Uara in their final form – posters will be out soon!
A reminder that we’ll be taking a slow and steady approach to adopting the Uara, starting with the annual review of your Curriculum Priorities. Ka pai to those early adopters – Cromwell and Bush Street, we loved your wall displays.
Head Office kicked off their mahi with a session looking at where we are now, and where we want to be.
Property
Systems and processes are being embedded, with the ultimate goal of having kindergarten teams report only on urgent matters – the rest should be taken care of through regular maintenance planning. It’s a work in progress, please be patient.
More than half of the softfall is completed now, with the rest prioritised for 2024, along with fencing.
The split into five Canterbury work areas appears to be successful in terms of efficiency and we will continue to focus on sending trades out to an area to complete a number of jobs instead of a shotgun approach.
Please read each Property memorandum carefully, all relevant information is contained there, and you can find back issues on the Melting Pot.
Charitable Trust?
The Board is contemplating a change from Incorporated Society to a Charitable Trust to better reflect the size and fit of our organisation as it continues to grow.
The Incorporated Societies Act is about to change, and continuing under this Act will bring significant challenges.
Appointing Trustees with appropriate skills in place of an elected Board will ensure more strategic governance to take us into the future.
No negative impact is foreseen for staff and kindergartens at this stage, and we continue to investigate our options.
More information to follow.
Incident Reporting
A rundown on term 3 incidents, and a reminder to always check in with your PL so we don’t lose the Golden Hour following an incident.
ERO
A review of the new Governing Organisation framework and what was involved in our latest review.
A huge thanks to all those involved, in particular the 11 kindergartens – we couldn’t have been prouder of the results.
We achieved “Sustaining”, which is the highest category available, and we are the only governing organisation in Aotearoa to gain this rating at this time!
ERO will be back in 14–18 months to review us, at head office and another sample of around 12 kindergartens.
A panui will be posted on Educa to inform parents. Ka mau te wehi!
Thank you
Finally, a huge ngā mihi nui to every one of you for the incredible mahi you do every day that continues to inspire and motivate us all and makes Kidsfirst the special place it is.
"Ehara toa i te toa takitahi, engari, he toa takitini" –
My strength is not that of a single person but instead the strength of many.
Sherryll
