Counting down to Open Day

Welcome back to 2021 - like the ads say, it's going to be a busy year.

The Open Day is fast approaching, and now's the time to get in touch with waitlist families and others to let them know the doors will be open to all next Wednesday. Get those posters up and flyers out!

Check your welcome - get those flags, signs and balloons out so visitors know where to go. And talk to the tamariki about what's happening and how they can help us to welcome any visitors.

We had our biggest months ever after last year's Open Day, with a big spike in waitlist and enrolment numbers, and it's a great opportunity to showcase all that Kidsfirst has to offer.

If you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to drop an email to jenny.pitama@kidsfirst.org.nz

Have a great first week back, and we look forward to seeing all the photos and stories from the big day. And don't forget to send us regular, everyday kindy photos through the weeks ahead, too.

Making the most of Open Day

Open Day is such a great opportunity to showcase your kindergarten in person - and also on our Facebook pages.

We'll be taking Facebook submissions all day on the day to create an album - so feel free to rattle off a photo or four and upload them through the submissions page. Don't forget to:

• Think about what's in the background, as well as in the main frame of the shot.

• Check that the tamariki you are photographing are permissioned - please only send us photos of children you are 100% sure about

• Tell us a bit about what's going on in your photos (reference the ID numbers or name you've given the photos so we can match them up.

Our thanks to the kaiako featured in our Open Day campaign who are helping us bring the day to life with video messages encouraging whānau to come on in.

New Year marketing

Our New Year campaign is well and truly underway with it's 'Busy Year' theming and ads carrying '20 Hours Free Even for 2 Year Olds' and 'Ready to Start' messaging.

Facebook and Google Ads continue to perform well, with a big spike in internet traffic for the first 2 weeks in January vs the same time the year before.

But, as always, what we do at head office is only part of the picture - what goes in in kindergartens is just as important, and while Kidsfirst's profile is high, it's a great opportunity to get noticed locally, too. Get your posters out in the community, your e-newsletter ads in the local school's first edition, and be sure to contact your waitlist families - even if you have no spaces right now.

Last December was the best in the four years we've been monitoring and analysing waitlist data and we're hoping for a bumper January, too.

If you were out and about in Christchurch over the break you may have seen our Mall Doors - they're bright and colourful and hard to miss.

We're working hard to get accurate numbers so we can plan ahead and get a clear picture of where there is capacity over the network: please clean up your waitlist and continue to get your start dates in as soon as possible so we can forecast accurately.