Jenny's Update
- Kidsfirst
- Dec 18, 2023
- 2 min read
Ngā mihi o te wā, season’s greetings everyone!
We’re almost there – the end is in sight! I’ve been out and about the last few weeks, and the excitement of the tamariki has been contagious as they celebrate the end of the year with their friends and whānau at kindy. This term I’ve been a proud spectator at my grandson Noah’s first trike-a-thon at Vickery Street and watched in wonder as my moko Aubree prepares for school at King Street. Where did those five years go?
I can’t help but be in awe of the incredible community connections you have all fostered, and it really shows when you celebrate and the whole extended whānau turn up to support! The Whanaungatanga is palpable, you are so skilled at bringing us all together and infusing the Whakamanamana in everything you do. You’re probably not even aware that you are all amazing brand ambassadors for Kidsfirst and for your profession, but please know it is so appreciated.
Open Day 2024
Put it in the diary – Wednesday the 14th of February, 2024. We’ll be promoting the day as usual, and we’ll remind you next year of course. Have a think about what your kaiako and tamariki can do to show manaakitanga to our visitors and showcase Te Ao Kindy. We always get a spike in online enrolments after Open Day, so we know it works!
How are we tracking for the year?
I’m really proud to say that in November more that 63% of our kindergartens used more than 90% of their available child funded hours. More importantly, 59% of you have improved your use of hours for the month of November. A chocolate fish goes to Maniototo and Hāwea, who used every single hour they had available! 💯
The average hours booked across the network per week is 20.36, and in the Focus kindergartens it is 21.1 hours – about the same as last year. More than 75% of our tamariki do 20 hours or less.
The waitlist continues to grow, we’re now at 1,179, including 63 infants, 331 one-year-olds and more than 504 two-year-olds. It’s looking good for 2024 – we just have to hold on to them!
The total number of children enrolled across the network is 2,562, slightly down on 2022 at 2,595, and still way down on 2021, when we had 2,767 children enrolled.
By the end of this year, we will have hosted more than 1000 Stay and Play sessions! Thanks to everyone who has embraced this initiative, it’s absolutely worth the effort.
Thank you all, every single one of you, for the efforts, small and large, that you have made this year to help us bring new tamariki into our kindy whānau. Your mahi not only provides the foundation for lifelong learning, it contributes to strengthening our organisation for future generations.
Ngā mihi o te Kirihimete me te Tau Hou,
Kia tau te aroha me te atawhai i runga iā tatou kātoa
May love and kindness be with with us all.
Nā,
Jen Pitama