Making the most of pre-packaged content

Have you got an opportunity to write something for a local publication, or are you looking to put something in a school, or local newsletter?

You don’t have to start from scratch – there’s lots of whānau-friendly content on our website that can easily be adapted to suit your local audience and fit the word count for a specific publication. Sometimes, even getting the inspiration from an existing story can help.

Stories at The Whānau Connect section of our website are tailor-made for parents of young tamariki, and are filled with insights and practical ideas from kaiako across all of our kindergartens. You’re welcome to copy, paste, edit, and customise to your heart's content. The stories here are designed to share the expertise and knowledge of our kaiako on topics of interest to whānau in a way that is accessible and interesting.

Our online newsletter pages tell the stories of day-to-day life in our kindergartens around different themes. They are a great place to send whānau wanting to learn more about kindergarten life, so it’s worth the effort to send in your ideas and get featured here. Again, you can use this content as the basis for your own story on a particular topic.

Both of these resources have BetterBecause ideas woven in, which means you can stay on-message easily.

Looking to start from scratch? Here’s a handy template to help you put your story together:

Intro.

A few lines that summarise the gist of your story, and which tell your reader why they might be interested in this story, now.

Keep your audience in mind.

In plain language (try to avoid Eduspeak), explain why the reader should care about what you’re talking about is important. If it’s a day-to-day activity that you’re wanting to highlight, talk about the benefits to tamariki, and how it contributes to their educational journey. If it’s an adapted piece of content that is more generalised and idea-based, think about how to make it more relevant to your community.

Kindergarten is BetterBecause.

Time to sell. Use the BetterBecause messages, combined with the unique selling points of your kindergarten, to make your case. Be sure to mention your kaiako, their qualifications, and links to the local community. It’s a great opportunity to take the kindergarten magic beyond the gate.

Help bring the learning home/Advice for whānau.

Returning to practical tips ensures your reader feels as though they can take something away from your story. See if you can connect the theme or events in your story to everyday, at-home life, and give whānau ideas they can put into action themselves.

Don’t forget the bigger picture.

Your kindergarten and its unique place in the local community will be a real draw card – but there’s a wider context that prospective whānau care about, too. Be sure to mention that your kindergarten is part of a not-for-profit network of almost 70 throughout Canterbury, the West Coast and Central Otago, that kindergarten has been around for more than 100 years, and that all our teachers are fully qualified and registered.

The next step.

At the end of every story, parents should have the opportunity to go somewhere where they can get some further information, some ideas include: 'Call Us at' (provide your kindergarten, or Head Office number), 'enrol here' (provide a link to the Apply Now page); 'come to our Stay and Play at these times' (your kindergarten will have a Facebook event set up). All these help keep parents interested and engaged, and let them get to know your team, and kindergarten better.

If you want some more ideas, check out the great work Deb McNally, and the team at Maniototo are doing on this front here.

Read all Issue 12 stories