Working Bee 2017

Recently we had a working bee at the kindergarten to get a few jobs done.  

Every time we hold one of these events, we are amazed by people's commitment to community.

This year we would like to thank Darren and Paula Matich for their valued service.  They supplied an enormous amount of top quality bark for us to replenish our gardens at an extremely generous rate and speedy delivery time.

 

The children enjoyed watching the truck back up and dump the bark.

With our bark delivered we were ready to go...

On the day of our working bee people generously gave time, resources and energy which helped to get things done.  We honestly couldn't have done it without the positive and hard working attitude from people within our kindergarten community.  We are so blessed!

No excuses!  Even our gorgeous pregnant Mum's get involved!

We thought we'd never get through the bark!  It was hot, back braking work however when a community gets in to help each other, it's very rewarding and extremely satisfying!

Getting creative

Building new kai tables out of recycled materials...lol making it up as you go along!

Construction begins on a new carpentry area.

What's amazing to us, is that even people who haven't got children attending our kindergarten came along to lend a helping hand...how cool is that!!

Working with and for young children is so obviously a priority for people in our community...evidence that it really does take a whole village to raise a child.

Tamariki getting in on the action

 There were a lot of jobs to do...moving the enormous mountain of bark proved a real challenge.  It was so hot which made it hard going.  Everyone worked together to get the job done and there was a real sense of achievement when the pile got smaller and smaller!

Charlie was a hard worker too.  He seemed to relish the task and being part of the team doubled the enjoyment.  

This community event gave many of the children present the opportunity to experience first hand the joy you feel when you step outside yourself and commit to the service of others. 

Charlie was definitely feeling it and expressed pride in his efforts. 

“I’m working hard like my Dad.”

 

This year we set ourselves a mammoth task of re-barking our gardens, creating a new carpentry area, extending our kai area, and making a gate to our a secret garden. Our plans were ambitious however with determination and that wonderful Bream Bay community spirit we achieved above and beyond our expectations.

A heartfelt and special thank you to all of those who participated to make this such a successful day.  Each and every one of you is appreciated very much.

Arohanui

Tania

St Patricks Day

St. Patrick’s Day- at Bream Bay Kindergarten

"May your troubles be less and your blessings be more, and nothing but happiness come through your door"

 

St. Patrick’s Day occurs annually on March 17 in observance of the death of St. Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland. What began as a religious feast day in the 17th century has evolved into a variety of festivals across the globe celebrating Irish culture with parades, special foods, music, dancing, and a whole lot of green.


Well that is exactly what happened today. Our friend Aiofe and her mum Tracey asked if we could acknowledge St Patrick's day because it is apart of Aiofe's culture. That was not the only reason we celebrated St Patricks today, we also wanted to acknowledge all our families that also have Irish heritage.

We arrived at Kindergarten wearing as much as we could find.  We had green paint, green play dough and green glitter all over the floor.  We had a parade and a dance and as a special treat Aiofe's mum read to us a lovely story from Ireland. 


To complete our celebration we had a shared kai of green food which included green iced biscuits, green cupcakes and green pancakes and for our healthy choice we ate broccoli, celery, green dip and we drank kiwi fruit juice. 


Instead of sandwich day today we had potato soup.  Potatoes are the national food of Ireland.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Little pig, little pig.....come on in

Yes its true. Here at Bream Bay Kindergarten we have been 'pig watching'. Peaches the pig came to kindergarten and we were so lucky to be able to watch her. The tamariki, the whanau and the teachers were all caught up in just how teeny and cute this little pig was!

A huge thank-you to Nadia and Ayden for sharing Peaches the pig with us, for taking the time and having the patience to travel with her by car to kindergarten. We do appreciate it! "Partnerships involve establishing a sense of community, where both children and families know that they belong and make a valuable contribution" (Stonehouse, A).

Our tamariki and whanau were excited to see a piglet at kindergarten and enjoy the opportunity to observe, to share ideas and to collectively and collaboratively bring together ideas and conversations around Peaches. We sometimes forget that new experiences happen every day for children and many had never seen a pig before. Children hold images and stories of pigs in their knowledge banks. Big pigs, little pigs, pigs from stories or images of pigs but this is not the same as a real live pig.

While Peaches the pig visited we sat together and observed her. We watched, we talked, we noticed, we asked questions, we loved Peaches! Beetz et al. (2012) states that "the incorporation of animals within the education context affects the entire social atmosphere, supporting improved social interactions between children and the creation of a community of learners".

As we watched the children said:

"She's drinking she's milk" said Mathilda

"A little pig she was walking and I watching her" said Aoife

"She's digging for worms" said Caden

"Whys shes getting dirt on her nose?" asked Olivia.

"She got ears" said Jacob

"And she's got bodies" said Sophia

"And legs and mouth" said Jericho

"Do piglets jump?" asked Lachlan

"How do they jump?"  said Manaia

As the children noticed and talked, they made connections between knowledge from home, knowledge gathered from their peers and from their own observations and statements.

After Peaches visited the children took the opportunity to sit together and talk more about Peaches and to also put onto paper their ideas, memories and knowledge of the little pig.

  

                         

  

           

"Studies of children's prior knowledge (Dilkes, 1998; Wellman &Gellman, 1992;1998) provide evidence that children bring applicable and effective knowledge to new learning situations and that revisiting knowledge is an essential component of the knowledge-building process" (Hedges, 2004).  

When we revisited our pig pictures and memories the children said

"He played and played. He was pink" Jaia
"He taked his tail and wrapped his tail up" Sophia
"Peaches the pig likes some bottles. The pig can do digging and the pig can do jumping. the pig said oink oink oink oink like that" Aoife
"She ran, she sniffeded the floor. We fed her with her bottle" Kendall-Lee
"Oh yeah that little piggy, we let her outside yesterday. it was over here and she tried to get her bottle" Jericho

"From a socio-cultural perspective, the contribution of the authentic social and cultural contexts in which children participate, and the role of experiential learning events, become prominent in considering how children's learning can be enhanced" (Hedges, 2004).



Sadly for us the inevitable has happened....Peaches has grown too big for the trips to kindergarten and her liking for nibbling on little toes had disaster written all over it. Till next time Peaches xxxx