Kotahitanga haumāuiui hīanga LEARNING TOGETHER THROUGH PLAY

The year started with the unit of inquiry 'Sharing the planet'. Tamariki came back from their summer holiday, sharing their adventures at the local rivers and beaches. The caterpillars at Preschool were happy to see the children, and soon research into life cycles of caterpillars, frogs and dragonflies began. We continued the mahi/work by extending the learning to photosynthesis, food chains and habitats. We explored the pond at Katherine Mansfield Park, as well as the gardens, searching for insects and arachnids. Recently, tamariki built a Bug Hotel, which sparked an interest in our new unit of inquiry 'How the world works'.

During the last six months, we held pōwhiris for new friends and poroporoaki for our tamariki moving to school. Whaea Ri (Ako Teach) has started her weekly Te Reo Māori session, adding more authenticity to our bicultural curriculum. Her philosophy, 'Ko te reo tōku tuakiri, Ko te reo tōku ahurei, Ko te reo te ora. Language is my identity, Language is my uniqueness and Language is life,' plays an important part in revitalising the reo.

Playball and Library sessions continue to be an integral part of our weekly programme, along with Maestra de español, Betty, and her wonderful Spanish lessons.

We held our first family gathering for the year with great success and started working on our Matariki celebration plans, with a focus on collaboration with the QMC community.

Cultural celebrations were plentiful and we immensely enjoyed including our children’s heritages. Lunar New Year, ANZAC Day, Sri Lankan New Year, Holi and Eid were great opportunities to learn about other countries and pay tribute to traditions. Waitangi Day gave us the opportunity to visit He Tohu and connect with an integral part of New Zealand’s history.

Holistic development included a monthly visit to Malvina Major Retirement Village as well as a wonderful performance, 'Wonderkind', at Te Papa. We are looking forward to continuing our mahi/ work in line with QMC Strategic Intent by focusing on Adventurous Learning, Partnerships, and the strengthening of our shared understanding of, and commitment to, Te Tiriti o Waitangi and tikanga in all that we do.

Therefore, I would like to use a wonderful whakataukī composed by Sir Apirana Ngata 'E tipu e rea mō ngā rā o tōu ao – Grow up and thrive for the days destined to you'.

Susanne Reich Head of Preschool