Author: Admin

1452 Forest Road, RD1, Atiamuri
07 333 9111 027 6291892
Email: office@countrykidz.co.nz

Kia ora whānau
Welcome back to a speedy start to 2023, we are so grateful to have you as part of our learning community for the coming year.
Term Tahi is underway and we are excited to announce that GG has been appointed as our new permanent full-time teacher. We are so excited to have her join our teaching team, GG has wonderful experience, is an incredibly passionate teacher, and the vibrant personality to go with it. We are still keen to have reliever’s join our flexible teaching team so if you know anyone that loves teaching in a child-led environment, please ask them to get in touch!
We have a wonderful shipment of Tred Safe outdoor equipment arriving in the next two weeks thanks to our community’s efforts last year with fundraising. This equipment will help grow full body gross motor skills and agility for our tamariki as well as provide them with a new way to explore our outdoor environment through risk taking. A huge thank you from our teaching team for supporting all our fundraising during 2022, we are so grateful for the resources this provides.
Reece Wine has been doing an amazing job of caring for our lawns and we are very grateful to him. Could we please seek additional lawn mowers so we can help Reece this year by spreading the load. If you are able to help mow our lawns once every month or two, please contact the office. Thank you to Ash Tracey who has also added his name to our lawn mowing mob!
We are hoping for much more settled weather in February so we can have our Welcome Back party which we have scheduled for 24 February and the rain delay date is 3 March ….. given the weather you can understand our determination to have this event take place so a postponement date is a must!
As a teaching team we are so excited about the coming year and all the learning, exploration, and wonder we can play a part in nurturing. We are thankful for the privilege that comes with being a big part of this community and the opportunity to be actively involved in the development of our wonderful tamariki.
Wishing everyone a year of hope, health, and delight—let’s get started!

We say ‘farewell’ to one of our tamariki this month who start their primary school learning journey
Skylah Kavermann
Haere mai, welcome back our
Country Kidz friend,
Cooper Dillon
We are looking forward to welcoming you and your whānau back!

Birthday honours for January include:
Skylah Kavermann
Austin Styles
Wishing all our community who celebrate birthday’s this month, the warmest of wishes for the coming year.

16 January—Country Kidz Reopened for 2023
23-27 January—Lunar/Chinese New Year
25 January—Lockdown Drill
30 January—Auckland Anniversary (closed)
6 February—Waitangi Day (closed)
13 February—Bike Taupō
14 February—Valentine’s Day
20 February—Fire Drill
24 February—Welcome Back Party
****4-6.30pm****
7 March—Earthquake Drill
16 March—Kinloch Excursion
17 March—St Patrick’s Day

To The Robertson Family for their amazing donation to our fundraising account for outdoor equipment!
To Holly Dudley for gifting us and organising the Fonterra Christmas Dinner fundraiser, the food was amazing!
To our Community for ALL the donations that made this event SO successful
To The Schultz for the use of their trailer during December and dumping ALL our rubbish!
To Reece Wine for continuing to mow our lawns and show such care to our environment!
We are forever grateful for the support of our community

Any updates?
Can we please have up-to-date information on file with regards to the immunisation status of your tamariki—we require this legally should there be a health-related outbreak.
We need to keep our enrolment forms updated with relevant contact phone numbers, emergency and pick-up information. If your circumstances have changed, please come in so we can update your details

Kia Ora Country Kidz Whānau.
We hope you have all had a relaxing Summer period with friends and whānau and that your tamariki are excited to be back at the Centre with their friends and Kaiako. Our phenomenal teaching team has a fabulous term planned & we are excited to be kicking into 2023.
We are writing to update you on the Country Kidz Relocation project.
Throughout 2021/2022 the Country Kidz team and Committee have been diligently working with the Ministry of Education, Tirohanga School, and key stakeholders to explore the relocation of Country Kidz ECE to a site within the property boundaries of Tirohanga School. Over the course of this period, we had many positive meetings with all involved and were looking forward to creating a supportive education hub to cater to the needs of our amazing community.
However, on the 16th of December 2022, the Committee received correspondence from Tirohanga School Board of Trustees. This correspondence detailed their wish to cease all current proceedings with Country Kidz ECE regarding the move. Their correspondence also detailed an intent to pursue the possibility of an alternative ECE facility on the proposed site discussed between Country Kidz and Tirohanga School.
The Country Kidz Committee is surprised and disappointed by Tirohanga School Board’s decision to cease proceedings but ultimately accepts their decision as an independent entity. We believed all parties had a strong and collegial working relationship and were operating in good faith and with the intent to work collaboratively in the best interests of the tamariki in our community.
Over the past year, we have also been fundraising to help support the relocation of Country Kidz. We are very thankful for the support received from our entire community, showing what an important part we are of Tirohanga and Mokai. We apologise this money will no longer be used for its original purpose, however, all funds raised to help facilitate the move to Tirohanga School will now be reallocated to an alternative solution.
The ethos of Country Kidz is to provide our tamariki with amazing learning opportunities in our community and this remains our focus moving forward. We are working closely with the Ministry of Education and key stakeholders to explore other alternatives. While these conversations are in their infancy, they have been positive, and we will keep our community informed at every opportunity. Rest assured, Country Kidz is committed to our community just as it has been for the last 15 years.
If you have any questions, comments, or concerns please do not hesitate to contact the Committee via email countrykidzchairperson@gmail.com
Ngā Mihi Nui
Country Kidz ECE

MISFIT FRUIT AND VEGETABLE BOXES HAVE BEEN HUGELY POPULAR WITH OUR COMMUNITY!
Check out their website for the selection of boxes that you can pre-order www.misfitgarden.co.nz. Deliveries can be made to the Country Kidz address (1452 Forest Road, Mokai, 3377). All boxes are delivered for collection at 3pm every Wednesday.
With every box sold Country Kidz will receive a koha towards relocation costs 😊

We have our very own ‘Mary Poppins’ at Country Kidz and this year Briar is making herself available to our community as a babysitter! Should you find yourselves needing a night out, attending a Country Kidz committee meeting, or an urgent road trip to find eggs, send the lovely Briar a message on ….. 022 328 2492.

If you are interested and would like further information, please contact us on 333 9111.
Permanent Gardener and Maintenance Person—we have two hours a week for a grounds and maintenance person to help care for our learning environment. This is a position we are happy to be flexible with regards to time and day and can be done during or after hours.
Relief Teachers—we want to add to our relieving team for 2023 with passionate and flexible teachers. We often need relief teachers to support our permanent teaching team throughout the year. Relief teachers ensure we are providing quality education every day we are open.

Please remember to like our Facebook page, Country Kidz ECE. Please share and encourage family and friends to like our page and follow the adventures and achievements we make here with the Tamariki.