Welcome to 2018

Welcome to the 2018 school year. It has been an exciting few weeks as the children, and their families settle into life at Kindergarten. We welcome all new and returning families in both the 3-year-old and 4-year-old kindergarten programs. There are lots of exciting things planned for this year and we will endeavour to keep you up to date through our monthly newsletters and via notices in your child’s pockets, please don’t forget to check these on a regular basis. As always, you are welcome to speak with the educators or your PAG representatives if you have any concerns. 

As a reminder, all parents are invited to be general members of the PAG.  We are here to help make our Kindergarten a great place in which our children’s minds can grow and develop. Our main responsibilities are building and garden maintenance, and fundraising. We rely on our fundraising to purchase new equipment for the kinder and to create an inclusive, creative space. I will endeavour to ensure that money you raise will be put into the kindergarten without delay, so that your children will benefit from our efforts. None of us can operate in isolation, we work as a team. I encourage you to join, we will meet monthly and it will be a warm, welcoming space in which all are heard.   

Family Night BBQ

The first family night for the year will be held on Friday 2^nd March at the kindergarten. It is a perfect opportunity to meet other families in a casual, relaxed atmosphere. You will have received a notice for the event in your child’s pockets this week. I would encourage you all to come, this is a fantastic opportunity to be involved in your child’s community.

Yarni MacAlister

2018 PAG President

Dear Coleraine and District Kindergarten Parent,

Thank you for your 2017 enrolment with the Coleraine and District Kindergarten. Following the Annual General Meeting last night we would like to confirm several details for the 2017 kindergarten year.

Josie Ahearn holds the position of Four-year Old Teacher and Educational Leader for 2017. Session times for the Four-year Old Group will be 8:55am-1:55pm Monday, Tuesday and Friday. In 2017 Trotter’s Bus Company will continue to drop our travelers off second to facilitate the change in starting times. The first session will be on the 31st of January. Please see Josie’s parent letter and student ‘Hi There’ letter for special details of her programme. Maree Hadden will continue on as Three-year Old Group Teacher and Four-year Old Group Assistant with Jo Povey as the Three-year Old Group Assistant. The session time for the Three-year Old Group will remain 8:45am-11:45am Thursday. The first session will be on the second of February. Please see the Maree’s letter for special details of session times.

Please note that parents are not able to leave children unaccompanied on the premises outside the above session times due to the licensing provisions of our kindergarten. We ask that you remain with your child if you happen to be early to kindergarten and ring in if you are running late so that an extra staff member or additional parent can remain on the premises.

Very few other kindergartens run a separate programme for three-year olds as they receive no government funding. Our healthy numbers, at this stage ten confirmed enrolments, indicate toward its popularity and the impact it has on drawing young families to our town for education.  The four year-old programme, which currently has 10 confirmed enrolments, receives government subsidies to cover wages for the teacher and the compulsory assistant. All our Committee are volunteers and we truly are a community organisation, so please come along to the next meeting and see how we run the kindergarten. Date has been set by the new Committee of Management as seventh of February. Meetings are open to all General Members (parents with a child enrolled or those community members nominated, seconded by a General Member and paying a donation of not less than one dollar). Incoming Committee of Management are in the AGM Minutes circulated by Tanya Maclachlan, outgoing Secretary.

Please subscribe to our blog http://www.colerainekindergarten.blogspot.com.au/ from a desktop computer. Emails of event updates will then automatically be sent to you as they are uploaded by the teachers and Committtee. Otherwise check it from any device. If you have any questions about our management, programmes or fundraising, please ask a staff or Committee member and we will endeavor to answer them. A Parent Library is by the kinder entrance. It has a folder on the Combined Pre-schools of the Southern Grampians, current policies, the Statement of Purposes, Minutes of meetings and other important documents.

Kind regards,

  

Signed on behalf of the service:

Georgina Templeton

Vice-President,

Coleraine & District Kindergarten

Early Years Management-CPSG

Our kindergarten is currently an independent, community run kindergarten. Our 'Committee' is volunteer and responsible for compliance and general running of the kindergarten as a not-for-profit organisation. The 'Grievance Committee' is a sub-committee made up of the three executive members (President, Secretary and Vice-President). If you are part of our kindergarten you are a general member, so please don't hesitate to ask one of our committee members if you have a question-they are all parents or ex-parents of kindergarten children. Committee Meetings are approximately once a month and all 'General Members' are welcome: those who pay to belong and the parent body.

Minutes of meetings are kept in the labelled folder by the back door in the 'Parent Library'. The Statement of Purposes, policies, QUIP and so on are also kept there.

New committee members are nominated and elected at our 'Annual General Meeting' which is to be held in January on the 24th at 7pm. Nomination forms were available from the kindergarten during session times and on the Welcome Day as well as being sent home with each enrolled child. Please fill one out and drop it off to the Secretary Tanya Maclachlan seven days before the AGM and take up a position to be involved.

In 2016, after much consideration and discussion, including two open meetings, a decision was made to investigate moving to the Combined Pre-schools of the Southern Grampians Early Years Management group so long as monies remained with the local branch of the Bendigo Bank where possible. This would remove the burden of running the kindergarten, employing  and paying staff and policy and bureaucracy from parents. A 'Site Committee' still remains necessary from each kindergarten to represent them on the CPSG board and direct each of the kindergarten's direction and fundraise. There is currently a 'CPSG Sub-committee' made of Georgina, Chelsea as Committee representatives and Josie, as the staff representative. This will need to continue in 2017 with representatives from the Committee and staff as will the 'Committee' until all due processes have been followed in regards to joining the CPSG.

A Special Meeting has been called by members to again discuss the CPSG. It has been set for January the 13th at 10am. Georgina has invited a representative from CPSG and two from Department of Education of Training to attend. The latter will present information about Early Years Management. All paid-up and enrolled members have been invited by the Secretary, Tanya.

Christmas Parade

Thank you to all who came along and participated in the float on Friday night! Our 'Bush Christmas' float was much enjoyed by all.

Thank you to Andrea for organising the trailer from Lachy MacDonald's Rural Merchandise, Alan and Marg Templeton for lending us the hay bales and Jenny and Lester Welton for picking them up. Thank you to Kristy Iredell for decorating and Rick Iredell for driving! The banner made by the Four-year Old Group looked lovely and it was very nice to have our Teacher and Assistants all there this year encouraging the children and promoting our Kindergarten.

Welcome Day Today!

Welcome day is on today at the Kindergarten! Come along and meet the staff from 9-11:30am! Activities for the children while you complete your enrolment forms and have a chat to the staff. There is an opportunity to order your uniform for next year or purchase from existing stock. Windcheaters $20, hats $12, round neck tees $12, polos $20. Cash for exisitng stock or cash when ordering for new stock.

Combined Pre-schools of the Southern Grampians

The Coleraine & District Kindergarten Executive Committee are happy to inform the community that a final decision has been made and the Coleraine Kindergarten will be joining the Combined Pre-schools of the Southern Grampians in 2017; on the proviso that monies remain with the local branch of the Bendigo Bank.

After extensive investigation and discussions with the cluster organisation and their representatives coming to General Meetings, parents, community members, local kindergartens and past and present early childhood staff and an open meeting on the 19^th of October for discussion, a Special meeting was held on the 15^th November 2016 and an official vote of the General Committee was taken. A clear result from the vote was to move to a cluster for the management of the Coleraine Kindergarten.

This does not mean there is not a need for parent involvement. A Site Committee is still required and will be responsible in ensuring the Kindergarten is still run in accordance with the best interest for the Community and the parents, carers and children attending.

If there are any questions or anyone requires more clarification on what this means for the Kindergarten and the Community please contact Georgina Templeton (President), Rhianna Paton (Treasurer) or Tanya McLachlan (Secretary) through the above phone number, leave a message and we will be happy to clarify any queries you have.  The CPSG website is: http://www.cpsg.org.au/ for further information.

Friday 2 December 2016

'Bush Christmas' 

Each year the Coleraine and District Kindergarten are involved in the Coleraine Christmas Parade, this year being held on Friday 2 December 2016.

This year our Kindergarten theme is "Bush Christmas". The children will help decorate the float with Australian animals and bush designs. Children can come dressed inspired by the idea of an Aussie Bush Christmas or their own favourite Christmas choice. 

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join in the parade to celebrate Christmas.

Kind regards,

Josie Ahearn

Teacher and Educational Leader

 Maree Hadden

Activity Group Leader and Assistant

Charleen Van Zyl

Assistant

Jo Povey

Assistant