Early Childhood on Stafford Our Values and what they look like in action “Manaakiatanga” “Whanaungatanga” “Kotahitanga” “Ako”

Manaakiatanga Hospitality, Kindness and Support

Manaakiatanga – acknowledging the mana of others as having equal or greater importance than one’s own, through the expression of aroha, hospitality, generosity, and mutual respect of different peoples, groups, and cultures. It proposes the ethic of care and nurturing a centre culture that provides success for all learners, including children, teachers, and whanau.

Our Values

For our Children/tamariki • Empowerment – respect/fun ........ building children, acknowledgement of the importance of cultures/beliefs, and spirituality • Children are welcomed and encouraged to take turns/to be helpful to others, and to be kind to peers • Celebrations of milestones, successes, • Acknowledges strengths /successes celebrated on the Home app • Allowing children to share what they have been doing and celebrating births/welcomes/extended whanau • Acknowledging that children have a voice • Laugh and hear laughter • Children encouraged to build on their strengths • Children are encouraged to show kindness and rewarded for doing so through praise, peer acknowledgement, and narratives • Learning is mostly child-led, and opportunities are available for them to share their skills, knowledge, and aspirations with others.

Manaakiatanga For our Teachers/Kaiako** • Working as an inclusive team to develop a sense of belonging to our ECOS whanau • Being observed having fun, and hearing adult laughter in the programme • Greeting and farewelling other adults and children and being welcomed themself • Taking responsibility to welcome our visitors and looking after their needs • Sharing their interests with the children and their peers • Actively supporting other staff • Being ok to make mistakes in the pursuit of learning • Displaying and receiving the ethic of care • Celebrating success for us as a teaching team • Understanding and learning from each other’s values, cultures, beliefs, and experiences.

Manaakiatanga For our Whanau/Parents/caregivers/Visitors • Greeted on entry, farewelled on departure • Relevant Information is shared with them • Supported for their aspirations for their child’s learning, routines, and behaviour • Sharing in their knowledge, skills, resources, and experiences • Informed of child’s learning, progress, and success through the Home app and daily conversations • Reassured and encouraged in their roles as a child’s first teacher, and being asked about their well-being and interests/experiences • Networking with whanau, etc and introducing visitors, guests to each other, children, and kaiako • Hosting social and centre events where whanau can meet and greet • acknowledging whanau have the right to think and act differently • respecting whanau’s choice of information • Engaging whanau in open, honest, and tactful communication

Our Values Whanaungatanga A close connection between people

A sense of family connection, connecting to whanau or family at all levels. It’s a relationship through shared experiences and working together, which provides people with a sense of belonging. This is the glue that holds people together in any whanau relationship.

Whanaungatanga For our Children/tamariki • learning about their wider whanau • developing their sense of turangawaewae • being encouraged to be responsive to others • sharing their homelife on the Home app • developing a connection to whenua – flora, fauna, places • going on excursions into their piece of land • leading their learning and sharing their interests with kaiako and peers • centre acknowledging children’s learning through celebrations, board and wall displays, and centre narratives • the linking of past experiences /skills, and knowledge

Our Values Whanaungatanga For our Teachers/Kaiako • Learning about each child’s whanau and the interconnectedness of those within the whanau • Inviting whanau into Ecos for centre events to connect with teachers and other whanau...introductions and greetings are very important • Connecting with and displaying empathy for whanau members using a listening ear. • Welcoming whanau daily and sharing achievements and successes of their child with them • Supporting whanau to access help and support outside of the centre if needed through referrals, information on support services, and any other way required

Our Values Whanaungatanga For our Whanau/Parents/caregivers/Visitors • Invited into the centre to share experiences, knowledge, skills, and expertise • asked about their child to learn more about child experiences and preferences, and iwi/extended whanau happenings • Be encouraged to share stories, events, and experiences via the Home App to grow teachers’ awareness of children’s greater experiences and perspectives outside of the centre • Valuing whanau skills and knowledge of wider subject matter and encouraging them to share to grow centre/teacher knowledge

Our Values Kotahitanga Working together to be inclusive and unified.

Kotahitanga The concept of togetherness, identifying as one – sharing the earth, extending our awhina (support) to everyone and receiving the same back .... holistic development where we view all aspects of our people’s learning and development as an integrated and interconnected whole.

Our Values Kotahitanga For our Children/tamariki • Helping children learn that the environment is for everyone, not just the individual • Help children learn that everyone has different roots – come from differing whanau with differing ideas and experience/influences, and that this difference is a good thing and helps grow our wider society – it’s an enrichment • Encouraging others to respect the environment and treat it well so it lasts for all • Identifying strengths and learning that others have different strengths, which are invaluable for the greater society • Learning that others need support and help sometimes • Acknowledging that every aspect of a child’s life is interconnected, both spiritually, physically, emotionally, and cognitively • Providing good role models to help identify positive attributes • Providing support to guide children to acknowledge their strengths and help them learn that this is important to the collective • Encouraging children to seek help from more skilled others if needed

Our Values Kotahitanga For our Teachers/Kaiako • Respecting the environment as it is interconnected to all of our well-being • Being kaitiaki(guardian) to model what our responsibilities are in caring for our spaces • Helping children learn about their turangawaewae and their place within this space • Learning from whom and where we come from – mihimihi • Helping children learn that they are part of a greater whole and that responsibility comes with that • Helping children to view that diversity is important for the well-being of the whole group, and this ensures enrichment and growth in understanding and ideas

Our Values Kotahitanga For our Whanau/Parents/caregivers/Visitors • Make certain of whanaungatanga to help whanau and visitors feel welcome and part of the whole centre • Involve whanau in centre operations such as policy, celebrations, cultural events to see Ecos as a whole, diverse place • Inform about the history of Ecos to get some sense of continuity and connection to the whole journey • Be positive in communications to ensure being seen as a positive place that people want to be part of • Celebrate growth and achievements with whanau to enrich the journey we are all on. • To support diversity to ensure that Ecos is representative of our wider community and that our success is built by the work of many

Our Values Ako To both teach and learn Ako A reciprocal relationship where the adults are also learning from the children...and it recognises that the children can’t be separated from their whanau. It refers to traditional maori thinking about the transfer and absorption of skills, knowledge, wisdom, experience, much of which has traditionally occurred in everyday experiences

Our Values Ako For our Children/tamariki • Child leadership roles are both encouraged and celebrated • promote tuakana/teina relationships (the younger learn from older, capable peers, and the older peers learn from the responsibility of caring for the younger children) • encourage children to demonstrate mastery to peers and teachers • the sharing of cultural events/happenings and stories, so those with the knowledge lead • sharing important events/stories from home to others in group times and in smaller conversations, where children take the lead • encourage reciprocal communities in play – eg, sandpit digging up treasure, children sharing ideas on how to set up loose parts, etc, bike tracks with ramps, excursions, family corner play, hut building, blocks, construction, etc • Revisiting past centre experiences/skills growth so children can actively map their learning • Use of tech /board /books as tools to share information, research • Involve children in using everyday tools such as rakes, brooms, and tools to maintain the centre • Baking, washing, cleaning floors, puzzles, books, posters, music, art, and sciences.

Our Values Ako For our Teachers/Kaiako • Sharing ideas, learning from each other, and team teaching • Peers acknowledging what others have taught us • Referring to chn/whanau connections – getting children to share what they have learnt /discovered with whanau • Allowing chn to co-pilot and lead • Responding to children as people, not as children • Kaiako sharing their interests with colleagues and whanau as well as tamariki • Kaiako to actively grow and seek knowledge so their skill base grows and ako collateral expands • To communicate information to whanau/tamariki through narratives on why the learning is important

Our Values Ako For our Whanau/Parents/caregivers/Visitors • To share their skills, knowledge, and experience with others • Ecos to acknowledge whanau are the child’s 1st teacher • To acknowledge and embrace whanau differences • To provide wider learning for kaiako on children and their experiences, and how they as a whanau see the world • To be encouraged to share happenings on the Home app so kaiako can grow in their understanding of the child