Merry Christmas

To all our fanau, community and supporters of Apii Potiki Glen Innes Community Preschool we would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas and a safe and happy New Year!!! From the board, staff and tamariki of Apii Potiki!!!!

"Meri Kiritimiti e Kia Mataora I te mataiti Ou"

Kia Manuia!!!

Butterfly Creek Trip

Malica and Veronica all ready for our trip to Butterfly Creek!





Emery and Malica waiting for the bus Faith behind bars at Butterfly Creek 





A Great time had by ALL!!! at Apii Potiki's tamariki's xmas party




Big Kids Club - end of year party

 Today we had our break up party with our four year olds that are in Big Kids Club (transition program). It was a joyful afternoon with loads of fun and laughter. We made Apii Potiki pizza and milk shakes and we also played some fun games like "duck duck goose". We give thanks to the big school (Glen Innes Primary) for allowing us to use their hall for our celebration. Thank you to the teachers for making this day happen for us. Meitaki Maata

Before we started, we have to wash our hands and stand by the tables set up and wait for instructions. 

Today we are maki "Apii Potiki"pizza

Making Apii Potiki pizzas was messy and fun.

Ready for the oven..

Once again, thank you teaching team for making this possible for our Big Kids Club tamariki. 

Click on NEWSLETTER to read whats been happening at Apii Potiki  

New additions to the Apii

As you may now notice we have upgraded our carpark/front garden area. We would like to thank our friends from Playscape for designing & constructing this beautiful garden.  

Keep an eye out for our "Water Warriors" who's task is to keep our new plants and soil all watered and healthy 

If we are lucky and we look after our ponga logs we may get to see new fronds growing from the tops of the logs......

Water Safety

Today we had a visit from Karen & Y from our local YMCA. They spoke to us about many things that we need to know about keeping safe around water.

The main message was for tamariki to make sure they ask an adult before entering any kind of water play.

Thanks YMCA for teaching us about water safety through action songs, and a big thanks to Y the whale for keeping it fun:)

Our New Sun Umbrellas

Latest Addition to the outdoor area at Apii Potiki

Come check out our NEW umbrellas installed in the outdoor area to provide some much needed shade for our tamariki.
Thank you to Shade 7 for the beautiful shade umbrellas.

September 2015 Newsletter

Click above for our latest Newsletter 

Niuean Language Week

This week we provided our tamariki with opportunities to get involved in celebrating Niuean Language Week...

There was lots of cooking; coconut bread, banana and coconut cake, and a spinach and corned beef dish with green bananas. We also got busy with the arts; paper weaving and making kahoa (flower lei).

Our teacher Mary taught us an action song, while Deidre helped us make our Niuean flags.

Jane and Luisi (friends from our local community) came to read us some Niuean stories, and to end our week celebration, Mama Tere and Rangi cooked up an island feast-delicious!

Fakaaue Lahi (thank you) to our tamariki for wanting to get involved and participate, and also to all our staff for supporting our Niuean culture!

Shake Out

Everyone, everywhere should know the right action to take before, during and after an earthquake.

Thursday 15 October is the International ShakeOut Day of Action. New Zealand will be the first country to participate this year, at 9:15am!

We have been preparing our tamariki for the nationwide earthquake drill by practicing our 'Drop, Cover & Hold' procedure at mat times. We have also been using the 'shakeout' website to learn more about keeping 'turtle safe'.

We encourage all our families to have a look on the 'shakeout' website & be prepared to take part in this event this Thursday morning at 9.15am.

Taste Testing Our Sprouts

Just under two weeks ago we started an experiment which involved planting alfalfa sprouts (this was a follow on from our broad beans experiment). 

Tamariki cared for our sprouts by using their gentle hands when investigating, telling their teachers if they thought the sprouts were being mistreated, and watering them daily. As our sprouts grew bigger, so did the curiosities of our tamariki e.g. "Why are they like worms?"

"How come they're white here and green there?" etc. Many funny theories were shared during these moments.

Time to 'harvest' our 'crop' with our senses...

We looked, touched, picked, rubbed, smelt, washed and tasted our sprouts...

Responses included...

"Smells like broccoli"

"Feels like grass"

"Looks like worms"

"Tastes like hot"

"Yuck!"

"Yum"...

So much exciting learning and sharing has happened through these scientific experiences! I can't wait to see what happens next!

Parent Evening

'HEALTHY LUNCHBOXES' was the focus of our discussions for tonight. 

Thanks to Teiho & Letele from Health Star Pacific for sharing their expertise knowledge in this area.

A variety of stations were set up by teachers to generate ideas around the importance of providing healthy lunchboxes for our tamariki.

An eventful night ended with a taste of healthy snacks.

Thanks to everyone who participated in tonight's workshop. It could not have happened without your attendance and input. Watch out for our wall display that will be up over the next few days.

Meitaki maata.

Life Cycles-Part 2

Throughout the last few weeks, tamariki have been able to observe the changes and growth of their broad beans. 

To extend on this experience, we've been on a few nature walks to our local reserve to collect some dried leaves and twigs. This has enabled tamariki to develop the knowledge that during a trees life cycle, trees shed their leaves to allow for regrow of new ones.

'The Hungry Caterpillar' book has been providing tamariki with insight into the life cycle of a butterfly, and Papa Apii's passion for fishing has encouraged him to share his knowledge about the life cycle of a fish.

Exciting stuff! Stay tuned to see where we go to from here...

Proud to be Loud!!!

Helping to give deaf kids a voice...

Today we wore our loudest clothes & animal prints & donated our coins to help NZ deaf kids listen & speak.

Parent Evening - Let's Learn Together

Life Cycles-Being Responsible

It all began when one tamariki stood on a snail which a small group had been watching throughout the day.

Discussions that followed encouraged tamariki to think about, and express their thoughts on life and survival.

To provide an understanding for tamariki of how a life cycle begins, we used print outs from the internet which demonstrated life cycles of a human, a butterfly, a frog, a snail, and a plant.

The next day we started a scientific experiment using cotton balls, water, broad bean seeds, and snaplock bags.  Tamariki used these materials to start the life cycle of a plant. 

Over the week, we have been able to watch our beans grow, and groups have been encouraged to talk about how to look after our beans in order for them to survive. 

We will continue to watch our beans, and discuss the importance of respecting and taking responsibility for caring for our living environment.

Happy Fathers Day

Wishing all our fathers a great big Happy Fathers Day this weekend! We hope you all have a wonderful day with your loved ones❤️

Balloon Day- Asthma Awareness

Balloons are always a favourite with our tamariki and today we came together during mat time to test out our lungs to raise awareness about ASTHMA. 

Asthma affects many people within our community, and this session was a way of informing tamariki of how it may feel for asthmatic sufferers (developing a sense of empathy).

Thanks to Teiho and Leteli from Health Star Pacific for providing us with the information and resources for today's experience.

Gloop - Messy Play

Messy play is such a wonderful experience for our tamariki to come together and strengthen their little finger muscles, this not only gets them ready for writing, but also keeps children engaged on rainy days.

Daffodil Day 2015.....Cont

In Remembrance too our community, whanau and friends:
Taau Taai (original trust member of Apii Potiki), Major Teata, Tomuhape Vatu, Tania Temata, Tesimale Lui Talevu, and Finehei Tongatala

Quinn Ngakiau representing the tamariki at Apii Potiki and presenting our donations to Brad Homan from the Cancer Society of New Zealand, Our Daffodil Day committee members Malica, Emery & Quinn. 

Daffodil Day 2015

Today we celebrated Daffodil Day with our tamariki by dressing up in Yellow and donating a gold coin to raise funds for cancer awareness. Acknowledgement to all parents for supporting our tamariki. :) Meitaki Maata

 

Children taking charge of our Daffodil Day collection.

All geared up in "Yellow"

Mat time.. Sharing an awareness of Daffodil Day with our tamariki

Our very own Daffodil garden painted by our tamariki. :)

Apii Potiki Drummers

Having live music in our Apii over the last few weeks, thanks to our Cook Island Community Drummers, has had an ongoing influence on our tamariki...

All this week we have been entertained by our own little drummers. Tamariki have been using wooden blocks, chairs, containers and boxes to bring us their interpretation of Cook Island music.

Our drummers enthusiasm eventually  rubbed off on their peers. This afternoon we felt really spoilt when a small group of Cook Island dancers performed and sang alongside the band..."Kia orana...HEY!"

Cook Island Te Maeva Nui Event 2015

On Monday 17th August 2015 at the Browns Road Netball Courts in Manurewa, Apii Potiki participated in the Punanga Reo Kuki Airani celebration of Te Maeva Nui.

Thank you to all the parents, staff & helpers that made this an enjoyable day of celebrations.

Community Spirit

Paraparau/Thursday 20th August 2015

Today we joined our friends from Te Taurere Kohanga Reo to donate our shared groceries to the Glen Innes Food Bank.

This experience has not only enabled our tamariki to meet new people (Kris, Dave & Peter) who care about our community, this has also encouraged our tamariki to think about others who are less fortunate.

Meitaki maata to Whaea Ann and her team from Te Taurere Kohanga Reo for picking us up from our apii so that we could take part in this event. Also, a great big thanks to all our parents who helped fill up our boxes with their contributions.

Awesome work everyone! Meitaki Maata 

Dance Practice

This week our team has been busy preparing our tamariki for the Punanga Reo o Akarana-Maeva Nui Event next Monday 17th. This is an annual event which provides great opportunities  for our Apii to participate in Cook Island culture, and to strengthen relationships with other Punanga Reo within the wider community.

Sharing the Knowledge

We feel blessed to have knowledgeable teachers, and today Mama Tere and Rangi did our Apii proud when they accepted an invitation to attend Aoga Teuila, to showcase their Cook Island doughnut making skills.

We also got to see how our Samoan friends made their own tie dying patterns, and Cook Island displays. Meitaki Maata AogaTeuila.