Past Events

THE NEiTA ASG Excellence in Teaching Award, 2010

Anne Tolley, NZ minister of Education presented NEiTA Regional Awards in May to 21 outstanding teachers and leaders.

Prime Minister John Key congratulated the four ASG Excellence in Teaching Award recipients, which included our own Sara McKinley, Head Teacher at Ruawai Kindergarten.

The NEiTA awards promote public recognition of the teaching profession and specifically those teachers who have demonstrated excellence and commitment in their work.

For more information about NEiTA and the full list of award recipients visit: www.neita.co.nz

Hon Anne Tolley with ASG Excellence in Teaching Award recipients

Front row (l to r) Karen Cameron, Rachel Jones, Hon Anne Tolley, Sara McKinlay, Gabriella Williams Back row (l to r) Shameen Hayat, Matthew Humber, Trina McGrath, Georgette Jenson, Bek Galloway,Tui Cox, Kane Raukura, Amanda Woods.

Congratulations, NKA raised $1,024.30 for the Whangarei Cancer Society, 2010

Northland Kindergarten helping to restore Tongan School

Bream Bay Kindergarten teaching staff are spending their Easter holidays on a remote Tongan Island, Niuatoputapu, helping to reinstate the island’s school, which was destroyed by the September 2009 Tusnami. The island lies 300km north of Vava’u.

Mandy Taylor, Anne Gilmour and Tania Shine (teaching staff at Bream Bay Kindergarten) were motivated to help this community because at the time of the disaster, Bream Bay Kindergarten had a child attending whose family was from the island. The child’s mother told the team how bad the situation was and that five months after the earthquake the school still was not rebuilt. This is a poor nation who needs help and we can give it.

The Bream Bay Kindergarten won a Team Building Scholarship through the Northland Kindergarten Association, which will pay for airfares for the three teachers to travel to the remote island. Their journey to Tonga begins on the 2nd of April, where the Tongan Navy will be waiting to collect them and their resources for a two day boat ride to the island of Niuatoputapu. All arrangements have been made for their stay on Niuatoputapu by the local community, including traditional welcome and festivities, accommodation, meals and visits to local villages and schools.

The Kindergarten team won’t be involved in the construction of the school, rather restocking and re-establishing the classroom equipment. The Northland Kindergarten Association has helped the team further by raising $5,000 through the Northland Kids Expo, held in October 2009. The team at the Kindergarten are busy fundraising for the trip, the more money they raise, the more they will be able to give to the community.

This project has also been a learning opportunity for the children at the Bream Bay Kindergarten. They have been learning traditional Tongan songs and listening to Tongan music. And certainly all the children attending this Kindergarten now know what a tsunami is. The children have shown wonderful empathy and compassion for the children in Tonga effected by this disaster. The Kindergarten is hoping to build a long term relationship with the school in Niuatoputapu and plan to continue to send across needed teaching materials.