Maniototo Kindergarten 

Kindergarten is at the planning stage with opening anticipated in 2011.

Maniototo Kindergarten Establishment Committee

Who are we and what are we doing?

Our aim: Our focus is to establish a five day ECE centre in Ranfurly on the Maniototo Area School grounds, as identified as a community need in a public survey.

What are we: We are the ‘Maniototo Kindergarten Establishment Committee’ and we operate under the Central Otago Kindergarten Association (COKA).

Who are we: We are made up of representatives from all aspects of our community.  We include Central Otago REAP, Our Well Child Nurse, Maniototo Rural Women, Maniototo Area School, Social Network Representatives, the Combined Churches, Plunket, Playcentre, Playgroup and the Central Otago Kindergarten Association as well as parents of our community’s children.

Why are we doing this:  In April of this year, a Steering committee was established to research and survey the option of a five day Early Childhood Education centre. This committee has continued to meet fortnightly. We have gathered information and gauged the needs of our community in terms of early childhood education and care. The finding is that our community needs a five day fully licensed centre that offers quality education and care, with flexibility of hours of use and longer hours of use. The survey also found that parents would like the opportunity to possibly seek part or fulltime employment, to have options in their care choices and to seek another avenue of support.

Our preschool numbers are very stable and show that this would be a viable option in the long term. Currently there are 110 pre-school children in the Maniototo and according to Statistics NZ data, by 2016 this will reach 120 children.
 

Community benefits identified from establishing this centre are numerous.

ü      it will give families care and education options

ü      it will allow Mums and caregivers some time out for their own mental and physical well being,

ü      it will give us additional access to the 20 free government funded hours at a licensed centre,

ü      it will help prepare our children for the step to school by giving them a strong base to build learning on,

ü      it will entice more involvement of families in Early Child Education as the travel time will be worth it for a full day session,

ü      it will help widen families support and friendship networks

ü      the Kindergarten will provide employment opportunities within its day to day running such as office people, grounds man and teachers

ü      and because we are too far away from other centres that offer these all day services to make travel a viable option, it will help reduce our rural isolation and lack of opportunities.

The Ministry of Education and the Maniototo Area School board have indicated their support. The Maniototo Kindergarten will be owned and operated by COKA who will lease the land on the Maniototo Area School site from the Ministry of Education..
 

Important Maniototo Statistics:

We have a participation rate of just 23% in a licensed Early Childhood Education programme and the national average is 81%.

The average participation rate for Central Otago is 101% (this indicates that some families access two different services) so we are a high need area in terms of pre-school education (statistics supplied at public meeting by Karen Hurst of the MOE)

REAP statistics show that 36% of children access licensed services. Again we have some families accessing more than one of these services which may skew the figures slightly. REAP statistics are higher but they are still not good and this needs to be addressed.

 Fundraising Plans:

1)      Stall at the Labour Weekend Market                    Oct 2009

2)      Christmas caramel and mince tarts                      Dec 2009

3)      Garden Tour –‘Strawberries and Ice-cream’        Dec 2009

4)      Naseby Fun day stall                                            Jan 2010

5)      Golf Ball race on The Luge                                    Winter Ice Festival  2010

6)      Wedding work                                                        Feb 2010

7)      Maniototo A & P Show stall                                    Feb 2010

8)      Art Deco Catering                                                 Feb 2010

9)      Lamb Drive                                                           Feb 2010

10)  Recipe book                                                          Easter 2010

11)  Pine cone selling                                                    Winter 2010

12)  Kids Country Calendar                                          Oct 2010

13)  Country Fete                                                         Dec 2010

14)  Raffles                                                                   ongoing

15)  Donations                                                              ongoing

The Committee is very appreciative of the support that the Maniototo Community and surrounds are giving to this project. They continue to work hard to help us to fulfil this community need. If you have any ideas or suggestions please contact Geraldine Duncan on 03 4449688 or call COKA direct on 03 4486383.

Download the enrolment form here