Today I rang and spoke to the acting principal of Tuakau Primary. I had been concerned that some of our past students have been telling me that they are being told that they are not allowed to talk to their kindergarten whanau through the fence which boarders us and school. Many of us look forward to seeing our past friends through the fence to catch up on how they are getting on at school, sharing with them what has been happening at kindergarten and helping our past students to continue the friendships they have made and also giving them the opportunity to see younger siblings. So it was disturbing to hear them tell me that they are being told to move away from the fence and that they are 'big kids' now. It saddens me that some teachers at the primary don't value the relationships that we have with our past students and that they cant see that this is a valuable part of our tamariki transitioning to school. I feel that just because our tamariki have left our kindergarten it doesn't mean that we are no longer interested in their well being and development. Sometimes seeing familiar faces can be really reassuring and our past tamariki know that we value the relationships that we have formed with them and their families.
I reassured our tamariki that I would try and rectify the situation by speaking to the school. Tina was really supportive and agreed that this is part of our tamariki transition and that anything that can support their well being during this process is important. She said that she will bring this to her teaching teams attention.
13.3.17

I was able to reassure Harry today that he is able to speak to us through the fence when he dropped off Gus this morning. He seemed really happy about this out come. Harry's Dad asked what this was about and I quickly shared with him what Harry had mentioned to me. He was really surprised that Harry had been told that he was not allowed to speak to Gus through the fence, I reassured him that the school was very open to rectifying this issue.