Whānaungatanga

When reflecting on professional relationships you look at how you yourself can reciprocate it and collaborate it with learning focused relationships with children, family and whānau, teaching colleagues, support staff and other professionals agencies, groups and individuals in the community.

My journey as a kaiako of Community KIDS has been characterised by continuous growth in knowledge, identity, discovery, and success. Through knowledge, you gain confidence in your ability to strengthen relationships with parents and whanau, particularly their children. It is essential to develop relationships with your parents. So I ask myself..

How do we accomplish this at Clendon KIDS?

I believe our families and whanau are incredibly supportive of our philosophy and what we do here at Clendon KIDS. There are always parents who volunteer their time to attend our events, excursions, and language weeks in order to show their support for their children. There is a phrase that says, “Show up in every single moment like you’re meant to be there.”  and it is evident in our centre. When parents attend our events, it is overwhelming to see the joy and excitement on children’s faces when they see their parents. These events throughout the year allow me, as a kaiako, to get to know our parents better.

To ensure the success of all these events and excursions, you need a strong team to guide the way, a team capable of rowing the waka in the same direction. I believe we have that at Clendon KIDS. Our relationships as a team are reflected in our relationships with our tamariki. Our top priority is ensuring that our tamariki's learning is nurtured and fostered throughout their time at Clendon KIDS, so that when they move on to Big School, we can confidently say they are prepared and competent.

How do professional relationships relate to the community?

What brings our whanau, tamariki, and kaiako together are our professional relationships with one another and what we've built, which commonly allows us to integrate into the community creating connections through our whanau and the local marae, getting out into the community and establishing relationships with our library, local shops, and supermarket.

Overall Te Whariki states “Parents and whānau trust that their ECE service will provide an environment where respectful relationships, encouragement, warmth and acceptance are the norm. It is through responsive and reciprocal relationships with people, places and things that children have opportunities to try out their ideas and refine their working theories. For this reason collaborative aspirations, ventures and achievements are valued. 

By Kaiako Theresa (Centre Manager)