Pay Parity
Another step towards pay parity and pay equity for the Early Childhood Sector in Counties Manukau
Early Learning Counties Manukau (ELCM) and Counties Manukau Kindergarten Association (CMKA) are involved in advocating for pay parity and pay equity for the Early Childhood Education (ECE) sector.
We are therefore pleased to announce that from 2 May 2022, all support staff employed in services operated by ELCM and CMKA will receive increases to the rates published in their Collective Employment Agreement. The rate increase will range between 5.2% – 5.8% with an average increase of 5.5% for our valuable support staff who work in positions including Teaching Assistants, Unqualified Teachers, Cooks and Administration Assistants.
“We have liaised with NZEI Te Riu Roa about this decision, and received their agreement to vary the Collective Agreement rates accordingly” says ELCM/CMKA CEO Calmar Ulberg. “We know that hourly rates for support staff working in Early Childhood need critical attention, and so have made a decision to move towards addressing the gap for our own support staff, within the funding constraints facing our organisation and others in the sector.”
NZEI organiser Ben Rosamond, says “We were very pleased to hear about the pay increase. It’s great to see the organisation taking steps to address the matter of pay equity. We wait to see what’s in the budget in terms of extra funding for early childhood providers. As always, members are welcome to get in touch with any queries.”
We continue to work together with NZEI and other organisations committed to the continued progress towards pay equity and the improved funding across ECE.
Thank you – Dragon Community Trust
THANK YOU
Dragon Community Trust
Dragon Community Trust
Kawakawa Bay kindergarten was recently successful in receiving a grant from Dragon Community Trust to go towards replacing some of their fence panels with acrylic panels. This is so their tamariki can see through to the river running past the kindergarten. The tamariki love watching the local wildlife – shags, kingfishers, weka, pukekos -and it helps to create a serene and soothing environment for all.
Thank you Dragon Community Trust for the grant to pay for this project.
To learn more about our centre, please visit our page | Kawakawa Bay Kindergarten
COVID-19 Updates 30th April 2020
30.04.2020 | Kindergartens Report “ Little Bubbles” Working Well
Throughout New Zealand, small but happy groups of children had a smooth transition back to kindergarten and early childhood centres according to teachers. First day numbers were smaller than anticipated representing around 3 to 4% of whanau; but these figures are expected to grow as the happiness spreads.
New Zealand Kindergartens CEO Jill Bond and Early Childhood Leadership Secretariat and Waikato Kindergarten Association CEO Maree Stewart said that they were delighted to hear how well the first day had gone for children and teachers.
Jill said she wanted to reassure parents that the health, safety and happiness of the children returning were absolute priorities. “We continue to get great advice from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health, and we are following that advice. The children were really well versed in things like regular hand washing and teachers talked to them about their kindergarten bubble”.
Teachers received positive responses from parents, grateful that their children were going to be active and well cared for. At Roslyn Kindergarten, Jett was busy creating Jett’s lego world including McDonalds and kindergarten. Olly from Makino Kindergarten was kept busy creating activity bags for his kindy friends which teachers will be delivering to whanau. And, at Casa Nova Kindergarten in Oamaru time was taken to check out the vegetable garden.
Jill said while some teachers actively worked with small groups of children, other teachers continued to engage and work on-line with children at home. We really want to support our communities as we know how tough it’s been for parents and care-givers trying to juggle work and home-life. That goes to the heart of what community kindergartens and centres are all about.
Maree said “it was great to see how quickly the children settled in and enjoyed their familiar surroundings. The teachers loved seeing the children as well”. While there are some activities which we can’t provide, there are many new things for children to take part in like ‘zoom’ mat time to connect children at home with their friends at kindergarten”.
