Waekura Update
From the SEANZ 2024 newsletter…
The work of Waekura in 2024 has been wide and varied. For some kindergartens and early childhood centres, a focus on financial sustainability has been the task at hand, with a decline in enrolments impacting parent financial contributions and early childhood funding. This delicate situation has been compounded by a commitment from many EC centres and kindergartens to honour much-deserved pay parity for kaiako. Furthermore, Waekura is focused on deepening our work with the birth to three-year age group and how we might adapt and care for them in our settings. It seems many whānau who want a Steiner Waldorf setting and education for their tamariki are limited in choice when their work necessitates longer hours or returning to work early after parental leave has ended.
Whilst tedious and far from the enriching work we undertake with tamariki and whānau in our settings, the government regulatory landscape is ever-changing, with the Ministry for Regulations focusing on early childhood. We urge Trusts and EC centre leadership to be awake to how these will impact us once they are announced over the coming months. Waekura will support members through these changes once they are announced.
Professional and personal development continues to support the work of kaiako in early childhood with a 2-day mini conference being offered and beautifully hosted by Titirangi Rudolf Steiner School in Auckland, on 18 and 19 January 2025. Dr Richard Drexel is the main speaker who will be joined by an exceptional group of workshop tutors. Kaiako, whānau and trusts are all welcome to attend.
Waekura proudly supports the work of the NZ Teacher Diploma Course – Early Childhood that continues to support kaiako development. Furthermore, we celebrate Kathy Macfarlane’s work representing early childhood at IASWECE and her commitment to bring us the wider picture of early childhood from around the world. IASWECE hosts the 100 years of early childhood education in 2026 at the Goetheanum.
Another area of work undertaken by Waekura is networking to share approaches to working with neurodivergent Tamariki, and this will continue into 2025.
Lastly, a focus on visibility is welcomed with the revamp of the SEANZ website, we are excited about the possibilities this holds to build connections within our Steiner Waldorf network and to attract new whānau and kaiako.