There had been a sense of anticipation building at Mairtown
Kindergarten in the last few weeks as we approached one of our most loved
annual events – Wheels-a-thon! We had been taking the opportunity to count down
the days on our calendar when we came together at whānau time each day. Many of our
children also have memories of attending this event last year, or have had
older siblings at Mairtown Kindergarten and had attended a Wheels-a-thon with
family previously. For those who were first time attendees (like myself!) we
had been watching a video from Wheels-a-thon 2017 which has given us a good
idea of what we might expect and allowed our own excitement to build!
The New Zealand Early Childhood Curriculum Te Whāriki
empahises the importance of this process
for children:
“Kaiako talk with children about upcoming events … so that they can
anticipate and be comfortable with them” (Ministry of Education, 2017)
The biggest learning on the day came in the form of an
unexpected challenge … It rained – quite a lot! I had been reliably informed
that it never rains for Wheels-a-thon, but this year Ranginui, the sky father,
had other ideas!!
Our children and their families were wonderful role models
for resilience – it would have been easy to look around at the weather and
think negatively about the situation. But in the famous words of Pete the Cat, “Did they cry? Goodness no!” All of the
families and children showed up in the rain, with beautifully decorated bikes,
scooters, balance bikes and even push chairs and made the most of being with
their friends, racing around the wet track with their eyes bright and shining. We
were so proud of their positive ways of being.
“Life is not about waiting for the storm to
pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain”
This event allows us to generate much needed fundraising
money for Kindergarten so that we can continue to deliver a quality experience
for our children and their families. The support from our whānau
both through participation on the day, and gaining sponsorship is invaluable to
our Kindergarten and so so appreciated by the Mairtown team!
“Alone we can do so little, together we can
do so much” (Helen Keller)
We hope you enjoy the beautiful video of the day below,
which has been cleverly prepared by Christine.
Arohanui,
Amy
