Waikato Business News October/November 2018

40 WAIKATO BUSINESS NEWS October/November 2018
CHILD FOCUS
Rotokauri Early Education
Centre to open in new year
The new year will be a special cause for
celebration with the new Rotokauri Early
Education Centre scheduled to open on
21 January 2019 - and children starting in
January get their first month FREE.
The newest facility in
the suite of quality centres
of Early Education
Waikato, Rotokauri EEC on
the corner of Arthur Porter
Drive and Hounsell Road will
be an ideal location for parents
working in and around The
Base Shopping Centre, Wintec
and northern suburbs of Hamilton.
The building construction
has been completed and, with
warmer spring weather now
upon us, work is well underway
on the outdoor space and
the creation of an exciting and
engaging playground area.
Like all Early Education
Waikato centres, the outdoor
areas are carefully planned
and professionally landscaped
to provide a variety of fun
learning activities with plenty
of space. Water play, a large
sandpit, and an undulating
bike track frame an area with
plenty of grass areas and room
to explore.
Inside the centre, individualised
areas for babies, toddlers
and pre-schoolers have
age-appropriate resources and
activities available to provide
a real home-away-from-home
feel, along with meals prepared
to NZ Healthy Heart standards.
We’re very proud of the latest
addition to the Early Education
Waikato family of centres
and are taking pre-enrolments
now. Children who start in January
2019 will get their first
month free.
While each centre is unique,
they all share characteristics
like the Healthy Heart Award
meals, Enviroschools, Under5
Energize, and the popular Cool
4 School transition programme
which prepares four-year-olds
for the next stage of their journey
to school.
For enrolment details contact
Early Education Waikato
for more information on 0800
CHILDREN (244 537) or
rotokauri@kindergarten.org.
nz. More information on Rotokauri
Early Education Centre
and the other EEW centres in
Hamilton is available on our
website www.kindergarten.
org.nz.
Transitioning new
mothers back to work
Before returning to work,
a lot of maternal focus
is spent on preparing
“baby” for a heap of unknown
routines. Aside from finding
clothing that will fit, many
mothers struggle to get their
heads around whether baby
will take a bottle, whether
there will be enough milk, the
prospect of emotional separation,
and how her colleagues
will embrace the expressing of
milk.
Many times, these concerns
are alleviated in the transition
process, and for some reason
several babies I know had a
sixth sense and their routine
changed just a few days before
starting to fit Mum’s plans, so
everything worked out fine. It
is still a stressful time for the
mother though.
A good centre is one in
which parents are comfortable
and they feel that they
can develop a good relationship
with the staff. A couple of
pre-visits are always important
– the child needs to see their
parent spending time forming
a relationship with the teacher
to feel safe. Ideally a sleep visit
is also desirable.
For breastfeeding mothers,
selecting a centre that is near
work is often a good move.
Extending a lunch break by
half an hour to feed (unpaid if
necessary) means that the child
can be fed at lunchtime. Any
feeding at the centre (including
drop-off, or pick-up) means
that the mother is exposed to
the same bugs and passes on
immunity through her breastmilk
– less sick days for everyone.
The inconvenience of
lunch feeds are generally only
needed for a few months until
everyone is settled, or the baby
is a few months older, and
everything changes again.
Many young babies prefer
to feed directly from Mum,
and will often wait for her to
arrive, so this saves a whole
heap of paid work time hiding
in broom closets to express.
(Note that employers must
provide somewhere clean to
express baby-food… toilets
do not constitute sanitary milk
harvesting facilities.)
Should an infant not take
a bottle, sippy cups mean you
then don’t have to wean off a
bottle later, and teaspoons and
small cups are also able to be
used even for very small children.
Supplying expressed
milk in 60ml quantities mean
less is wasted if baby won’t
take it, and if hungry the staff
just warm another bag!
The centre staff will know
lots of tricks to ensure baby
settles and sleeps well. Every
carer finds their own way to
put to sleep, and babies do
accept different routines from
different people. They’ll keep
in touch if there are any issues
too, and are often happy to
share tips.
Visits during pregnancy
to find one that feels right for
you and your family removes
stress later. You will find that
Montessori pre-schools are a
lot quieter than regular early
childhood centres because the
children are busy with their
hands, so come and visit us to
have an obligation-free look
around! Fountain City Montessori
is located in central
Hamilton with available hours
7am-6pm to suit working parents.
www.fcm.nz
Going back to work next year?
Keen to enrol but are going away?
Get your child settled in before Christmas!
We’ll forgo fees over your holiday for up to three weeks
if you enrol in November or December 2018. *
* Terms & Conditions apply.