We want a strong, enduring future for kindergartens in Aotearoa/New Zealand; meeting the needs and aspirations of young children, families and whānau in our communities. By merging with another kindergarten association, we come closer to achieving the vision for kiwi kindergartens; “that every child has a right to attend a kindergarten”.

Additionally, Inspired Kindergartens (iK) faces significant challenges as an organisation, as outlined below. The iK Board consider that these challenges would be best met through merging with a larger association. The merger party investigated by the Board is Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens (WMK).

As a medium-sized organisation in the ECE sector, our direct influence on government institutions (including local territorial authorities) is limited. Once a united national movement, the kindergarten sector has since split into smaller groups. On merging with WMK, we would be the second largest early childhood education provider in Aotearoa/New Zealand; a stronger position from which to negotiate ‘fairer deals’ from government (national and local) as well as from national service providers and suppliers.

Whānau Manaaki Kindergartens (WMK) holds very similar values to Inspired Kindergartens and maintains 100% qualified and registered kindergarten teachers and skilled and trained home based educators. WMK also employs social workers and community workers, providing a variety of innovative community services. Their characteristic community-focus came to the fore during the pandemic when staff swiftly responded to the emergency needs of families, organising funding and quickly delivering supermarket vouchers to families in need. We believe that our communities, staff, and the future for kindergartens in our region, would be in safe hands.

Links to more info:

> Whānau Manaaki website. 

 >_Click here to listen to Whānau Manaaki CEO Amanda Coulston speak on their heart and vision.

All kindergarten staff, including teachers, administrators, teacher aides, drivers and cleaners are covered by the same collective employment agreements (CEAs) that apply to kindergarten associations. This means that the working conditions won by the representative union (NZEI) would stay the same. The Memorandum of Understanding established at the formative stage of merger investigations also guarantees all iK staff jobs on their current terms and conditions, or better.

As a not-for-profit, Inspired Kindergartens has not had a policy of developing cash reserves - our position has been that money should be spent on children. Over the last decade, any surplus funds have been spent on the Learning Support, kindergarten renovations and new facilities.

While the previous government planned additional funding (20 Hours ECE for two-year olds) for the sector, the new Government does not appear to have the same approach. Our immediate financial future is significantly dependent on the level of donations from parents and whānau.

In the last decade iK has doubled in size and we have outgrown some of our administrative systems, most notably our payroll and accounting systems. While we have been exploring a merger, replacements have been put on hold. If the merger does not proceed, these will need replacing. Our initial research suggest it will be expensive. Should we merge with WMK we would have access to the systems already working efficiently across its 108 kindergartens.

iK can use our established payroll system, finance team, HR team, IT team and property team and compliance team. iK has a small office taskforce and does not have infrastructure or finances to update some of its digital systems to access greater efficiencies. 

Today, we have over 500 tamariki on our waiting lists – enough to fill another 10 kindergartens! We also remain the only not-for-profit ECE provider in the region which provides a donation-based service across the majority of our kindergarten services, catering to families irrespective of their socio-economic situation. Currently, we do not have the resources to meet this growing community need.

We believe strongly in a broader model of ECE as ‘a space for social services and whānau’. We have not had ability to consistently resource community wraparound services, such as more playgroups (currently operating only four), and the development of further onsite whānau facilities. (e.g. Maungaarangi Kindergarten and Whānau Centre, Te Puna Kindergarten and Wairakei Kindergarten whānau facilities).

While our kindergartens are maintained to a high standard, evolving Ministry regulations and the age of some of our buildings (Te Puke, Avenues, Otumoetai, Gwen Rogers, Whakamarama, Kāramuramu, Greerton, Otamarakau, part of OPEYS and Brookfield are 60+ years old) will be challenging in the areas of maintenance and renovations.

Once consultation with our staff and communities is completed, if the Board remains satisfied that a merger is in the best interests of our association and its wider communities it will call two Special General Meetings (SGMs) one in March and the next in May 2024 for elected parent representatives to formally vote on the merger. The dates, further info, and invitations will be emailed to parents. It will also be displayed on our website (see About Us>Special General Meetings). A letter will be given in hard copy to parents at each service and a notice put up at each service.

Special General Meetings
For the two Special General Meetings we'll need two 'Elected Parent Representatives' from each kindergarten as well as two parent representatives from our Home Based service. Board Members and Life Members will also be eligible to vote. If the majority of votes at both Special General Meetings are 'Yes', the vote will be passed and the merger will take place with an operational transition date to be communicated. If the majority of the votes are 'No' the merger will not take place.

The teachers and staff will continue their mahi alongside their families and stay close to them. The connection each kindergarten has between parents, their teachers and the community won't change. You shouldn't see a big difference in the day to day of your kindergarten or Home Based service. The bigger change will come from making the systems and processes more robust and streamlined. So the Kindergartens will maintain what they are doing in regards to teaching and learning. The focus, if we were to merge, would be on how to build a stronger infrastructure. The merge is not about a corporate takeover.

The board still has direct influence over the direction of Whānau Manaaki. Two board members from Inspired Kindergartens would be added onto the Whānau Manaaki (WMK) Board. This would come up for election over time. The WMK Board still have the option to co-op people onto the Board if there is an uneven regional spread. There would also be a Kaitiaki board from iK who will oversee the transition period and will speak directly with and guide/advise the Whānau Manaaki board.

How do we build new services?

It ranges from looking at whether we do a new build, form a partnership and use current buildings of a partner organisation, leverage networks and links, or take over an old building and re-purpose it. Each context varies. Currently, iK are not in a position to do any expansion. They would also rather put 150,000 into new developments and maintenance for current services than into a new finance and payroll system.

What are the initiatives are Whānau Manaaki currently carrying out to get children into kindergartens?

We work with the community and in kindergartens to ensure they are meeting the needs of the families, and to ensure we are providing a service that is relevant to the community. We know that this is the approach Inspired Kindergartens has also taken when it has established new services. We endeavour to build on community-driven ideas.

Great question! With South Otago there was a strong focus on supporting the kindergartens to continue their mahi. However, looking back we found there were too many people from our team asking for information from the smaller South Otago office team all at the same time. So now we’ve streamlined our communication with the office staff to ensure there’s not lots of people talking to them all at once. The change process does take time and people need space to work through it with us.

CONS
We are proud of the iK kindergartens and our mahi, and acknowledge that there will be a sense of loss. There is an emotional connection to what we know.

POSITIVES
The positives are that we can maintain our services more sustainably. There is an opportunity for new networks and connections. We'd also be in a better position to grow a bigger kindergarten voice on a political level and networking level. To do this we need to join forces.

Yes, the kindergartens would still hold fundraising activities throughout the year. While, Inspired Kindergartens parents generally support the Tauranga well with donations, government funding for early childhood often simply does not stretch as much as its needed to. Any money fundraised by a kindergarten would be used by that kindergarten.

In response to grants - we do have a grant-funding team who provide support in applying for grant applications.  

We've recorded our online ZOOM Parent Hui from 21 Feb.  > Click here to watch the 45 minute video where CEO Amanda shares about Whānau Maanaki and answers a few parent questions at the end.