Hana’s father is a Cook Islander and her mother is Māori. She has three older siblings. When Hana was due to start at the centre she was the youngest child enrolled.

The kaiako decided to use Kōwhiti Whakapae to strengthen their practices to support Hana to settle in. Kaiako focused on the Social & Emotional area of Kōwhiti Whakapae: Connected relationships and caring for others. They used ‘Lay the Groundwork’ practices to help them identify strategies to support Hana to feel safe, secure, valued and connected in the setting. Kaiako discussed Kōwhiti Whakapae with Hana’s parents and shared a link to the website.

After speaking with whānau the kaiako decided to implement a primary caregiving (PG) system as one teaching strategy. They hoped that this would create opportunities for Hana and her whānau to experience regular, meaningful and sustained interactions every day with one familiar kaiako. As the assessments progress, the kaiako use Kōwhiti Whakapae to revisit their practices to support Hana and her whānau in culturally relevant ways.

As you read the assessments, an annotation will provide more information about the connections kaiako have made to Te Whāriki and how they have used information from the Social & Emotional area of Kōwhiti Whakapae: Connected relationships and caring for others.