The family I grew up in was very different from the one in when we collected it from the supermarket, so it defrosted in which I now live. We were the typical 1960s nuclear family; the brine and we said a short prayer as we pulled it out hoping parents who married in their early twenties, a father who worked it wasn’t (a) still frozen solid or (b) reduced to a soggy mass at on the railways and a mother who gave up work to look after the bottom of the ex–Trade Me purchase NZ Post bag. It was two kids and a succession of goldfish (all imaginatively named my sister’s job to stuff the butter under its skin – it was only Goldie and none of whom survived more than a few weeks of when she commented that our turkey must have been doing us stirring their water and feeding them chippies!). Jenny Craig that we realised we had it upside down and she had In contrast, my partner has three sisters, five nieces and fifty stuffed its back! first cousins. Our blended family proudly boasts four boys The festive season over, the prospect of heading back to work aged between 1 and 16. My mother was a great role model – would have been a welcome return to routine if I hadn’t first had the problem is that she modelled a different sort of life. Our to find a new caregiver for our toddler. Another guilt-ridden Christmas lunches were cosy winter affairs for four – over within experience my mother never faced. Home-based childcare was 45 minutes and followed by a sedate game of Monopoly before the only option we looked at; but choosing the right person the Queen’s Speech and a brisk walk to visit our grandparents. to spend so much precious time with our boy wasn’t easy. We This year I had the dubious honour of cooking Christmas lunch for 20 – a highdecibel affair held in the garden, accompanied The festive season over, the prospect of by much laughter, storytelling and enough heading back to work would have been a food for the whole street. ‘No pressure, Helen,’ our 16-year-old welcome return to routine if I hadn’t first had to smirked every time he passed me poring over cookery blogs on producing succulent find a new caregiver for our toddler. turkey. Enrolling my sister as sous-chef should have taken the pressure off – it would have if both of us visited several potential carers – one of whom felt the need to weren’t vegetarians. Eventually, we opted for a belt-and-braces tell us that her son had already watched Cars about five times approach involving Annabel Langbein’s ‘brining’ (submerge that day – rightly or wrongly we didn’t pick her! turkey overnight in a sack of salt water, honey and spices) and Throughout my career I have always been determined that Jamie Oliver’s herb butter (stuff butter under the breast so that I would never look back and regret having spent more time it bastes as the turkey cooks). caring for other people’s children than my own – my New Year’s On the big day our turkey was declared a success – this was resolution therefore is to work harder at achieving balance in nothing short of a miracle given that it was unexpectedly frozen both my work and home lives.
New Zealand’s #1 Out of School Care Provider SKIDS provide FUN, SAFE, Out of School Care programmes ON-SITE at local primary schools •
Guaranteed rental income
•
No administration for schools
•
Highly trained staff
•
Proven track record
For more information visit www.skids.co.nz Phone 09 576 6602 or 0800 274 1722
In my professional life, achieving balance involves re-examining my priorities over the coming year. National Standards have been a huge focus in the last two years and whilst there is still much to fight for, there are other issues I would like to focus on. One of them – undoubtedly connected – is child poverty in New Zealand. Bryan Bruce’s documentary Inside Child Poverty aired in November last year and was watched by 385,900 New Zealanders and more than 14,600 online via TV3 On Demand. The content was shocking and demands some response from all of us concerned with child welfare. Bruce, known for his work on the crime show The Investigator, highlighted that NZ currently ranks 28th out of 30 countries in the developed world on measures of child well-being – behind Italy, Ireland and the Czech Republic. More than 25,000 children were admitted to hospital last year for respiratory infections, most caused by overcrowded living conditions and doctors are treating diseases such as rheumatic fever and scabies, which have been eliminated from European countries. Bruce has stressed that his stance in making the programme was apolitical and that he was making a call for politicians to unite in prioritising child welfare over political agendas. It was interesting to hear Barack Obama echoing this message in his 2012 State of the Union address: We need to end the notion that the two parties must be locked in a perpetual campaign of mutual destruction; that politics is about clinging to rigid ideologies instead of building consensus around common-sense ideas.
Although there has been no formal response to Bruce’s programme from the main political parties in New Zealand, a Facebook page set up after the programme has received considerable press coverage, including an extensive write-up on the Internet news site Stuff entitled ‘Teen becomes leader in child poverty fight.’ The Facebook page ‘Children Against Poverty’ was started by a 16-year-old from Northland named Jazmine Heka. She has begun petitions calling for free healthy school lunches, free healthcare for all children and warrants of fitness on all rental houses. Her determination to do something in response to the programme is to be applauded. Poor-quality housing and lack of access to healthcare are issues just as prevalent in rural areas as our towns; I will be bringing her Facebook page to the attention of children in my school as a positive example of a young person making a difference – her petitions can also be accessed via the page. Achieving balance in 2012 will be – as always – about choosing where to put our energies for the good of all of our children. Web references Children Against Poverty Facebook page. Available at: www.facebook. com/pages/Children-Against-Poverty/296378073730005 Wall, Tony (2012). ‘Teen becomes leader in child poverty fight’. Stuff.co.nz, 15 January. Available at: http://www.stuff.co.nz/ national/6259502/Teen-becomes-leader-in-child-poverty-fight
Providing quality cost-effective financial services to schools School Services Ltd is a company with more than 20 years combined experience catering to the financial and accounting needs of schools and the education industry. High-quality personnel who specialise in school accounting provide years of experience in the school accounting field, and strong working relationships with Ministry of Education, IRD and your auditor.
Some key services include: •
• • • • • • • •
Accurate monthly, annual and special reporting Computerised Fixed Asset register Payment of all authorised bills Bank reconciliations Preparation and submission of GST returns to IRD Financial advice and assistance Client Site visits and training Annual financial statements and liaison with auditors in a stress-free audit process Online access to your accounts
And more . . . Please contact us for a detail list of what we can do for your school. Please mention this advertisement when you call us for a no-obligation quote. 20% off first year’s fee if you sign up before 31 July 2012. Conditions apply.
Visit www.schoolservices.co.nz for full details, or phone 07 847 2672
ARE YOU LICENSED TO COPY? Respect Copyright Encourage Creativity Be Licensed Contact us now: 0800 480 271 www.copyright.co.nz
School children are invited to imagine their
favourite outdoor activity, and bring it indoors! It could be anything; flying a kite, surfing, fishing, playing rugby. It’s up to them! Then video themselves, upload it to Youtube, and register on our website.
Get the most votes and win $10,000! It’s that easy! Ten cash prizes up for grabs and the top 5 schools also win a Hitachi Heatpump. Competition starts Monday 30 April 2012 Entries close Sunday 27 May 2012
Get started early to maximise your voting period For more info, check out:
HI H
EAT P
U PS
HI
AC
M
T
www.hitachiheatpumps.co.nz
YEAR
WARRANTY INCR E
COM ASING YOUR
F O RT