Grandies Day

Our annual Grandies Day will be held on Wednesday March 26th and invites will be sent home with your child next week. Please note that due to our increase in size this year there will be 2 sessions during the morning for the different class groups. Children who do not attend on Wednesdays are very welcome to attend with their Grandparents.

The ELC Team

Centre opening time

Please note that the centre does not open until 7.30am and we are legally not able to take your children until that time . The door code will not work until 7.30 although staff are able to "swipe" in prior to that. Could we also remind you that the code is for the security of your children and should not be given to people other than those collecting your child. This also applies to children who are not permitted to use the code pad.

Hand , Foot and Mouth virus

There have been 2 cases of this within the centre reported to us over the last week. This is a mild virus that can result in blisters on the hands , feet or mouth. Children must stay at home until all blisters have dried . Please see Mrs Dry if you need further information

Wilkins Room

Dear families,

We have extended our body exploration further this week. We have been demonstrating and practicing different body movements and shapes we can create with our body through singing the 'Can you do what I'm doing?' song.

We have traced around some of our bodies and, as a group, have been identifying, exploring and naming all the different body parts we know. We have been sharing our understandings and learning lots of new things from each other.

We also excitedly welcomed our tadpoles into the classroom this week. We can't wait to see what happens as they grow and change!

Best wishes for a great weekend.

Nicole, Kelly, Karla and Jess

Langley Room

It's been all about our bodies this week! What's on the outside of us and what is inside of us. We have had a lot of fun drawing around our bodies which has prompted many inquiries into different types of bodies, how they work and why we need certain things like a heart and our teeth! This led to many interesting conversations with the children throughout the week and the painting of their own skeletons using a variety of art materials.

We have had an array of imaginary play in our Flower shop this week, with children setting up shop and role playing with each other. This has led to a lot of expressive language amongst the children through many different social interactions. We were able to play with both real and pretend flowers and to compare their differences.J

Just a reminder to ensure all children are arriving in the Langley room by 9:15am. This allows for a smooth transition between settling, morning meeting and then fruit.

Children's hats can now be left at the ELC. We seem to have a 'Hat Monster' who has gobbled up a few hats . To prevent further hat losses, we will keep them in a basket in the Langley Room.

Thank you for your cooperation and have a lovely weekend!

 Stacey, Kerry, Emily and Nickarla

Cooper Room

Dear Cooper Friends and Families,

 

We have had a week exploring our amazing bodies! The children discovered that we have long sausages inside us – a big and a small one!  Luca also shared a talk on our funny bone which when we hit really does not make us laugh. Jack told us we have 206 bones in our body and Jasper showed us how he can make his body do somersaults and cartwheels.

On Friday Angus’ Mum came it to talk to us about how we can look after our bodies by stretching them and then showed us how they fix a broken bone. Angus had a cast put on his leg and it was red his favourite colour! The plaster set really quickly and then we were all able to hold the cast. We learnt that children’s bones can heal very quickly!

What amazing bodies we have!

Susan and Jain

Mead Room

Dear Mead Room families and friends,

We have had a remarkable week investigating our amazing body!  It began with the realisation that we have a skeleton underneath our skin.  We were reading a book with a few skeleton illustrations when….

Lachlan – that's a skeleton
Ned – I saw one at the museum

 

Sage even put a skeleton together using the computer!

Then another book with more skeletons….

Harrison T – theres a little boy skeleton and a daddy skeleton. Then indicating the different skeletal parts Harrison concluded that; he's got feet and his toes, and legs, that's his head, that's his eyes…. Where's his skin?

Where indeed!

With Harrison's help we decided to discuss our body parts, (with the skin on!) and what they can do.

We traced around Miss Sarah's body and then brainstormed what we knew;

Harry – theres a brain in your head
Annie – a mouth to eat
Nicolas – eyes for looking
Loukas – a nose for smelling
Olive – our ears for listening
Stay tuned – we're discovering more and more amazing things our body can do!

 
Have a terrific weekend!
From Melissa and Sarah

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mattingley Room

Another wonderful week has passed us by in the Mattingley room. We have continued to explore our bodies by looking at the fantastic skeleton one of our families has donated to our centre. After discussions around the skeleton and our bones the children used cotton tips to paint their own skeletons on black paper. You will find these on display in our doctor/hospital dramatic play area next week.

On Friday we walked over to the Prep school to see if we could spot any of the race cars. The children loved hearing the loud roar of the cars which sparked many discussions about what they were doing.

 "They are racing each other"-Patrick

"To win a medal. Actually to win a big trophy"- Harrison
"They are chasing each other"- Louis
"They are so so loud. The people are walking to watch them"- Angelina

Thank you again to all our families who have been donating bits and pieces to our centre. We really do appreciate it and the children love being creative and exploring all the different materials.

 Wishing you all a happy weekend.

Kimberley and Coral

Chapple

What a busy week in the Chapple room! A great excursion to see the Year 8 boys build go-karts has really got our interest in racing cars going. We  went to the Prep School to investigate that V8 Roar. We have even transferred our colour mixing skills developed by Miss Veltmeyer, to paint the cardboard go-kart we built.

 David : I am painting primary colours- red yellow and blue

David: We are getting a bit mixed up

James; It won’t dry out.

Peter: What happens if it gets messed up?

James: It’s gone purple

David/James Laughing

Peter: It’s gone brown

David: It’s a dog

Peter: Come here look at the wheel

David- Laughing

Peter: Two wheels

Geordie: I will put all the primary colours in to make black.

David: We need a seat.

Angus: I’m painting red

 

Chapple Team

Edgerley Room

Last Friday we had such a wonderful visit from Gabby’s dad, Dr Chisholm to speak with the Edgerley class about his work as a surgeon. The children were enthralled as they looked at models of stomachs, saw diagrams in huge anatomy books and handled scissors that were all shapes and sizes as well as many other tools. They loved seeing Dr Chisholm dressed up in his “scrubs” and were even more delighted when he gave us some caps and masks to keep for ourselves!

So many questions and comments popped into the children’s minds…

Gabby: Mummy puts a mask on too!
Zac: Do you take an ambulance to work?
Oliver: What do the knives do? Do you put the tummies back together? How do you do this?
Gabby: You have to stitch the tummies back when the patients are asleep so it doesn’t hurt.
Sabian: What’s that bit? (pointing to the muscle on the stomach model)
Zac: Do you know I have a feeling that they’re like little spider webs (as Dr Chisholm shows the children the suture and needle)
That very afternoon we brainstormed what we would need to make our own hospital. Then the real fun began as we collected so many things to create our own hospital. There have been many operations performed this week in the Edgerley room hospital and lots of budding surgeons too!

Thank you so much Dr Chisholm for deepening our inquiry and enriching our learning through such meaningful play!

Kind Regards,

Pip, Emma and Coney

 

Cooper Room

Dear Friends of the Cooper Room,

    This week we investigated our skeleton! We wanted to see what we looked like on the inside.

“Bones keep us strong, bones help our body to move,” said the children as they looked closely at our class skeleton. Using dried pasta the children have created an image of their skeleton on card, others have tried to paint the bones they  can feel under their skin.  Many of the children have taught us the name of different bones – “the skull is our head bone,” said Domenic and “we have a funny bone too!” added Luca. On Friday we began singing the old favourite “Dem Bones” as we learnt how all the bones work together to make us move.

   We also spent time drawing our self-portraits – what we look like on the outside! It is interesting to see the way the children are developing their observation skills and starting to add more details and expression to their faces. Come in and see your Cooper gallery!

 

 

 

kind regards

Susan and Jain

 

Mattingley Room

Another busy week in the Mattingley room has passed us by. Where does the time go? We have been busy exploring how our lungs work by making beautiful bubble paintings. Blowing through the straw to make bubbles has led to many fantastic discussions about how our lungs work and why we need to blow the paint not suck it up.

We have also been busy at the box making table getting very creative. The children have made some fantastic creations that you may find around the room. If you have any boxes at home you would like to donate to our collection we would really appreciate it.

This week was the start of our oral language program and all the children who shared with the group did a fantastic job. Next week's topic is 'My favourite food'. We are sure they will come up with some fantastic ideas.

 

We hope you enjoy your weekend and we look forward to see everyone next week.

 

Kimberley and Coral

Morning Drop Offs

As we now have quite a few more children here in the mornings between 7.30a.m and 8.15am we would like to trial starting the day in the Workshop area (the new undercover area) Please take your children there and sign them in if you arrive at the centre prior to 8.15 am.

Thankyou
ELC Team

Clipsal Road Closures

Please be aware that with the Clipsal Road closures next week the traffic will be very slow and heavy around the school ! We suggest that you allow plenty of extra time to get here and/to work next week.

Mead Room

 

 

Dear Mead room families and friends,

This week we have been talking about one of our Units of Inquiry – Celebrations. We have had a couple of Mead room friends celebrate birthdays over the past few weeks, so at our Morning Meetings we discussed what our birthday parties look like:

Sterling – it looks like decorations
 
Clementine – balloons and party hats
 
Lily – a birthday cake with candles

 We also discussed what food we might eat at a party:

Ned – orange cupcakes
 
Nicolas – red cupcakes

After our conversations about birthday parties, we decided to turn over home corner into Party Central, complete with all things party – plates, cups, bunting, but most importantly, cupcakes.

 Following on from our party food talks, we have also been discussing and sorting healthy foods from sometimes foods:

 Harry – watermelon

 Angus – chips

 Harrison R – I love chips!

Lachlan - cake

Hope you all have a great weekend!
Melissa and Sarah

 

4 year old Health Checks

These will be offered again this year by our local Child and Youth Health Nurse on March 18th between 9.15 am and 3.30pm at our centre. This is a general check of vision, hearing, height, weight and development. A Parent must accompany the child . Please book a time with Mrs Dry if you would like to take advantage of this service.

4 Year olds Excursion

Edgerley and Chapple Rooms will be going on a brief excursion next Tuesday to the PAC shed where year 8 boys build their Go Karts. We need several parent helpers so please let Mrs Dry know if you can come. If your child does not attend on a Tuesday but you would like them to be involved they are welcome to come if accompanied by a parent.

Wilkins Room

Quick, it’s an emergency! The Wilkins children have been very busy in our hospital role play area this week. We have had sore knees, broken bones, sick mouths and all sorts of other medical emergencies to attend to. The children have been taking it in turns to be doctors, nurses and patients and have used a range of different medical tools to diagnose and help heal our sick patients.

 Ned’s got a sore knee, I’m going to give him a needle – Oscar

I’m holding a bandaid for him – Oliver

I’m doing the bandage – Lucy

All better – Will

Still sick - Ned

I’m sick in my mouth – Ollie

Sore knee – Abi

It’s a skeleton – Zöe (looking at x-rays)

We have also been playing with our toy frogs trying to get them to jump in and out of the pond, exploring writing and drawing using our name cards, looking at texture and sound using the bubble wrap, using pictures of buildings as inspiration for our own block building, working together to build train tracks, problem solving with puzzles and experimenting with different actions and poses that we can do with our bodies.

Best wishes,
Nicole, Kelly, Karla and Jess

Langley Room

We've been up to all sorts in the Langley Room this week. With a focus on our 'Body and Mind' unit, we have been using our bodies in many different ways with the outdoor equipment. We have been investigating the different ways our bodies can move and have also been identifying our body parts through songs and games each day.

 A few of the children have taken a keen interest in doing some writing at the Writing Centre. We have been exploring the different letters of the alphabet and many other symbols used across the world.

Thanks and have a lovely weekend,

 

Stacey, Emily, Kerry and Nickarla

Chapple Room

Chapple room have had a great week with the new mechanics garage.

 Geordie: What’s wrong? It might be broken or the tyre flat or no power.

Matthew: There is little spanners inside

Charlie: It’s stuck, I’ve got it out luckily. Maybe the steering wheel is broken

Geordie : I’m on the computer

Charlie : I’m checking the steering- That’s the problem, it’s coming out.

Erik joins in and uses spanners on tyres.

Charlie: Your car is all fixed

 If your car has a problem Charlie M is your man. But don’t think it is for free, Henry and Kai will make sure you get a bill!

We have also being working on our Wellbeing and how our actions affect all. The block tower game has been great for waiting our turn and thinking about the impact on others.

 Jacob: “You can’t put that piece on because it will fall down and we won’t win. That’s not fair on everyone.

 

Chapple Team

Edgerley Room

 

Dear Parents and Friends,

We have had an exciting week in the Edgerley Room. The children have made face biscuits with Mrs McKenzie using dried fruit, vegetables and rice crackers. Then on Wednesday we visited the Year 2T class for shared reading. This will be an experience we will enjoy weekly, with the big boys visiting us or we will see them up in their classroom. The children have been loving deconstructing some old electrical goods, using real screwdrivers, pliers and scissors. We have also started giving the children new “Learner Profile” badges for special things we have observed throughout the day such as being caring, taking risks, thinking hard. These will be detailed more in our Portfolios each term. Today we had an amazing discussion about skeletons.

Here are some of our comments…

Jack: Your skeleton is all your bones together. If you didn’t have bones you would all fall down!
Zac: Skeletons help us move around… you couldn’t move if you didn’t have one!
Oliver H: Skeletons help make us strong.
Harry P: Animals have bones too.
Max: When you fall off the swing there would be blood but inside you might break your bone and it might even poke out!
Hudson: Bones are hard.
Jack: An x-ray is a picture of your bones. My sister had to have an x-ray ‘cos she broke her arm

We are looking forward to having Gabby’s dad Dr Chisholm talk to us about his work as a surgeon. Our body investigations are getting deeper and we are learning so much from each other too.

Kind Regards,

Pip, Emma and Coney

 

 

Cooper Room

Dear Cooper Room Parents,

What a week! At the beginning we were finding ways to keep ourselves cool and by Friday ways to stay dry! Our investigations have been based around “What is LOVE?” Such a big question for the children to think about. We made very special Valentine’s Day gifts – wrapping our families in love and talked about all the things we LOVE.

“You know you can love animals,” Knox

“My baby brother Owen,” Ryan

“My Mumma,” Tommy

We also began to make some bones to create a skeleton, learnt about stick and leaf insects, painted skeletons and listened to the story of the Chinese calendar.

 

Kind regards

Susan, Jain and Rosalie

Mead Room

Dear Mead Room families and friends,

We have continued investigating one of our units of inquiry – We make choices that affect our own health and well-being. This week our Morning Meetings offered an opportunity to explore the key concept of Responsibility.  We were able to have discussions regarding this concept, in relation to not only our own wellbeing but the wellbeing of others as well.

We began by considering the advantages of a Mead Room “Essential Agreement”, these discussions took place over the course of Week 2 and Week 3.  In effect we came to realise that collaboratively we can support eachother to take care of and feel good about ourselves and our community.

 Harry – You put your hand up when you want to say something at morning meeting

Angus – When one person is talking at morning meeting everyone else is listening

Finny —We take turns

Clementine—When the packing up music comes on we pack up with our hands

Sage—We put things away

 

Sterling illustrated this beautifully by being responsible for his own bedding after rest time, packing away his sheet and blanket! 

 

From Melissa and Sarah

Child Care Benefit

If you wish to claim the Government 50% Rebate you must register with Centrelink for Child Care Benefit and then provide the centre with 2 reference numbers - one for the parent who registers and one for the child. The rebate can be paid either directly to you or to the centre .

Immunisation Records

Could ALL families please provide us with  a copy of their child's current immunisation record. In the event of an outbreak of a communicable disease unimmunised children may need to be excluded from the centre. Children for whom no record has been provided will be considered unimmunised.

Wilkins Room

 

This week we have continued our investigations into our unit of inquiry, body and mind. We have been using mirrors to examine our facial features and then creating self-portraits. We can identify and draw many of our features.

  Me Regan. My nose. There’s my nose. Face. Cheek. I draw one cheek. Wow, there’s a face here – Regan

Ben. Draw Ben – Benjamin

Abi, it’s Abi – Abi

Look, tongue. Cheeks, yep – Mateo

 

We have then framed and painted and portraits to add to our body and mind gallery - make sure you come and check it out!

Could each family please send in a family photo for our future discussions and investigations. If it's easier to email it, please send to jcatt@staff.pac.edu.au and we will print it out for you.We also began our centre art piece with Mrs McCauley this week - don't forget to hunt around home for any orange bits and pieces to add to our collection to help decorate our rainbow.

Best wishes,

Nicole, Kelly, Karla and Jess

Langley Room

​Welcome to the end of week 3 in the Langley Room - and what a busy week it has been. We are very appreciative of​ the relief from the heat! 

 We have had more new friends join us and we have been getting to know each other through many fun songs and dances together.

Along with practicing our routines each day and our self-help skills, we have been lucky enough to have some people visit our room. On Tuesdays and Thursdays we have our Chinese lessons with Lao Shi and many of the children have been getting involved in her fun lessons.

We also had a surprise visit from a special grandparent and Deputy Headmaster Neil Andary, who read 'Who Sank the Boat?' to the children before afternoon tea. 

 Have a lovely weekend,

 

Stacey, Emily, Kerry and Nickarla

Mattingley Room

We have had a busy week in the Mattingley room exploring our PYP topic 'Body and Mind' by having many individual and small group discussions about our bodies, the different parts and what they do. Our focus this week has been on faces and the different features that make up our faces. The children have been using play dough to make faces, discussing the features they have added to their play dough face and why. This has been lots of fun! Many of the children have also  begun drawing their own portraits by looking in a mirror and drawing what they see. Once we have finished these beautiful portraits they will be on display for you to share with your child.

 Just a quick reminder that we have our next Library lesson Monday morning at 10.55am. If you could possibly arrive at the centre with enough time for your child to settle into the classroom before we need to move up to the Prep school we would really appreciate it. This will just allow your children to settle and enjoy our Library lesson.

Thank you,

Kimberley and Coral

Chapple Room

Love has been in the air in the Chapple Room as the children had great fun talking about what makes them happy and who they love. We hope you enjoy their lovely Valentine’s Day cards.

 

Next week sees a slightly different theme as we set up our car mechanic workshop. If anyone has anything they think would look great in our garage and they would like to bring in, it would be greatly appreciated. Tyres, old bit of car etc. all welcome.

Edgerley Room

Dear Parents and Friends,

This week in Edgerley we have been recording what we know about our bodies on the inside and outside. It is fascinating to see the children’s rich knowledge already and share their ideas. We have measured some body outlines with arbitrary units and we are collating information collected from the children’s show and tell about themselves and their physical descriptions such as eye graphs, height charts, hair colour and skin tones. Our sea cave is looking magnificent with fairy lights and swimming mermaids. We have had fun making beautiful hearts to give to our families for Valentine’s Day.

Here are some of the children’s body comments:
Ammar: Bones keep your body hard and they are all over your body.
James: You have blood inside. (James and Sabian painted the whole body red because of the blood inside)
Zac: If you get a sore, the blood will be coming out of your skin.
Harrison: Blood helps you walk.
Zac: Your intestines are like a tube. It’s made of plastic and moves when you wriggle your hip. They control your body to move.
Gabby: Mummies have milk in their bodies for the babies.
Ammar: The milk comes out of her boobies.
Sabian: Mummies have two boobies and one belly button.
Jensen: Your hair grows from inside your head.
Sabian: Muscles. They help you move your arms up and down.
Harrison: The food goes to all of your body.
Gabby: It goes through your neck.
Oliver H: It goes through your throat.
Zac: In your body you have springs. That helps bring your food down and back.
Gabby: You have a tummy.
Harry Mc: You have pointy teeth to chew your food.
Zac: Your brain tells you how to make a good choice or a bad choice.
Ammar: When you eat food it goes down or up. If someone hits you on your back it comes back up.
Gabby: Wee can come out of your willy.

There are so many theories and ideas we have so far…. Imagine what else we will discover this term!!

Thank you for your ongoing support!

Pip, Emma and Coney

New undercover area

The new undercover area has now been named "The Workshop" . This is both due to the nature of the play area and a reference to the fact that the new part of the ELC was previously the school's Property Maintenance Workshop !
The classes are taking turns at using this area after afternoon tea and to help parents locate their children at the end of the day we are putting a sign on the foyer door letting you know which area they are in . After 5 pm all children will be in the Town Square.

ELC Staff

Cooper Room

Dear Cooper Room Families

 

What a wonderful start to the year we have had in the “new” Cooper Room. The children have loved exploring their new learning space and getting to know Miss White. We have been talking about our amazing bodies and recording the facts the children already know.

“your ears are for listening and hearing,” Oliver and Angus

“You wear shoes so ants don’t come into your toes,” Toby

“If you want to move, the bones move you,” Luca

The Cooper hospital has had many patients visiting throughout the week, looking at x-rays, taking temperatures and administering lots of medicine. If you have a problem the medical staff at the Cooper hospital could probably  help you too! Please call in or make an appointment with our friendly team.

We have also explored other ways to use our bodies through PE in the gym, dancing, singing and cutting out some tricky jigsaw puzzles of our faces and even making Chinese characters with our bodies. They really are amazing!

Kind regards
Susan, Jain and Rosalie