Centre Administration

 

Dear Families,

 

I write to inform you that Jeanine Dry is currently on extended leave, and will not be returning to the Early Learning Centre.   I would like to acknowledge the contribution Jeanine has made and in particular her support with the establishment and development of what we feel is Adelaide’s premier Early Learning Centre. She has been a part of our staff for the last five years and we thank her for being part of our Princes journey and wish her well.

As you are aware in February we opened a number of new learning spaces. We are very proud of the excellence in teaching and learning offered through the dedication of our staff. Due to our expansion we are very pleased to announce that we now have limited spaces available in the two-year-old, three-year-old and four-year-old rooms for immediate start.

We are offering our current parents the opportunity to increase their days, before opening it up to the wider community. For enquiries please contact the ELC directly on 8334 1258.

 

Kind regards,

 

Neil Andary

Holi Colour Festival

Don't forget to wear or bring your old or cheap white t-shirt on Monday in preparation for our Holi Colour Festival celebrations!

In the classroom

Langley

Happy, sad or angry? These are the emotions we have been exploring this week in the Langley Room. We have used a variety of games, activities and songs to further look at different feelings and what makes us feel this way.

When someone steps on my toe I am sad - Sylas

When I cry I sad - Aliya

Rocco is sad - Rosie

My mummy is happy - Anay

Smiling, happy - Phoenix

We experimented with our own faces in the mirror, and how they look when we feel different ways. We had pouty lips, scowly faces and big, happy smiles. We also worked on our sorting skills, with range of pictures of people displaying different emotions and sorting them into 3 different groups.

Last Friday, March 7th, the Langley children went for a lovely walk around the school. They stopped by the Chapel and had a look at all the beautiful stained glass windows that really showed their colours through the light of the sunshine. We can't wait to make our own stained glass windows!

Next week we will be celebrating the Holi festival on Monday, March 17th. Please remember to bring a white t-shirt in for your child which is able to get a nice spraying of colour on it. We have lots of fun colour games and activities planned for the week.

Also, if you could please bring in a family picture, that would be greatly appreciated. We would love to make a display in which the children feel a real sense of pride and belonging. If you are unable to get a hard copy, please feel free to email them through to me at swybrew@pac.edu.

Until next week, have a wonderful weekend.

Stacey, Kerry, Emily and Nickarla

 

Wilkins

Dear families,

While we were outside on Tuesday, Miss Karla got some scissors and paper out for us to explore. We had such a wonderful time practicing this skill and pasting on to paper that we decided to do cutting and pasting in the classroom as well. We prepared our scissors and cellophane and set to work snipping little pieces and then pasting them on the window to create a stained glass window. We have used a range of different strategies to operate the scissors and discovered that it can be very tricky to control the scissors and hold the paper at the same time! This would be a great experience to have some more practice with at home.

We have also been exploring our faces in the mirror using pictures of all different types of facial features. Next week, we will begin our explorations of emotions and how these are reflected in our facial expressions.
For Monday children, don’t forget that we will be engaging in some Holi colour festival celebrations so we will need you to wear or bring an old or cheap white t-shirt that we can celebrate and decorate in!
Best wishes

Nicole, Kelly, Karla and Jess

Mead

 

Dear Mead Room families,
 

Another fun and busy week in the Mead Room – this week we have been investigating our sense of touch. The children explored the sensorial qualities of shaving foam and had many words to describe the texture and consistency they encountered.

Scarlett – Its very greasy.. and creamy too
Christian – It feels like bubbles
Sage – It feels cold
Olive – It feels sticky, like vanilla icecream that's melted!

Lots of discussion and sharing observations in small groups lead to many newfound discoveries!

Congratulations to Sterling who has a new baby brother, Harvey! We can't wait to see a photo!

 

Take care,

from Melissa and Sarah

Mattingley

Dear Mattingley families,

 

We have been talking about foods that we eat at celebrations. Some foods are 'sometimes' food and some foods are 'every day' foods. In our party corner we have been making lots of pancakes and cupcakes. Can you guess if these are a sometimes food or an every day food? We have been finding this very tricky. After exploring cakes with playdough we decided to ice some biscuits and add sultanas to make a face. Next week we may try cakes from scratch so lets getting thinking about what ingrediants will need to go inside them.

 

We have also started to play lots of new and exciting games at group time: bug in the rug, doggy doggy who's got your bone and what's the time Mr Wolf. We have become very good at sharing and taking turns because 'if you don't get a turn today, you can have a turn, another day.'

 

Next week we have got a visit from Katia's mum who is a dentist. So make sure you have all brushed your teeth and continue to eat them 'sometimes' foods!

 

Love Miss Mason and Miss Bowden

 

Cooper

 

 

Dear Parents and Friends of the Cooper Room,

This week we had a wonderful visit from Luca’s Mum. She told us all about bones. Did you know we have over 300 bones when we are born and some of them are very small and when we grow they join together to make the 206 bones! We talked about all the things we can do to keep our bones healthy, exercise, getting sunshine, eating lots of healthy foods, sleeping and keeping good posture. We even practising walking around with books on our heads to make sure we used good posture.

We have been using all our salt dough bones to create a skeleton. It is really hard to make sure the bones are all in the right place. Outside we have been showing each other how we can do special movements with our bodies…

“I can do a somersault,” said Jasper

“Look I can balance on one leg. I can balance on one leg on the wood too!” said Alexander

“I can go down the fireman pole now,” added Zander

“I can run really fast in my new fast running shoes,” yelled Harry F

“I can make the letters in my name. T O M . My sister Lily showed me,” shared Tommy

We have also had fun searching for Rainbow. Sadly we have not found any pots of gold at the end but we will certainly keep looking. We have made rainbows outside using the reflection of the sun and also used bowls of water and water colours markers to create rainbows in the class. We discovered that rainbow have two purples in them, but one is called violet and no pink! As we have been investigating rainbows the children have shared their thoughts…

“Rainbow come out after the rain. It has to rain a lot then the sun and the rainbow comes, “ shared Jack A

“The water went of them, they got all wet and the colours spread out (showing us with his arms wide apart)” discovered Domenic

“It’s a rainbow see it got red, yellow, orange, green, then blue and purple and another purple!”exclaimed Ansh

We are all looking forward to making lots of colours in the Holi Festival colour run on Monday. Don’t forget your white t-shirts!

 

Have a great weekend.

Susan and Jain

Chapple

 

The Chapple room has had great fun in our new vets- Doctor Tom will deal with all your animal needs. The children have also have spent some time exploring maps and have made a sand map of Australia- Please check it out in the class. It is nearly finished and very impressive. Show and tell continues to entertain with the weird and wonderful- Skulls, snakes and hospital visits seem to producing some very talkative children. We have begun to learn a bit more about our buddies. The photos are up in the classroom- test the children if they can remember their buddies name!

Don't forget the Holi Festival on Monday - The children will need an old t shirt preferably white as we be playing with coloured powder paint.

Chapple Team

Edgerley

 

 

Dear Parents and Friends,

The Edgerley children have been immersed in amazing play this week. We have discussed and created what it means to feel angry, creating some very pink angry faces with playdough. Our LOVE tree is complete so please check it out just outside our classroom. There are some beautiful messages and reflections from the children. The children have been showing such an interest in writing words, letters and numbers this week. We visited the JP Chapel on Thursday morning and have seen our Year 3 buddies and the Year 2 T reading buddies. We have a budding project opening up to create our own map of PAC which includes photos, diagrams and dialogue.

Thank you for your ongoing support. We are really excited by much wonderful play!

Kind Regards,

Pip, Emma and Coney

Holi Festival

As part of our unit of inquiry into Celebrations on Monday 17th March we will be investigating the festival of Holi. It is a major festival in the Hindu religion. It is celebrated on the day after the last full moon of the Hindu month of Phalguna. Phalguna falls between late February and early March in Western calendars. Holi usually marks the happy transition from harsh, dark winter to brighter, warmer springtime.

 

We would like the children  to bring in/or wear on the day, an old or cheap white t-shirt, if possible that we can add some colour to. If the children are to wear it on the day, please ensure they have their normal ELC uniform as a change of clothes.

 

 

Uniforms

As the weather becomes cooler your children are welcome to wear a WHITE long sleeved T shirt under their polo shirt. Please remember that pants must be moroon for preference but navy, grey ,black or denim are acceptable but must be plain with no patterns , stripes or logos. Shoes must be suitable for lots of running , jumping ,climbing etc and be firm fitting and supportive for young growing feet. Thongs, crocs, plastic shoes or rubber boots are not appropriate.
The uniform shop are still waiting on the size 2 rugby tops but have all other sizes available. There is also a waterproof fleecy lined jacket available for cold or wet weather.

Found - Polo Shirt

A new ELC polo shirt (size 4)was found outside by a member of the school community. If you have lost this please see Mrs Dry.

Health Checks

If you would like a health check for your 4 year old on March 18th please see Mrs Dry to book a time .

Grandies Day

We would appreciate a few parents to help on Wed March 26th with both our bookstall and Morning Tea. If you are available please let Mrs Dry Know ,

Thankyou

Cooper Room

 

 

Dear Cooper Room families,

 

A fun week has been shared in the Cooper Room. We celebrated Shrove Tuesday by whipping up some yummy pancakes together and then eating them after our lunch. We also made some gingerbread skeleton people. The children worked their muscles to roll out the dough and cut out gingerbread people. After they cooled they iced the gingerbread people by making a skeleton.  We discussed more features of our bodies and created a body! Our latest Cooper room classmate is a creation of all of us. Take a peek! What great team work!

Wishing you a wonderful long weekend!

Best Wishes

Susan and Jain

Edgerley Room

Dear Parents and Friends,

This week we have enjoyed following up on our experiences of the Clipsal 500 race! The children have made the most amazing race tracks with the blocks and used mobile to create incredible racing cars. There have been grandstands, pits and even a concert with Guy Sebastian going on in our room!

Here is a sneak peek of the dialogue going on…

Oliver K: I went to the race!
Max: We need lots of ramps around the corner.
Zac: Oliver and Max do you want to make the pits… If a car gets broken they go and fix the car… It’s important isn’t it?
Zac: I could make the stands for the people!
Oliver K: Vrrrrrrrrmmmm (as he moved his car around the track)
Jack: We need some ladders, to help the people get up on the stands.
Zac: Look at this! There’s the stairs!
Oliver: Hooray off to the finish line! Now I’ll go to the pits!
Zac: Here’s the telly (building a tv up on a tower) It’s the big screen!
Jack: Where’s the starting line? Vrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrooom!

Wonderful rich play embedded with shared experiences! We are thrilled with the way the children are embracing their learning and sharing their knowledge with their friends.

Have a wonderful long weekend. Hopefully a bit of sunshine and rest will help our children get over the bugs that have been shared over the last couple of weeks!

Kind Regards,

Pip, Emma and Coney

 

Chapple Room

Another exciting week has raced by with Colour Mixing Play Dough, followed by Shrove Tuesday with our attempts at pancake tossing. Miss Veltmeyer even managed to get colour mixing into our pancake toppings. We met our Year 3 Buddies for the first time and had fun playing with them. This will hopefully be a regular activity. Then finally we started making our own paper.

 Boasi cried out that’s not paper as he helped mix the pulp.

 Grey porridge, a wet elephant’s skin and a smoothie were some of the suggestions of what it looked like.

 

Action in the Primary Years Program

One of the most important parts of the PYP is the element of Action- This is where the children make connections and use their knowledge outside the classroom. This is always a difficult area to assess, particularly in the younger years. We have been pleased to hear stories of the children talking about what they have done in school at home. For example Alex recently telling his father I bet you don’t know what the primary colours are?  We would like to record these anecdotes, so if you get chance please email to us at mcharlwood@staff.pac.edu.au

 

Chapple Team

Mead Room

Dear Mead Room families and friends,

This week the Mead Room discovered watercolour painting.
We have been exploring technique and style using beautiful water colour paints.
The children have tried different brushes and brush strokes and observed changes when testing how much water and paint to use.

Doane – The colour, the colour! I like the colour, orange and purple
Stephen – Lines! And bop, bop, bops (using the paint brush to create spots)
Elle – Water, colour, water, colour – makes watercolour!

We will continue to experiment with a rich and diverse mixture of art mediums—providing time and opportunity to experiment and investigate.

 

Grandies Day is fast approaching – Wednesday 26^th March.  We have placed two invitations in your child's locker to invite their special guests.  If you need more Jeanine has some more invitations in reception.  A small request - we will need one or two parent helpers on the day from approximately 8:30am until 12 noon, if you're free…..
 Have a wonderful weekend!

from Melissa and Sarah

Mattingley Room

 

 

 

Dear Mattingley families and friends,

 This week we have continued to explore our bodies through dramatic play in our Doctor/Hospital area. On Friday we were lucky enough to have one of our fantastic parents Chin Po, who is a Doctor come in to talk with the children about going to a Doctor's surgery and showed us some of the instruments that she uses to check our bodies when we are unwell.  The children really enjoyed her visit and the information she shared with them really sparked their discussions and their play in the dramatic play area.

 Over the remainder of the term will we be focusing on our two PYP topics which are 'Celebrations' and 'Body and mind'. If you would like to come and visit our class to share your expertise or your celebrations with us we would love to have you and will make you feel very welcome. Please just let either myself or Coral know to arrange a time.

 Just to let you know that we have managed to pick up an extra Chinese lesson on Thursday mornings between 9am-9.30am. The children have really been engaging in their lessons with Laoshi and are excited to learn new Chinese words.

 Just a quick reminder that Monday is a public holiday and the centre will be closed. We will be back to business as usual on Tuesday.

 We hope you all enjoy your long weekend.

 

Kimberley and Coral

 

Wilkins Room

Dear families,

Our tadpoles are growing so quickly already! We have been examining them closely this week and helping to take care of them by cleaning their tank and feeding them more lettuce. We have been doing some observational drawings of them and talking about what we think is going to happen to them.

We have also had a closer look at skeletons this week, examining pictures and talking about what is inside our bodies. After these discussions, we have been creating our own skeleton pictures using white paint.
Spencer – Spencer, big teeth, bones

Scarlet – them bones, me, dat’s me there, dat’s me

Abi – Abi, it’s Abi, feet, dat feet

Lucy – Lucy, legs, arms, two

Oscar – an elbow, a tummy, a finger

 We also began to talk about Easter and how we celebrate it on Tuesday by making yummy pancakes to share for Shrove Tuesday.

Please check your child’s locker for your special Grandies Day invitations. There are two per child for you to pass on to each set of grandparents. We are also looking for a couple of parent helpers for the morning, please let Miss Jess know if you are able to help us out.

 

Enjoy your long weekend!

 

Best wishes,

Nicole, Kelly, Karla and Jess

Langley Room

Where does the time go? Another week has again whizzed by and it has been full of lots of fun and learning in the Langley Room.

Our Body and Mind unit took a focus on the children's feet this week. We got to have squishy paint rolled onto our feet and then make lovely footprints to hang up around the classroom. We noticed that some feet were big, some were small and some were shaped very differently to our own.  We investigated  some questions posed by the children: 'Why do we have them?' and 'What can they do?'.

Feet are for stomping - Poppy

To painting - Denver

They bend - Isaac

Jump! I cannot jump so high because it is too high. Jump! - Ashvin

On Tuesday, we observed Shrove Tuesday by having a wonderful afternoon of play and pancakes! Miss Jess brought in her electric frypan and both the Langley and Wilkin's Room children were able to all sit outside together and join in the experience. We enjoyed our pancakes with a bit of raspberyy jam, which were thoroughly enjoyed by the children!

Have a wonderful and safe long weekend,

 

Miss Stacey, Miss Kerry, Miss Nickarla and Miss Emily