Angwin

Dear Angwin Families,

Our children have had a fairly busy and productive week this week. On Tuesday, Edgerley room joined us in the treasure hunt activity and we had great fun together. We used the big map the children produced last Tuesday as the treasure map and hid the treasure boxes in different places in our Early Learning Centre. We were amazed by how creative the children could be as they had chosen some really interesting places to hide their treasures. We also saw the children working as a team to find the treasure boxes and communicating with each other in a caring and cooperative way. We also took some photos of them doing team work during treasure hunt and added those photos onto our friendship tree. We hope that our friendship tree can grow taller and taller with time.

A mini gallery has been created in our classroom after most of the children have made their name badges with salt dough. Some letters were not easy to make, but our children managed them with their hard work. Come and see their work - you will certainly be surprised by the children’s fine motor skills and how talented they are.

The children enjoyed the Rock n Roll dance party with Edgerley and Chapple children on Wednesday. It was great fun to see them indulging themselves in rock music and dancing like rock stars. After lunch, Edgerley shared their worms with us and we had a lovely discussion about where worms prefer to live and what kind of food they like to eat. It was lovely to see children organising and expressing their thoughts using their own language.

On Thursday, we invited our friends from Chapple room and Edgerley room to watch Kung Fu Panda with us. This activity was followed by a group discussion of Pandas’ special habitats. We also decorated our home corner with some Chinese posters and lanterns  to recreate the Chinese noodle soup restaurant  that we saw in the movie. The children also played with the dragon outfit and did a bit of a dragon dance in the classroom.

Friday was a fun filled day to all of us as we had our own mini Olympic Games. We made our medal first and then talked about the spirit of Olympic Games. Children shared their thoughts with each other and understood that the spirit of Olympic Games were about friendships and challenging ourselves rather than winning a game. After enjoying our sports games, we had our ceremony on the stage in town square.

Next Friday is our Pyjama Day.It would be highly appreciated if you could dress the children in pyjamas and bring a golden coin for the fund raising.

Love Miss Wenting and Miss Bowden 

Langley

This week the children have continued to explore colours. Unfortunately, the weather hasn’t allowed us to venture into the school this week but we have been able to hunt for colours in our class room environment. The children have been very curious and enthusiastic with this; they have also shown a lot more confidence when identifying the colours that they know.


We have introduced the baby dolls into the Langley room these holidays, as we have a lot of new siblings and a lot more to come. We would like to help the children through this time as it is sometimes tricky when you experience something different and new. We have been having many conversations and moments of role play to help the children gain a deeper understanding about babies, creating a positive experience and learning of ways to care for them.

The children have been taking their babies for walks in their prams. On Thursday morning, they were off to the park! Miss Renee helped the children create a footpath using masking tape, together we are also going to create a park using natural objects and photographs. We had a discussion at morning meeting about what we see when we go to the park, here are a few:

Larissa - “Puppy dogs.”
Declan – “Ants.”
Phoenix – “I feed the ducks at the park.”
Ed - “Daddy take me to the park.”
Larissa - “Trees.”
Declan – ”And sticks.”
Isaac B - “And frogs.”


Have a wonderful weekend.
We will see you next week!
Next week is the last week of the holidays and the last week for the children who are moving to Cooper room!

Thank you,
Miss Brooke, Miss Emily, Miss Renee and Miss Jen.

Mead

Dear Mead families and friends,

The children have displayed such strong interest with weather at the moment – in particular the way the rain makes puddles, we built on this by reading books about puddles and mud.

We read ‘Duck in the Truck’ by Jez Alborough, ‘Stuck in the Muck’ by Brett Avison and Craig Smith and ‘This is the mud’ by Kathryn Apel and Warren Crossett.

The stories quickly sparked a group discussion!

Liliana – “When it was raining it turned into muddy puddles”

Jayden – “Boots – jump in the muddy puddles”

Leonardo – “We get stuck really easy”

Haris – “When the raindrops fall – rain fall muddy puddles”

Alex K – “Muddy puddle”

Yifan – “The cow got stuck in muddy puddles”

We continued our muddy puddle investigation by making our own mud. We did this by collecting mud from our outside environment, we then added water to our dirt to form oozy sticky mud.

Ethan – “We need water”

Zed – “Mud”

Liliana – “Looks like mud”

Paige – “Dirty mud”

Ethan – “Looks like chocolate”

We then placed farm animals nearby as a provocation. Immediately the children began to use the animals to re-tell the ‘Stuck in the Muck’ story.

Mud play is a fantastic sensory experience for the children, they are able to manipulate the textured mud with their hands while also connecting with nature while also encouraging creative thinking.

Can you please ensure your child has appropriate winter clothing to support this current interest. (Gum boots and warm jacket).

We hope you have a lovely weekend,

Miss Elodie and Mrs Nacca

Mattingley

Dear Mattingley families and friends,

It's been a quiet and chilled week for our little Mattingley friends.

We started our week threading the leaves that we have collected from our nature walk around the school.

We checked out the new PAC dining room that's being built and practiced our balancing and jumping at the Senior School courtyard.

We were amazed at what we saw while leisurely discovering our very own school campus.

"Look! A crane!", says James

"And a digger, a little one", adds Paxton

"I found mushrooms", informs Felix.

"You have to be careful cause some are poisonous", warns Walter.

If you have some time, check out the mushroom samples we have collected to take a closer look at but remember not to touch them as per Walter's warning.

On top of those mushrooms we also found a beautiful  little kitten behind one of the bushes but we made sure not to get too close because we know how mummies can be protective of their young babies.

We have been doing a lot of dancing while indoors when days are just too cold and gloomy.

The writing, drawing and mark making table has been a favourite play space and children have been engrossed in making their maps, illustrating their families and friends, and sometimes it can be scary and funny monsters - just anything under the sun. This week though, our friend Samuel made a wonderful illustration of the Mattingley class and it's currently on display. Perhaps this can be a wonderful inspiration for another inquiry and discovery into our identities and sense of belonging. So watch out.

We have also been getting more familiar with our names and those of our friends that we have explore different books with special named characters.

This week we read "Walter the Baker" by Eric Carl and "Fred the Croc" by Matt Zurbo. If you have books with your child's name at home, feel free to share with us..and don't forget those family photos we've asked for.

Next week we will celebrate the Footy and Soccer fever as families support their favourite sport teams.

On Wednesday, the children can come dressed in their favourite Sports team colours. It could be just the top, a beanie, a scarf or why not go for the full gear!!! We can't wait to see you and we can cheer together.

On Friday, we will show our awareness and support for children in Australia who are in the foster care system by dressing in our favourite pyjamas and bring in some gold coins to help fund books, beddings, toys and much more for children not fortunate enough to be in a loving family home. Please visit www.thepyjamafoundation.com for more information on how you can further support this wonderful cause that our little children can be apart of.

Thank you

Coney and Melissa

Edgerley

Dear Edgerley friends and families,

Week two of the holidays was a fun filled week with lots of exciting moments. On Monday we had an amazing time sharing our class room with the Chapple children. Later on both classes combined and enjoyed the glorious sunshine in the outside playground.

We spent Tuesday making rock n roll t-shirts, it was so lovely to see all the happy faces on the children as they decorated their t-shirts using their imagination.

We also had a great time at the Red Centre, where we enjoyed playing football and tug of war furthering our co-ordination and gross motor skills.

Wednesday was a fun filled rock n roll day with Miss Kerry and Mr Angus. We had the opportunity to relax and watch the Kungfu Panda movie.

We loved sharing our worms with Angwin and Chapple. As our investigation continued we also discovered that worms like dark spaces. We shared this information with our friends from Angwin and Chapple.

We were lucky enough to join Angwin for a treasure hunt across the ELC. Miss Bowden helped us understand and read the map and we had lots of fun finding treasure.

This week with the help of children we changed some of the furniture around in the Edgerley room. 

Friday mini Olympics  was a big hit with Edgerley children as they participated in fun filled games. The children created medals using their imagination and creativity.

Mrs Kaur and Mrs Murdy

Wilkins

Dear Wilkins family and friends

We have loved being on school holidays! On Monday we were lucky enough to bring our teddy bear friends along to join us for a picnic! We loved having them at school and sharing them with our friends.

As the weather has been cold and rainy we have been enjoying playing inside, we have especially loved playing with the cars on our new race track table! When it starts to rain we like to look out the window and see the rain and puddles in our yard and do observational drawings of what we see.

Vivienne: “I drew the rain drops!”

On Wednesday the sun came out and we took this opportunity to go for a run outside. Some of the children realised that it is much more fun to play and mould things from the wet sand as it holds its shape better.

Dates to remember:

Tie dye: Next Wednesday we thought it might be fun to try our hands at tie dye! Please bring in a white t shirt for your child to decorate and wear.
Pyjama day: On Friday 22 July it is Pyjama Day to raise money for charity. Please wear your pyjamas and bring a gold coin donation.


From Miss Georgia, Mrs Nicole, Mr Nigel and Mrs Jackie

Mead

Dear Mead families and friends,

With winter firmly set in now, the children have been talking about how they feel the cold, the different clothing they are wearing and what they are noticing around them.

As part of our morning meeting we have now introduced a daily weather check and the children have been choosing a picture they feel describes what they see and posting this on our morning meeting board to record it.

We have also been lucky enough to see a couple of rainbows which has lead us to an art experience of ‘making’ the elements of the weather we see.

The children wanted to recreate a BIG CLOUD!

 “Because all the rain comes from the clouds” -Ethan

“From black clouds” – Cooper

“A rainbow – They come out when its finishing to rain” – Leonardo

“The sun – Some days its very sunny in winter” – Sienna

“Theres red and blue and purple” Cooper

“Red, orange, green, blue, purple and pink” – Jayden

“No, theres no pink in the rainbow” – Ethan

“But sometimes I see it” – Jayden

“They at the sky” – Oliwer

“Really, Really high” – Zed

Building on the childrens interest about rainbows, we read ‘What makes a rainbow’ by Betty Schwartz and had a positive group discussion afterwards. After reading the book we discovered that we need three things to make a rainbow.

“We need rain” – Tom T

“Sunny” – Ethan

“You need paint to get the colours and a big yellow sun” – Oliwer

“The sun” – Hudson

We hope you have a lovely weekend!

Miss Elodie Morvan and Mrs Rosalie Nacca

Cooper

Dear Cooper Room families and friends,

During the week we celebrated Will G’s 4^th Birthday. Thank you for the delicious cupcakes!

After the wet and wintery week we experienced our ‘Movie Day’ was a great start into the holiday program. The children were able to wind down, sit back and enjoy a movie over popcorn.

We made ‘Cloud Dough’ with the children an easy to make sensory play material with only two ingredients flour and oil. The children really engaged in this simple experience which has fabulous benefits in allowing children to integrate all their senses.

RORY: It feels like sand. It’s soft but not wet.

HARRY: It feels like oil.

LEXIE: It feels like some snow. We were making some balls and it felt like cotton balls.

ISLA: I was making a house.

WILLIAM A: I was making glue.

Please ensure to check for any missing sign in/out signatures that are overdue. The paper work is located on the table outside the Cooper Room classroom. Thank you.

We wish you all a happy and safe weekend. See you all next week.

Miss C and Miss Alyce

Chapple

Chapple Families

We have had an exciting time in the Chapple room during the first week of school holidays. The children have helped make a few changes in our room and its looking fantastic. We have a new wooden table with chairs to do drawing, writing and  projects on and have also turned our home corner into a cake and candy store. 

The children have been busy sharing ideas and working together to create an array of lollipops, cakes, ice creams and more. The children started role playing selling lollies and cakes to each other.

After reading the book "Biscuit Bear"  the children were inspired to make their own biscuit bears out of play dough to sell in their shop. Behind our cake and candy shop are some beautiful colourful artworks to give our store  an inviting atmosphere to attract customers . We have also enjoyed our rainbow rice and play dough.

Friday we made Chocolate crackles as and extension of  the children's interest in baking. We followed the recipe and discussed why we need to use the correct measurements. They were delicious.

On Thursday we celebrated international ‘Peace and Love’ day, we thought about what peace and love means to us and how we, as children can make the world a more peaceful and loving place. We also made tye die shirts with many  colours.  Later in the day we all stood in a circle with our hands up showing the peace sign and said peace and love.

Don't forget Next Wednesday is Rock n Roll Day so dress as a rock star. We will be dancing the morning away and having an air guitar competition. 

Chapple Room

Wilkins

Dear Wilkins Friends and Families,

For some children this is their last holiday session in the Wilkins class before they move up with Miss Gilbert and Mr Ty and for others they have just began. The bigger children have been a great help by welcoming our new friends and showing them around our class. We are going to miss all of the beautiful faces moving to Cooper but they are all very excited and ready to start their new level of learning.

This week we have been working on further developing the children's fine and gross motor skills. We have enjoyed working on our fine motor skills by cutting and pasting, making cupcakes and pizzas out of playdoh and done some beautiful paintings. We explored an Epsom salt experiment with water colours which made the paint crystalize as it dried. The paintings look beautiful and is a fun activity to try at home! 

Due to the wet weather we spent lots of time in the workshop which enabled us to work on our gross motor skills so we changed up our balancing and climbing obstacles. The children helped each other balance and tried very hard to push themselves. Gross motor skills are important to enable children to perform every day functions, such as walking, running, skipping, as well as playground skills (e.g. climbing) and sporting skills (e.g. catching, throwing and hitting a ball with a bat). These are crucial for everyday self care skills like dressing (where you need to be able to stand on one leg to put your leg into a pant leg without falling over).

We hope you all have wonderful weekends, please check the programme for upcoming events during our holidays. We have a pajama day coming up and a police car visit in week 3!

Teddy Bears Picnic- Monday 11th July

Bring your favourite teddy bear to school for a picnic

(please make sure they're labelled)

Friday 22nd July- Pyjama day

(gold coin donation)

From Mrs Jess Miss Kim, Mrs Nicole, Miss Georgia and Miss Jen

Angwin

Dear Angwin families,

The children have been using salt dough this week to shape the letters of their name. This is one of the fine motor skill experiences that we offer the children to encourage hand eye coordination and the development of small muscles in the children's hands. Little activities that promote the use of their hands significantly influence independence skills (such as getting dressed with tricky socks and buttons in particular) and creative development such as writing and cutting because they encourage practice of some really fiddly exercises.

Whilst the children have been practising their fine motor skills they have also been animals and pirates! The Madagascar day saw children dancing to the classes most poplar song "I like to move it," as well as an animal dress up theme for the day, characters on sticks to take home and watching the movie itself. We also had some pirates in the class this week, with the Tuesday children working together to produce a map of the ELC then hiding treasure for their friends to find, including in the Edgerley room and in an oven!

Love Miss Bowden and Wen Ting