Accessing the blog

An email address for each of our new families has been added to the list to receive the "blog alert" . If any families wish to have a second email address added could you please forward it to me,

regards

Jeanine

New Baby

Congratulations to Wenonah and Cuong Loi on the arrival of Parker on January 19th ,a brother for Autumn (Mattingley Room)

Art Project

Dear Families,

My name is Kellie McCauley and I am the Creative Art Specialist in the Preparatory School. I will be working with your children this year on a Thursday morning, creating some artwork. Our first project for the year is a large Rainbow which will go on display at the Memorial Hospital in the children’s ward. Prince Alfred College and the Memorial Hospital are both affiliated with the Uniting Church. Each class has been assigned a colour (see the list below). If you happen to have any small objects at home that you could bring in e.g: Buttons, string, ribbon, coloured cardboard, wrapping paper, plastic cutlery etc. we would love to use them for our rainbow assemblage. Each class has a small box for collecting items.   

Wilkins - Orange

Langley -Red

Mead  - Yellow

Mattingley - Green

Cooper - Blue

Chapple- Indigo – Light Purple

Edgerley – Violet – Dark Purple

 If we collect enough items we will create a second Rainbow to go on display in the ELC.

Our Rainbow project ties in with the Units of Inquiry – Celebrations and Body and Mind, through the Lines of Inquiry:

·       how we express beliefs/feelings through the arts

·       body parts and functions

 

Edgerley Room

Dear Parents and Friends,

In Edgerley we have been terrifically busy exploring so many different ideas and theories.

The children have loved making mermaids with old fashioned dolly pegs. They wanted to make a home for them, so we have created our own beautiful sea cave. Do come and have a look! It is beautiful! Together we made a list of all the materials we would need. Then we all helped to make it look special.

We enjoyed cooking Australia biscuits to complement our show and tell discussions about how our families celebrated the Australia Day long weekend. Our families have spent lots of great time together, playing or watching cricket, playing with water balloons, camping, playing footy and even some swimming and yummy barbeques. Here are some of the children’s comments about our cooking experience…

Jensen: We rolled them out, used the cutter and put them in the oven.

Gabby: We smelt them cooking… it smelt good.

Jarrah: We ate the biscuits for a picnic on the grass near the oval.

Harrison: My Mummy makes biscuits too.

We are loving working with your children!

Warm regards,

Pip, Emma and Coney

 

Chapple Room

What an exciting start to our new term and new class. Thank you for all your welcoming words which make the ELC such a special place.

 

As it was Chinese New Year, we have made lanterns, dragons and blossom picture for our Unit of Inquiry – Celebration. We have also began to look at our bodies under our Body and Mind topic.

 

More importantly we have made lots of new friends

 

Martin, Pamela, Ty, Emma and Renee

Chapple Team

Mattingley Room

 

 

This week in the Mattingley room we have been very busy exploring our new environment and getting to know each other. We have been talking about our bodies and how to keep them healthy. We started this by tracing around our bodies and labelling all the different parts. Outside in the yard it has been warm enough to use the fountain so we have been having lots of fun with water play. This week we have also had our first trip to the Prep School Library which was fantastic and well as our first PE lesson in the Prep School Gym. Next Tuesday will be our first Chinese lesson which we are all looking forward to.

Could we please remind our parents to apply sun cream to your child before coming into the centre so we can go straight outside when it is our turn to play in the yard. We would also like to remind those parents who haven’t brought back their information sheets to do so by the end of next week please. The information that you provided us on these sheets helps us to understand your child better and to be able to set up the learning environment in ways that will engage your child in experiences that will lead to deep and meaningful learning. If you need a new copy please ask us and we will be able to give you another one.

Thank you,

Kimberley and Coral

Mead Room

Dear Mead Room families and friends,

It is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of Week 2! 

In the past week we have excitedly explored our new indoor space and welcomed new children and families (..and teachers!) to the ELC.  The hot weather could have been problematic however with our amazing water investigation opportunities we embraced the weather!   It did, however, illustrate a few housekeeping requirements… please ensure that you apply sunscreen either at home or on arrival at the ELC (we have sunscreen available), we ask that you indicate on the daily information sheet whether you have done so. And please pop a set of named spare clothes in your child’s bag too! 

We have begun investigating one of our units of inquiry – We make choices that affect our own health and well-being. As a starting point we need look no further than the marvellous nutritional and inviting meals that Miss Sue creates for us everyday.

Loukas – Its like a rainbow

Harrison R – Its juicy and good for us

Nicolas – some are crunchy and healthy

Clementine – water is healthy

 

From Melissa and Sarah

Wilkins Room

 

 

Dear families and friends,

We have had a wonderful first full week as a new class in the Wilkins room. We have spent a lot of time socializing and getting to know each other and settling into classroom routines.

The children have been exploring the classroom and the outdoor spaces. We have been building, role playing, dancing, drawing, painting, creating, water playing, exploring our senses, reading, singing and problem solving as well as so much more. We have begun our investigations about our body and mind through songs and story and look forward to furthering these explorations next week. Phew, we have been busy!

Best wishes for a good weekend. Try and stay cool!

Nicole, Kelly, Karla and Jess

PS , we would be grateful for your spare plastic bags please !

Langley Room

This week in the Langley Room we have had lots of discussions about our body and how it works. We have been talking about our teeth and how we need to brush them to keep them clean and also about how they can help us to chomp on our food.

We had a lot of fun blowing bubbles and feeling our breath on our hands. We noticed our lungs getting bigger as they filled up with air. We were using our breath and the 'wind' out of our mouths to help blow the bubbles and we made all different sized bubbles. We practiced very good turn-taking skills by sharing with our friends.
We have also been practising our self help skills in the Langley Room. We have been doing this by trying to put on our own sunscreen, putting on our own shoes and pulling up our own pants after going to the toilet, and washing our hands.

Reminder; please apply sunscreen to your child/children before you arrive at school.

If the Parent Information sheets about your child could kindly be returned to us, that would be great. We have spare copies in the Langley Room if you are in need of another.
We would also like a family photo for each child if possible please.

Miss Stacey, Miss Emily, Miss Kerry and Miss Karla

 

New Babies

Congratulations to Matthew and Mikala Amber on the arrival of William Benjamin on Jan 2nd. A Brother for Charlotte and Jack (Cooper Room)





Also to Stuart and Ann Warwick on the arrival of Grace Audrey on January 29th , a sister for James (Chapple Room)

Welcome

Dear families,

Welcome back to the school year for 2014! We have excitedly opened our new rooms this week and welcomed lots of new children and families to the centre. We look forward to an exciting year ahead as we settle into our classrooms and make new friends.

Each term, we focus on and explore planned Units of Inquiry as part of our programmed classroom curriculum. Our Units of Inquiry for this term are:

Unit title: Celebrations

Central Idea: We make choices that affect our own health and wellbeing.

Transdisciplinary theme: How we express ourselves

Our lines of inquiry are:

• How we express beliefs/feelings through the arts
• The purpose of celebrations
• Celebration similarities and differences

Our guiding questions are:

• What is a celebration?
• Why, how, when do we celebrate?
• Who do we celebrate with?
• What is the purpose of celebrations?
• Are all celebrations happy?

Unit title: Body and Mind

Central Idea: Celebrations allow us to express our feelings and beliefs.

Transdisciplinary theme: Who we are

Our lines of inquiry are:

• Caring for your body
• Healthy mind
• Body parts and functions

Our guiding questions are:

• How do our bodies work?
• How do we care for our bodies?

 

 
Best wishes,

ELC staff

 Some snapshots of our week !

Food in the Centre

Please remember that no food should be brought into the centre with out checking its suitability with a staff member. There are several children in the centre with severe allergies and many packaged foods contain traces of products that cause these. Please wait until you are outside the centre to give your child a home time snack and  remind your older children not to bring or eat food in the centre also .

Thankyou

Items Needed

We are adding to our dress up supplies and would love some donations of handbags, dresses, coats, shoes, hats, jewellery ,uniforms or costumes(no super heroes please) . We would also like cane baskets, buttons and ribbons,

Thankyou

Uniforms

Please note that our preference is for Moroon pants/shorts/skirts but if you are unable to get these please keep to neutral tones of navy, denim or grey. Pants must be plain with no prints ,stripes ,logos etc. Footwear needs to be sandals or sneakers that are supportive and suitable for lots of running, climbing, PE classes etc. Thongs, Crocs, plastic sandals ,gum boots or slip on shoes are not suitable for all day wear for young growing feet,

Thankyou

Date to remember

Dates to remember next week:

Tuesday  28th Jan : Come dressed in Aussie clothes (Eg. Red, white, blue or green and gold) to celebrate Australia day (there may be some water play involved so pack labelled spare clothes please)

Term starts Thursday 30th January , Teachers return and normal classes resume