Christmas Closure

Dear Parents,

Just a reminder that today is our last day before our Christmas break and we will return on January 11th. The teaching staff return ready for the Kindy program on January 28th.
Next year there will be a couple of staff changes . Ms Amanda Rees from Mead room is moving to the Prep School to take up an assistants position there. We will all miss her and wish her well in her new position. Mrs Penny White will move from the Langley room to take Amanda's place in the Mead room which will be great continuity for those children also moving up.
Mrs Jessica Catt will commence in the Langley room from January 11th . She has been with us casually for a couple of months and has been visiting the room and getting to know the children.
Jessica is a trained Early Childhood Teacher and will take on the leadership of this room. Please introduce yourselves to her and make her welcome,

Merry Christmas to everyone and see you in the New Year !

Jeanine

Fee Increase

Dear Parents,
As per the whole of the school there will be an increase in fees for the ELC next year. There is a letter and a new fee schedule in each child's pigeon hole. They are also displayed on the School's web site .These fees will apply from when we return on January 11th 2010. If you are currently on holidays and wish to make any enquiries then please phone me at the centre,

regards
Jeanine

Christmas Capers

Week 1 Holidays for 3’s and 4’s
Welcome back to the Holiday program! We’re already one week down and that much closer to Christmas, how exciting!

As we have a much longer term break, our “Christmas Capers” program format has changed slightly. Instead of themed days we have focussed on various Christmas activities and listed a range of experiences to take part in for the whole two weeks. You may have already seen some of our creations including:

- Father Christmas Faces.
We practiced our scissor skills to cut out hat and beard shapes. Added facial features of our own Santa and decorated him with collage materials.

- Paper Cup Angels.
A true mirror of each of us… hopefully! Using everyday materials, we created a personalised tree decoration or table centrepiece

- Wrapping Paper and Card Making
We used sponge stamps and marbling paint to make our own Christmas wrapping paper. We also made Christmas cards for our friends and family.

Wednesday the 23rd of December is the last day of the holiday program before Christmas. We invite the children to wear some festive or casual clothing to celebrate the last ELC day of 2009.

Next weeks activities will include Ginger Bread/Honey Biscuit Making, Festive Face Painting, more Paper Chains and Christmas stories, songs and movies.

The Holiday Team
Todd, Ali, Jess, Rosalie, Trish, Sarah and Eleanor

Fees over Holidays

Dear Parents, due to a software problem some families who pay by the automatic debiting procedure have had our closure period charged to their accounts. We have now rectified the problem and any fees charged for this period will show as a credit and be used for the fees for when we return from 11.1.10. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience this may cause ,

Jeanine

Christmas Party

Thankyou to all the wonderful parents who provided food and helped with our Christmas Party. The children certainly enjoyed the visit from Santa and all the goodies to eat. Some even had a second sitting at afternoon tea time ! If anyone still has a plate to collect they are in the art room.
The children have had a great time over the rest of the week doing Christmas craft work with Mr Kerber which will continue next week as well.
Another big thankyou for your generosity with presents for the staff. We certainly all appreciate it!
The ELC staff

Farewell from Kindergarten Staff

Dear Parents,
Thankyou for making our first semester in our new centre such a warm and wonderful experience. We have really valued having you on this new journey with us and thankyou for your support and understanding in helping us build on the strengths of our programmes from Little Princes. We have enjoyed working with your children at the new Princes ELC and their joy and enthusiasm around this new experience has been a delight to share. We wish you all a merry Christmas and safe but exciting holiday and look forward to seeing you in the new year.
Seasons Greetings
Mel, Alex, Emma, Susan, Amanda, Ali, Nicola and Pip

Farewell Mrs Cooper

Dear Parents,
We would like to wish Mrs Pip Cooper all the best as she takes a break for maternity leave for the birth of her third child. We will miss her immense enthusiasm and dedication and look forward to hearing of her new arrival in the new year.
We would like to take this opportunity to particularly thank Pip for her work during our transitionary period moving from Little Princes to the Princes ELC as well as her ongoing role in the lives of our children at the centre. We look forward eagerly to her return.
Regards
Mel Bishop

Cans at Christmas

Dear Parents,
we will be taking our can collection to Uniting Care next Friday. One can from each Princes ELC family would make a huge difference to a number of less fortunate families this Christmas. Please take the time to help your child add a can to our hamper beside our Christmas tree.
Thankyou
ELC staff

Missing Library Book

Dear Parents,
As we finalise borrowing from the Library for 2010 we have two missing books that have mistakenly been booked out to a child who does not attend Library. If you have the Library books “Don’t Lose Pigley, Wibbly Pig” or “The Flying Diggers” please return them to the centre as soon as possible.
Thankyou
Preparatory School Library Staff

Parents and Friends Representatives for Chapple and Mead 2010

Dear Parents of children currently in Mead Room or children about to move to Mead in 2010,
We are asking for expressions of interest from parents interested in being a Parents and Friends rep for Chapple or Mead for 2010. If you would like to be part of our P&F team please respond via e-mail to Mrs Porter at jporter@pac.edu.au. The positions will be decided in late January.
Kind Regards
Mel Bishop

Bowerbird Beauty

Dear Parents,
you may have noticed our growing shared threading in the café. Children have enjoyed bringing treasures to add and it has sparked much discussion about how colours work together and about the different names of different shades.
As the Kindergarten term is drawing to a close we no longer require any bowerbird treasures.
Thankyou for your support and enthusiasm during this project
ELC Staff

Beautiful Photos

Photos from our Nativity and the Chapple Graduation are available to be viewed and purchased on the Festival photos web site at:
http://www.festival-photo.com.au/
Once on their site click view your photos
then click PAC
then click 2009
If you would like to look at photos from our Nativity please click on Kindergarten Nativity and enter the password 18-11-09
If you would like to look at photos from our Nativity please click on Chapple Graduation and enter the password 03-12-09

In the Classrooms

Langley
This week in Langley we have explored every inch of our imaginations with the dress ups. Tu tu’s were in high demand and were enjoyed so much they were hardly ever off! The children particularly enjoyed dancing and singing in their outfits and swapping as frequently as possible. We look forward to encouraging this experience more next week. A big thank you to all the families who bought in coat hangers.
Warm regards.
Penny, Adele, Chloe & Sarah

Mead
Dear Mead Room Parents,
We have had fun exploring silver this week and doing a variety of Christmas craft activities. The children have made Christmas decorations, printed their own wrapping paper and listened to and sung many Christmas stories and songs. It has been a wonderful term and we are very sad to be drawing to a close. Can we take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe, healthy and peaceful new year.
Best wishes,
Emma, Amanda and Susan

Cooper
Mums and Dads will find a special surprise in their children's bags this week! The children have been very busy putting together their Christmas presents for you. They have made hand print wrapping paper and foot print Christmas tree cards in very Christmassy greens and reds. With a little help the cards have been written and the presents wrapped. Don't forget to put them under the tree ready for Christmas day!
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all our families!
Kind regards,
Ali and Rosalie

Edgerley
This week in Edgerley we welcomed baby Henry James, a brother for Samuel, congratulated Henry N on his special family event, observed Christian's live huntsman spider for show and tell and wrapped our Christmas presents. We also farewelled Marcos as he moves up to the Prep school, said goodbye to Miss Christina and wished Mrs Cooper all the best as she leaves us to have a baby. Phew! What a week!
Time for a rest!
From Mel and Pip

Chapple
Congratulations to all the Chapple children on a wonderful farewell ceremony. All the staff were very proud of how well the ceremony went and how beautifully the children performed. We would love any photos of the event to post on the blogsite. Please email Mel Bishop if you have some that you would like to contribute. A special thank you to all the parents for your support and cooperation throughout the semester. We hope you have a safe and happy Christmas! And thank you for all your presents!