In the Classrooms

Langley
As well as examining what animals we might find on a farm, we have also been looking at what fruits, vegetables and other foods the children think might come from a farm. We have created our own fruit tree in our classroom farm with apples and oranges and there have been discussions about whether apples and oranges can grow on the same tree. Miss Kerry brought in some apples from her tree at home and we have been examining them and completing still life paintings at the easel. We are looking forward to seeing what they taste like next week and making some juice from oranges. The children have also been eagerly awaiting our sunflowers opening, some think they are going to be yellow and some think they are going to be orange. Have a look in our garden; it should be any day now!
Kind regards,
Jess, Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Kindergarten
Dear Parents,
This week Kindergarten students from Mead, Cooper, Chapple, Edgerley stepped out of the class room, past the farm gate and into the barn. The Wednesday children ventured on an excursion to the Animal Barn at the Onkaparinga Hills and had a wonderful time. They were delighted to be able to hold baby guinea pigs, rabbits, chicks and ducklings and gently pat them before setting off in to the hen house to feed a variety of farm birds. They created a wonderful meal for the large pigs, mixing grains, chaff and molasses for a tasty treat! The smiles on the children's faces as they were invited to jump up onto the saddle for a pony ride were priceless. They walked around and visited the larger farm animals including sheep, goats and llamas and rode on John Deere tractors, shifting hay. The bus trip back was a quiet one with many falling asleep on the way home.
The opportunity to hear, feel and smell farm life was one that the children engaged in enthusiastically.
“We couldn’t walk there, it was a long way away” said William from Edgerley Room
“I was having ‘yee-haa’ (a pony ride) !” said Lachlan Th from Cooper Room
“I liked the horsey ride” said Ethan E from Mead room
“It was raining when we left and I wanted to stay!” said Oliver from Edgerley Room
We would like to thank Christine, Karen, Belinda and Amanda for their help during this trip, we would not have been able to do it without them and a big thanks must go to Farmer Dale and Farmer Jane and their organised and enthusiastic team.
Next week classes are going to reflect on the children's experiences creating farm scenes and animals! Fun down on the farm!
Best wishes,
Kindergarten Room Staff

A Change of Dates

Dear Parents,
Due to unforseen circumstances we have had to change two of our diarised dates for this term. Please note that:

Class Photographs will now be on Thursday May 13th. The photographers will photograph each class group and each individual child. If your child does not attend on a Thursday you are welcome to bring them in (in uniform) for the photo and then take them home straight afterwards. You will need to stay with and supervise your child until the photographer is ready and then remain in the classroom (or possibly the art room) whilst the photo is taken to prevent the children from being distracted.Please make sure that your child is here at the correct time as we will need to keep moving in order to get through all the photos. The classes will be photographed at the following times :
Mead Room 9.00 am
Langley Room 9.30 am
Cooper Room 10.00 am
Chapple Room 10.30 am
Edgerley Room 11.00 am

Our Parent Wine and Cheese Curriculum Evening has had to be moved to Thursday the 20th of May. Invitations to this event will be going into children’s pigeon holes in the coming weeks. Please RSVP you intention to attend to Mrs Porter at jporter@pac.edu.au

Princesses Tea Party 2010

Dear Mums,
We are so looking forward to celebrating this special occasion with you and have been busy in our classrooms preparing some surprises. We just wanted to remind you that we are only able to accommodate 1 guest per child. Our event has been registered as a Biggest Morning Tea with the Australian Cancer Council. If you would like to make a donation on the day please place them in our special pink pigs.
Thank you,
The ELC staff

Down on the Farm

In response to the overwhelming interest in farms we are planning to create an outdoor play farm in our town square. We are hoping to borrow some items to support this. If you are able to lend or give us any of the following items we would be very appreciate

A saddle
New hay bales
Old straw or Akubra style hats
Elastic sided boots
Flannelette shirts

Thankyou
The Kindergarten Team

Mead Room Staffing

Dear Parents,

Miss Emma Gray will be joining us next Tuesday as the assistant in Mead Room. Emma comes to us after 7 years at Waite Campus Children's Centre. Please make her welcome. We would also like to thank Miss Ciara Guilfoyle who has helped us out for the last two weeks , the children and the staff have appreciated her support and warm friendly nature . I am sure we will see more off Ciara throughout the centre.

Jeanine

Spare clothes

If anyone has spare jocks , socks or long pants we would be grateful for any donations as our supply is very low. If your child has been sent home in spare clothing could you please wash it and return it to us as soon as possible. Meanwhile please make sure your child has a complete change of clothes in their bag just in case !


Thanks
ELC staff

Signing in and out

Dear Parents,

Could you please ensure that your child is signed in on arrival each day and out on departure. Our sign in sheets are a legal document and are used for 3 different purposes. Firstly they are a safety check of who is here in an emergency situation. If your child is not signed in and we check our children against the roll we may assume that they are not here that day but could actually be missing ! Secondly our Licensing Body (DEEWR) use them when they arrive (unannounced) to audit us and ensure that we are providing the correct ratio of staff to children. If our numbers of children in attendance does not match the number signed in we will be in breach of our license conditions. Thirdly they are used by the government in assessing children's attendance in order for you to receive your fee rebates. Signing out at night is also important so that we can check that all children have been collected and staff can leave the centre. If someone other than yourself is collecting your child please make sure they know to sign in or out !

Thanks for your help

ELC staff

Construction Extravaganza

Chapple and Edgerley are planning a construction event for Week 4, which will require lots of recyclables. If you have any extra bits and bobs at home, we’d love you to bring them into school as soon as you can.
Thanks,
Chapple and Edgerley Room Teams

In the Classrooms

Langley
We have begun our investigation into our new unit of inquiry ‘From Farm Gate to Kitchen Plate’ by engaging in a range of experiences. The children have been discussing what they already know about farms and which animals they might find on a farm. We have been using animals and a range of adjuncts at the light table and the felt boards to create our own farm scenes. Have a look at the Langley farm developing in the classroom, thankyou to Harry Macdonald’s family for bringing in lots of farm items for the children to investigate and look at. The children have also been busy preparing for our Mother’s Day Princesses Tea Party; please check your child’s pigeon hole for your invitation and RSVP to Julie Porter.
Kind regards,
Jess, Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Mead
Dear Mead Parents and Children,
Welcome back and we hope you had a lovely Easter!
We have entered our new unit 'From Farm Gate to Kitchen Plate' with gusto. We have an excursion to the Animal Farm Barn next week and the children have been very enthusiastic gardeners planting some Sweet Peas in our ELC Garden patch.
'This is very interesting' Jenna said.
'I get water can. I water the plants. I going to get some more' Daniel told us.
'We put little plants in' Charlie told us.
'Then we put the water in' Jesse added.
'So it can grow' Charlie confirmed.
'Yes, it needs water to grow' Jesse agreed.
'They will grow bigger' Nicholas told everyone.
Regards
Emma and Susan

Cooper
We have had a busy first week back in Cooper Room this week and the children have been very enthusiastic about our new unit, From Farm Gate to Kitchen Plate. The children were surprised to discover a farm corner in our room and have been busy building farm machinery in there. They have modelled with green playdough to make paddocks for animals and also cut pictures from agricultural magazines at the collage table. On the block carpet a farm was built with a house, paddocks, pig sties and chook sheds and this idea was then extended to a "Vet hospital for farm animals and home animals". The boys were very good vets and carefully looked after the animals by wrapping them up in bandages. Julian even came up with the great idea for a "scanner x-ray" and the animals were checked for broken bones! We are very much looking forward to our trip to the Animal Farm next week so that we can find out even more about life on the farm.
Kind regards,
Ali, Susan and Sue

Chapple
Welcome to Term 2! We've had a great start to the term. The weather has been lovely and we were able to get into the garden to plant some vegies. Chapple Room planted some beetroot and we will later plant some rocket. This will add to our basil and rosemary and we will use these vegies in many cooking sessions throughout the term. We are already very excited about our unit, 'From Farm Gate To Kitchen Plate' and have had some great discussions about farms. If you have anything at home to contribute to this topic, please let me know. It would be great to see some 'farm' themed show and tell sessions also. We are looking forward to a wonderful term together.
Thanks,
Alexandra and Juliana

Edgerley
Dear Parents,
We have had a wonderful week back in the Kindergarten progam with lots of passionate discussing and investigating. We have begun to prepare for the Princesses Tea Party and planted broccoli in our garden. We also palnted some mystery seeds! We can’t wait to see what sprouts! Following on from our interest in rhymes last term we have enjoyed participating in the “Slug in a Jug” rhyming game, we are great at making our own rhymes. We will be going to the farm next week, you might like to identify foods in your meals that come from a farm over the dinner table this weekend.
Kind Regards
Mel and Rosalie

Princesses Tea Party 2010

I love my mother as the trees love water and sunshine - she helps me grow, prosper, and reach great heights. ~Terri Guillemets

Dear Mums,
To celebrate Mother’s Day this year, we would like to invite you to the Princesses Tea Party!

When: Thursday the 6th May
Time:10:00am
Where: The Prince Phillip Theatre, Senior School

We would encourage you to wear something pink and a tiara friendly hairdo!! We will also be raising money for Breast Cancer Research and will be accepting donations for this. These can be placed in our beautiful pink papier mache pigs- which we will be making this term, as part of the sensory program we will be running in the art room.
Your child is looking forward to performing a special concert for you, before sharing some scones and a cup of tea!
There will be a photographer from Festival Photos who will be taking photos of you with your child.
Please return reply slip you have received in your child’s pigeon hole to Julie Porter no later than Monday, 3rd May.
We look forward to celebrating this special occasion with you!
Thank you,
The ELC staff

Specialist Music Lesson

Dear Parents,
We are pleased to inform you that music lessons will begin this term. We warmly welcome Ms Erna Berberyan to the ELC team as our new music teacher. Erna has been teaching at PAC for a number of years and runs a very successful strings program in the Preparatory School.
*Edgerley and Chapple students will enjoy music lessons every Monday
*Langley students will attend every Friday
*Cooper and Mead students will attend music on alternate Fridays.
We look forward to Mrs B’s program complimenting the singing and grooving we already enjoy in and out of our classrooms!
Kind Regards
Mel Bishop

Chinese in the Final Week of Term

Dear Parents,
we would like to inform you that there will be no Chinese lessons in week 10 of this term as Lao Shi will be on leave at this time.
Regards
Mel Bishop

Jumper Marked Commons

Dear Parents,
We have been unable to locate Kristian Commons’ jumper for quite a number of weeks and suspect that it may have inadvertently gone home with another child. Please help us by checking the names inside the PAC jumpers in your child’s closet.
Thankyou
ELC Staff

New Child Restraint Laws

Dear Parents,
On 14 November 2008 the State Government made an announcement confirming changes to the laws governing child restraints. It is anticipated that these laws, which were approved by the National Transport Council in 2008, will be adopted in South Australia sometime in 2010.The new rules will address the existing deficiencies in the current law and the RAA recommends that members ensure they are complying with the proposed new rules as set out below.
When introduced the new laws will require:
*Children to be appropriately restrained in a motor vehicle in a suitable approved child restraint from birth up to the age of 7.
*Children up to 4 years of age to be restrained in the rear of the vehicle (where the vehicle has two or more rows of seats).
*Children aged between 4 and 7 years will not be permitted to sit in the front seat unless all other seating positions are occupied by children under 7 years.
With nearly 60 child passengers aged 0-12 years killed or seriously injured in road crashes in South Australia each year, these new laws are being introduced to provide maximum protection for children travelling in vehicles.For more information go to: http://www.raa.com.au/page.aspx?TerID=918

Flu Shots Under Five

Dear Parents,
there has been much discussion about the current safety of flu shots for children under five this season. The most recent information suggests that this years flu shots are now unsuitable for children under five. If you were planning to take your child for a flu shot it is recommended that you first speak with your family doctor.

Some P&F Dates

Chapple
Tuesday 4/5/10 Coffee Morning at Café Palazzo Norwood (Cnr The Parade and Osmond Tce) 9am
Friday 14/5/10 Drinks/dinner at the Tivoli (265 Pirie St Adelaide) 6.30pm
Thursday 10/6/10Coffee Morning at Café Palazzo Norwood (Cnr The Parade and Osmond Tce) 9am
Sunday 20/6/10 Family Bowling Morning at AMF Woodville Bowl (819 Port Rd Woodville). Further details and costs to be confirmed.

Kind Regards
Leah and Eileen

Cooper
Friday April 30th-Coffee Morning at the Mary Martin Bookstore, The Parade, Norwood-after school drop off Sunday
May 23rd-Family Bowling Morning at Norwood Bowls-from 10.15 for a 10.30 start.
Kind Regards
Adriana and Amalia

Farm Excursion

Just a reminder for the Wednesday children that our excursion is next week. Please make sure that your child is here at 8.30 am so that we can get them organised and have an early snack before leaving. We will be taking a packed lunch and the children's water bottles so please make sure they have a named drink bottle.
The buses we are using are seat belted for the children's safety.
If rain is forecast please send your child with a rain coat or jacket.

Thankyou
ELC staff

Missing Clothing

Could all parents please check their children's uniforms to make sure that they are their own. There are several children currently missing tops or hats. Please make sure that ALL your child's clothing is named to help us avoid mix ups.

Thankyou
ELC Staff

Photos from Grandies Day

Dear Parents ,
The photos taken by Festival Photos on Grandies Day on 24-3-10 are now available on their website http://www.festival-photo.com.au/ for you to view and order if you wish to .


Thankyou

Hats and sunscreen term 2

As the weather is still quite sunny could all children please continue to wear sunscreen in the mornings and bring their hats. Our current policy is for sun protection in terms 1 and 4 but the Cancer Council recommends 1st September until April 30th so we will use these dates. We will look at reviewing our policy in line with their recommendation.

regards
Jeanine

Langley Room

All of our butterflies have hatched out of their chrysalis this week. There has been much excitement as we wait for them to dry their wings and then release them. We have watched them fly around our yard and one even landed on Erin’s head, much to her surprise! We have extended this interest by creating our own butterflies at the art table using mirror images. The Langley children have also been keen tennis players this week as they develop their eye hand coordination using tennis rackets and balls. The children have used this as a social experience as they share the balls and rackets around and find someone to throw the ball to them. Term 2 begins next week and our unit of inquiry will be ‘from farm gate to kitchen plate’. We look forward to investigating all the different products that come from farms and end up in the supermarkets and in our homes.

Kind regards,

Jess, Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Week 2 April Holidays

The second week of holidays has now finished and what a busy one it’s been! We’ve had a marvellous time exploring topics from space with space shuttles, planets and aliens to archaeology with excavating bones and dinosaur masks. We immersed ourselves in messy craft and sensory play including playdough, gloop and slime - what a mess! Then dressed up for the pyjama party with games like hide and seek and “Doggy, doggy who’s got your bone”, popcorn and a movie.

After the ton of fun we’ve all had we hope to see you back again next holidays!
Todd, Susan.S Juliana, Rosalie, Eleanor, Susan.B, Kate and Jackie

Cooper Room P & F events Term 2

Coffee Catch-up

Friday 30th April at 9:00am (straight after ELC drop-off)
Mary Martin Bookshop, 134a The Parade Norwood

Bowling

Sunday 23rd May at 10:15am for a 10:30am start
AMF Bowling Centre at Norwood,
11 Osmond Tce. Norwood
RSVP 30/4/2010 to Amalia or Adriana - we need to book the lanes, and pay prior to the 23/5.
Children: $15 each, includes 1 game, food and tokens.
Adults: $14.95 each, includes 1 game.

Coffee Catch-up

Monday 21st June at 9:00am (straight after ELC drop-off)
Pat-a-cake On Parade,
299 The Parade Beulah Park


Thankyou
Amalia Piantedosi

April Holiday Program

Welcome back to the holiday program for term 1, we hope you all have had a relaxing long weekend.
Its been wonderful to see so many children here for the holidays, we have already had a great first week of fun and investigation, with new experiences and old favourites.
So far we have enjoyed: Easter Day
Crazy Hair and Hat day
Music and Dance day
Flight Day

And next week we’re all set for: Space Day
Archaeology Day
Teddy bears Picnic
Messy Craft Day
Pyjama Party

This Week In Langley

The Langley children have been closely monitoring our living creatures this week as they grow and change. All of our caterpillars have turned into chrysalis now and we have been watching them get darker and darker then, today one of the butterflies came out! We watched the butterfly hang upside down for a long time while his wings dried before we let him go in the yard. The children have also been doing observational drawings of the spiny leaf insects. We have had them out of the tank and some of the children have been very brave and had a hold! During our morning meetings, we have been practicing our balancing skills as we sing the ‘Balancing Elephant’ song and walk on a line balancing bean bags on our heads. It’s a bit tricky and you have to concentrate really hard. Mr Kerber brought his full drum kit in this week for music and dance day. The children learnt about the names of all the parts and had a wonderful time listening to Mr Kerber play. We had a dance and some of the children even got to have a turn playing the drums and symbols, it was a very noisy day!

Kind regards,

Jess, Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Farm Day 2010

Dear Parents,
Given that our next unit is based around food production a keen eyed mum spotted this and passed on the link for those who might be interested, what a wonderful opportunity. Please see the information below and if you are interested get in quick. Thanks to Sandy Watters for spotting this gem.
Cheers
Mel Bishop

FarmDay 2010 May 29 & 30
Fun, Friendship & Understanding
FarmDay is when a farm family hosts a city family for a day of real hands-on experiences
and a greater understanding of the day-to-day life of the farming family. Keep this FarmDay weekend free and look forward to having a unique adventure into rural Australia! For more information and registration please go to www.farmday.com.au

In the Classrooms

Langley
We have been celebrating Easter this week with a range of activities and experiences. Our chocolate smelling brown play dough has been a huge hit! The children have been practicing their fine motor skills as they roll the play dough into little balls and wrap them in silver foil, just like real Easter eggs. The children have also made special Easter baskets to take home so that the Easter bunny knows where to leave their eggs. Thankyou to all the families who helped their children create their bonnets for our Easter bonnet parade. The Wednesday children proudly paraded their creations for the Year 1s and 3s who were very impressed. Langley children have also been excited about our very hungry caterpillars that have been busy eating all of our leaves and some of them have turned it to chrysalis’s, we can’t wait for the butterflies to come out! We hope you all have a happy and safe Easter.
Kind regards,
Jess, Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Mead
Dear Mead Room Parents,
What a finale to the term! The children have enjoyed all things Easter this week. We have stuck, glued, cut, painted, printed, made Easter Baskets, read stories, dressed up, watched a giant chick hatch from a giant egg in water and for the grand finale we had the Easter Bonnet Parade and Easter Egg Hunt.
We wish you all a very happy Easter.
We are very sad to see Mrs Penny White leave us at the end of this term to take a position at Wilderness Girls' School. We thank her for all her love, care and support she has given the children and staff in the Mead room and wish her all the very best in her new position.
Emma, Susan and Penny

Cooper
The Cooper boys have a had a lovely week enjoying all things Easter. Angus brought us a big blue egg which we are watching with great anticipation. Immersed in water, it is slowly cracking and starting to hatch. The boys have made predictions about what will come out - will it be a dinosaur, a snake or something else?! We gathered with the other ELC children to hear Mrs Bishop tell the Easter story and of course had a wonderful time parading our Easter bonnets.
A big thank you to all our fantastic Cooper families for all their help and support over this term. We hope you have a safe and happy Easter break and look forward to seeing you over the holidays and in Term 2.
Kind regards,
Ali, Susan and Sue

Chapple
We have had a lovely, but busy end to Term One. The Easter Bonnet Parade on Wednesday was a wonderful experience for staff, children and their families.
Thank you to all the parents and friends who put in a lot of effort to make their child's bonnet look divine. The Easter Egg Hunt was also a lovely way to finish off the term. Thank you to everyone who brought in chocolates to share with the class- there was a lot! It has been a fantastic term and the children are now very settled and relaxed in our environment. Next term's unit, 'From Farm Gate to Kitchen Plate' will be a busy one and we are all looking forward to it. There will be lots of cooking and food experiences to enjoy!
Have a lovely and safe Easter. Enjoy the break!
Alexandra and Juliana

Edgerley
Wow, what a whirlwind term! We have been very industrious children in the last ten weeks and our Easter Bonnet Parade was a wonderful way to culminate this busy term. If you come into our classroom you will notice that all our work has been filed or placed in our lockers ready for the new term. We wish those travelling away a safe and happy holidays and look forward to seeing a few faces in holiday care with Mr Kerber.
We look forward to an exciting term ahead, the last one in Kindergarten before we graduate into the big school! What an adventure.
Kind Regards
Mel and Rosalie

A Trip to the Animal Farm

Dear Parents,
Students who attend Kindergarten on Wednesdays will be taking a trip to the animal farm as part of our unit “From Farm Gate to Kitchen Plate” at the beginning of next term.
Permission slips for the excursion on Wednesday the 28th of April will be placed in children’s pigeon holes at the end of the holiday period. We believe this excursion will stimulate much discussion and result in further investigation related to our unit. Whilst almost all excursion costs are covered as part of children’s fees this one is an exception due to the location of the venue and resulting transport fees. As a result participating children will be required to pay a $10 entry fee whilst the centre will cover the larger amount for transport. This fee can be paid directly to Mrs Porter next term when returning the permission slip.
Kind regards
Mel Bishop

Easter Bonnet Parade

Thankyou to all of the parents who helped their child prepare a wonderful bonnet for our Easter Bonnet Parade. The children really enjoyed the process (even though it was a bit stressful for some parents!) It was also lovely to see so many parents take a short break from work to be with us. Thankyou to the Year 1 and 3 children who were a wonderfully appreciative audience.

Viewing of Portfolios

Dear Parents,
during the term we record and preserve evidence of children’s learning in their special portfolios. They remain at school to allow children and teachers to look back and reflect upon both recent and distant discoveries. However the holiday period is a lovely time to take them home and share with your child or extended family. If you would like to borrow your child’s portfolio over the holiday period please feel free… and remember to pop them back when the term begins.
Happy viewing
Teaching Staff

Fruit Salad?

This term students have been learning about fruit in Chinese. You may like to print off the following list and put it on your fridge so that you can use these words when you are choosing fruit with your child in the holidays. Not sure how to pronounce the words?? Don’t worry; your child will be able to tell you!

Shuĭguŏ – Fruit

葡萄 pútao – grapes
西瓜 xīguā – watermelon
蘋果 píng guŏ – apple
橙子 jú zi – orange
梨 lí – pear
香蕉 xiāng jiāo – banana
草莓 căo méi – strawberries
菠蘿 bō luó – pineapple
甜瓜 tiánguā –melon
李子 lĭ - plum
桃 táo – peach