Childcare Rebate Information

Changes to Child Care Rebate Payment Options
At the moment, eligible families receive their Child Care Rebate quarterly or annually based on attendance information submitted to the CCMS by child care services. From 1 July 2011, subject to the passage of legislation, the Government will provide families with the option to receive their Child Care Rebate paid either directly to their bank account, or as a further fee reduction payment paid to their child care service on their behalf, bringing further assistance to families at the time they incur the costs of their child care.
More information is available at www.mychild.gov.au. From the MyChild homepage go to the Latest News tab and click on the Fortnightly Child Care Rebate Payment Option link.

Farewell 2010

In the last two weeks of the 2010 holidays we have continued our creating and Christmas making. In the 3 year old program our favourite experiences have been making constructions sites, dressing up, painting Christmas trees and making yummy Christmas biscuits with our head chef Mr. Wagenfeller.
During the four year old program we explored venus fly traps all week but also had time for hospital and police lego, reindeer paintings and cards and a Rudolf mural with a sleigh full of presents.
We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas break, travel safely and we will see you in 2011.

Langley Room

Dear Langley Families,

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas and a safe and Happy New Year. We look forward to seeing you all back from the 10th January. Enjoy the festive season.

Love Jess, Adele, Jen and Kerry

ELC Staffing

I am happy to announce that the school has appointed a new teacher , Ms Suria Amir-Lang ,who will be commencing in the Chapple Room next year . Ms Amir-Lang has been teaching for several years and is currently teaching in Japan with 4-5 year olds . She will be assisted by Ms Sinead Diotallevi who has just completed her Early Childhood Degree and has been working at Campbelltown Children's Centre whilst studying. We are excited to have two very experienced staff joining us and look forward to the year ahead !
Sadly Mr Todd Kerber will be leaving us in January and moving to a position at Pulteney Grammar School's new extended Early Learning Centre that will suit his family situation better.
The staff and children will all miss him and we wish him all the best in his new venture.

Jeanine Dry

In the Langley Room

It has been a hive of activity in the Langley room with lots of very excited children eagerly awaiting Christmas Day. We have continued discussing the meaning of Christmas and what we are going to do on Christmas Day, the children have been eagerly telling us what they hope Father Christmas might leave under the tree for them. Tommi thinks Father Christmas might leave him a big yellow banana! The children have been keen writers this week as they develop their understanding that the marks they make can convey meaning to others. They have been using tracing paper to form letters of the alphabet and have been writing messages in their Christmas cards that they have created.

Kind regards,
Jess, Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Merry Christmas

Dear Parents,
Whilst the centre will still be open until the 23rd of December the school term has finished and teaching staff will be on leave as of the end of this week. We wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and friendship during the year and to wish you a merry Christmas and happy New Year. We are already looking forward to seeing your children again in 2011.
We would also like to extend a big hug to the assistant staff who will be here over the holiday period and thank them for their camaraderie in 2010.
We wish you all a safe and exciting holiday
Love Mel, Kate, Ali, Emma and Susan

In the Classrooms

Langley
What an exciting week we have had in the Langley room! On Tuesday the children were amazed to discover that Father Christmas had dropped into the ELC to visit and to personally deliver gifts to all the boys and girls on behalf of their teachers. We hope that you have since discovered two special packages within your child’s locker. After our special visit from Father Christmas the children were inspired to create their own Father Christmas collage as well as generating much discussion regarding Christmas. The Langley children have also been very keen observers of the varying weather conditions and have been fascinated with the rain, thunder, storms, wind and sunny conditions evolving throughout the week. Once the rain and storms had cleared, the Langley children were fascinated to discover some mushrooms and a ladybug in their yard! The Langley children are eagerly awaiting next week when Miss Jess returns. Kind Regards,Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Santa's on his way!!

We had a surprise visit from the Jolly Red Man on Tuesday, who flew in specially from the North Pole to hand out gifts to the children from the staff of the ELC. How lucky are we!!! If your child was not present on this day their gift has been placed in or near their locker for collection.

Dates

Dear Parents,

Just a quick reminder of our close and open dates for the Christmas period. We will be closed as of the 24th of December (23rd being our last day) and will reopen on January the 10th 2011. The school term will begin on the 1st of February. If you child is going to be away on holidays at any time between now and the 1st of February please e-mail Mrs Jeanine Dry at jdry@pac.edu.au as soon as possible.
Thankyou
ELC Staff

Our Rain Event Thanks

Wow! What a day it was on Tuesday. We had an unprecedented rain event and it took all our efforts to prevent the Town Square succumbing to the rising water! Some of you may have noticed that our outside sandpit and part of our outside garden was completely submerged. The staff that stood out in the rain bucketing out countless buckets of water onto the Parade would like to extend a huge thanks to David Nemeth. David jumped in to assist us, bucketing out water in the rain. What a true Princes man you are David and what a wonderful role model you are for our young men. Thanks again.

Sports For Schools

Thankyou to all the Parents who supported our Sports For Schools drive. Congratulations! Our total points collected including bonus points came to 16,415 points! What a fantastic result! We look forward to spending our points on sports equipment.
Thankyou
Tim Weatherald
Prep Sports Master

In the Classrooms

Langley
The Langley room children have been actively getting into the spirit of Christmas this week. The children have used the nativity set to re-tell the story of Christmas and on many occasions whist playing the children have been heard singing the songs from our nativity concert. Many Christmas art activities have been undertaken this week and the children have been such good secret keepers knowing it won’t be long until they can share their surprise with you! During discussions about Christmas the children have made some interesting observations:
“You put up Christmas tree… and you get presents” remarked Tommi.
“I put up my Christmas tree, I put a Santa on it, I help Mummy and Daddy, I put ball balls on and then touch the light” reflected Chanel.
“Painting… red and green” recounted Toby.
“Mum and dad…and man gives me presents” Sebastian M insisted.
“I got my Christmas tree up, I hang it up” commented Ruby.
Kind regards,
Jess, Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Cooper
We have had a sparkly Christmas week in Cooper! The children have been busily preparing some special presents, but we can't tell you too much about them! We have painted with marbles making red and green paint trails, glued and glittered cards and painted Christmas trees with tinsel stars on top. The children have also been very keen on Christmas carols and dancing, with Jingle Bells a special favourite. Some of our Cooper children have now finished for the year and we wish them and their families a happy and safe holiday. Don't forget that the class Christmas party will be held at Orphanage Park on Saturday, 11th December (please check your email for details).
Kind regards,
Ali and Susan

Chapple
Once again, thank you to all the Chapple Room children and parents for being so caring, communicative and wonderful throughout the year. We are now all ready to move onto school! Thank you for sharing the ‘Gradulation’ with us on Thursday. Eleanor and I would like to thank you all for our lovely gifts – Jaye and Brendt chose some very beautiful things. It’s very generous of you all. Please note that the Final Kindergarten Report is the last entry in your child’s portfolio. We wish you a very special Christmas with your family and all the very best for the coming year!One final note from Kalan, a concern and special request he shared with the class, “Please don’t leave out beer for Father Christmas because last year he got too drunk and that made him fatter.” You’ve been warned!
Merry Christmas!!
Kate and Eleanor

Edgerley
Another jam packed week in Edgerley with lots of preparation for Christmas and love affairs with the staplers! Edgerley boys have loved creating paper chains as it has allowed them to wrestle with staplers of different sizes…what a fascinating and tricky tool!
We enjoyed a visit from Mr De Dear and his dog Bazza as he read us the story of Ace the Air force Dog. The book was very old and the pictures were in black and white. The dog in the book looked just like Bazza. Bazza came into our classroom for a pat and managed to eat a fly while he was there. He was very big and very gentle.
We finished the first part of our number collage using photos we found on our excursion. Next week we look forward to finishing it by forming our own numerals over the top.
Kind Regards
Mel and Rosalie

Thanks From Year Six Students

Many thanks for your support of the Year 6 Fair last Friday. It was a very successful event in terms of Year 6 boys collaborating and organising an activity, then working with the younger students to ensure they enjoyed the Fair. Monetary wise it was also successful in that we raised $925.25 for Uniting Care Wesley.
Thank you from the Year 6 teachers and boys

Our Own Masterchef

Dear Parents,
You may have noticed Mr Wagenfallar missing from our kitchen at the end of this week. Whilst he was away injured (nothing that happened in the kitchen!!) we were thrilled that Miss Emma Gray was able to step into his very big shoes. Emma has previous experience catering for Early Childhood centres and we were thankful that she was able to keep a cool head and step up so well, we certainly didn’t go hungry. Thankyou Miss Gray for your help, yum!

Sun Protection

Dear Parents,
Summer has definitely arrived and it is very important that your child has a hat at Kindergarten every day. Our No Hat No Play policy means that children who do not have a hat are not allowed to play in the garden. Please help us help your child by ensuring that your child’s hat is hanging on the hook inside their locker every morning and afternoon. We would also like to remind you that you need to put sunscreen on your child each day before arriving at the ELC. We will make sure it is reapplied before the children go outside in the afternoons,

Thankyou
ELC Staff

Professional Photos From Our Nativity

Dear Parents,
Duane, the wonderful photographer from Festival Photographic joined us the duration of our Princes ELC Nativity “The Story of the First Christmas”. Copies of his wonderful shots are able to be viewed as part of a DVD presentation in the lobby over the next week. Make sure you take a moment to stop and view them. These photos and more will be available to be purchased from the Festival website in the coming week. (Please note, they have not currently been uploaded, please be patient) To find the photos please follow the directions below in the next week or two.

*Log on to the internet and go to http://www.festivalphoto.com.au/
*Click view you photos in the top bar
*Click on 2010
*Click on Prince Alfred College
*Click on ELC Nativity (nb: it is not currently there yet)
*Your password will be the event date, don’t forget to include the dashes
*Follow the directions to order our pictures on line

A photo of each child on the day is in their portfolio, but apart from this, copies of photographs are NOT available electronically or in hard copy from the centre. When on the Festival website you are also able to revisit any of our other events that Festival have attended earlier in the year such as Grandies Day, Princesses Tea Party, Big Boys Breakfast or Sports Day if you would like to view photos from those events. The password for each one is the date of the event.
Kind Regards
Mel Bishop

PVC Pipes

As the weather warms up children are beginning to experiment with water in the sand pit. We are hoping there may be a family who has PVC piping that they no longer need that we could use for children to direct water with in the sandpit during the hot weather. If you have any PVC piping that you do not need any more please feel free to pass it to Mrs Porter at the front desk
Thanks
ELC Staff

Security Doors

Dear Parents,
We have three sets of security doors in our centre, our front door, the door on the other side of the lobby, and the doors that lead into the town square. These doors do have a high handle for adults but many parents are allowing their children to climb on the lower handle and hang from the higher one in an attempt to open it themselves. Unfortunately these handles are not designed to support the weight of children repeatedly over the day and we have had to have them repaired a number of times. Please help us by not allowing your children to hang on the door handles.
Thankyou
ELC staff

Chapple Families

Dear Chapple Parents
Over the next few weeks you will receive an email requesting your name to be removed from our blog alert list. Could you please respond to this by just hitting "reply" or it will not be activated and you will keep receiving the email ,

Thankyou
Jeanine