Reminders

Just a reminder that we will hold our Easter Bonnet parade on Thursday 5.4.12 at 12.30pm , so happy bonnet making ! It will be finished by 1pm as school ends at that time for the last day of term and our ELC teaching team will also be finishing for their holidays. Please let us know if your child will be away at all from 10-20th April


Thankyou

Gastro Bug

Dear Parents ,

This week one of our children who had the nasty gastro bug that has been going around was hospitalised and tests showed that they had Campylobacter infection . Information about this has been placed in each childs pigeon hole. As a requirement we notified the health department who informed us the only way to stop the spread is for children to stay at home for 24 hours after all symptoms cease.(this is already our centre policy) For any adults who contract this it needs to be 48 hours . As this bug has been lingering for several weeks now please help us by keeping strictly to this policy. Careful handwashing is also one of the best preventions and we have placed an anti-bacterial handwash on the reception desk for adult use.

Thankyou

Grandies Day

Wednesday was a wonderful day for both our children and their Grandparents ! The children loved the opportunity of showing their visitors around and involving them in some special playtime . We would like to thank all the wonderful parents who helped with morning tea and the book stall and a special thanks to Vanessa Harding (and family) who made the delicious cupcakes ! The Grandparents very generously donated around 100 new books for the children to enjoy , please pass on our sincere thanks !

“When Grandies get old their skin gets wrinkles but our skin gets wrinkles when we go in the bath for a long time” Joshua

"Poppi and Granny, play blocks together" reflected Jock.

"I showed them the kitchen and the games and stuff there and I showed them all the play stuff" - Sebastian R.

"I had Gran, Grannie and Grandad come. I show them outside and inside here (the classroom). They go down the slide and they go to have some scones". William W.

ELC Team

Gastro virus

Dear Parents ,

Please be aware that there still seems to be some cases of this virus both at the ELC and in the Prep School. It has also been reported that there is a lot of it in the local community at present. Some children have not had any vomitting or diarrhoea but have had severe stomach pains. If your child complains of their stomach hurting it would wise to keep them at home and monitor their condition .

Jeanine

Thinker in Residence- Public Lecture

Dear Parents,
Thinker in Residence, Carla Rinaldi will speak at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre on Tuesday night. Carla will spend time in South Australia over the next year looking at the state of early childhood and our culture of young children. For those who are interested but unable to make it, it will be streamed live at 6.00pm over the internet at the following address <http://www.thinkers.sa.gov.au/Thinkers/CarlaRinaldi/p510.aspx>.

Kind regards
Mel Bishop

Afternoon Pickup time

Dear Parents ,

You are probably aware that our Teachers finish at 3.30pm and our Co-Educators supervise afternoon playtime . These staff finish their day over a graduated period between 4 and 6pm as the children's numbers reduce. Many children like to have their parents watch them play or see something that they have been working on when they come to pick them up. We understand this and are very happy for you to do this but we would ask that you are mindful of our need for staff to be able to leave at the end of their day which they are unable to do (according to our licence conditions)if there are still too many children present.

Thankyou for your support

ELC Team

Easter Eggs

At this special time of the year many of the children are keen to share some Easter Eggs with their friends . In order to keep this equitable for all , the children will each make a nest that will be placed on top of the lockers . If you would like your child to share eggs with others then please send enough for each child in the class and only the small hunting egg size . As there are children in the centre with nut allergies then please ensure you also only buy "nut free" chocolate. Please give the eggs to the staff in your child's room who will help your child share them equally,

Thanks for your co-operation

ELC Team

Holiday Dates

The Teaching staff will be on school holidays from 1pm on April 5th and return on Tuesday 24th April. The ELC will operate as normal apart from the Public Holidays . To enable us to have sufficient staff for the number of children at the centre please indicate on the booking sheet (with your child's room sign in sheets) if your child will be away on any of their normal booked days over this period.

(this is not necessary for Langley room)

Thankyou
Jeanine

Easter Bonnet Parade

Dear Parents ,

We are holding our annual Easter Bonnet Parade on Thursday 5th April at 12.30pm . We would love the children to help you make an Easter hat (in any shape or form !) that they could then wear for a Parade in our Town Square. Parents are welcome to come and join us for this event. It will only last for around 30 minutes and will be finished in time for those families who have to collect older boys from the school who will finish at 1pm that day. Children who do not attend on Thursdays are welcome to come (with a parent) for this event.

Happy Creating !

ELC Team

Edgerley Room

This week the Edgerley children have been working on a number of projects. After observing how fruit and vegetables change colour to tell us about their readiness ,we are now interested to discover what happens “after rotten”. Unfortunately our experiment was getting a bit smelly so we have placed it in a plastic box to continue our observations (if you look closely you will see some of it has already begun to turn white!) We also celebrated Jack and Soren’s birthdays by making cup cakes with their mums using the big mixers. That was lots of fun and we created a rainbow of cupcakes in lots of different colours. We also retold the story of the colour wheel island together on the mat this week (and got paint everywhere!) The children enjoyed the opportunity to be the teacher for a change and manipulate the props for the story while friends recounted the plot.
We have a busy week ahead of us next week with Grandies Day, more birthdays, health checks and the beginning of our preparation for the celebration of Easter. Phew!
Kind regards
Mel, Sinead, Pip and Amelia

Chapple Room

Dear Chapple Room Parents and Friends,

We have had a wonderful week, with many fun activities. We have been making bubble paintings, building with the woodwork and drawing beautiful illustrations on the overhead projector. The shaving foam has been a great sensory activity for us to further explore colour mixing and to develop our fine motor skills. The fire engine duplo has been hugely popular, and this created a lot of discussion about the meaning of colours. The highlight was making fruit juice ice blocks. We juiced oranges and apple and then froze them to make icey cold ice blocks. They were delicious and we can't wait to make them again! Next week we will begin our Easter discussions, continue to look at the effect of Autumn on our environment and will continue to discuss the meaning and uses of colour.

Thank you,
Chapple Room Team

Ms Coney (Connie) Rocca will join us as the Co-Educator in Chapple room from April 10th. Please join us in welcoming her to our Centre !

Cooper Room

The Cooper children have been involved in lots of dramatic play in our hairdresser's corner this week. They have been busy washing, cutting, colouring, straightening each other's hair and wearing hair extensions. The children particularly enjoyed creating styles for the teachers! When Mrs Nacca had her hair done, Sophie suggested "Let's cut her hair short." Rocco replied, "No, she's Rapunzel, she needs shampoo." By Thursday the salon had been extended to include a beautician and there were queues to get our nails done! We all had our nails painted bright colours and enjoyed being pampered!
Kind regards,
Ali, Rachel, Renee and Janine

Mead Room

It was all pink in the Mead room this week.
"You make pink when you mix red and white!" Stella said excitedly, as she rolled paint onto paper! We also added red food dye to white shaving foam and made more PINK!! Some children chose to make beautiful collages using an assortment of pink materials.
"Mine so beudiful (beautiful)" Eden proudly said on completion of her masterpiece.
"I am doing mine very carefully" Marcus told us.
Once again there has been interesting Show and Tell items this week. We have discussed pink sunsets, food, flowers, different shades of pink, read pink story books .......oh it is a wonderful colour!
Best wishes,
Emma, Susan and Cristina

Langley Room

Following on from the children’s interest in stained glass windows, on Tuesday we went on an excursion up to the Chapel to view the real stained glass windows.
“What can you see?” asked the Teacher,
“I can see purple windows” observed Hugo Sanders
“I see green” added Tom
“Green colours” said Harrison
“My face is golden” said Jarrah as the light shone through the window,
“Pink flection (reflection) on my face” added Erin
“Purple and blue is on my face” said Hugo M
“It the sun shining on that” suggested Spencer as he pointed at the window.
Upon return to the classroom we created our own stained glass window master pieces using overhead projector sheets, black markers and coloured paints. We drew all different sorts of images on our stained glass windows; giraffes, circles, wind, people and even snakes!

Best wishes,

Jess, Kerry, Pippa and Amy

Belonging, Being and Becoming

Dear Parents,
As many of you may be aware the National Government introduced an Australia wide framework for working with young children last year. You may have noticed that some of our staff have had days absent as they have attended professional learning to unpack this inspiring new document. Whilst it has commonly been referred to as the EYLF its title is Belonging, Being and Becoming. A Belonging, Being and Becoming information brochure has been placed in your child’s pigeon hole giving a brief overview for parents. But please feel free to speak with your child’s classroom teacher if you have any further questions.
Kind regards
Mel Bishop

Thinker in Residence- Public Lecture

The Adelaide Thinkers in Residence Program brings world-class thinkers to Adelaide to undertake residences of 2-6 months and we are thrilled to confirm that Carla Rinaldi will be a thinker in residence for 2012. Carla is the President of Reggio Children and professor of Pedagogy at the University of Moderna and Reggio Emilia, Italy. She worked side by side with Loris Malaguzzi from 1970 until his death in 1994 in the municipal infant toddler and preschool system of Reggio Emilia, where she was the first pedagogical coordinator.
The Reggio Emilia approach and underpinning philosophy strongly influences our own practice at Princes ELC and we are thrilled she will be reflecting on Early Childhood in our state this year.
Carla will be holding a public lecture on Tuesday the 27th of March at 6.00pm and due to popular demand this will now be held at the Adelaide Entertainment Centre. Tickets are free but must be downloaded from orders@eventbrite.com. She is an inspiring and thought provoking speaker and we would encourage parents to consider attending, you’ll definitely see most of our staff there!
Kind RegardsMel Bishop

Edgerley Room

Edgerley
This week has just whizzed by, with a public holiday on Monday and a day spent on wheels on Wednesday. Those of us who attended on Wednesday were thrilled with the idea of creating a race track with our friends in the back car park and whizzed about with such speed and purpose that the teachers very quickly moved to the side!! It was wonderful to see the way the children shared vehicles and the space and they all showed the utmost care and thought for their fellow road users.
“I don’t need petrol, ‘cause mines got solar” said Cooper
“I’m gonna share my go kart with all my friends” said Marco
“I can’t believe she’s gonna let us go on the real road!” exclaimed Deacon
“You can’t crash into people, ‘cause it will hurt them” said Jacob
We all slept well after wheels day! Thankyou Soren for all your planning and leadership in preparing wheels day with Miss D.
A final reminder for parents to please choose a time slot for CAFS health checks with Mrs Porter at the front desk
Kind Regards
Mel Sinead, Amelia and Pip

Chapple Room

Dear Chapple Room Parents and Friends,

We have been enjoying lots of sensory activities this week. One of our favourite activities was using the shaving foam to mix colours and to practice writing our names. It was so much fun!

From the Chapple Room Team

Cooper Room

The fire at Wingfield proved timely this week as we looked at 'hot' colours in Cooper. Many of the children were keen to tell us about seeing the smoke in the sky or the fire on the television.
"It was big and the smoke was all over the sky - I couldn't believe it" exclaimed Fletcher.
"I saw the smoke and the fire" said Angus
"I saw the fire on TV on news" Louis told us.
"The fire was near my dad's work, he had to go home. They put out it, the fire" said William
"I saw the fire on the news the other night and it was next to my daddy's work. The fire truck came and then they do the water with some hose so the fire can go away" explained Sebastian M.
The children used red, orange and yellow to paint hot flames and, of course, red to paint the bright red fire trucks.
Kind regards,
Ali, Rachel, Renee and Janine

Mead Room

Dear Mead Parents,
The children have enjoyed mixing more colours this week. They have rolled paint and mixed it with hand rollers, and mixed colour dye in shaving foam. We mixed red and blue dye and made the colour of the week - purple!!

"My daddy uses that" Asterios commented as we began squirting out the shaving foam onto a tray. It smelt really good!!
"Mmm, smell nice" Gwen said.
"It's ticklish" Asterios said laughing.
"It's gooey" Susannah described.
"I can make mountains with it" Raphael shared as he made stiff peaks with his foam.
"It make purple" Asterios told his friends.
"I did too. The red and blue made purple" Raphael confirmed.

Best wishes,
Emma, Susan and Cristina

Langley Room

Dear Langley Family and Friends,
We have been exploring colour identification and creation this week as we create our very own stained glass windows, now on display as you enter the classroom. The children have been discussing what colours they are using in both English and Chinese as well as articulating how they are creating new colours by overlapping two pieces of cellophane.
I put that colour over. I can do purple (putting red over blue) – Erin
Hóng (red), chéng (orange) – Boasi
Lán (blue) – Spencer
I put green and orange, I made brown – Thomas
I like blue and red best – Hugo Sanders
Pink, blue – Hugo Sen
We look forward to further exploring stained glass windows and their beautiful colours when we visit the school Chapel next week!
Kind regards,
Jess, Kerry, Pippa and Amy

Mr Rob's Shepherds Pie

We have had a request for this recipe so here it is !

500gms Diced Lamb
2 med onions
1Pkt frozen mixed vegetables
Maggie Gravy Mix
Vegetable stock
cornflour
Potatoes, boiled and mashed

Saute Lamb and onions ,cover with vegetable stock and simmer until tender. : 1 hr stove top or 20 mins in pressure cooker
Add frozen vegetables , bring to boil and simmer for a further 5 minutes. Thicken with a mixture of gravy mix and cornflour in water.
Place mixture in a baking dish and cover with mashed potato. Bake in oven until potato starts to become crisp on top.


Rob uses the same recipe for Cottage Pie but substitutes Beef mince instead of lamb.


Enjoy !

Grandies Day

Grandies Day this year is on Wednesday 28th March from 8.30-10.30am . This is a lovely opportunity for Grandparents to see what their child does at the ELC and spend some time with them. All children are welcome to come to this even if it is not their usual day. If your child does not attend on a Wednesday then they must remain with their Grandparents and be under their supervision at all times (please dress them in casual clothes so we know who is who !)
Unfortunately due to limited space and large numbers of children we are only able to extend this invitation to Grandparents only (or if no grandparents are available to a "special" person in their place)
Photographers from Festival Photos will be here on the day to take photos of the children with their grandparents.
We still need some parent volunteers to help on the day,

Jeanine

Parent Teacher Interviews

Dear Parents,
We are now taking bookings for our first semester Parent Teacher interviews.
Parent Teacher Interviews are scheduled for the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of April. Please see Mrs Porter to choose a suitable time from our schedule if you would like the opportunity to meet with your child’s teacher to discuss their progress or any concerns you may have or just to have a general chat .
Thankyou Jeanine

Edgerley Health Checks

Dear Edgerley Parents ,
Carol , our local CAFHS nurse will be visiting the ELC on March 27th and May 2nd (if needed)to perform pre-school health screenings. If you would like to take advantage of this service please visit Mrs Porter to book an appointment time. You will be required to bring your child's blue book and fill in the form that will be placed in your child's pigeon hole.

regards
Jeanine

Gastro Bug

Over the past week there have been quite a few children (and subsequently some staff) with a nasty gastro bug . If your child has either vomitting or diarrhoea at any time our policy requires that they stay at home for 24 hours after this ceases. This is based on government guidelines to prevent the spread of such diseases.

Thankyou for your co-operation

ELC Staff

Edgerley Room

Hi to all the Edgerley families,

This week has been a week about snails! Soren found our first pet snail who was named "sand". Elliott went home and found many snails which he brought in for us. We made the snails a home from materials in the garden. We found information out about snails from books and on the internet. "They eat strawberries and apple skins" suggested Alex. Soren was interested in snails leaving trails as he placed snails on his T-shirt watching the snail leaving a mark. We have been closely observing the snails and are very interested in finding out more about snails.

Please remember to bring in your family photos this week as we will continue to discuss our families and pets.

Thank you
Edgerley Room Staff

Chapple Room

Dear Chapple Room Friends and Parents,

This week has sparked some interest in Autumn and the changes that we can see in our environment. On our way up to PE on Monday, we noticed some of the leaves were changing colour and falling to the ground. Later that day we began to discuss what happens in Autumn. We then made our own tree and stuck some of the leaves from the ground onto the mostly green tree. We will continue to investigate and explore Autumn in the coming weeks.
What happens in Autumn?
‘The leaves turns yellow and orange. They fall down and the wind blows them into a pile so we can jump in them.’ Jack J
‘Rain, a lot of rain’ Grace
‘It doesn’t storm.’ Jack J
‘The leaves go orange and red.’ Jack O
‘Some leaves stay green in winter and stay on the trees.’ Tommi
‘The leaves are still green because they’re not ready yet.’ Dillon
‘They’re starting to. You have to wait until they’re all red. Then they fall off.’ Henry

Alex Marcus

Unfortunately Miss McIntyre found that due to her family commitments it was not viable to work here so we will now reappoint a new staff member for Chapple Room as soon as possible. Thankyou for your understanding,

Jeanine

Cooper Room

In Cooper we started the week by reading Big Rain Coming by Katrina Germein as we looked at the differences between hot and cold colours. At the end of the story Sebastian R. announced that he would like to make a pond…
“I’m going to make a pond with lily pads and frogs and water” he said.
A small group of children worked together to collect fabric and cellophane in water colours, rocks, leaves and flowers to create their pond. They added frog, platypus and turtle puppets to their play.
“My Nonna’s got a pond. I saw frogs, fish, sharks, platypus, dolphins - everything’s in the pond” Alyssa told us.
“Brp, brp, brp goes my frog – he like to swim in the water” said Owen.
“Yum, yum, my frog likes to eat the green leaves and then jump into the pond” said Priyanka.
Our pond play has lasted a whole week in the classroom and we have continued our learning with books about tadpoles and frogs and many paintings of frogs, ponds and lily pads.
Kind regards,
Ali, Rachel, Renee and Janine

Mead Room

Dear Mead Parents,
Following a lounging, lizard visitor we had lurking around the Mead Room, we now have two Thick-tailed Geckos on loan from the Nature Education Centre in our room. The children have made many observations of them during the week, fed them, given them fresh water to drink and drawn sketches of them.
"They hiding. They a little bit scared" - Oscar.
"They scared of people. I seen them at my house" - Raphael.
"Them like to eat worms" - Oscar
"And bananas" - Gwen
"It's got no nose. He lick his eyes" - Abhi
"We can't touch it. Look! He was put his tongue out!" - Sebastian
"Maybe it wants food" - William
"If they go hunting outside some more animals can eat them" - Sebastian
"When we go hunting we eat food like a giant squid or octopus. But not bugs like the lizard" - Raphael
"Yeah, frog eat bugs, not lizards" - Lucas
Best wishes,
Emma, Susan and Cristina

Langley Room

I see Red ,I see Red, I see Red.
This week we gathered a selection of objects that were red and placed them on a large tray then covered them over with a large cloth.
We asked the the question " what is the same about all these things?"
Max replied" cause they are all red."
In Small groups the children observed what was on the tray then we covered it and took one item away.
"What's missing we asked?"
"A starship ," said Thomas.
We gave the group a few clues and then Thomas shouted " I know it's a red watering can." We kept removing items. " A tomato is gone." Harry P said feeling very pleased.
Lao Shi played a treasure hunt with us in our room and we searched for things that were Hong (red)
We also created beautiful red collages and talked about all the things in our environment that were red.
Abby was most excited to show us her new red shiny shoes her Nanny had bought her.
We will continue our quest for all things red into next week.

Grandies Day

Next week we will be sending home reply slips to check on your child's Grandparent details so that the children can prepare invitations for Grandies Day on March 28th. Please return them asap.
We would also like some parent volunteers to help us on the day with morning tea (preparation and serving) and running the Book Sale stall. Please let me know if you can help,

Jeanine

Snail Collection

Edgerley room are currently collecting snails so if you have any in your garden that you would rather were not there , send them into us!

Mel, Pip, Sinead and Amelia

Plastic Bags

Our supply of these is very low so if you have any at home that you would like to recycle please send them in to us ,

Thankyou

New Baby

A belated congratulations to Olivia and Benn Macdonald on their little addition ,Eddie ,who arrived during our Christmas Break ! An adored brother for Harry and Charlie.

Cooper Room

From next week Mrs Nacca will step back to a casual position and Miss Rachel and Miss Renee will share the Co-educator position until the end of term 2 . Miss Rachel will work Monday to Wednesdays and Miss Renee Thursdays and Fridays

Jeanine

Clipsal Visit

At the Track
This week Cooper, Mead, Edgerley and Chapple children walked through the College to visit the Clipsal 500. We were wonderfully supported by lots of helpful parents and wish to offer a big vote of thanks. The children enjoyed watching the cars scream by and it was a wonderful moment to look back up into the stands and see the looks of amazement on their faces. We were thrilled to be able to engage our students in a local community event and allow them to encounter another part of our city’s vibrant tapestry. The weather was kind but we were all exhausted at the end of the trip and ready for Mr Wagenfellars lunch!!

Langley Room

Dear Langley family and friends,

We have been talking about which colours are our favourite colours this week as we select a water colour to wash over our self-portraits.
Purple, I like it – Hugo Sanders
Red, Daddy like red, I like red – Hugo Sen
I like blue cos I do like blue – Erin
Purple, because it’s my favourite – Thomas
Yellow’s my favourite, yellow today, na, na, na, na – Spencer
Red is my favourite, my reds the favourite – Kristian
Have a look at our growing display of our portraits on the sleep room window.

Make sure you check your child’s locker next week to collect your Grandies Day invites, there are two for each child – one for each set of grandparents.

Best wishes,

Jess, Kerry, Pippa, Amy and Bethany