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