Future plans for the ELC

Our Early Learning Centre is a wonderful facility, with outstanding staff and environments. In an exciting turn of events, due to some changes to our College footprint, we now have the opportunity to expand our facility within the same compound with additional play spaces and rooms.

I am pleased to announce that the College Council has endorsed our plans for the growth of the Centre. We currently have extensive wait lists and the addition of 45 new places will assist you and other families in having the opportunity to further utilise the facility.

As will always be the case, some questions will surface regarding growth or expansion; questions such as how will you fit more children into the space, where will they play, will a larger centre compromise the learning of my child? All these and many others were asked of us when we moved our centre from the Preparatory School four years ago to our current facility. We grew from 35 full time places to 110 and I am sure you will agree none of what we had is lost and much more is now available. So too will the next phase of our development enhance the learning opportunities for our children in a safe, inclusive and physically attractive environment.

Prince Alfred College is committed to the Primary Years Program of the International Baccalaureate, the Early Years Learning Framework and the Reggio Emilia Philosophy; all have the child at the heart of what we believe and do. Please rest assured that we understand the needs of young learners and want, like you, only the best for them. We know we provide an outstanding service to our community and in line with the College’s Strategic Plan our vision is to Inspire Excellence in all that we do. Our expanded Early Learning Centre, due for operation early in 2014 will be inspired by this vision and draws upon our 143 years of educational experience.

I look forward to sharing plans and architectural images with you shortly.

Kind regards

Neil

Animal Barn Excursion

If your child attends on the day their class is visiting the Animal Barn (Cooper and Mead - Tuesday, Edgerley and Chapple - Wednesday) please make sure you have returned your permission slip and $10 entry fee so we don't have to be chasing you on the morning of the excursion!

The bus will be leaving at 9am sharp so please make sure your child is at the ELC well before this so that we can all get organised and get on the bus ready to go. Please make sure you pack a warm jacket and gum boots if you have them as it may be cool and muddy at the farm!

In the classrooms

Langley

Dear Langley Family and Friends,

What a wet week we have had this week. The Langley children and staff

have spent lots of time inside staying dry and have enjoyed having a run
out in the town square. This was a treat the children loved.

This week we also took time to go check out the school's new Red Centre.
We set off for a walk from the ELC but as soon as we got to the door it
started to rain. We waited by the door until the rain cleared and made
our way down the path, across the road and onto the oval.
Uh-oh as soon as we got onto the oval the rain started again! We quickly put
on our hoods and made a run across the oval. We all thought it was lots
of fun but were glad when we made it safely to the Red Centre and out of the rain.

Once inside we met Mr DeLacy. Mr DeLacy was kind enough to take time out of his
busy day to show us around. To dry off we went for a run in the huge gymnasium.
Mr DeLacy showed us some magic and when we said "Abracadabra" a grandstand
appeared from out the wall! We all got to sit on it for a photo. Mr DeLacy then took us
on a walk to some secret stairs. We all did a great job climbing up and up until we
were looking down on the gym. We made a walk along and met Miss G who was having
a birthday so we sang happy birthday!

We then got to have a look around and saw a big gym with heavy weights, looked at the
rowing machines and then got to walk next to the new big swimming pool. Mr DeLacy then took us into a special 'magic' lift that took us back to where we started. We then looked at some special trophy's that the school had won! Wow, what an adventure, we had so much fun but it was great to be back in the comfort of our warm classroom.

Thanks for a great week.

Jess, Nicole, Kerry and Emily

Mead

This week we have welcomed Living Eggs to the ELC and we have so enjoyed watching the chicks hatch. We have been discussing eggs and what happens with the lifecycle of a chicken, together with how we use eggs that chickens lay each day. Today in the Mead Room we have made some delicious green eggs and ham using 12 eggs and some ham. Here is a snapshot of the action….

Jacob cracked an egg. Then Angus… everyone had a turn in they wished.

Angus: Dere(there) are 4 eggs left! Now dere’s 2! Just one more to go! Zero left…

Teacher: What is the name of the yellow part of the egg?

Alec: D’ yolk!

Jock: I cwacked (cracked) it!

All the children had a turn whisking the eggs before we turned them green with some food colouring! Just like in Dr Seuss’ old favourite book “Green Eggs and Ham”.

After the children helped to cut up the ham we turned on the pan and put the butter in.

Tom: It’s slippery! It’s changing! It’s boiling!

Then we poured the eggs in…

Harry M: It’s turning into blue eggs!

Angus: What’s d’green bit?

Alec: It’s gween eggs and ham!

Then the children got to try the special cooking…

Charlie A: I love it!

Jacob: I going to eat it all up.

Angus: I want to eat all d’serves.

Tom: I’m a little bit scared to try it.

Dougal: I want some more.

Alec: It’s fun!

The whole experience was a wonderful way for the children to be involved and sample one of the many ways we use eggs from “Paddock to Plate”. We look forward to many other shared cooking times in the Mead Room this term.

Many Thanks,

Emma, Pip and Amelia

Cooper

Dear Cooper Room families,


What a busy week down on the Cooper Room farm. The children have been busy investigating where flour comes from. We have read “The Little Red Hen” and “Pancakes, Pancakes” to learn more. We have planted our own wheat seeds and can see them already starting to grow! Using our very strong muscles we have been working hard to grind wheat seeds with our mortar and pestle. Each day we are collecting the rough flour. Mrs Lock bought in her machine which ground the wheat seeds very quickly and noisily ! We used the flour to make our own BREAD. What a heavenly smell of freshly baked bread! The children also helped to make butter to spread on their bread. Unlike the Little Red Hen - great teamwork meant we could all share and eat the delicious bread.

Take the time to come into the Cooper Room and help us to grind some more wheat seeds as we would like to make pasta next week! We also have a lively Pancake shop where tasty pancakes are made to order! The children are following our simple pancake recipe to mix, stir, pour, fry and TOSS the pancakes. Oplah!

Enjoy a wonderful weekend - keep exploring food, ready to learn more about where our foods come from.

Kind regards

Susan and Coral

Chapple

Dear Chapple Room Parents and Friends,


It’s been an exciting week with the presence of our Living Eggs. Most have now hatched and it’s been a wonderful exploration watching them come out of their eggs. We have had many discussions about the eggs and chicks, and also about the food that can be produced from a chicken. Interestingly, none of the children were able to identify who would look after the chicks on a farm. Some children suggested the farmer or a pet keeper. We are also exploring the concept of dairy, as no one has been able to define what dairy products are. We will continue to explore this concept, looking closely at cheese, yoghurt, cream and butter next week.

Our excursion will be a great way for the children to further develop their understanding of farms and we are looking forward to it!

We have started our ‘Helping Hand’ program, where children will be given a handprint when they help another child. We hope that this will further the concepts of friendship, tolerance and compassion. Hopefully you will all see your child bringing home a handprint soon!

Have a great weekend.

Chicken Dialogue
A chicken hatched on day two. It was pretty exciting.
Why is it lying like that? Izabella
It pushed it’s way out. Abhi
It’s trying to find it’s mother in another egg. Izabella
It’s sleeping now. Open your eyes now. Izabella
He can’t walk, but when he’s younger he can, can’t he. You look at it ok Liam? Eden
Why is he in there? He needs to keep warm cause he doesn’t have a mother to keep him warm. The mother is on the farm. James S
The baby. Wake up. Squeak, squeak, squeak. Liam (as he showed the chicken his picture of it)
Did you know chicken actually hatch at a very long time. At thirty. Why haven’t the others hatched yet? Look, his wings are out. He’s grumpy. That’s the look on its face. I can see the egg cracked. There’s juice in it. Christian
You have to have a name for a chicken. Look, he’s trying to get to the other egg. He’s keeping it warm. Max
I wonder when Mrs Schmidt egg is going to hatch? Susannah
How did the egg hatch Mrs Schmidt? Max
You are not allowed to wriggle it cause if they come out too early it will die. James W
You can’t touch the glass or you’ll scare the chicks. Abhi
You know my grandpa has chickens at his home. There’s two girls and one boy. Ethan
Hatch! They hatch from the eggs. Liam
They make them warm so they can hatch. Ethan
Scuse me, why are they not hatching? Adu
They’re not ready. Andre
It’s having a rest. Luc

Chapple Room Team

Edgerley

Dear Edgerley Families and Friends,


Another exciting week as we ventured further into our inquiry about everything farms and food! We enjoyed making pizzas from scratch and we even learnt that yeast needs lukewarm water to activate! We are a little stuck on just how we get pasta to our plate because most of us think it just comes from a packet – but don’t worry, Ms Giorgio is going to be making pasta with the children so we’ll soon find out where it comes from!

We’ve loved watching our ELC eggs hatch into… baby chicks! Oh, they’re so cute and it’s very hard trying to leave the ELC or get back to our room without stopping to watching the progress!

Alex asked the class, “How do we know if there’s a chicken inside the egg?”

Cooper started off by saying, “If it’s got a big fin, it will be a chicken.”

Mrs Baird asked the children, “How do you know which eggs are for cooking and which eggs will have baby chicks?”

“Chickens are born into different boxes to the egg ones,” Max reasoned.

“They live on the farm. They hatch in the farm. If they don’t hatch they are sent to the shops,” Sebi gave his opinion.

Alyssa added, “They watch which ones comes out of the mummy chicken and which ones are for cooking.”

Angus told us, “It got grown in dirt.”

Cooper argued, “No, carrots grow in dirt.”

Alec then told us, “Actually, mummy chickens makes them.”

“Jesus and God made them,” Angus finished our conversation on a very thought provoking point!

With this high level of thinking, the teachers are just waiting for the right moment to ask which came first – the chicken or the egg?

See you all next week as we whip up some Filipino delicacies with Mrs Rocca, head to the farm and start exploring more and more numbers!

Have a lovely weekend,

Mrs Rocca, Ms Giorgio and Mrs Baird

Princesses Tea Party

A special thank you to all our Mums for joining us to celebrate Mother’s Day at our Princesses Tea Party.

It was a morning where our Mums were treated to a delightful concert,a handmade tiara and a flowering present as well as a Pampering experience they will never forget ! During the morning we also raised funds for the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. With the generous donations from our families (around $800 ) we will be able to show our support for the play therapists and the valuable work they do each day to support South Australian families. We will continue to collect donations until the end of next week.

My mummy cuddles me
kisses me, hugs me and misses me
She pampers me, praises me, always
amazes me .

She washes my clothes for me,
tickles my toes for me,
giggles and talks with me,
and also goes on walks with me,
She says "sweet dreams" to me,
and Sings sweet songs to me,
I am glad she belongs to me.

A special thank you to Mr Rob for making us beautiful scones to share at the tea party and to Sarah Rench for her generous donation of the delicious macarons. They really were a treat ! 

We wish all our Mums a beautiful Mother’s day.

There are more photos on the school's facebook site that can be found at www.facebook.com/PrinceAlfredCollege

Animal Farm Excursion

As part of our unit Paddock to Plate there will be an excursion to the Animal Barn in Onkaparinga Hills for Mead and Cooper Rooms on Tuesday 21st May and for Edgerley and Chapple Rooms on Wednesday 22nd May. Please put this date in your diary as we will need some parent helpers on those days. Unfortunately this excursion is only open to children who attend on those days as the size of groups that can be accommodated at the farm is restricted. Notices will be in your child's pigeon holes. Please return them to the box at the reception desk asap.

Recycled Boxes etc

Thankyou for all the wonderful donations of boxes ,cans etc . We currently have sufficient for now and will let you know when our supplies are low and we need more again .

Thankyou

Princesses Tea Party

Please make sure you have returned your reply slips for our Mothers Day event next Thursday -9th May. All mothers and ELC children are invited to our annual morning tea. If your child attends the ELC on Thursdays then please drop them off at their normal time and join us in the Piper Pavilion at 10.00 am (Dequetteville Tce side of the main school building) If your child does not attend on Thursdays then please take them with you and go straight to the venue . (As the room will be filled to capacity we would ask that you do not bring younger siblings unless they are a babe-in- arms)

ELC STAFF

Uniform Shop

The School Uniform Shop now has new supplies of the moroon track pants in all sizes. All children (apart from Edgerley room ) should now be wearing moroon pants only please. Children are welcome to wear skivvies under their T shirt in this transition weather period or for extra warmth in winter but they must be white or moroon. The uniform shop also has ELC waterproof jackets for outside play .

Entertainment Books

These books are available through the Prep School as a school fundraiser. They are full of discount coupons for hundreds of venues around SA . Have a look at the display one in our reception area ,they are well worth purchasing for $65 .Even if you only use a few of the coupons you will get value for the cost.

Biggest Morning Tea

The Prep School Parents and Friends Association are running a Morning Tea on Friday 31st May in the Piper Pavilion .It is a fundraiser for the Cancer Council and will include a Fashion Parade. There are brochures on the ELC reception desk.

Edgerley Room

Dear Edgerley Families and Friends,

After eating Mr Wagenfeller’s chicken and rice, we posed the question, “How does this food get onto our plate?”

Rocco: There’s chicken from a chicken

Alex: Carrots are from a farm garden

Sebi: Rice is from a rice farm

Rocco: Rices comes from a shop then a cooking machine, then a box and a man – he bringed it to the rice shop, all the way to the beach.

Sebi: But it’s from the rice farm – there’s water and it’s salty. My mum told me.

Angus: Mr Wagenfeller cut all the things up. He got it from the shops. The farmer brought it there. There were dead chickens there. But the peas and carrots are from the fielders.

Looks like the Edgerley children already know a lot about how our food comes to us, but we are looking forward to exploring more!

We are loving playing the Edgerley Pizza Parlour! Do’t forget to stop by for the best cheesy crust in town! The meatballs and spaghetti are the chefs special, but please make sure you book beforehand – we are getting really popular and we would not like to disappoint!

Thank you for bringing in menus and rocks! We look forward to using them and studying them!

Coney, Juliana and Katherine

Chapple Room

Dear Chapple Room Parents and Friends,

We have had a great start to Term 2. We have already begun discussing out new unit, Paddock to Plate and look forward to exploring where our food comes from. Each day we plan to discuss what we have eaten for lunch, what ingredients were used and where these food originated. We have had some interesting discussions this week, after eating chicken casserole, shepherd's pie and tacos.

Where did the food come from?
From Mr Waggenfeller. Leroy
It came from a tray, the one the food came on. Luc
The Langley children had theirs on a tray and we, it came on a plate. Abhi
It came from a shop and then he brought it to our school. Then to café, then to the oven and then he put it on a plate and the people ate it. Oscar
Where did the food come from, before the shops?
It came from the shops. Susannah
Maybe he got it from the kitchen. Ethan
The man delivered it, from the shop. Max
Before school started, me, Lily and Dad drove the Mitsubishi on the farm. It’s Papou’s farm. He has kangaroos and cows and a motorbike. Asterios
Ummm, a farm then the tractor gave it to the shops then a man delivered it to Mr Waggenfeller. Izabella
Eggs we get not from chickens, they’re from the shops. Luc
What is beef and where does it come from?
Pigs! Beef comes from pigs. Samuel
Mr Waggenfeller gets it from the shop. Abhi
A man picks it up from the farm and gives it to the shops. Asterios
Meat does come from pigs. First it comes from the farm, then to the shops, then Mr Waggenfeller puts it on our plate. Christian
Actually, there’s rectangle gardens on farms and they buy the beef from them. I have beef and broccoli and cauliflower and brussell sprouts in my garden at Grandmas. James W
Beef comes from a cow. Asterios
They kill it with a gun or a knife. Then they get the beef from the cow. They can kill it with a knife. Sebastian
They chop its head off. They tie its legs up with a rope so it doesn’t move so they can kill it and get the meat. James W
They chop it in half. Raphael
You know to get milk, first they squeeze the boobies, then they put it in a bucket, then they tip it in a jug and into our cups. Christian
How they get the meat from the cow is they kill it and crunch up the bones and get the meat. Izabella

The nice way to kill a cow is to make a hole and pull the meat out and then it can stay alive. Jacob

Its been an interesting and insightful journey so far. We can’t wait to continue!

We are also looking forward to the Princesses Tea Party next week! Have a lovely weekend.

Chapple Room Team

Cooper Room

Dear Parents and Friends of the Cooper Room,

It is lovely to have all our friends back this week after the holidays. The children have enjoyed sharing their stories and are eagerly awaiting the news of our two friends still on holiday in China and Queensland. What special adventures we all had! We started the week finishing off some very special things for the Princesses Tea Party. We hope all our Mum’s are ready for a lovely morning tea on Thursday. We hope you are ready to be pampered. (Don’t forget your replies)

Footy season has definitely started with many children bringing in footballs to show us and many fantastic footy songs being sung – The Might Adelaide Crows and Collingwood!

The children have loved preparing a space in our room for a shop. They have been sorting out boxes and containers ready to place them on the shelves.

“We need to have bags so we can put all our things in,” said Gabby

“We should sell flowers in the shop,” added Oliver

“All the vegetables should stay together over here, “suggested Max

“We need a sign to say the shop is open so the children can come in and buy things,” said Harry

“We need a manager of the shop. He’s the boss of the shop and he can help everyone and tidy the shop too,” thought Max

Bring your shopping lists along and do your shopping when you visit the Cooper Room supermarket.

On Friday Oliver bought in some red eggs to celebrate Greek Easter.

“I made them with my Yia Yia. You put them in the paint water and then make them red. It makes all the eggs red. You knock the eggs together and see if one cracks.” said Oliver

We watched Oliver tap the eggs together and CRACK! We hope that is good luck! The children then carefully peeled the eggs and tasted the hard boiled eggs.

“It is not red in the egg only the outside,” said Gabby

“I will get red eggs from Yia Yia and Papau on the weekend too!” Happy Greek Easter!

Kind regards

Susan, Coral and Rosalie

Mead Room

Dear Families and Friends,

This week we are starting off our journey from “Paddock to plate” in the Mead Room. As a starting point we are discussing the food that we eat at Kindy and then thinking about what different foods there are and where they come from.

One day Mr Rob cooked us Shepherd’s Pie. We discussed where our food came from…..

Beef comes from a cow.

Carrots grow in the ground – Angus

No carrots grow on a bush - Tom

Peas grow in a pod that grow on a bush – Angus

Gravy mixes in with the meat- Tom

Potatoes grow in the ground – Angus

Today Mr Rob cooked us Tacos! We discussed where the food came from…

Beef or “sloppy meat” as Tom calls it! Comes from cows – Tom

Tomatoes grow on a bush above the ground– Alex

Lettuce grow on the ground – Henry

Cucumber grows on the top of the ground on a vine – Alec

Capsicum grows on a bush – Tom

Taco shells come from corn on the cob that has been all mushed up.

The children are very excited that we are making our own Mead Room bakery….. watch this space!

Many Thanks,

Emma, Pip and Amelia

Langley Room

A big warm welcome to Term 2 and to our new friend, Oscar von Roon, who started in the Langley room this week. Our unit of inquiry for this term is Paddock to Plate. We have started our investigations with eagerness as we share our knowledge and understanding about farming and produce and how it reaches our plates. Our discussions have begun at meal times, identifying and examining individual ingredients in our meals and talking about where they have come from. We have discovered that we already know so much about this area of investigation!

I can see carrots. Carrots come from the tree – Jack

Where do you think peas and beans come from? – Miss Nicole

From our trees, from the garden – Harry JH

Peas, peas from outside – Bernie

Water comes from the garden – Knox

Water comes from the fridge – Nathan

Where do chickens come from? – Miss Kerry

From outside – Clementine

In the supermarket – Loukas

Where does corn come from? – Miss Kerry

I grow in my garden – Oscar

We have also spent the week excitedly preparing for our Princesses Tea Party next Thursday 9^th May. If you have not already RSVP’d to Mrs Dry could you please do so as soon as possible – we hope to see all the Mums there!

Best wishes,

Jess, Kerry, Nicole and Emily