Princes ELC

PRINCE ALFRED COLLEGE EARLY LEARNING CENTRE

An environment designed to foster creativity, provoke questions, provide challenges and celebrate the achievements of young children. We foster the development of integrity, curiosity, confidence, compassion and Christian principles.We encourage relationships of shared responsibility and mutual respect. We believe in fun and the joy and importance of childhood. We ensure an environment filled with a sense of humour, love of play and exploration, and a sense of community.

Friday, November 26, 2010

In the Classrooms

Langley
During our lunch time discussions this week, Sebastian R has been telling us about the miners.
“Da men are stuck in da mine” he said.
“What happened?” asked the Teacher.
“Da big rocks went all over da place and covered dem” he explained, “dey send in a robot” he continued.
“Why?” asked the Teacher.
“To see if they ok” he told everybody.
“Where did this happen?” questioned the Teacher.
“In Mew Zealum” Sebastian responded.
We have set up a sand tray in the classroom for the children to explore this further. Tommi suggested “maybe my Mummy and my Daddy and I can get on a plane and wescue them”.
“We might need a hospital car” suggested Jack O “woo, woo, woo” he added as he got a red car.
It’s amazing how globally minded our two and three year old children can be!
Kind regards,Jess, Adele, Kerry and Jennifer

Mead
If anyone needs a new hair do........come to the Mead Room Salon! We have many an experienced hairdresser ready to transform you. Our salon opened in response to one of our classroom members who hadn't had a haircut for a long time. He had some reservations and concerns over what actually might happen to his hair at the hands of a hairdresser wielding a pair of sharp scissors around! After his visit, and a very handsome and groomed haircut, we decided to open our very own Salon to assure all the Mead Room clients that Hairdressing Salons are enjoyable places. The children have become quite adept at using the tools of the trade and meeting the customers needs.

"Can you put it on me please?" Daniel asked Ashraf as he passed him a clip.
"Does it hurt?" Ashraf asked, with real concern, as he clipped it onto Daniel's hair.
"I'm just making you into Mary" Ashraf added.
"No, I want to be Daniel!" Daniel explained.
"Daniel Black?" Ashraf enquired.
"No, Daniel Hope" Daniel confirmed.

Best wishes,
Emma, Emma and Susan
Cooper
The hot weather early in the week gave us the opportunity to participate in some wet sand play. Not only was this a great way to keep cool but an interesting sensory, scientific and social experience. The children loved being sprayed with the hose while we wet down the sandpit and noticed lots of differences in the very dry sand compared to the wet muddy sand. Oliver and Sami played "machinery" with the trucks, tipping, pouring, loading and driving and discussed their work...
“We need to put more sand in it” said Oliver.
“I’m filling it” replied Sami.
“Wanna come back now we got more filling?” asked Oliver.
“I need more sand” exclaimed Sami.
“Well, tip it up and come back here, I got another job to do” said Oliver.
It sounded like a real construction site! Meanwhile at the indoor sandpit, Deacon, Sienna and Chester were busy baking a big cake for a birthday party. They mixed and squashed the wet sand in a big pot, then iced it with the dry sand. At the sand tray the children poured big buckets of water over the sand, mixed and raked it and then farm animal toys splashed and rolled in the mud and water because they needed to keep cool too. Although we went home very messy, we stayed lovely and cool and had lots of fun!
Kind regards,
Ali and Susan

Chapple
What a busy week we have had in Chapple! Transitions have continued this week with a visit to the uniform shop to learn about what to wear in the Prep School. We also visited the Reception classroom again where Mrs Burford and Mrs Leeson read us stories and we practised some songs.
Congratulations must go to Regan who became the first child to lose a tooth in Chapple! The children have been very interested in why we lose teeth and where our old teeth go.
Max thought ‘Money is too big for the tooth fairy to hold!”
Katie solved this problem by announcing “No, but they have magic!”
We have also read a tooth story and will continue with our investigations into the world of dentistry next week.
Thankyou to Cheryl (Lloyd’s Mum) who came to our ELC this week to read La Petite Poule Rousse, please see our display to find out what the title is in English!
Thankyou also to Mrs McKenzie and Mrs Lock for stepping in and having a fun week with us. We loved seeing you again.
Eleanor, Susan and Emma.

Edgerley
What an active week we had in Edgerley this week, with so much activity happening outside of our classroom doors. At the start of the week we enjoyed PE in the gym where Mr Weatherald had set up an obstacle course, Charlie wowed us all with his big enthusiastic jumps from the trampet onto the crash mat! The following day Groundsman Tas arrived to cement our birdhouse, that we had made with Hugo’s Dad, into the secret garden. We learned the difference between cement and concrete and watched as Tas dug a really big hole with a post hole digger…it was cool! The following day Hugo brought some wild bird seed to school and that was lucky because our Eastern Rosellas reappeared and they were hungry, we watched but they are a bit shy and only wanted lunch when we weren’t watching. We had a wonderful time during the hot weather playing with water in the sandpit and at our water feature in the shade…we got soaked! It was great! Later in the week the clouds covered the playground and it rained so the Edgerley boys concentrated on practicing cartwheels in the sandpit. Lachlan Fleet showed the way and showered us all with sand! In the breakout space we took turns taking on the roles in the Nativity and enacted some wonderful variations on the original. Mrs Bishop’s favourite was when one of the kings carried donkey Aadi to Bethlehem because the donkey was tired!
Inside the classroom we busied ourselves with Christmas preparation creating some gifts for our mums and dads, shhhhh don’t tell!
We can’t wait to see what next week brings!
Kind regards
Mel and Rosalie

Langley Staffing

Dear Parents of Langley Children,
Miss Jess Catt will be taking annual leave from Thursday the 2nd of December and will return on Monday the 13th of December. In her absence Miss Julia Mitchell will join the Langley Team.
Thankyou

New Fee Schedule

Dear Parents,
We are writing to inform you that we are currently reviewing our fee structure for 2011. There will be a fee increase in the new year and we will publish this new schedule as soon as it comes to hand (next week we hope), for the consideration of families.
Kind regards
Jeanine Dry

Carols by the Tree

Thankyou to the families who joined us for Carols by the Tree. What a wonderful evening it was. From the looks of the activity on the top oval, we're sure there must have been lots of tired children that night! We hope you enjoyed it as much as we did.
ELC Staff

Moving Up Day

Dear Parents,
Next Tuesday the 30th of November is Moving Up Day for ELC and Junior Primary students at PAC. All students who move to new classes in January 2011 have the opportunity to spend a morning in their new class. If your child is currently in Chapple room moving to Reception please do not forget to provide your child with a mid morning snack. If your Chapple child does not normally attend ELC on a Tuesday please feel free to meet us up and the Prep School office.
If your child is moving into Mead or Langley and does not normally attend on a Tuesday we would love to see both you and your child to join us for the morning. Please note that these mornings are not designed for staff to stand and speak with parents, instead, to get to know their new students in a safe and welcoming environment where children do not have to worry that their parent will leave them. If you have any questions or queries please save them for our Parent Information sessions on Wednesday the 1st.

*Parents of new children moving into Langley in 2011 will meet with Miss Jess Catt at 4.00pm in our Art Room
*Parents of Langley children moving into Mead in 2011 will meet with Mrs Emma McKenzie and Mrs Susan Lock at 3.15pm in the Mead Room
*Parents of Mead children moving into Chapple in 2011 will meet with Mrs Mel Bishop at 3.15pm in the Chapple Room
*Parents of Chapple Room children moving to Reception in 2011 will meet with Mrs Margot Leeson, Mrs Meg Burford and Mr Robert Adcock in the Reception Hub in the preparatory School at 3.15pm

Outstanding Library Books

Dear Parents,
The Preparatory Library has begun it’s annual stock take and, as such, borrowing from the Library has ceased (although you may still visit at any time). We are asking for all Library books to be returned as soon as possible. You can either pass them to Mrs Porter and she will place them in the return basket or you may post them through the return chute in the library. Some outstanding book slips have been placed in children’s pigeonholes, others will be placed by the end of this week.
Thankyou
Mel Bishop

Centre Christmas Celebration

Dear Parents,
We will hold a brief and informal Christmas celebration in our centre on Tuesday the 7th of December at 11.00am with a visit from Santa who will share gifts with the children from the staff. Due to the numbers of children, we will not be hosting a full Christmas Party. Children who do not normally attend on a Tuesday are welcome to join us from 11.00 to 12.00 with a supervising adult.
Thankyou
Mel

Chapple Graduation

Dear Parents of Chapple children,
You are invited to join us for a fun informal graduation ceremony to mark the end of your child’s time with us and their graduation from four year old kindergarten. What a special milestone to mark before they move through into the “big school”!
Please join us in the town square on December Thursday the 2nd at 11.00am.
Please note, this event is for families of Chapple room students only
Thankyou
ELC staff

Portfolios

Dear Parents,
Please feel free to borrow your child’s portfolio to share with them and reflect over during the Christmas break. They will be available to be borrowed from classrooms from December the 7th on.
Thankyou
Classroom Teachers

Preparation for Hot Weather

Dear Parents,
The hot weather has arrived, allowing us to get into the garden more regularly and strip off the layers to play with water. You can help us manage the change in weather by remembering to:

*Clearly name all the clothes your child wears to the ELC
*Ensure that you apply sun cream on your child’s face, legs and arms before they come to the *ELC in the morning (we reapply sun cream to all children before their afternoon outdoor play)
*Ensure that your child brings a hat to kindy everyday
*Bring a full water bottle to school with your child every day (we will refill them when your child empties it)
*Take your child’s water bottle home every night and wash it out

Thankyou
ELC staff

On the Scrounge

Dear Parents who are planning to have a spring clean or empty out the shed over the holidays!
We are on the look out for old wooden drawers from old chests of drawers or old bed side tables for a creative storage idea for our outdoor garden.
We are also looking for an old wooden outdoor setting that is more or less child sized (it’s doesn’t need to be in good condition, we would be happy to adopt a fixer-upper, but it does need to be wood or metal)
We are still taking any old terracotta pots or silver kitchen tools and pots.
Thanking you in anticipation
ELC Staff

Friday, November 19, 2010

At the Pageant

Last weekend Adelaide came out in force for the annual Christmas Pageant. Sophie and her family enjoyed the morning and managed to spot a familiar face!
Congratulations Miss Jess, what a wonderful Christmas Pixie you made!

Out of the Classrooms and Onto the Stage!

Thankyou to all who attended our annual Christmas Nativity in the Anzac Hall on Thursday morning. We would like to thank the Preparatory School boys who assisted us with seating and distribution of programs, and the PAC ancillary staff who assisted with the bookings and set up for our function. I would particularly like to express a huge thanks to all the ELC staff who put in an enormous amount of effort to assist the children to pull it together. Duane, our professional photographer photographed children in their costumes before the event and during the Nativity. He also took a few family photos in the Piper Pavilion. These photos will be available to be purchased on line in a week or two. Please watch the blog for further information regarding this. Thankyou again for coming to watch us sparkle and shine, we hope that it left you with fond memories.
ELC Staff





For Chapple Parents

Dear Chapple Parents,
Kate Baird will be absent from school for Week 7 (22nd - 26th November). Kate is conducting a PYP workshop in Hong Kong. Susan Lock and Emma McKenzie will share the week teaching in Chapple Room. This is wonderful for the children as many of them were in the Mead Room with them the previous year. The Chapple Room program will contine as per usual.

Best regards,
Mel and Jeanine

Little Bo Peep

Dear Parents of students who were sheep in our Nativity,
After the performance some sheep accidently left with their sheep ears still on. Can you please return any outstanding ears to your child’s classroom teacher.
Thanks
Mel Bishop