LOCKLEYS EARLY LEARNING CENTRE
NEWSLETTER March 2018
NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR
Food Allergies
Please be advised that there are some children in the Centre that have a severe food allergy. We are asking all families to ensure there is no food in your child’s bag as children can access the bags themselves. Thank you for your assistance in this serious matter.
Staffing
I would like to inform families that Renee, an educator in the Pre-Kindy room, who is on parenting leave, has decided not to come back to work. Renee is enjoying motherhood immensely with 2 children now and would like to be a stay at home mum.
Changes to staffing
As you are all aware, Penny is leaving, her last day was the 9th Feb. We wish Penny the very best in the pursuit of her next step. I am pleased to inform you that Chanelle applied for the fulltime position and we offered it to her. Chanelle has been working for us for the last 3 years across the Centre, with the last 6 months predominantly in the Preschool room. As it will be sad to farewell Chanelle from Preschool, we are excited that she will be joining Lisa, Tati and Heather in the Infant/Toddler room. During our interviews we were able to offer 2 new educators permanent part time positions. They are both qualified educators and will be working in Preschool and covering shifts possibly in Prekindy and the Infant/Toddler section.
App
The Centre App has completed its maintenance and is now up and running again.
If you do not have your unique username and password for the App, please come and see Dionne or Paula.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Farmer Darcy @ 10.00am Wed 7th March
Adelaide Cup Day
Centre closed Mon 12th March
Crazy Hair Day
Worlds’ Greatest Shave Wed 14th March
St Patrick’s Day-dress in green Fri 15th March
Harmony Day-dress in orange Wed 21st March
Good Friday
Centre Closed Fri 30th March
Easter Monday
Centre Closed Mon 2nd April
ANZAC Day Celebrations Tues 24th April
ANZAC Day
Centre closed Wed 25th April
Disco Day – Pop Theme Mon 7th May
Mother’s Day High Tea @ 2.30pm Fri 11th May
National Families Week 15th – 21st May
ScientifiBubble Show @ 10am Wed 30th May
Queen’s Birthday
Centre Closed Mon 11th June
Messy Art Day Tues 12th June
Grandparent/Special Friend Day
Afternoon Tea @ 2.30pm Fri 22nd June
NAIDOC Week
Theme ‘Because of her, we can! 8th – 15th July
PJ Party Day Wed 11th July
Disco Day Theme – Bright & Sparkly Thurs 9th August
Science Week 13th – 17th August
Book Week
Theme: Find your Treasure 18th – 24th August
Dress Up Day Fri 24th August
Multicultural Week:
Each day a different culture 3rd – 7th September
Amazing Drumming Monkeys Mon 10th September
Labour Day
Centre Closed Mon 1st October
Tie Dye Tuesday
Bring in a white T-shirt Tues 9th October
Father’s Day Afternoon Tea Wed 31st October
Disco Day 80s Theme Tues 6th November
Diwali Festival Wed 7th November
Children’s Christmas Party TBA
Children’s Christmas Parade TBA
Shared Christmas Lunch Mon 24th December
Christmas Day/Boxing Day
Centre Closed Tues & Wed 25th-26th December
Back care Safety
We have a Centre policy on back care for our educators to ensure their safety whilst caring for children throughout the day. Our policy states that children over the age of 2 years are not to be lifted or carried. For all our families that have children over the age of 2, I would kindly ask that you hand them over to a staff member when they are seated on a chair to be able to comfort your child through their separation whilst also ensuring they look after their back. Thank you for your assistance in this matter.
2018/2019 Entertainment Books are coming soon
The Centre is selling the books as a fundraising event. We receive $13 from every membership sold.
If you are interested and want to get in early visit this link.
https://www.entertainmentbook.com.au/orderbooks/16p0529
You could even ask your family and friends if they would like one. It only takes a few vouchers to re-coup what you spent on the membership.
Regards, Dionne
QUALITY ASSURANCE
This month we will be continuing to look at:
Quality Area 1 – Educational Program and Practice.
Standard 1.2 – Educators facilitate and extend each child’s learning and development.
INFANT/TODDLER ROOM
We have embraced “water week” and have explored many water based experiences. Each morning we have participated in something outside to do with water and have enjoyed many opportunities to play as part of a large group. It is quite fascinating how many concepts of science and mathematics are involved which have given opportunity to the children for meaningful learning as well as sensory play and it is inclusive to children of all ages. We have painted with water, used the water trough, made mud and explored that with spades and our hands, watered the garden with the hose, and explored ice cubes over the week.
Some of the learning concepts here include cause and effect, fine motor skills, eye hand co-ordination, learning to understand wet and dry, splashing, sensory exploration of gooey/slimy mud, digging in different textures, coordinating the hose to aim at the plants, turn taking, looking after the environment, temperature of the ice, observation of changes to the ice as it melted, and taste (always important in this age group, and not necessarily limited to the ice!).
Whilst outside learning and exploring the children have all become engaged in the concept of rolling and movement on the ramp, whether it be with balls or trucks. They repeatedly send them down then move around their friends to get the ball and start again. Having an educator at the bottom to collect the balls and roll them up the ramp adds to the experience, and many children are participating in a cohesive manner.
Inside we have been enjoying the hairdresser play, which is enthusiastically been engaged in by the older children. They love to blow dry, straighten, shampoo and comb their own and each other’s hair. We have borrowed these resources from Pre-school, but would love to build up our own supply. If you have any old hair items please consider donating them to the infant and toddler room.
Kind thoughts from us all.
Tati, Lisa, Penny, Krystin and Heather.
PRE-KINDY ROOM
Over the past weeks we have continued to work towards our short term goals. We have been using play to investigate, imagine and explore the children’s own ideas through meaningful inquiry based projects. Our current inquiry has been based on Animals; during our inquiry the children have had opportunities to be engaged in meaningful discussions, sharing knowledge about where animals belong in the world. We have looked at and created habitats for land and water animals using a variety of natural resources such as rocks, sand, sticks, bark and water. The children really enjoyed being a part of collecting the resources and creating these habitats for the animals, this is where they could use their imagination, explore and investigate. The children have also been moulding eggs and worms using the playdough, so to extend on their idea and interest we provided a natural setting using large logs, leaves and clay where they could mould and create their own snakes and spiders, this experience was very popular.
With the weather being so hot over the past weeks the children have really enjoyed engaging in lots of water play using a variety of mediums in the water such as ice, bubbles and glitter. During these experiences the children had opportunities to explore their senses and develop their hand hand/eye co-ordination skills using a range of tools. Throughout this time the children also repeatedly engaged in scooping and pouring which indicates a transferring schema. With the children displaying a strong interest in this experience we decided to offer other mediums to pour such as bark and small coloured rocks which they thoroughly enjoyed.
Bek, Stella, Andrea, Paige, Lil, Kahla & Kym.
PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
What have we been doing this month?
Here at our preschool, we have been thoroughly enjoying our outdoor environment. We have been hard at work creating obstacles to strengthen our gross motor skills.
As a part of our ‘Belonging’ inquiry, we began to explore the sub topic of “Who Am I”. The children explored their own identity through Self-portraits using fine tip markers. And it looks like we have a class of artists. These portraits are on display in the preschool with an annotation in their portfolio.
We began our fortnightly Kindy visits to the Lockleys Children’s Centre. Some of us have been before, but for most of the children this was a new experience. The children had a wonderful time exploring the Children’s Centre outdoor and indoor environments. They also took the opportunity to meet new friends.
We all dressed up for our very own ‘Disco Day’. The children all busted out their best dance moves on the Pre-Kindy room dancefloor. The preschool children really enjoyed dancing to the disco music. This gave the children the opportunity to strengthen their sense of belonging as well as moving their physical bodies.
It has been so hot for most of the month that we dedicated a whole week celebrating Water Fun. We had plenty of water activities for the children to participate in, both indoors and outdoors. The children developed their fine motor skills and engaged in a highly sensorial experience.
Reminders – Please remember to apply sunscreen to your child when you arrive at the centre.
– Check your parent pockets regularly for information on show and tell topics and dates, and also important information and children’s work.
As always if you have any comments or questions please see us! If you would like a more formal meeting please let us know and we will set one up in a time that is convenient for us all. We welcome your feedback.
Thank you,
Hema, Sandra, Asmita & Chanelle.
IMMUNISATION
Is your child up to date with immunisation? Remember that children who are not immunised will be excluded during any outbreak of a government scheduled preventable illness within the Centre
HEALTHY EATING & NUTRITION
A tasty treat for yourself and your children. Hope you all enjoy.
Raspberry Smoothie Bliss Balls
Ingredients:
¾ cup slightly thawed frozen raspberries
1 cup rolled oats
¾ cup shredded coconut
¼ cup coconut oil
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds Method:
Process raspberries, rolled oats, shredded coconut, coconut oil and sunflower seeds in a food processor until almost smooth and well combined.
Roll 2 tablespoon portions of the raspberry mixture into balls. Place on a lined tray in the fridge for 1 hour or until set. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 1 week.
Thank you, Belinda
ADMINISTRATION
Dear Parents, please be aware that due to a change in regulations which came into effect on the 1st of February, we have updated our enrolment form. As happens at this time of year we ask all families to fill in an update form. Be on the lookout for a pretty pink enrolment form that we would like returned as soon as possible please.
Thank you.
Ciao, Paula