LOCKLEYS EARLY LEARNING CENTRE
NEWSLETTER October 2017
NEWS FROM THE DIRECTOR
Parent Evening Night
Thank you so much to all our families that attended our Parent Evening Night this year. It was wonderful to see so many parents here to come and listen to our Educators presentation, view their child’s profile folder and have discussions with their Primary Carers. For those families new to the Centre, we have a Parent Evening Night once every year. Each year is different in regards to what is presented to families. Sometimes we even get in a guest speaker to discuss topics relevant for parents. For those families that did not attend this year, maybe we might see you next year.
To all our new families – Are you on the App?
Our Centre has an App that you can download so you can be kept up to date with your child’s learning. All you need to do is download the App to your device and then come and see Paula or Dionne to get your
unique username and password. The username and password means that you will only be able to see your child’s documentation.
Reminder about Photo Day
Photo day is being done on Tuesday 24th and Thursday 26th October. There is an envelope in your parent pocket if you haven’t got it already. Please return it as soon as possible to ensure your child is photographed. This year the class photo will not be in composite form like it has the last few years. It will be done live with the children sitting in rows, if you are making the trip in to the Centre especially for photos please stick around for the class photo.
Regards, Dionne
DATES TO REMEMBER
Labour Day
Centre closed 2nd October
Diwali Festival 19th – 23rd October
Centre Photos:
Under 2s Tues 24th October
Over 2s Thurs 26th October
Amazing Drumming Monkeys Thurs 16th November
Preschool Graduation Fri 15th December
Centre Christmas Party Tues 19th December
Christmas Day/Boxing Day
Centre closed Mon/Tue 25th, 26th December
New Year’s Day
Centre closed Mon 1st January 2018
QUALITY ASSURANCE
This month we will be continuing to look at:
Quality Area 7 – Leadership and service management.
Standard 7.2 – There is commitment to continuous improvement.
- the philosophy itself is influenced by the principles of Reggio Emilia
- educators have attended learning tours and training, have researched and read readings about the Reggio Emilia principles to be better able to implement and evaluate our environment and practices.
SUSTAINABILITY
News from the Green Team:
It has been a dry winter this year and will be a long hot summer. A reminder to water your garden early morning or in the evening for maximum benefit. This will help save water which is a precious resource, the planet and also save you some money in the long run.
Bek & Heather.
INFANT/TODDLER ROOM
What a busy month we have had in the under 2’s room, with new families starting and children returning from holidays. The weather is becoming warmer and we have spent more time outside with all our friends. The new sandpit is definitely being enjoyed by all the children, with most heading straight to it when we first head out! The stairs are a great place to support children’s independence in climbing and balance and they tend to practice and repeat their emerging skills here. We have lots of pots, pans, cups and saucers which the children are filling and emptying, digging and pouring into.
Please make sure your child has a hat to wear outside. We are applying sunblock and mosquito repellent again when we play outside to protect our skin and we are hoping our new shade shelter is not too far away. We are noticing that the children are drinking a lot of water as their bodies acclimatise to the warmer weather, so they are being offered water in between meals whilst outside to cater for this.
We have been doing dancing recently to lots of fun tunes. We have also brought climbing experiences inside to move our bodies and challenge our balance and strength. The children have had a lot of fun reconfiguring the soft blocks and making different towers and arches. Bek made a variety of different sensory materials similar to gloop, which were soft and sticky and smelt amazing! We have also experimented with clay and our old favourite playdough! It is interesting to see who is hesitant with these experiences at first and watch them build up their confidence to be able to try them.
Kind thoughts from us all.
Tati, Lisa, Penny, Bek and Heather.
PRE-KINDY ROOM
This term we have been working towards a goal that involves the pre-kindy room to develop knowledgeable and confident self-identities. We want to share and celebrate who we are as individuals and feel recognised and respected for who we are. This is how we have started our journey and goal….
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In order to continue our goal we would like to invite those who haven’t already, to bring in and share a drawn family portrait. We would like to openly invite all families to come in and share some of your culture with us; this may be a favourite story, a special song, or a recipe. We value our partnerships with families and really appreciate any involvement in our program.
Bek, Andrea, Paige, Lil, Kahla & Kym.
PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
This has been a very busy month for the Preschool. We have enjoyed Happy Feet, our library visits, our Lockleys Children’s Centre visits and lots of learning in between.
We are now deeply immersed in our moss project and have been creating some beautiful pieces of artwork to represent our ideas about the moss we have seen in the garden and on our regular nature walks. We have explored this through photography and the use of fine tip pens to add lots of detail to our pieces of art.
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More recently our nature walks have taken a new direction (metaphorically) adding a new element as we have had a keen interest in “maps”. Naturally, the nature walks have progressed into an opportunity for the children to communicate their knowledge of where to find the moss along the Torrens River. They have walked along the river pointing out all of the landmarks along the way and then transferring this onto their representations of maps. The one thing most of the maps had in common was an ‘X’ because “‘X’ marks the moss in preschool.” This has been a wonderful learning experience for the children. They are exploring so many elements of numeracy and literacy, connecting with space and place and mark making to represent ideas.
We are going to continue our project into the next term. So we are hoping that families and friends can help us on our journey by communicating with us if you see moss outside of the Centre with your Pre-schooler. Photos would be ideal but other sources are welcomed too. This can help us better understand the places moss grows and connect us with other spaces in our world.
Reminder
It is now Spring which means time for hats and sunscreen, if possible please apply your child’s sunscreen at drop off to assist us in our morning routine.
Please also check the bag area for any jackets left behind from winter.
Thank you,
Hema, Sage, Jacinta & 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
On Thursday 14th September it was Chef Day in the Centre for the children. The children were able to contribute to the food they consumed that day.I started the day with asking some of the PreSchool children to help cut some of the vegetables for their lunch – Pumpkin Soup. The children found some of the vegetables hard to cut but were willing to give it a go and with a few helpful cuts they achieved their goals. They cut broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes and zucchinis.
The soup was left to cook as I helped Kahla organise garlic and herb butter for garlic bread. Kahla and the other educators helped the PreKindy children make Garlic Bread.
I then went into the Under 2s room and made a cake with the children. The toddlers loved helping mix, stir and mash the bananas. The children seemed to enjoy their experiences and all the food was eaten with minimal wastage.
Thank you, Belinda
ADMINISTRATION
Child Care Fees
It is our policy that family’s fees must be paid a fortnight in advance as per the enrolment agreement that you signed when commencing care. You may pay weekly, fortnightly or monthly, but if paying monthly please be aware that you need to be a month in advance.
Payment of fees can be made by cheque, money order, EFTPOS, credit card, direct debit or the ever disappearing cash. At this Centre we also have available the service of automatically debiting your credit card on a weekly, fortnightly or monthly basis. If you would like to follow this course of action, please do not hesitate to make enquiries.
If, for whatever reason, you find you are having difficulties in paying for child care, please come and see us as soon as possible. We will endeavour to help resolve the situation to everyone’s satisfaction but we cannot provide care that is not paid for without a payment plan in place. Payment plans can only be negotiated by Judy who is very happy to do so. You may call her on 0411533706 if you need to.
Thank you.
Ciao, Paula