dee’s message - reddam housereddamhouse.com.au/pdf/2017/els_w/els_wvol17issue29.pdf · analogy....

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER 1

Dee’s Message

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

For this past term, the children in the

Fledglings group have engaged with

their provocation of “It’s a journey”,

which has taken them to all sorts of

interesting and exciting places. They

have ‘travelled’ to a number of different

countries and have used all sorts of

transport to get there. In the process,

they have spoken, discussed, and used

their artistic skills to capture some of their

experiences. It really has captured their

imaginations and provided numerous

opportunities for learning.

It would seem to me that the “It’s a

journey” approach to our lives is an apt

analogy. We have often seen the “Life’s

a journey. Enjoy the ride” or “Life’s a

journey, not a destination” bumper

stickers. These and similar sayings have

also been used many times, in various

forms, for car advertisements and to sell

products which will supposedly add

value to our lives.

However, in the context of an Early

Learning School such as ours, it has

particular relevance. All too easily,

education can appear as a relentless

progression from one year to the next,

with challenges to be overcome and

tests to be written, in the pursuit of that

final goal of passing the HSC year with

impressive results. Any detours or

obstacles along the way are seen as

problematic, rather than as opportunities

for learning.

Perhaps one of the most refreshing

aspects of teaching in an ELS is that one

has the freedom to explore and to learn,

without the constraints of formality often

associated with later years in education.

It is enlightening to see the joy with which

young children are able to explore their

world without a specific goal in mind.

There is no final ‘right answer’ to be

arrived at, only the process itself to be

enjoyed.

It is in the spontaneity associated with

living in the moment that young children

are most alive – and how we all could

learn from them in that regard.

22 SEPTEMBER 2017


It should be less about keeping an eye

on the finishing line of the race of life we

all seem to be running, and rather be on

the beauty of the landscape through

which we are passing.

It has been our great pleasure this past

term to have walked part of this journey

alongside you and your child. I am

appreciative of all of the efforts of our

very special teachers, administration and

support staff, and others who have

contributed to another happy term. My

thanks too to all parents, who play such

an integral role in the life of the school

and obviously in the individual lives of the

wonderful children who fill our

classrooms.

Whether your child will be part of our

Holiday Care programme or if you will be

spending time together on holiday

elsewhere, I wish you an enjoyable time

together. And should you be journeying

anywhere, may the journey itself be just

as pleasurable as the destination.

Dee Pitcairn

Principal

Dee’s Message


The Nest “My world - things I like…” Tatiana Botrel & Shirley Brockwell

It is hard to believe that we have

reached the end of another successful

term. This term’s provocation was

related to all the things that our little

ones expressed enjoyment in regarding

our environment. The “Things I like”

provocation was indeed a great theme

on which to base the children’s learning

journey in our classroom, as the young

children are still exploring the world that

surrounds them. Every week was new

discovery, every day a new world of

wonder!

Children’s interests this term went from

animals to books about bears –

including exploring nature – and

surprisingly finished with the modes of

transport. The children enjoyed reading

the book “Down by the Station” and

also listening to the audio version of the

same. From there, we explored different

modes of transport, such as a car, bus,

truck, fire engine, plane and helicopter.

The children engaged in different

activities related to this subject, but

they mostly enjoyed exploring the

“transport table” where a road and an

airport structure was set up, along with

different forms of transport and

elements to support this learning, such

as traffic lights and different road signs.

This week, in The Mini Art Atelier, the

children explored the colours of the

traffic lights to create a beautiful

artwork. While working on their painting,

the teachers encouraged the children

to identify the colours red, yellow and

green. Some of the children also tried to

repeat the words and name the

colours, excitedly dipping their cotton

buds in the tray with paint. We also

spoke about the shape of the traffic

lights and tried to make circles on the

paper. The movement required a lot of

focus and hand coordination, but, in

the end, the children were just happy

to explore the colours on the paper.

One of the childrens’ favourite games

in the classroom is organising the chairs

in a line, sitting on them and then

waiting for a teacher to sing “Wheels on

the bus”. What started off with only one

child sitting with a teacher became a

whole group experience. The children

enjoyed it so much that once the song

was finished, they all asked for “more”!

It has been a wonderful term watching

the children’s enjoyment and

confidence in The Nest environment.

We are looking forward to the new

learning adventures in Term Four.

Outcome 1: Children have a strong

sense of identity. Children develop their

emerging autonomy, inter-

dependence, resilience and sense of

agency. EYLF, 2009.

Outcome 4: Children are confident and

involved learners. Children resource

their own learning through connecting

with people, place, technologies and

natural and processed materials. EYLF,

2009.


The Nest Photo Gallery


Throughout our journey we experienced

many modes of transport to help us

travel to our destinations. As it is now our

final week of Term Three, we have

reflected on the countries we have

visited. It is clear to see that some of the

children had their favourites because of

the animals, buildings or modes of

transport. During a group discussion, we

decided to bring all of these countries

together through creating a beautiful

collaborative art piece using prints from

each mode of transport.

We left tracks using boats, trains,

airplanes, elephant footprints and a

bicycle.

This term has seen the children continue

to grow and learn, expressing their love

for knowledge as they show curiosity and

they have also become very

inquisitive. As teachers, it is our role to

support each child through their learning

and we feel this term’s provocation has

allowed us to do this seamlessly.

To keep the memories of the places we

have been, we have created some

Travel Journals and the children will revisit

their journey using the same materials as

they did when we first came to that

place. It is clear that the children have

become inspired, creative, and have

shown great imagination throughout this

journey. They have become immersed in

their world.

What a wonderful term

We have reached the end of our third

term, and what an incredible term it has

been. All the children are so happy to be

a part of our Fledgling group, which we

can clearly see on their happy faces and

through their active participation in their

learning and play. As always, this term

was packed with lots of fun, through the

stimulating and creative activities to

keep the children engaged.

As we get ready to enjoy our Holiday

Care programme, the teachers will be

closely observing the children to see

what new interests they will share. We

cannot wait to begin an action-packed

Term Four where there will be lots of

stimulating, fascinating and engaging

experiences planned and introduced to

the children. As another term and

provocation draws to a close, our

learning will only continue as we

strengthen our understanding of our

world around us.

Thank you to all our children and families

for such a wonderful term.

Fledglings “It’s a journey…” By Hannah McCooey, Olivia Binions and Jane Teh


Fledglings Photo Gallery


The Kookaburras

“The Bear is in there!”

The excitement of the Kookaburra

children as they discovered the wall

display of their story “We’re going on a

Bear Hunt” this week was, for the

teachers, an acknowledgment that the

programme for the children this term

engaged them and developed and

consolidated many of their skills.

When you start a provocation, you have

an idea as to where it may go in terms of

learning opportunities. As always, when

you follow the children’s interests, things

can change. “Bringing Stories to Life”

gave us the opportunity to read and

explore many of our favourite stories,

including “The Gingerbread Man” and

“Mr Gumpy’s Outing”. It became clear

that as the term progressed “We’re

Going on a Bear Hunt” was a definite

favourite and provided many learning

opportunities for the children in their own

play, as they would keep revisiting it.

Following this lead, our focus became on

being able to bring this story to life over

an extended period of time. We created

the props (a set design) that gave us the

opportunity to use many different skills

and techniques related to art

experiences.

The GRASS was made by using scissors to

cut green paper to represent the blades

of grass.

Shaving cream and blue paint helped to

represent the ripples of the RIVER.

Sand with brown paint helped to create

the squelchy MUD.

To stumble trip through the FOREST we

collaged natural material.

A SNOWSTORM was created with white

finger painting and cotton balls.

The CAVE is very dark and this was

created with roller brushes and black

paint.

The BEAR - a wet nose, furry ears and

eyes were drawn by the children and

added to the cave.

We even made our own bears using

paper bags, textures and cut-out shapes.

Using these props and the musical

instruments, we were able to bring this

story to a bigger audience. In our final

week of the term, we performed the

story for our friends in the Tree Frogs class,

who gave us a big clap.

The Cockatoos

“Where is the Bear?”

The Cockatoos have been busy working

together to create a map to help our

friends to either find the Bear or to avoid

him whilst we go on our Bear Hunts. One

of our group discussions was talking

about what area we enjoyed playing in

whilst outside. The discussion ended with

us agreeing the we most enjoyed playing

in the Sand Pit, Garden, doing activities

such as Play Dough and drawing on the

Activity table, on the Deck and of course

the Castle. The children suggested that

these areas could be where the bear

may hide or even live!!!! We envisioned

the Deck from a bird’s eye view, inspiring

us to be birds that were flying in the sky,

looking down at our school. This was the

start of our map making where we would

place a symbol to represent our

equipment outside. To help improve our

search of the bear we also made our

very own binoculars, using paper rolls,

paints, glitter, and sequins, so that we

could find him before he found us!!!

Stage 2 “Bringing stories to life…” Daniella Gosty, Karla Cabezas, Tori Gordon, Shauna Corry, Vanessa Copper, Helen Wilson and Min Pattharasiritanarat.


We have been focusing on a book that is

called ‘Harry and the Dinosaurs Tell The

Time’. The children have been set the

challenge of taking turns to move the

correct hands on the clock to the time

that is being requested, which is mainly

on the hour. This book has been

encouraging the children's recognition of

their numbers and has introduced them

to the concept of time.

The group has been keeping busy taking

part in other activities such as threading

and beading, as they have created

beautiful bracelets and necklaces for

themselves, other peers, their parents

and siblings at home. We have enjoyed

using fun materials to use with our play

dough, such as pipe cleaners, shapes,

straws and sequins to create Monsters,

Houses, pretty fairies and many more. We

have enjoyed using the transport and

road maps, as well as building houses,

cars with large and small blocks, Lego

and the Duplo, which is always our

favourite.

Next week is our Holiday Care

Programme. If you are holidaying at

home or away, we hope that you relax

and enjoy yourself over the next two

weeks and we will see you all in Term

Four!

Stage 2 “The bear is in there…”Daniella Gosty, Karla Cabezas, Tori Gordon, Shauna Corry, Vanessa Copper, Helen Wilson and Min Pattharasiritanarat.


Stage 2 Photo Gallery


Stage 3 “The large moveable alphabet…” By Christina Mandalidis, Susan Casey, Elizabeth Turner, Jason Corrigan, Polina Rodov and Deanne Jacobs

Over the last few weeks in the

perceptual atelier, the children have

been introduced to a new Montessori

activity called the large moveable

alphabet. Initially the children laid the

sounds out on the mat and were asked

to identify the sounds as they placed

them back in the tray. This was extended

over the course of the next few weeks, as

the children were invited to build simple

three letter phonetic words with the help

of picture/word cards.

“I love spelling. I’m great at this.” Mia

“I found it, Monty. I found the word “red”.

I need to find the letter ‘d’.” James

“’S’ is for sun.” Monty

The children will continue to use the

moveable alphabet throughout the year.

This is part of their developing knowledge

and skills in relation to pre-reading and

pre-writing. They are always very proud of

their achievements and love sharing this

with their teachers and their friends.

The Lorax

The children have thoroughly enjoyed

reading the story of the Lorax by Dr.

Seuss. By combining the craziest

creatures and zaniest pictures with his

unique blend of rhyme, rhythm and

repetition, the children have learned of

the dangers of destroying our forests.

Following this, the children were invited to

create their favourite image from the

Lorax through a layered experience

including painting with fluffy paint,

pasting and drawing. This was an

ongoing experience, layering different

elements over two weeks.

“I’m doing the truffula trees because

everyone needs truffula trees to give

food to the poor Barbaloots or else they

won't stay alive.” Sasha

“The Onceler was naughty, he cut down

all the trees.” Annalisa

Learning opportunities can appear

anywhere; it is just a matter of knowing

where to look for them.

With that, Term Three has come to an

end. How quickly time flies when you are

learning and having fun. To those

children who are joining us in Holiday

Care, we look forward to your company

and to having great fun. To those of you

who will be off for the holidays we wish

you great fun and adventure. We will see

you in Term Four.


Stage 4 “Connecting with nature…” By Anita Martin, Nina Bergel, Kristina Rocchi, Jane Pledger,Sandra Carberry and Cassandra Holmes

As we approached the end of Term

Three, the children engaged in a

reflective discussion about their

experiences during our weekly visit to

Cooper Park. From listening to the

discussions, it is evident that every child is

learning, developing, growing and

enjoying every day that we spend in our

outdoor classroom.

Our excursions to Cooper Park are one of

the highlights of the children’s week. It is

an open-ended environment, providing

for exploration and discovery. It is a

learning environment that encourages

children’s engagement, curiosity,

problem solving and appropriate risk

taking. Connecting with nature supports

multiple developmental domains –

intellectual, emotional, social and

physical. It also supports creativity and

problem solving, and provides the

opportunity to learn how to manage risks

and to develop a respect for nature.

It has been wonderful to watch the

children’s confidence grow week after

week. Their determination and

perseverance is amazing.

Annika “Once when I was trying to climb

a big rock, it was steep, and I fell down. I

tried the next time I went and I learned it

now.”

Katie “When I first went to the bush I tried

to climb the small rock and I couldn’t.

Then I tried again. How I learned was I

saw some other kids doing it and I just

copied them.”

Ines “First time I went to the bush I

couldn’t climb like a Koala. Eventually I

learned to do it and that is my favourite

thing.”

Eve “First time I went to the bush I

couldn’t climb the big rock. I slipped off

and kind of hurt my knee. I tried again

and again, and then in two or three days

I did it.”

Harry “I went to the bush and found the

biggest rock and climbed it. I fell down,

tried again, fell down, tried again and

then I eventually got to the very top.”

Arabella “I learned to climb a long tree

and I was like a wombat.”

Diyan “I climb the big rock and not even

fall down. The first time I went to the bush

I couldn’t climb the rock.”

Hugo “I found the biggest rock and

started to climb it. Now I can climb trees

too.”

Avi “I couldn’t climb a tree and now I

have learned to climb a tree.”

When we allow children to make choices

and decisions and we are

active participants in their play, we are

implementing the practices outlined in

the EYLF (DEEWR, 2009, pp. 4–5):

· We are fostering ‘children’s

capacity to understand and

respect the natural environment

and the interdependence

between people, plants, animals

and the land’.

· ‘Responsive learning

relationships are strengthened as

educators and children learn

together and share decisions,

respect and trust.’

For the children and families who will be

away over the school holidays, we wish

you a wonderful time. And for those of

you who are attending our Holiday Care

Programme, we look forward to having

lots of fun!


Music By Justin Goh

Hello everyone!

We’ve come to the end of another term

and it’s amazing to see how much the

children have done over the last 10

weeks!

Stage 1 & 2:

The little ones are now very familiar with

the routines of our class. Once it’s Music

time, they sit in a circle and start patting

to the beat... at the moment it’s still their

own internal beat as matching the beat of the group is still a challenge at this

age. Notice how your child taps a toy on

the ground at home during the holidays!

With the Mexican song, we explore the

development of the vestibular system of

our children this week as we bounced,

jumped, turned and stopped. “The

vestibular system, in most mammals, is

the sensory system that provides the

leading contribution to the sense of

balance and spatial orientation for the

purpose

of coordinating movement with balance.

” (fromhttps://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/

Vestibular_system)

This term, we explored things in the sky:

birds, clouds, rain (water from the sky),

the sun and leaves (falling from the sky). I

hope your child has enjoyed these

lessons and we all look forward to more

musical fun after our holidays!

Stage 3:

Our Stage 3 children learned

to control the bordun (D, A bass notes)

much better this week. They played

with a lower volume and more

accurately on the beat. The singing was

also more confident (not shouting). These

children are on the right track to

becoming skilful little musicians!

We revisited our rhyme about the little fish

and big fish. In addition, we learned a

song on the same theme. Justin also

introduced a new musical instrument to

the children... the ocarina. The ocarina is

classified as an aerophone (wind

instrument) in the study of

Ethnomusicology. Many countries,

including South America, China, Korea,

England, all have claims to the origins of

this instrument. For our children, they

were simply thrilled at this amazing

musical instrument which looks like a

seashell or a fruit and yet is able to play

the melody of the song about the little

fish and big fish. I look forward to seeing

and hearing how these little musicians will

grow in the next term!

Stage 4:

Our Stage 4 children listened to

recordings of different modes of

transportation and finally got into a

space shuttle, then a horse, and finally

onto a train. Then, with the xylophones,

they played the familiar song “Train is a

coming”. All the children knew the song

so well now that they were singing

beautifully.

Next we got out some bells and we

pranced around with the song “Bell

horses”. Children took turns to play the

bordun while some played on the bells

and, of course, everyone sang. This little

ensemble was amazing! Finally, we

revisited “Star Light” just so they could

remember the high note and the lower

note. We look forward to watching how

these young musicians blossom in their

musicianship skills in the next term. Enjoy

your holidays!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sensory_system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_balance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sense_of_balance

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spatial_orientation

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_system

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vestibular_system


Dance and Drama By Laura Hudson

Stage 3 & 4

Objectives:

This week the children used their

imaginations to go through the magical

wardrobe, discovering a fantasy world

behind it. They each took on the role of

being a fantasy character and

developed a whole class improvisation.

Skills learnt this week:

Improvisation and creativity

Taking on the role of a fantasy

character through a group

improvisation

Working together

Portraying facial expressions and

body gestures

Spatial awareness

Activities included:

Using their imagination to go through a

Magical Wardrobe (like Narnia).

We discussed what a wardrobe is and

what you usually find inside it, as well as

what the wardrobe looks like.

Teacher in Role as a Witch from fantasy

world. The children gave the witch

character a name; they then thought of

their own fantasy names too.

The children went on an adventure with

the witch. They travelled on their

broomsticks to the first destination “Rise

rise, really high, just as high as a

butterfly”. The aim was to get something

from each place they visited so they

could go back home (as they couldn’t

go back through the wardrobe). Some of

these items were pearl from the sea;

breath of a dragon; hair of a unicorn,

sugar drop from the fairy and a golden

egg from the giant.

Using their bodies, the children mimed

objects and shapes to put in the

cauldron to create the spell.


Physical Education By Spencer Clifton

This week drew a close to sport for Term 3.

The children thoroughly enjoyed our

sporting activities making great progress

over the term with all stages surpassing

milestones and progressing in their

physical wellbeing. I look forward to

kicking off again in Term Four.

Stage 2 sports lesson made use of hoops

and bean bags in which incorporated a

variety of colour coordinated games. The

first game involved the children matching

the different bean bags with the

appropriate colour and placing them

inside. Our second activity progressed

with the colour matching however this

time the children needed to perform an

underarm throw. We finished off our

lesson with game of monster ball which is

a twist on the legendary tip game.

For the Stage 3 and Stage 4 sport lessons

the children selected the fun activities,

we learnt over the course of the term. We

started off with a big favourite of sharks

and islands, everyone got a chance to

be a shark sometimes working together in

teams. Our next game was take on the

classic bull rush, we manipulated the

game in different ways to challenge the

children for e.g. only hopping, running

backwards, tippers have to work in

teams. We finished off with some free

play in which the children played their

own mini version games using a variety of

sporting equipment used over the term

e.g. basketballs, soccer balls, hoops.


Reddam Early Learning

would like to wish a very happy birthday to

Sophie Jarrett, Amelie Goodwin, Evan Ooi, Alexander Ristevski,

Claudia Jarrett, Annalisa Tong, Oscar Qu, Charlotte Walker

& Mrs Pitcairn

who celebrate their special day this week and on the weekend

We hope you had a fabulous day!

dee’s message - reddam housereddamhouse.com.au/pdf/2017/els_w/els_wvol17issue29.pdf · analogy....

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