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1 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 1
Simone’s Message By Simone Cooke, Principal
Dear Parents,
What a busy week we have had. The February heatwaves have somewhat curtailed our outdoor play
this week, however, the teachers have taken advantage of our fabulous Art Atelier, Piazza and extra
learning spaces to involve the children in many hands on discovery and investigation experiences. Small
group project work which fosters collaboration and builds peer interactions is an important component of
our programme as children learn the importance of valuing the opinions and views of others.
With further heatwave conditions expected, we ask that children arrive at school with sunscreen already
applied and with their hats. Please rest assured that the teachers apply sunscreen regularly and are very
diligent at ensuring that the children are well hydrated. We provide the children with regular water breaks
and restrict play outside on the particularly hot days.
PROVOCATIONS
As you read through this week‟s newsletter you will see teachers referencing Learning Provocations. A
Provocation is an element of Reggio Emilia inspired learning which we embrace here at Reddam. It is
intentional teaching which builds on the individual interests and needs of our children. Provocations are
designed to provoke questions, interests, discussions, creativity and problem solving. You will see across
the classrooms a wide array of Provocations. Resources and activities are displayed beautifully to
provoke interest and encourage involvement. They are designed to be open ended and to foster
individual expression whilst also fostering collaboration.
Our teachers create a “Mind Map of possibilities” which is drawn from the children‟s own brainstorming or
observed interests. Each week our teachers are documenting your child‟s learning journey to ensure we
are tracking their development. In addition to your weekly Tapestry update your chiilds individual learning
journey is collated into a beautiful portfolio of photographs, learning experiences and work samples
which the children will take home with them at the end of the year. Should you have any problem
accessing your Tapestry upload please do not hesitate to contact us so we can send a fresh link.
10TH FEBRUARY 2017
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2 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 2
Provocation: Creative Artists
This week the Hatchlings and Nest children were involved in a fabulous, messy art experience:
finger painting!
Not only is finger painting loads of fun, it is also an excellent feeling (kinaesthetic) experience
and is fantastic for the development of all the big and small muscles. Finger painting is
wonderful for the development of colour recognition, experimenting with colours and colour
mixing and is terrific for developing creativity skills and simple cause and effect thinking skills.
Yes, it‟s messy! However messy play for babies and toddlers is actually crucial to healthy sensory
development. These „messy moments‟ provide important foundation building blocks, sensory
experiences, muscle and brain growth – all of which prepares them for later success and
learning.
To do this amazing activity we used the painting frame and we gave the children the choice of
3 different colours: Blue, red and yellow so they could do they colour mixing and discover new
colours.
The feel of the paint enthralled the children; they not only smeared the paint on the frame they
also played with the paint on their fingers.
To save a copy of this masterpiece we lay a A3 paper on top of the artwork while the paint is
still wet, pressed firmly all over, peeled it off and hung it up to dry. Please come and have a
look at your child‟s artwork displayed on our documentation wall!
Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings By Gabriela Guimaraes
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3 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 3
Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings Finger Painting
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4 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 4
Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings Finger Painting
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5 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 5
Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings Outdoor Play
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6 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 6
Stage 1: The Nest & Hatchlings
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7 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 7
Provocation - Project 100
Children are naturally connected to nature and use all their senses to explore it! When exposed
to natural materials children can freely use their imagination to create.
As an extent to our project 100 Colours the children were exposed to natural materials to create
our Painting entitled „The Nature display”.
To initiate, we displayed a large wooden stick and the children were able to use different colours
to paint on it. As they were highly concentrated on this activity we noticed that some children
preferred to use their hands to paint instead of brushes and others were even painting the table
cover! Once they finished painting the stick we let them explore mixing colours on the table
cover, using their hands and brushes to create new shades.
The children were then given pinecones to paint to add to our installation. Some of the children
touched the pinecone for a little while and others would smell them first. This activity supported
curiosity and creativity. Children are naturally curious about the world around them. Natural
resources connect children to nature and allow them to freely express their creativity.
In addition we have been using wooden blocks wrapped in cotton to create beautiful rainbow
paintings that will be displayed in our drawing corner. We covered blobs of paint on the cotton
and the children used a wooden block to splash it. The result was beautiful! This activity
supported eye-hand coordination and fine motor skills.
“Children need the freedom to appreciate the infinite resources of their hands, their eyes, and
their ears, the resources of forms, materials, sounds, and colours.”
Loris Malagazzi
Stage 1: Fledglings By Michele Santos
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8 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 8
Stage 1: Fledglings Project 100
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9 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 9
Stage 1: Fledglings Project 100
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10 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 10
Stage 1: Fledglings Project 100
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11 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 11
Stage 2: Chicks, Sparrows and Robins By Kasia Rymarczyk
The educational program is in an advanced stage and children are working everyday on our first
project of the term. We are investigating the natural wonders of the beach. During discussion with
the children it became apparent each of them has spent some time at the beach, playing with
sand, making sand castles, collecting shells, pebbles and driftwood. It is delightful hearing them
recount their experiences with the group
William M: “The sand is hot.”
Christos: “I go to the beach!”
Every day we provoke the children‟s thinking and creativity by setting up beach related displays
and installations. These include experiences where children, explore, problem solve, discover,
create and question.
Examples of Learning in Action
Our Teacher Eva invited the Stage 2 Chicks to explore sand play dough, providing them with a
variety of textures set out in individual trays. She displayed illustrations of the beach and
underwater world. Eva added a small round aquarium filled with decorative pebbles and shells.
This carefully crafted setup inspired the children to think, observe and explore. The children used
their senses and communicated their ideas either verbally or through art and body expressions.
They listed to the sound of the ocean by placing shells to their ear. Our Teacher Kasia provoked
children‟s problem solving and experimenting skills by setting out an investigation of freezing and
then melting objects in the block of ice. The children placed natural objects (from the beach)
into little containers and then filled them with water. The containers were placed in the freezer
and we waited and waited some more…. This was a scientific discovery on its own where the
question was posed: “I wonder how long it takes for the water to freeze? We checked a few
times during the day but the ice was not ready. We had to wait until the next day. When the ice
blocks were ready the children were eager to investigate the melting process. They used salt
and warm water, it made the surface slushy and grainy, having an immediate effect, but did
not melt the whole block. Evie noticed: “We have to put lots of warm water to melt it fast.”
Steven immediately responded to that idea by pouring whole cup of water over the block. Other
children worked quietly touching the ice trying to scrape the pieces of it and all were deeply
immersed in the task of getting the objects out. The whole investigation ended when we went to
the dining area for morning tea and we left the ice block unattended. When we came back all
the ice had melted and it turned into liquid. We repeated this engaging experiment over and
over again.
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12 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 12
Stage 2: Chicks, Sparrows and Robins Our Teacher Lauren invited groups of children to explore the art medium of paints. She added
additional textures to the paints enriching the children experience. Lauren displayed digital
photographs of world famous paintings to inspire children‟s creativity. She further extended their
thinking by giving them space and time. She created a calm atmosphere where the children
could fully engage in creative process. Some of the children used the paints to develop skills of
manipulating the paint brush, mixing colours and making connections. Others experimented
with ways of expressing their thoughts and make meanings through creative arts. The whole
process of art making has a great value to children‟s learning where open ended materials were
offered by Lauren so the children had freedom of expression.
“The Natural wonders of the beach” Project:
Topics for projects emerge from both the learners and the teachers. A project topic should be
worthy of investigation. We together with the children thought that the wonders of the beach
offers great potential for learning and connecting with nature.The children will be engaged in
critical thinking, problem solving and not just gathering facts. An inquiry inspired by a trip to the
beach and a fascination with found objects become more than a project entitled “Beach”
when we posed it as a learning question; “What can we do with shells, pebbles and driftwood?”
We can create, make stories, we can count, build and test ideas. We support children in their
educational endeavours by teaching them how to think, not what to think.
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13 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 13
Stage 2: Chicks, Sparrows and Robins
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14 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 14
Stage 2: Chicks, Sparrows and Robins
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15 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 15
Stage 2: Chicks, Sparrows and Robins
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16 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 16
My Family
As the children have started to bring in their
family photos, they have become more
interested in who is in each other‟s
families. Belonging to a group helps the
children become more confident with who
they are, their place in the world and helps
them settle into their new
environment. Learning Outcome: 1.1
Children feel safe, secure, and supported.
As we took a closer look at the photos, we
discovered the wide variety of different
family structures and then went on to draw
our own family. We have extended families,
cousins and grandparents in our pictures and
a variety of different family compositions.
Many different cultural values was evident in
the photos such as cultural dress, foods and
landscapes. This provides us with a greater
understanding of the diversity of our class
and our community. Extension of this
learning is wide and varied as we plan to
make our own clay sculptures of ourselves
and participate in role play experiences
consisting of blocks with our own faces on
them!
How Tall Am I?
Following on from the „All About Me‟
provocation, the children started printing
with their hand and foot prints on paper.
We looked at the different sizes of hands and
feet and the sensory feel of the paint on our
skin.
“It‟s cold,” said Nathaniel
“It‟s squishy!” exclaimed Bella
“I like hand prints.” stated Ella
Smiles and laughs from Isabel O and Samuel
“What are we doing?” asked Sam
These hand prints evolved into a height
activity. Each of the children stood against
the wall and were measured with a piece of
string. The string will then be lined up across
the wall and we and we can see how tall we
are growing. It will be of great interest to us
all, as the year progresses how each of us
grows. It will be interesting when we measure
ourselves again at the end of the year to
compare these results!
Friendly Reminders
Please remember to pack your sun hat
each day
Please remember to pack a water
bottle each day
Please check News Roster for your
child‟s news day
Stage 3 - Kookaburras & Flamingos By Riina & Amanda
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17 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 17
Stage 3: Kookaburras and Flamingos
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18 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 18
Stage 3: Kookaburras and Flamingos
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19 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 19
Stage 3: Kookaburras and Flamingos
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20 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 20
Stage 4: Cockatoos & Rosellas By Sue Mayer & Bernadette Casey
Provocation - Belonging
What a fabulous start to the year! We have
been so impressed with how the children have
coped with the extremely hot weather and
adjusting to settling back into school. For chil-
dren in Stage 4 they are preparing themselves
for the independence that comes with starting
school. Both Bernadette and I are passionate
about creating an environment that fosters this
independence which upholds the Reddam
ELS value system which encourages kind
hearts, listening ears, walking feet, gentle
hands, good manners, and most importantly
respect - respect for each other, our teachers,
our equipment, our school and our greater
community.
To create a sense of respect you have to have
a sense of belonging and this is where our
provocation this term has been heading. It
started with our identity of celebrations -
celebrating Australia Day through landscapes
and their colours and the vibrant colours of
the Lunar New Year, the rich red and gold.
Through drawing self portraits and describing
our families we indirectly learned more about
each other and as the week has progressed
our sense of belonging has led us to look clos-
er to where we live and the different housing
that our families live in and where. We have
focussed on numbers - what number house or
apartment we live at and represented our
homes through the mediums of drawing and
watercolour.
For those of you that don't know me from last
year, I am a mother of 4, however my children
are all grown up with my youngest aged 15. I
am passionate about early childhood educa-
tion and have worked extensively in the field
over the past 10 years. Both Bernadette and I
believe education is a partnership with families
and we look forward to a fulfilling year ahead
preparing your children for their next big ad-
venture of Big School.
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21 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 21
Stage 4: Cockatoos & Rosellas
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22 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 22
Stage 4: Cockatoos & Rosellas
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23 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 23
Music By Justin Sze
Stage 1 & 2:
Our older children sang their own name as
part of the Calypso song “Hey Lolly”. They
also led the group in an action that could
keep the beat... all part of the song. Then
they pretended to sleep as we sang “Are you
sleeping”. But in the middle of the singing, the
Alarm Clock rang and we were all suddenly
woken up (all part of the plan of course). We
then pretended that the fingers were slowly
waking up. First was the thumb, then the
pointer etc. This was a new experience for
some of the children as they discovered they
could independently control the individual
fingers. This development of fine motor skills is essential for formal playing of musical instru-
ments in the near future.
We are also working on inculcating a good
singing voice from this early stage with a fa-
miliar song, “Twinkle, Twinkle”. It is encourag-
ing to see these little ones already trying to
sing along. Our children were also given the
bells and egg shakers to explore and experi-
ence the metallic and plastic sounds. Eventu-
ally, we will teach them that different instru-
ments have different “timbre”... that‟s in the
near future.
The younger ones explored with the bells,
shakers and scarves and experienced the
concept of “high” and “low” through a
variety of different styles of music. They ended
the lesson with a “peek-a-boo” activity while
we sang “love somebody”. They loved that
game. You should try it with them at home!
Stage 3 & 4:
We walked, jumped, skipped and shook in
the grass in order to get to the music farm. Children learned to follow instructions through
song and fun actions. They were having lots of
fun and probably didn‟t realize it. But the pos-
itive experience of following instructions given
by teachers is going to give them a head-
start in school for sure!
At the farm, they drew circles with scarves,
noses, elbows etc., then they met the donkey
who ate with a knife and fork and a mouse
who went “Round and Round the haystack”.
Did they play the musical game with you yet?
Ask them to show it to you. It‟d be good fun!
The class ended with another creative song
where children gave suggestions of actions to
include in the song. Because this was done
last week, children readily gave very good
suggestions of very creative actions which
were included in the song. What creative chil-
dren we have this year!
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24 REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 24
Mandarin Class
My name is Sherry (Xiaoping) Zhu, a qualified
mandarin teacher from China with more than
16 years teaching experience.
I graduated from Capital Normal University in
2002. Then I worked as a Chinese teacher in a
high school for 5 years. Afterward, I found that
I was interested in teaching mandarin as a
foreign language, so I became the teaching
manager of a language institute, located in
Shanghai. In 2009, I took the position as the
director of Minsi International Language Insti-
tute. The job provided opportunities to coop-
erate with international companies, mainly
customized study plans for managers and
their family members, such as UBS, JP Mogan,
and Macquarie Bank. I gained considerable
experience in how to make tailor-made les-
son plans.
Being an excellent language teacher, it is
necessary to upgrade the knowledge system
timely., so I applied and studied at the Univer-
sity of Sydney for 2 years.
Last year, I was granted double master de-
gree of Educational leadership & manage-
ment and General Education. Meanwhile, I
had the opportunities to teach students in lo-
cal public schools (through working in com-
munity language schools), such as Cammer-
ay public school, Waitara public school and
Wahroonga public school. The age scope of
students is from 4 years old to 12 years old. All
students are from different backgrounds and
with different personalities. The varieties offer
a good platform for me to improve my man-
aging classroom abilities and teaching meth-
ods to make my students enjoy the lessons.
As for teaching methods, it is popular that in-
terest is the good teacher for children.. So I
would like to design my lessons based on my
students‟ age and their interest. During the
process of teaching, it is important to adjust
the teaching activities and forms based on
the feedback of students. With the help of the
teachers at Reddam, I will be ensuring that
the children enjoy their mandarin lessons.