rr july 2015 - rangeview high...

“The Happy Kindergarten”

Rangeview Pre-School Association Incorporated 3 Rupert Street, Mitcham, VIC, 3132

Phone: 9874 5874 Fax: 9874 5949 Assoc. Inc. A 0006307 C ABN: 30 637 377 107 [email protected] www.rangeviewpreschool.vic.edu.au

Dates to Remember August 8th August – Working Bee 13th August – Pre-‐school closed

Kids’ Birthdays August Jade (1st), Seth (6th), Jamie (9th), Jasmine (14th) September Cody (2nd), Marcus (2nd), Ivy (14th), Tate (15th), Amelia (28th)

What to look out for inside:

• Director’s Report • President’s Report • Fundraising information • Maintenance working bee information • 4 Year Old Report • 3 Year Old Report • Feedback form

Ongoing Fundraising Bakers Delight Brentford Square: Mention Rangeview Pre-‐School before you place your order and Bakers Delight will forward 5% of the sale amount to the pre-‐school. Please tell all of your family and friends! Aussie Farmers Direct: Existing customers just need to ask to be linked to Rangeview Pre-‐School. The pre-‐school will receive a percentage of sales. Toyworld Forest Hill Chase: Mention Rangeview Pre-‐School when you make a purchase from Toyworld and they will donate 4% of the sale amount to the pre-‐school. Communities Supporting Each Other Thanks to all those Businesses that offer support.

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Worm Juice For Sale

Good Present for those who like Gardening.

Rangeview Ramblings

July 2015

Rangeview Ramblings July 2015

Director's Report Welcome back to a very exciting Term 3. There is a lot happening within our centre so be sure to read all the notices so that events do not creep up on you. During the holidays the Pre-‐School has had another exciting change. The ceiling in the 4's room was removed along with the old cooling unit and a new ceiling complete with sky light, and new lighting and fans was installed. Glenn and his team and Dean spent many long and late hours working to get the room to the point where staff could come in and set up for the term. Thank you so much -‐ the room looks and feels fresh and bright.

A special mention to Matt, Chris, Curtis & young Jarrod for helping to move everything out of the rooms on the last day of Term 2. Your help and assistance was very much appreciated. A huge thank you to the staff who came in on the last few days of the holidays to move the furniture and reset the rooms.

80s Night Fundraiser. What a fantastic night! All that hard work done by our fabulous fundraising sub committee has paid off. Our wonderful community dressed up in their finest 80s gear, brought with them a terrific sense of fun and came together to help us raise funds for our outdoor area. DJ Chris was amazing and played some fantastic 80s tunes and helped everyone rock the night away. Thank you everyone. A huge thank you to Christine and Joan for leading your team to achieve such a terrific night.

Very short and sweet from me this time around, but lots to read further in the newsletter. Kim “Young children learn from everything they do. They are naturally curious; they want to explore and discover. If their explorations bring pleasure or success, they will want to learn more.”


Woolworths Earn & Learn The Woolworths Earn & Learn Program is back. By shopping at Woolworths stores and collecting the stickers, our Pre-‐School can earn points towards new resources and materials to help enhance our environment and programs. All you have to do is shop at the participating Woolworths stores, collect the stickers, and place in the box in our foyer. So easy!

Spare Clothes Parents please include spare clothes in your child’s bag. Accidents can happen at any time of the day and in a variety of ways and your child may need to change their clothes. Please, please place a spare set in their bag; this will save us having to call you to bring in a change. Can you help? Our emergency spare clothes supply has drastically depleted over the last term. If you have any spare clothes that you can donate to us, we would really appreciate it. Mostly we need a range of pants in sizes 3 to 5 for girls or boys. If you have items of kinder clothing that have been loaned to your child recently, we would appreciate it if they can be returned as soon as possible.


President’s Report Welcome to Term 3. The first few weeks have already flown by and the pre-‐school has been a hive of activity. When asked about the major fundraiser on Saturday July 25th one of the parents commented, `It was like stepping backing into the 80s!’ Congratulations to Joan Kennedy and Chris Robinson, along with their team of Christie Prescott, Jo Harrop, Sam Bigelow and Katy Hague, for putting together a fantastic event. Well done to Rachel Baker -‐ I can’t imagine the butterflies you must have felt being in the final few tickets. Thank you also to all the families who supported the event through attendance, ticket purchases and donations. All funds raised go towards the redevelopment of the backyard, a long-‐term plan for the pre-‐school. When you returned from the holidays you may have noticed other years’ fundraising dollars at work. The roof in the 4 year old room was renovated during the holidays. Insulation and a skylight was installed, the old evaporative cooling system was removed, and the old lights and fans were replaced with more eco-‐friendly ones. Thank you to the teachers for their patience during this process (it did make their holiday work a little challenging). Thanks also go to the team of plasterers for helping our builders paint the roof. They didn’t need to, but realised the time constraints and wanted to help the pre-‐school. I’ll have the company’s name for you next month in case you are in the need of some plastering! The 4 year olds welcomed Mrs Andrea McCurdy to their room at the beginning of this term. Please make Andrea feel welcome when you see her around the kinder. The pre-‐school enrolment officers have been very busy in the last few weeks sending out offers for places in 2016. We have had interest from a few families in relation to our new program next year for 3 year old children who are looking for an interesting educational activity program. A subcommittee has been created to develop (in conjunction with the teachers) and promote the `Gumnut Activity Group’. It is expected that Gumnuts will be run by a qualified early childhood educator and will include music, stories and other activities, taking place on Thursdays from 9:15-‐11:45am in the first instance, and with the possibility of a second session in the afternoon, numbers permitting. The subcommittee will keep you informed of the developments as they come to hand. If there is a parent who has graphic art skills and would like to assist in the development of a logo please get in contact with Vic Betts, Hayley Bryant or myself. Families should have received notification last week about an up-‐coming closure of the pre-‐school on Thursday August 13. In recent months, ELAA (Rangeview Pre-‐School’s representative body), the Municipal Association of Victoria, the AEU, and the Department have worked hard to develop a mutually agreed proposal to address the union’s concerns regarding salary and workload. Progress is being made – but it has been slow going. ELAA, pre-‐schools and educators are frustrated that no additional government funding has been agreed upon. The COM have decided to show their support and appreciation of our teachers’ commitment to their roles, our pre-‐school and their industry by supporting their union’s decision to have a 24 hour stop work. It is acknowledged by our teachers that Rangeview Pre-‐School provides very good working conditions for the staff, ie paid overtime for interviews with families and writing transition statements. However these conditions are not necessarily available to teaching staff at other pre-‐schools. The following link provides further updates on the negotiations and issues continuing to be experienced in the industrial dispute: www.ProtectOurPreschools.com.au If you have any questions or queries about the goings on around the kinder, please don’t hesitate to contact me, any of the committee members or your parent representative. Genevieve Hammerton President


Fundraising

THANK YOU:

The 80s Raffle Night certainly brought back many memories! Thanks to all those who came and helped make it a fun social and fundraising night. Thanks to all the wonderful donations, we have managed to raise $5000.

Rachel Baker was the lucky winner of the $1000 first prize, showing that a last minute ticket purchase really paid off! The teachers’ syndicate table won second prize!

Matthew Scafidi (our MC for the night) won third prize and donated it straight back to the kinder and live auctioned it! Thanks Matthew!

A massive thank you to:

Rangeview Primary School, who hired out their school hall for us to hold the function.

The Rangeview RCC who assisted with the logistics for the night, in particular Sabreena and Elliott Dowell.

Matthew Scafidi and Tim Longmore from Noel Jones Mitcham for MCing the night and conducting the live auctions. They did a wonderful job!

Chris Harrop who put together the most amazing 80s music to play on the night as our DJ!

Rod Prescott who created the Bingo sheets and power point for the drawn numbers count down. Thank you!

Ant Prescott who provided and set up the sound and AV requirements for the night.

To the members of our kinder community who helped set up -‐ Nicole and Belinda and Vic. And to everyone who pitched in at the end of the night to help with a speedy clean up! To the class reps in helping to get raffle tickets sold.

And lastly, the Fundraising subcommittee who put in tireless hours to organise the event.

It was a huge success, raising funds for our kids’ new outdoor play area at the kinder!


Parent Direct

Parent Direct is proud to be known as Australia's favourite toy fundraising program. With hundreds of exciting toys to choose from, simple ordering and effective fundraising, their aim is to provide the most complete range of toys at the best prices and support Pre Schools year after year.

Parent Direct has been helping schools and early childhood centres fundraise for over 20 years. Over the years, they have donated over $15 million worth of funds for valuable teaching resources.

When you purchase toys from Parent Direct, through the catalogue, by telephone or online, Rangeview Pre School will receive a Fundraising Voucher that is equal to 20% of the value of the toys that you buy.

Catalogues are out now so get your orders in ASAP: http://www.parentdirect.com.au/home Maintenance The next Working Bee is scheduled for: Saturday the 8th of August, 9:30 -‐ 11:00. (and for those of you who like to know in advance, the Working Bee after that is currently scheduled for: Saturday the 17th of October, 9:30 – 11:00). Thanks, Jared & Rob J(0448 039 616) R(0404 510 411)


The start to Term 3 in the 4 year old room has been very busy. The children were keen observers, noticing that there was a new skylight where they could see raindrops and sunrays! Our room is so much brighter with lots of work done over the term break renovating and painting the ceiling and the installation of new lights and fans. A huge thank you to Genevieve, the Committee and our hard working roofers who came in over the holidays for our makeover, completed just in time before Term 3 started J

Our Program We also rearranged the room to include a Vet, in anticipation of our visit from the Responsible Pet Ownership program. The Vet area includes dogs, cats, pet beds and bowls, bandages, stethoscopes and syringes. The children have used their fabulous imaginations to role-play being vets - fixing whiskers, broken bones and sore throats. They

have also role-played being a patient - cat or dog - crawling around barking and meowing! This experience has encouraged lots of social interaction and turn taking between the children. A listening station has also been set up so that children can spend quiet time enjoying audio stories and songs. The children have been really enjoying this experience.

An "Arctic" experience has been provided to invite children to investigate ice and melting. We have used the world globe to talk about the areas on Earth that are icy, and the types of animals and people that live there. Eskimo figurines, an igloo, husky dogs, sleds, penguins, polar bears, seals and many books were made available for the children to explore.

As it is winter, we have also been discussing how clouds and rain are made. We conducted an experiment with boiling water covered with an icy tray - when the steam rose it hit the cold surface of the tray and turned into "rain". This experiment led to many conversations at mat time about rivers, pipes, dams, wells, drought and rain tanks. We will continue to talk about rain and water in the following weeks.

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Outside, many children were interested in collecting and washing the rocks from the dry creek bed. We extended this interest indoors by providing many rocks with a variety of colours and patterns. The children are invited to wash the rocks in a bowl or "paint" them with water and use a magnifying glass to look closely

at them. The children have spent extended periods of time at this table investigating the difference between the dry and wet rocks. It has been wonderful to have our deck for the wet winter days. We set up a woodwork table and this has been of huge interest to the children. They have been very busy hammering bottle tops, patty pans and coloured cardboard onto blocks of wood. The children have demonstrated amazing perseverance and concentration during this challenging activity. They have also been helping one another and talking together about their creations.

The children have also been very busy outdoors baking and cooking many delicious meals, including muffins, cakes and many different soups. We have discussed soups as a warm, winter meal and so we extended this interest by making a soup of our own!

We shared the traditional story, “Stone Soup” about a little boy and an old lady. The little boy has a stone and he asks the old lady to help him make stone soup. Other ingredients are added such as an onion, carrots, a beef bone, butter and barley. After sharing this story with the children, we talked about other vegetables we can add to our soup and we included celery, potatoes, tomatoes, pumpkin, rainbow carrots and, of course, a stone and a beef bone! The children thoroughly enjoyed chopping up all the vegetables and adding them to our big pot. We learnt how barley grains go softer when they are soaked in water overnight and we were able to look closely at the beef bone after cooking it in the pot. We shared the stone soup together once it was cooked and we thoroughly enjoyed it! Our kinder room smelt so delicious J Responsible Pet Ownership Program- Thursday 23rd July The children enjoyed a wonderful visit from the Responsible Pet Ownership Program recently. We met Pam and her dog, Gemma. We learnt all about being safe around dogs. We learnt what to do if an angry dog comes up to you, we learnt when not to touch a dog, we learnt that dogs have feelings and they can’t talk, so we need to respect them. We learnt a very important rule - no lead, no owner, no touch! We learnt how to be responsible around dogs, treat them with care and to look after our pet dogs. We practised what to do and say if we see a dog on a lead with its owner, how to ask for a pat, and how to approach the dog. Pam brought in for us a special CD that has all the songs on it that we sang together and the children have enjoyed


listening to these and acting them out again. We also had two very successful parent sessions, where parents also learnt all about these important rules to follow at home.

Photographer Roles within our Program We will soon introduce “photographers’” into our program, where the children will have the opportunity to take photos of what they see and do or make at kinder. The children will be responsible for taking care of the camera and we will teach the children how to operate the camera

and how to look after it at kinder. The idea of a photographer role supports a child’s sense of agency and independence and is an effective tool to document your child’s activity and engagement with the environment. We hope to share the children’s accounts of their kinder day during our reflection times. Coming Up…

• Fairy-tale Fiasco- Drama Toolbox- Thursday 6th August • Kinder Photos- Monday 17th August & Tuesday 18th August

Change of Clothes

Please remember to send along a spare change of clothing in your child’s bag. Kinder is such a busy, engaging environment and sometimes accidents happen! Please label each item of clothing. MUDDY, WET CLOTHES- the children are loving playing in our digging patch, they have so much fun, but they do get very muddy and wet! A change of clothes is so important!

School Entry 2016

To assist with discussions and preparations for school next year, we are asking parents to please indicate which school your child will be attending next year. We will have lists out next to the sign in book this week, so please fill in your school choice for 2016. We often have visits and telephone calls from our local primary schools, interested to know more about the children and families attending their school. If you have any questions, please come and speak to us. Thank you.


Reminders *With the cooler weather here, we will still be spending time outdoors so it is important to send warm clothing for your children.

• If you wish, please send along a pair of gumboots and keep them in your child’s locker. We will encourage the children to change into them if we are playing in puddles and mud!

• Please remember to sign your child in and out for each session. • The Parent Roster is pinned to the 4 year old notice board; please

write your name down for duty for Term 3. • Please ensure your child has enough food to get through our long

days. Healthy foods with less sugar content will help maintain the children’s energy levels throughout the day.

Please come and speak to us if you have any concerns, feedback or suggestions! The 4 Year Old Team


Willow Group & Jacaranda Group Newsletter.

Welcome back to Term 3. Our first few weeks of term have gone by very quickly and the children have been busy. The program has followed on with some of the children's interests from last term with the addition of some new environments and play spaces. With the room change and additional resources the children seem keen to move about and explore the play spaces eagerly.

The Hospital has been a lot of fun with many doctors and nurses keen to make their friends feel better. Even I had to take my many and varied flavours of medicine before the doctors announced I was well enough to get up out of bed. The children's interactions during this imaginary play displays their abilities to share their understandings and knowledge of going to the doctors or hospital and getting well.

Construction sets are wonderful additions to our play spaces. The children are challenged to design and create their ideas using connecting pieces. The children use trial and error and problem solving skills to complete their creations. The children often come and show us their designs and are usually very happy to tell us all about it, what it does and how it moves. We have some great conversations as we challenge the children to describe and demonstrate their construction.

The children have been learning about the world through the environments that they are exploring. The children engage with polar bears, water pebbles and cubes as they play. We have read about polar bears and discovered how they survive in very cold climates. The children have been eager to tell us when they have been to the snow and what they do when it is cold to keep warm.


We have begun our father's day preparations and the children have enjoyed coming over to the table to see what we are doing and to have a go. Our first task has been to draw our Dads and might I say how handsome you all are. Our second task was to do some footprints... I cannot say any more now as it will give away too much. Stay tuned though - all will be revealed in due course.

The weather has been very chilly but we have still managed to get outside most days. We have been practising putting on our own coats before we go out. This is a challenge for some but a skill worth developing. You can help by

encouraging your child to keep trying this themselves at home. When we do get to the outside space, the children have spent much of their time running, running, running and all the while laughing at the same time. We have groups of children coming together to develop role-playing games and at this time of the year it is wonderful to see the engagement they are displaying with each other. When we are not running we have been playing hide and seek, with all of us taking turns to count and hide. Some of our friends are great at finding very interesting places to hide and keeping very quiet, others of us just enjoy playing together and will often hide in small, not so quiet groups, waiting to be found. There is lots of laughter and great interactions and fun as we play together.

Drama Toolbox – Minibeasts. There are a few highlights during this term and Drama toolbox is certainly one of them. Mikaela invites the children to visit her garden and then gives them the opportunity to become some of those insects. During the interactive performance, Mikaela describes each of the insects and the children are able to engage in the wonderful world of

Minibeasts as they dress up and play in Mikaela's Garden. The incursion provides the children with the opportunity to interact with each other, dress up and take on the role of an insect in the backyard. It is exciting and fun and most children were willing to be a part of the session. Our journal will have more detail and photos so please take the time to have a look.

Healthy lunch boxes for children. Please remember we are encouraging healthy eating and drinking habits throughout our routines. Please provide your child with two or three healthy items to choose from in their named snack box. Cheese, yoghurt, fruit, vegetables, a small


sandwich or wrap are a good place to start. The healthier the food items, the more sustained the children will be as they participate in the session. Children do not require their own drink bottle at kinder, as we provide them with water to drink and teach them the skills of pouring it themselves. Parent / Teacher Conversations. Thank you to our families who came to see me; I find it valuable to share our observations and stories about your child with you and set goals for them for the coming terms. Please know if we need to discuss more we can always make another time to meet up and chat - just email or call to and we will arrange this. There has been a small hold up with getting the strength and goal reports out to you but they should be out this week. Thank you for your patience. This half of the year gets very busy for the children with lots of exciting new experiences to participate in and learn about. We are looking forward to sharing them with you either in the newsletter or in our journal. Let the adventures continue... Kim, Amelia & Betty. SPECIAL EVENTS for JACARANDA & WILLOW GROUPS...... Dove Puppets: Jacaranda Group 8th September & Wil low Group 9th September: Teddy Bears Picnic: Wil low Group Wednesday 16th September & Jacaranda Group 18th September. More details on these and other special occasions as the term begins.


Preparations for Father's Day and Father's night have begun and we will be very busy over the next few weeks creating wonders for our Dads. Dad's keep this date free for a night of fun, laughter and play.

Willow Group Monday 31st August 6:00pm – 7:30pm Jacaranda Group Tuesday 1st September 6:00pm - 7:30pm

Invitations will go home shortly for this fun night.

Photo Day

The children will be having their kinder photos taken:

Willow Group: Wednesday August 19th Jacaranda Group: Friday August 21st

Reminders:

l Our weather has turned colder so please ensure that your child has a coat / jacket to put on for outside play. Even when raining we will often go outside under the deck for a play.

• Toilet Training: Some of our young friends are still in the process of being toilet trained. To help us better assist your child, please let us know at what stage they are up to so that we can follow consistent patterns at kinder and encourage your child's development in this area.

• Remember to change over your child's spare clothes to suit the cooler

weather. Please include socks and underwear.

• I l lnesses Along with colder weather often come the bugs and viruses that make us unwell. We would appreciate your consideration for others - if your child is sick, please keep them home unti l they are well. If your child does come to kinder and appears unwell we wil l r ing you to come and take them home.


Developmental Considerations in relation to readiness for a Four Year Old

Kinder Program (Social, Emotional, Physical, Language, Cognitive)

As children begin four year old kinder, they are usually beginning to:

u Interact in different social situations. u Play / work co-operatively with others. u Show awareness of waiting, sharing & taking turns, u Respond appropriately to rules, routines & limit setting. u Separate comfortably from parents. u Learn about developing self control. u Show comfort with the support of an understanding adult. u Increase their confidence to move between play spaces. u Show evidence of making own choices & decisions. u Develop independence with toileting & dressing u Take some responsibility for own belongings. u Develop physical skills such as jumping, hopping, throwing & catching a ball, running, climbing,

balance, beginning to use scissors & drawing implements and block building. There may be times when you or the Kindergarten Teacher, based on professional Early Childhood Education knowledge and experience, may discuss the option of a second year of three year old kinder as being what could be best for your child. Some benefits of a second year in three year old kinder can be:

u Time to mature developmentally (e.g. language, social, emotional, motor and cognitive development)

u Increased confidence in social situations. u More able to manage peer group expectations, conflicts and frustrations. u Most optimal time in your child's life to give them time to mature without being rushed to

develop. u More mature and confident to deal with future transitions such as Primary and Secondary school.

(Adapted from WPSA: “When is my child ready to attend kindergarten or school”)


“The Happy Kindergarten”

Dear Parents,

We value your feedback and suggestions about our Pre-‐School and our programs. If you would like to share your thoughts, suggestions, ideas or comments about Rangeview Pre-‐School, please use this form and place it into the feedback / suggestion box in the foyer or pass to a staff member. You are also welcome to email your feedback to: [email protected]

Do you have any comments or suggestions for the program?

Are there any particular experiences you or your child would like included in the program?

Do you have any comments or suggestions for the Committee of Management?

Rangeview Pre-School Association Incorporated

3 Rupert Street, Mitcham, VIC, 3132

Phone: 9874 5874 Fax: 9874 5949 Assoc. Inc. A 0006307 C ABN: 30 637 377 107

[email protected] www.rangeviewpreschool.vic.edu.au

rr july 2015 - rangeview high...

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