welcome to term 3, week 4 in the els - reddam … · welcome to term 3, week 4 in the els ......

Reddam House Early Learning School Newsletter Volume 3 Issue 4 Friday the 10th August 2012

IN THIS ISSUE : Welcome to Term 3, Week 4 Dates for your Diary Music News From the Rooms News From the Library Mighty Mites Dancearama We Shall Give Back

Welcome to Term 3, Week 4 in the ELS It often crosses my mind when held up in traffic or running late due to circumstances beyond my control to be accepting of this apparent intrusion in my plans. After the RTA workshop I attended this week on the topic of “Kids and Traffic” I now see the unquestionable merit in keeping a cool head when it comes to motor vehicles, roads and the safety of our children. My message this week is the phrases “information is power” and “err on the side of caution” are worth resonating with. I would like to share the key points from the RTA workshop with you. Together we must all be vigilant and aware in keeping children safe.

Road Safety Facts Road crashes are the leading cause of child accidental and preventable deaths. Three weeks ago a child sadly lost their life in Lindfield when a car backed out of a driveway. A child needs to be 145cm tall before they are able to wear an adult seatbelt properly. For more information

on the law in relation to child restraints visit the RTA website. (http://www.rta.nsw.gov.au/roadsafety/index.html)

Children cannot be independent road users till they over 9 years old. As adults we need to role model key road safety messages. Pedestrian: Children should always hold a grown-up’s hand when crossing a road. When a grown-up’s hand is not available, hold a pram, bag or clothes. Always cross the road with a grown-up. Passenger: Always buckle up your seatbelt. Seatbelts save lives. Always leave your seatbelt buckled up in the car and get in and out of the car curb side of the vehicle or what the RTA calls “the safety door.” Safe Play: Children should always ask a grown-up where it is safe for them to play. Always wear your helmet when riding your bike or wheeled toy. At Reddam House: Always ensure that once you have signed your child out you are focused on them and responsible for their care. When opening and closing gates and doors be sure to only let your own child through. Park and drive your motor vehicle with child safety as your number one priority around school. PLEASE HELP US KEEP ALL CHILDREN SAFE! Reddam House Open Day A reminder about our Open Day on Sunday 26th August from 10am to 2pm. This is a day to learn more about Reddam House. We extend an invitation to family and friends to visit Reddam on this day. Have a safe and relaxing weekend. Warm regards, Deanne Jacobs

Volume 3 Issue 4 Friday the 10th August 2012


Sunday 26th August ELS Open Day Friday 14th September Term 3 Ends Monday 17th September Vacation Care Commences Monday 1st October School Closed - Labour Day Monday 8th October Vacation Care Ends Tuesday 9th October Term 4 Commences Wednesday 7th November Vision Screening Service Thursday 8th November Vision Screening Service

Page 1 Deanne’s Message

Page 2 Music

Page 3 Exploring in Stage 1

Page 4 Our Feelings in Stage 2b

Page 5 Olympic Fever Hits Stage 2a

Page 6 Stage 2a Photo Display

Page 7 Puzzles with Stage 3

Page 8 Olympic Experience With Stage 4

Page 9 Stage 4 Photo Display

Page 10 News From the Library

Page 11 Mighty Mites

Page 12 Dancearama

Page 13 We Shall Give Back

CONTENTS

This week in Music we have been having fun playing different percussion instruments to the song ‘A Rig a Jig Jig’. The children get to choose an instrument to play and on the chorus of the song, march to the beat playing their chosen instrument. Here are the lyrics below:

As I was walking down the street, down the street, down the street, A fine musician I chanced to meet, High ho, high ho, high ho.

Chorus:

A rig a jig jig and away we go, way we go, way we go

A rig a jig jig and away we go, high ho, high ho, high ho! Caroline Taylor-Newling Music Teacher

Music


The children have been exploring the aesthetic table; listening to the ocean by holding shells to their ears, feeling the pinecones and smelling the potpourri. The sense of wonder that we are all born with, sensitivity to the look, feel and sounds of things, matters a great deal. If we try to look at things with children, if we value the moments when they stop and stare and wonder at the world, then we probably do more for their creative, aesthetic and artistic development than a host of specific art activities might ever do. Sometimes we simply need to slow down and look intently at things with children, the movement of creatures, the gleam of colours in a shell or in grains of sand trickling through fingers, of a favourite picture book. Taking time to stop and share, to touch and listen, to explore and make choices, is essential for our children’s creative, aesthetic and artistic development. During visual arts this week the children added on the canvas project by painting the canvas blue and then pasting sand to the canvas and mixing it with paint. Wilkie enjoyed discovering all the different patterns he could make with his fingers. Below, find the lyrics to one of our favourite songs: Slippery fish Slippery fish, slippery fish swimming through the water. Slippery fish, slippery fish…gulp, gulp, gulp! Oh no! He’s been eaten by a… Octopus, octopus swimming through the water. Octopus, octopus…gulp, gulp, gulp! Oh no! He’s been eaten by a… Great big shark, great big shark swimming through the water. Great big shark, great big shark…gulp, gulp, gulp! Oh no! He’s been eaten by a… Humongous whale, humongous whale spouting in the water. Humongous whale, humongous whale…gulp, gulp gulp! Burp!…Pardon me! Have a wonderful weekend with your precious children.

Stage 1 Team Petra Wright, Emma Vanos, Karla Cabezas, Bree Hipworth and Siobhan Brantes

Exploring in Stage 1


Our Feelings in Stage 2b

This week we have been talking a lot about our feelings. To support this subject we have been reading our new collection of books called ‘When I’m Feeling’ by Trace Moroney. We have three books from the collection: Angry, Sad and Happy. Everyday, after afternoon tea, we discuss our day and how we are feeling. Body Drawings We have started to create a new display wall in our room about our bodies. Leila and Joshua laid down on paper and we traced their body shapes, cut out the drawings and pinned them onto the wall. The next step was to create the outfits. To complete our display wall, the children made individual faces. Counting how many eyes, noses, ears and mouths we have on our face. After making the paper faces, the children expressed a happy or a sad face. Scissors in Action We have introduced scissors into the classroom. The children have been finding this activity quite challenging. We are going to practice every week so the children can develop their fine motor skills. Welcome Stage 2b would like to welcome Claudia Sandstrum, Georgia Walton and Hendrix Brown to our group. We can’t wait for you and your families to start this journey with us! Stage 2b Team Tatiana Botrel and Monika Ranjitkar


Olympic fever has taken hold of all of the children in the Stage 2a classroom. A new Olympic photo gallery has been put up on display for the children to study the photographs of a number of athletes competing in a variety of activities such as the high jump, long jump, diving, gymnastics, synchronized swimming, etc. During group time the children had the opportunity to watch some people running with the Olympic torch and the lighting the giant cauldron at the opening ceremony. We also discussed that the Olympics are being held in London, England and that this place is very far away. Boudi very proudly announced that she knew where London was and that you have to go on an airplane for a very long time to get there. James also told us that his aunty lived in England. A globe has been added to the Olympic gallery corner in the classroom so the children can look at Australia and see how far it is away from London.

Outdoors the children have been getting their bodies ready for the upcoming Stage 2a Olympic Games. They have been doing a variety of exercises to strengthen their muscles and to help them get fit such as star jumps, push ups, sit ups and stretches. They have also been engaging in lots of running races (even some crab races) to prepare themselves for the week ahead. During creative arts the children made their very own gold medals. They drew a big circle, painted it gold and then put lots of gold glitter on it to make it sparkle. Under the Sea The children were very excited by the arrival of a new friend to the classroom, a little goldfish! During group time the children discussed what we should call him. There were lots of suggestions and then the children finally decided that he should be called Goldie. The children had the opportunity to use the magnifying glasses to study Goldie at the table. They looked at his beautiful golden scales and his fins. They also know that they must be very careful with Goldie’s fish bowl because if he falls out then we will not be able to breathe. Another opportunity came our way when Spike the hermit crab passed away. We were able to put him into a container and to study his body a little closer without his shell. The children looked carefully through the magnifying glasses at his legs and his eyes. Most of the children agreed that he looked better with his shell on! Our favourite books this week has been ‘A Fish Out of Water’ by Dr. Seuss. This book talks about feeding a pet fish and being very careful not to over feed it or it will grow too big. Too big even for a swimming pool. So every morning when the children feed Goldie they have learned that they only need to give him a little bit of food so that he doesn’t grow too big for his bowl. Birthdays Oh my goodness we celebrated lots of birthdays. We would like to wish Benjamin Wanis, Parker Jordon-Booth, Ava Birchley-Sharp and Jamie Yeung a very happy third birthday! Ben’s mummy also put together a beautiful display of his birthday party photographs that Ben proudly talked about with his friends during group time. Stage 2a Team Anita Martin and Christina Mandalidis

Olympic Fever Hits Stage 2a


Stage 2a Photo Display


Term 3 has seen a shift in the children’s interest in their choice of activities as they practice, consolidate and challenge their own skills cognitively and socially. They have asked for and we have introduced more table and floor based games that have rules. These games require the children to follow directions and work either independently or as a team with turn taking skills and negotiation. While many games focus on winning, we use games that focus on children being successful participants. We have had Humpty Dumpty put back together again, Incy Wincy Spider climb up and fall down the spout and the snails (Snails Pace Race) slowly move their way along a path to their chosen leaf. They have been working with dice of colours or numbers and spinners with pointer arrows. The children have been pattern making with the Line Up (Connect 4) game. They have been working independently and together, setting the game up and organising who starts first and then taking turns alternatively until there are no more counters left and they start again. Our focus on transport has not been forgotten as we have introduced transport puzzles, a car domino game and transport counters that have been organised into trains, planes and automobiles. Mathematical language is always a part of our day. We use counting for how many children are in our group, numbers in rhymes and songs and concepts of quantity, size and shape. The children themselves often engage in mathematical conversations throughout the day. An example of this during lunch time is as follows; Nicola: “There are 4 girls.” Matty: “There are 6 boys.” Elijah: “There are 7 boys.” William: “There are more boys than girls.” Quotes from Early Years Learning Framework 2009:

Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work.

Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another.

Olympic Fever The children are showing lots of excitement in this great current event. We have established an Olympic wall and would love some more pictures to add to it. The children have been drawing the Olympic rings and adding them on to this display. Come and check it out in our room. Stage 3 Team Daniella Gosty, Melanie Elderton and Sonja Wiedenmaier

Puzzles with Stage 3


Interest based and relevant learning is an integral component in the planning of the Stage 4 programme, so with fingers and toes crossed provocations were thoughtfully positioned throughout the learning environment (over the past few weeks) in the hope that children would show an interest in the Olympic games. It was 42 days prior that we began counting down to day one of the London Olympic games. Images of the Olympic flag were strategically placed to initiate comment and conversation. The anticipation and excitement of the upcoming Olympics, while high amongst teachers in the lead up, were barely evident in the children.

To our delight many children had watched the Opening Ceremony and first day of competition over the weekend with their families. Children excitedly shared stories of watching the opening ceremony with their parents and about the different sports they had seen. What a wonderful opportunity to engage the children further in the mathematical strand of measurement. The questions were posed: “How far, how long…what length would the long jumpers jump? How fast… what time would the 100 metre sprint be run? How heavy is the shot put; what does it weigh? How high, what is the height that the pole-vaulters go into the air?” Many events in the Olympics are decided by time therefore providing a platform and extension to our work on time. This week we revisited the analogue clock, providing something concrete for the children to measure 30 seconds. Two people were nominated as ‘time-keepers’, with the important job of indicating when to go and stop after 30 seconds on the clock. In pairs the ‘competitors’ took turns to position themselves in the middle of the rectangle arena and threw a ‘ball’ to each other. The ‘spectators’, sitting on the edge of the rectangle arena, counted how many times the ‘ball’ was thrown and caught. The number of catches in 30 seconds was recorded for each team. A healthy form of competitiveness is to instill the idea of working towards one’s personal best (PB) rather than competing against others. With this in mind each team was provided a second opportunity to improve their first score. The ‘spectators’ responded respectfully by cheering and clapping in appreciation of the determination of each team. In addition to planned learning experiences this week, the children have been pro-active in creating their own Olympic scenarios in the playground. A few children have discussed, compromised and decided on an obstacle course for which they can ride a bike or run and record a time similar to that of an Olympic time trial. Other children have created a gymnastics area whereby stances similar to those they have watched on television have been mirrored. Olympic Memorabilia A very big thank you to Indiana’s mum Maddi, who visited Stage 4 on Wednesday afternoon to share with us memorabilia and her Olympic experience at the Sydney 2000 Olympic games. Maddi was fortunate to have run in the Olympic Torch Relay. It is always wonderful to have our families share with the children further insight into a topic they are interested in. The children and teacher’s knowledge was widened. As the London Olympics draw to a close and many teacher alarm clocks are reset to a reasonable morning wake-up time, we can be sure that children will have fond memories of their first ever Olympic games. Stage 4 Team Cheryl Freeman, Kelly Nance, Debbie Zerbst, Jane Pledger, Emma Woodward and Kristina Rocchi

Olympic Experience with Stage 4


Stage 4 Photo Display


There’s only two weeks to go before Children’s Book Week and the announcement of the winning books for this year. I am reading the nominated books to the ELS children over the next couple of weeks to gauge their interest and engagement with the books. This week I read ‘A Bus Called Heaven’ by Bob Graham to the Stage 4 children. A Bus Called Heaven has been nominated in the Picture Book category of the Book Week awards and promises to be a top contender for the win. This lovely story is about saving an abandoned bus, and speaks of the sense of belonging we can all find in our local communities when there’s a common goal. A sense of belonging features strongly in The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia which states: Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation [ELYF, p.26]. In this book, neighbours and friends all join together to turn this sad, dirty bus into a community centrepiece where they all can congregate and socialise. Yet saving the bus is not simple and our heroine, young Stella, decides to lead the way. Bob Graham’s illustrations are perfect for younger children as he uses bright colours yet clearly

depicts all the landmarks of a clustered city. Our Stage 4 children were mesmerised by this book

and they all loved the central character Stella who, although still a small child, made a difference.

Michelle Stanford Reddam House Librarian

News From the Library


Mighty Mites Week of 6th to 10th August Dear Parents, This week in Mighty Mites, The Stage 2’s:

Learnt about their ribs with the help of SkelyMite the skeleton.

Improved their roll and aim skills through a game of basic bowling!

Spoke about good hygiene, washing their hands before they eat, after going to the toilet and after

working in the garden. The Stage 3’s:

Learnt about their stomach and how it assists in digesting their food with the help of the “Magic

Body Book”.

Developed their roll and aim skills through a game of bowling.

Discussed the importance of fruit for their bodies. Today Mighty Mite made a fruit skewer shaped like a rocket ship! (see below) This week in Mighty Mites we went on an adventure to the farm! Not only did we stretch and move our bodies while picking our fruit and vegetable from the trees and ground but we also learnt about the origin of many of our favourite fruit and vegetables and the associated health benefits of each. They taste yummy too! For more information visit www.mightymites.com.au or call us on (02) 9460 1100.

http://www.mightymites.com.au/


Dancearama Week of 6th to 10 August Dear Parents, This week in Dancearama our focus was: The Surfer, Under the Water and The Incredible Hat. The Stage 2’s:

Discussed the effects of the sun and why it is important to use sunscreen.

Used a number of props including scarves to imagine they were surfing, using their bodies to

balance.

Created animals, noises and shapes from under the sea using their bodies, expressing

themselves through music and movement.

Used the beat of the ‘Crocodile Song’ to do some tap dancing.

The Stage 3 and 4’s:

Discussed what a fairytale is and gave examples.

Used a number of fairytales to create a story.

Used their voices to assist in the story.

Used their bodies to balance and follow direction.

Acted as characters from these stories using different mannerisms (Stage 4).

I understand that every child learns differently, so within each session I include all elements of learning.

(Visual, Auditory or Kinesthetic).

Well done everyone.

Miss Laura

For more information about Dancearama contact Laura on 0431136177 or [email protected].


Hello Everyone, My name is Sonja Wiedenmaier and I am a Stage 3 Teacher in the Early Learning School. I will be participating in the 40 hour Famine starting on 17th August to 19th August 2012. My aim is to support World Vision in their fight to stop hunger. At school we raise awareness in our children that helping each other and ‘sharing and caring’ is a good thing to do. We appreciate all the things we have in our life and learn to understand that there are children in the world that have a far more difficult life. As our school motto states ‘We Shall Give Back’, I am proud to be part of this opportunity and have set up a Donor Account to raise money for this wonderful cause. Please type in the URL below and follow the prompts if you wish to donate money and help me reach my goal of raising $1000.00. URL: http://40hf.com/SonjaW Thank you in advance. Sonja Weidenmaier

We Shall Give Back

welcome to term 3, week 4 in the els - reddam … · welcome to term 3, week 4 in the els ......

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