News for June
Its mid year and we are all adjusting to a somewhat altered way of pandemic life. Our centre is buzzing with the sound of happy and busy children. We are welcoming new families into the centre and our Cannon Hill family every week. We have also welcomed three new team members who are all settling in well and making a positive impression with children and staff. If you have not met Anastasia, Paige or Ellyse yet please feel free to approach them to say hi.
In other staffing news, we have recently said farewell to Miss Jonabeth who is now living on the northside of Brisbane.
We are also sad to inform everyone that Miss Gordana has resigned her position within the centre. Gordana has been with our centre for almost 12 years and will be missed here at Cannon Hill. She is currently on leave however will be back in the centre on Monday 6th July. Her last day will be Wednesday 8th July.
Health and Safety
As previously mentioned, we are still in the midst of a pandemic and therefore strict hygiene and safety policies need to be followed within the centre.
Children with coughs, rashes, thick snotty noses, coughs or are generally unwell need to be kept at home. If the children are dropped off with any illness symptoms staff will advise the child not be left at the centre. If your child develops symptoms of being unwell, the staff will be calling you to collect your child. We do understand that parents have work commitments however so do our staff and other families. The current government health advice is to "stay at home if you are unwell" so please follow this.
We would also encourage parents who are unwell to not come through the centre. Please let Kelly, Sarah or the staff on duty know and we can assist in bringing your child through to their room and dropping them out to you in the foyer if you are unwell. We have already done this for a few families. We are always here to lend a hand :)
A friendly reminder also to limit the number of people coming through the centre to drop off and collect. If you can limit this to one person then that will reduce the traffic through the centre.
And lastly...Don't forget to sanitise upon entry and exit!
Sleep and Rest
We would like to take some time to talk about children's rest period.
Young children require rest periods throughout the day in order for them to revitalise their energy levels. Young children who are in long day care, physically need rest throughout the day otherwise they are tired and irritable by early afternoons which leads to a very emotional and stressful playtime for them. When children are tired, they find it difficult to concentrate, share, empathise with others, cooperate, follow direction and understand instructions. This leads to incidences, accidents, arguments and tears.
Our main priority at the centre is to educate and care for the children. This means we have a duty of care to provide for their basic needs, one of which is sleep and rest. For our older children who are preparing for school we provide experiences for them to quietly partake in after they have had a rest for about 20 minutes/half an hour(sleep is not required, just quiet resting listening to music or a story). If your child falls asleep though we need to allow them to rest and support this basic need. Our younger children are always exhausted by lunch time and need their rest and sleep period. Children are a lot happier in the afternoons after they have rested.
Our environment is also different to the home . There are so many things going on in the centre at one time, so much stimuli and interaction with many peers and educators. Children will become tired quicker and easier than in the home where they may be interacting with 3-5 people on average and the environment is calmer.
Regulation 81 of the Education and Care Services National regulations states that we need to "take reasonable steps to ensure the needs for sleep and rest of children being educated and cared for by the service are met, having regard to ages, developmental stages and individual needs of the children"
Some of our families have expressed difficulties in putting children to bed at night if they have a sleep throughout the day. Day naps shouldn't really affect night sleep and bedtimes so we would like to offer some information to assist with this through the below links. Most of this information discusses routines, sleep requirements and preparation for bedtime.
https://raisingchildren.net.au/toddlers/sleep/understanding-sleep/toddler-sleep
https://www.boystown.org/parenting/article/Pages/getting-kids-to-sleep-using-a-bedtime-routine.aspx
https://www.boystown.org/parenting/article/Pages/when-bedtime-is-a-nightmare.aspx
https://www.verywellfamily.com/bedtime-hacks-for-perschoolers-4067065
Upcoming events
| Date | Event |
| July 17th | National Pyjama Day-come along in your PJs for the day |
| July 20th-July24th | Parent Teacher Interviews-(Covid-19 safety plans will apply) |
| July 31st | School Tree Day |
Due to Covid-19 our events calendar has changed. Although early learning centres and schools have been deemed as safe places we are still limiting the number of outside people throughout the centre at one time, so our gathering events such as Trivia Night and Centre Disco will rely on future easing of restrictions and advice from the government.
Child Care Subsidy
CCS will return on 13th July. Can all parents please ensure you have updated your details in your mygov account and that your CCS enrolment is still current. You will need to update your income estimate and ensure immunisations and child details are up to date.
Our payment of fees will commence again week beginning 6th July as per our week in advance fee policy so please ensure all of your billing and account details are up to date. If you are a new parent, please ensure you have registered for child care subsidy. If you have not registered or your enrolment is not current with CCS then you will be charged full fees from the centre.
Friendly Reminders
We ask that parents please name all of their children items and take note of what your children are wearing in the morning. While we try to avoid lost items and educate the children on caring for their own items, it is not always possible for educators to note the clothes that all of the children are wearing. We do try as hard as we can to keep track of children's belongings but it helps us alot more if they are named.
Safe lifting and staff health is very important in the centre. You will notice that in the Toddlers and Junior Kindy change areas there are steps for children to climb onto the change tables. This is to avoid staff straining their back or injuring themselves lifting children. The children use these very well and they are a part of the nappy change routine. The same concept applies to staff out in the yards and rooms. Carrying children older than nursery can be strenuous and especially if the child is resisting drop off or being moved. We definitely respect that parents may want to carry their older children into the centre however staff will either sit down with the child or take them by the hand rather than carry them. If all parents could assist in this we would be very grateful.
Recipe of the month
Vegetarian Fried Rice
Ingredients:
1 cup long grain rice
2 cups frozen vegetables
2 tablespoons soy sauce(add more or less for taste)
3 sprigs of spring onions chopped
1 can corn kernels
Vegetable or olive oil
salt
Method:
Cook rice the day before and, cover with cling wrap and cool in the fridge.
place a tablespoon of oil in a pan and heat
Place mixed vegetables in pan and fry until soft
Add corn kernels and spring onions and fry.
Add the rice into pan and stir continuously to avoid sticking. Fry for approx 10 minutes.
Add soy sauce to the rice about 15 mins before serving.
Add salt or extra soy sauce to taste