News For May 2020 

Hello to all of our families and friends.

May is here already and we have started to feel a bit of chill in the air, especially in the early mornings and late afternoons. It has definitely been "fresh".

The lovely day weather has provided us some excellent fresh air time outdoors and we have seen many of the programs being run outside. We have even had some very successful rest times in the outdoors as well. This is becoming popular with the children and we intend to continue with this in our curriculum. There are many benefits to napping outdoors. Research has show that this can increase resistance to germs and illness, improve the immune system and helps increase focus and concentration in children. 

With the colder weather coming in we request that you please send in some warm clothes for your little ones. Jumpers and shoes and socks are really required in the mornings and afternoons now. You may also see a change in morning and afternoon routines as the colder weather kicks in where children will be inside a little earlier and later than in the summer months.


We are seeing most of our children returning to the centre due to an ease in Covid-19 restrictions and we are excited to welcome those back who we have been missing over the past weeks. It is important to note though, that all of our Covid-19 health and safety practices are still in place within the centre. These include but are not limited to 

  1.  Hand sanitising upon entry and exit.
  2.  Effective handwashing , covering coughs and sneezes correctly.
  3.  Social distancing measures between adults.
  4. Only staying for a short amount of time when dropping off and collecting your children.
  5. Only sending one person to drop off and collect children to minimise the number of people in the centre.
  6.  Keeping your children home when they are unwell. We do understand that it is coming into cold season however in the current climate we need to be vigilant. If your children show any signs of being unwell please keep them at home.

We would just like to note the following information issued by the Australian Health Principal Committee(AHPPC) on 25th May.
"AHPPC does not believe that the 'venue density rule' of no more than 1 person per 4sq metres is appropriate or practical in ECLC, nor is maintaining 1.5m between children. This extends to rooms, corridors and outdoor play areas. This advice applies to children interacting with other children and also to adults providing care or interacting with children in this environment".
 In accordance with the previous statement, the AHPPC recommends that unwell staff, children and visitors do not attend

We appreciate everyone's understanding and support during this time. We are still in the middle of this pandemic and we must be observant, cautious  and sensible with our practices and interactions. We are all in this together!


Staffing

Over the past months we have had a few staff away due to the Covid-19 pandemic. We will be seeing them return to the centre soon. In order to maintain the consistency and continuity of care within the rooms, Miss Gabby will be continuing on as the Lead Educator in the Senior Kindy room for the remainder of the year and Miss Pinky will continue working as the Toddler Assistant. Miss Gordana, Leyla and Deep will return as multi-aged educators within the centre. 

We would also like to welcome Miss Paige and Miss Anastasia to our Cannon Hill team. Both of our new team mates will take on the role of Assistant Educators within the centre. 

It is with great sadness that we will be saying goodbye to Miss Jonabeth in the coming weeks. Her last day at the centre will be Tuesday 9th June. Jonabeth is moving to the Northside of Brisbane and we wish her all the best in her future endeavours. Her smiling face will be dearly missed at the centre.

Emergency Fee Relief Package

The governments emergency fee relief package is still running so there is no cost for care to parents for now. At this point the government are looking at bringing fees back in July however a certain date is not confirmed yet. We will inform families of any changes as soon as we find out.

In the meantime we would like to mention that even though there are no fees at the moment, we still reqire parents who are on 10 and 9 hour sessions to please stay within your times as we roster staff according to attendances. For example: if you are on a 10 hour early session you must drop off and collect your children between 6.15am and 4.15pm, a middle 10 hour session-vbetween 7.30am and 5.30pm and so on. 

All of our change of session and extra day policies are still in place. This means that if you are wishing to add an extra day to your bookings we still require you to complete a change of booking form two weeks in advance or contact the office for a additional one off day. We cannot just accept children on the day without prior knowledge as we roster to the number of children booked into the centre each day. 


Friendly Reminders  


Breakfast Policy: Please be reminded that we cannot serve breakfast after 7.30am. We have respectfully been reminding everyone of this over the past couple of months however we still have some children coming into the centre with breakfast after this time. All food will be put away after 7.30am and we kindly ask that parents do not put food out for their children after this time. We begin morning teas at @ 9am so if your child has not had breakfast by 7.30am please rest assured that they will be offered food at this time.

Behaviour: We have recently seen a few undesirable behaviours emerging in some of our older children which include a lot of rough play with others and toys. We have been redirecting and educating the children on appropriate behaviour towards each other, their educators and peoples property, however we also need your help at home. Could all parent please encourage your children to respect each other and their educators. Talking about how we treat one another, how we like others to treat us teaches the children to not only respect others but to self regulate their emotions as well. 

Food: In relation to food- As our centre provides food from 15 months onwards, we do not require parents to send in lunch boxes unless your child is in the nursery. The only food that needs to be sent into the centre is a healthy late afternoon snack if children are here after 5pm(non refrigerated please), breakfast (before 7.30am) and bottles if your child required them.



Recipe of the Month

 Mince Chow Mein

Ingredients:

500g lean mince

1 medium brown onion

1 tblsp curry powder

2 large carrots

1/4 head of cabbage

4 celery sticks chopped

1 cup jasmine rice

1 packet chicken noodle soup mix

2 tablsp soy sauce

150g frozen green beans


Method:

Lightly spray a large frypan with oil and heat over high. Add mince and onion and cook for 6-8 mins until mince has browned.

Add curry powder and cook, stirring for 1 minute. Add chopped carrot, cabbage, celery, rice , soup mix, soy sauce and 2 cups(500ml) water and bring to the boil.

reduce heat, cover and simmer for approx 20 mins, stiring regularly until water has absorbed and rice is tender. 

Add beans and cook for another 2 minutes

Serve.


Miss Amy is currently working on a couple of menu changes for over the winter period. we will announce these very soon.  If you have any suggestions for our menu please feel free to email them through to the office.



Until next month

Stay safe and healthy :)