From the Office

​Welcome back to an exciting year packed full of fun and learning at Piptree Early Learning, Mount Gravatt East! Welcome also to our lovely new families and we hope you enjoy your time with us.  

Most of you may already know that Piptree Mt Gravatt East recently underwent a change in their management.   I am privileged to be the Centre Manager here and am very excited to work with all the educators on continuing to develop the curriculum so all of our children have the opportunity to engage in meaningful and fun learning.  

I have tried to ensure that I meet all of our lovely families, but If haven't had the chance to meet you yet, please feel free to stop in and say hello on your way in and out, it would be lovely to meet you!

It has been lovely taking the time to meet all your children, and I look forward to getting to know them better and see all the wonderful learning take place.  

Please familiarise yourselves with the notice boards outside of your child's room(s) as well as the notice boards in the foyer/entry as we will be using these as a method to display upcoming events and dates to remember.

Also, please remember to check your 'parent pockets' in your child's room for important information.

We are currently working on our calendar, and will have a list of fun and educational dates to remember within the next few weeks.   We will be starting this off by hosting our own baby chicks as we participate in the Henny Penny Program in March! Stay tuned, with heaps more to come.  

Our centre has just finalised photos for 2018, with all the children doing exceptionally well in showcasing off their beautiful big smiles.    Please see me if you have any queries, or if you'd like to order your child's photos and you haven't placed an order yet.  It's not too late!

You may have also noticed our new shipment of toys in the past month.  These have been distributed to all the rooms, as well as the playground.  All the children have loved exploring the new items and have been great with helping set up their environments!  

I look forward to continuing to work in partnership with our wonderful educators, as we aim for the best quality of care for your most valuable treasures.  

Nulla

Nula excited at her new clean office!

 Pips

The pips have been very busy this month, exploring all areas of the room! In the room we have toys easily accessible, allowing children to make choices about their daily activities. 

As some children have just began walking or are beginning to take their first steps, we have encouraged them to strengthen their gross motor skills to stand up holding onto furniture and continued their interests in using their physical abilities through climbing, balancing, crawling and running while playing outdoors by setting out wooden balance beams, large foam shapes, stepping logs and sensory items. 

Over the next few weeks we will continue our physical abilities attending to fine and gross motor skills providing children with the foundations for their growing independence and satisfaction of being able to do things for themselves. 

Until next time

Miss Lorelle and Miss Julie

Sprouts 

 "Ni hao"  - Hello from the Toddler 'Sprouts' room.  

Welcome!

Firstly we would like to welcome some cute little faces into our room - 'Ayham, Damon and Mason T.

We have enjoyed getting to know our new friends through actively engaging in meaningful play,. either in small groups or individually with one on one.  

Chinese New Year - "Happy New Year!"

The Sprouts children have enjoyed learning about and participating in various activities helping to celebrate Chinese New year.  They have achieved this through different resources, story books, dress ups, creating Chinese lanterns and role - play with multicultural dolls etc..   We look forward to continuing to expand our Chinese New Year learning area of play during the 2nd week of Chinese New Year.  

All About me sheets & Family/Pet Photos

If you have not already returned your child's all about me sheets, we would still love for you to participate.  Please ask one of your friendly educators for another copy if you require one.  

Also, please remember to bring in your family photo (x1) for our family tree and a photo of your pet(s).  The children have really enjoyed observing these, encouraging the children's emerging language with their own photos and also of their friends.  This activity also helps the children come together as a community to recognise their own identity.  

"Xia ci jian" - See you next time!

Miss Deb Deb, Miss Ro-Ro & all our wonderful little 'sprouts'

Buds

Hello to all of our Bud's friends and families. 

February has been fast and furious in our room. The children have shown great adaptability as they have faced many changes. 

Miss Na has been on an international holiday with family, and is due for return in early March. Miss Shahnaz and Miss Julie C have cared for the children in Miss Na's absence. 

My main focus has been the development of a trusting reciprocal relationship with the children and their families. I have delighted in this task.

We have explored and engaged in various cultural celebrations during February. We looked at Waitangi Day (NZ), celebrating the anniversary of the signing of a treaty between the British and the natives. We dabbled in some Valentine's Day artwork without celebrating the consumer aspects of the day. We read stories for Apology day, the 10th anniversary of the apology to the First Nations people of Australia.

We have immersed ourselves in Chinese New Year celebrations over the last fortnight. We have engaged in art through several mediums – finger-painting, stamping, tissue paper collage and water paint calligraphy. The highlight for the children was preparing, cooking and eating our Chinese dumplings.

Also the children have engaged in music and movement activities – a particular favourite for these children. We have extended our concentration spans and language skills through stories and rhyme. The children have enjoyed tactile and sensory exploration through the use of water play and dough. I have observed empathy and caring through the baby play with the dolls. The Buds have also enjoyed challenging their physical prowess on the new outdoor resources.

This has been an action-packed month. I have thoroughly enjoyed, and been honoured to work with your children.

Together in caring

Miss Julie C, Miss Shahnaz & Miss Nish

Blossoms 

A big warm "Hello" to the parents and carers of our precious Blossoms.

It has been wonderful to see all the blossom children settle into their new environment so well. They have quickly become familiar with the new routines, embracing new experiences and challenges they may face along the way.

Our ongoing commitment to develop meaningful relationships with all children and families is a continued focus for us. During the day we strive to have quality time with all children and value the conversations we have with parents and families during drop off and pick up times. As this can be a busy time, we are always happy to make ourselves available for a longer time to chat during the day.

I also want to welcome Miss Raisa to our room. Miss Raisa and Miss Bari will be working together caring for the Blossom children.  We send a big warm "thank you" to all of our parents for your valuable contribution to our program.  We appreciate your efforts and the wonderful ideas you have provided.

Please continue to work with us and contribute to our program through weekend sheets, show and tells, and sharing information with us that could be incorporated into our curriculum.  

To update you with what is happening in the blossoms room, we are working with the following priorities in mind:

Children are -

learning to practice self help and independence,

exercising creativity and making choices every day,

interacting co-operatively, sharing resources and taking turns,

Children are also learning to recognise their name by signing themselves in each morning on the new sign-in sheets.We would appreciate parents labelling the children's property with their name to further help them recognise their names and their belongings.

Ms Bwari & Ms Raisa

 Poppies 

 Dear Parents/Caregivers,

Nǐ Hǎo from the Poppies room. During this last month the children have been learning about the Indigenous and Torres Strait Island Culture and the Chinese culture. We would like to thank Miss Julie from our centre and Miss Hazel from Inclusion Support, who have provided knowledge about the Indigenous culture of Australia. Miss Renee comes from a Chinese cultural background and has been excited to share of her knowledge and understanding with the children.

Early Learning Languages Australia (ELLA)

On the 15th February, 2018, Miss Renee was provided with the opportunity to attend the Professional Workshop for educators and become familiar with the ELLA Program. We have started our ELLA program this year and will be learning to speak Mandarin. The program also encourages the learning of the Mandarin culture. ELLA is a fun and easy digital language program for preschool children. The program is an Australian Government initiative aimed at encouraging more students to study language.

If you have any questions about the program and how it is integrated into your child's learning, please feel free to see Miss Renee and I will be more than happy to help you.

Welcome

We would like to welcome Billy and Cameron to the Poppies room. These children have been made to feel welcome as return children to the centre, becoming familiar with some new educators and new children. We look forward to sharing of your interests with the other children. Please let us know what you would like to do, so we can include this in our Preschool program.

Reminder about Children's Belongings

When coming into the Poppies room we ask that your child has their items clearly labelled, this assists the child and their educators to keep track and have the items returned to you at the end of the day.

These items would include:

  • Bag to place their belongings
  • A drink bottle
  • Their lunch
  • A hat to also cover the back of their necks.
  • Shoes
  • Changes of clothes appropriate to the season weather.
  • Sheet set and sheet bag.

Parent Pockets

Could you please check your parent pockets on a regular basis, as we place information in them to keep you up to-date of items happening in the centre and in the Poppies room.

Lunch boxes

We have children in the centre with severe allergic reactions to NUTS in the Poppies room. Could you please help us to keep all the children safe in our room and ensure that all foods have no nuts in them. There are also other allergies to eggs and kiwi fruit.

Parent Information Night:

I would like to thank the parents and children who attended our Parent Information Night that was held on the 15th February, 2018. This assisted parents to gain an understanding of how the Queensland Kindergarten Guidelines is linked to the National Quality Standards and the Early Years Learning Framework. Guidance was provided to how Miss Renee made observations and assessed the development and learning of the children. If you missed this information session and feel you have any concerns about your child. Please feel free to see Miss Renee.

Literacy and Numeracy in the Early Years

The children have been engaged in learning phonic songs connecting letter recognition to sound recognition during our group times. We later explore this while they find their name cards and practice tracing over the letters to their own name, making it personally meaningful to the individual child in the Poppies room.

During the preschool year "The kindergarten program focuses on building your child's confidence and interest in early literacy and numeracy. This can include: • drawing and 'playing' with ideas about writing • talking about letters that interest them, and watching and listening as adults write and talk about what they are doing • listening to and talking about ideas in books • counting and measuring for real purposes, e.g. when cooking, sharing toys or playing games • exploring patterns in their environment. Your child will learn more about letters and sounds, numbers and other mathematical ideas in Prep". (The Queensland kindergarten learning guideline and my child, (2014) brochure downloaded from, https://www.qcaa.qld.edu.au/kindergarten/modules/module-1/examine on 1 February, 2018)

We prepare children for handwriting by focusing on pre-writing skills and then extend on their interest as their disposition and manipulative skills develop.

These are some ways we develop physical skills for handwriting.The development is promoted through finger painting, water play, sand play, play dough, rice play, gloop, cooking, cornflour and water, cutting play dough with scissors, using manipulative skills through art and craft.

Through professional dialogue the subject of handwriting was raised and explored. The feedback provided indicated that when a child is taught to write and have developed incorrect handwriting processes, it takes teachers in the school 80 times to re-correct the child's handwriting and how the letters are formed.

If you have any questions about handwriting and letter and numeracy skills in the Poppies room, please feel free to see Miss Renee, I would be more than happy to share my knowledge and understanding of this.

Thank you again, for the time you give to catch up with Miss Renee or Miss Belinda on a daily basis as we share your child's learning and development in the Poppies room.

Cheers,

Ms Renee & Ms Belinda