From the office
Oh my goodness, I cannot believe that we're already half way through October. It's incredible how fast this year has run past us. But, fear not, there is still plenty more to do before this year is done. Firstly, all parents would have received by email our Re-enrolment form, this needs to be completed and returned to the centre. If you are not returning in 2019, please come and see me to complete a Termination form.
Communication and community involvement are key in establishing relationships with our families at Piptree Sunnybank Hills. Our information wall in the foyer provides a connection as events of interest are recorded on our monthly calendar. Our calendar of events is a source of excitement, as there is always something happening during each month. Whether it is an interactive musical or puppet show, visitors, special dress up days, there is always something going on. Take a moment to read it, offer suggestions as any contribution or idea are appreciated
Events coming up:
On the 26th of October is Day for Daniel. It's been 15 years since Daniel Morcombe was abducted. And still, in 2018, number of victims of child abuse is way too high. Though these statistics are getting better, thanks to a lot of hard work, there is still more work to be done! On Day for Daniel 2018, we are inviting all staff and children to wear red to stand in solidarity with the Morcombe family and all children who unfortunately become victims of child abuse.
On Monday, the 29th of October at 3pm is our grandparent's afternoon tea. The importance of grandparents can't be overstated. Second, behind parents, Grandma and Grandpa are often directly responsible for raising our children. So, here at Piptree Sunnybank Hills, we believe that it takes a village to raise a child. Grandparents deserve respect and celebration. So, all grandparents are invited to join us for some lovely snacks and good times. We would love some volunteers to share the stories with children about the times before face book, smart phones and internet.
Early next month, we will celebrate Indian Diwali with a show and also start conducting Parent teachers' interviews.
Keep smiling, Natasa
Rooms reports
Hi everyone,
It is nice to see the babies are growing so fast. We are providing safe, nurturing and interesting areas for our babies to explore, inside and outside. Jesse and Kye are gaining confidence in their walking. Ricky, Archer and Finley are crawling, pulling themselves up and walking while holding furniture. At the outside playground, babies are exploring push bikes, tunnels, tents and low-level climbing frames.
Last month, we welcomed three new babies (Arthur, Amos and Darcy) in the room. They are all settling well. Amos and Arthur are getting plenty of tummy time as they are positioned on the floor, strengthening their gross motor skills by pushing and kicking and reaching for an object. Darcy and Harley have already made some new friends.
It is getting warmer during the day time. Please pack some extra spare summer clothes in their bags. Please renew your sunscreen supply.
Until next time, Sancita and Annie
Hello all,
To start with we would like to welcome Andrej and Marcel into our room, they are adapting to the routine well and learning so much in such a short period of time.
We've seen our little sprouts grow and learn so much over these past months. To carry on our interest of fire fighters from last month, we have been focusing on doctors/ nurse. We played with some doctor sets and learn about how doctors can help us when we'd are sick or injured.
Another topic we re-focused on was our colours, doing daily activities with the same 4 primary colours allowed us to truly see how bright our little sprouts are. We often saw them using the colours when out in the playground, pointing to a certain this and connecting it to the correct colour. They transferred and adapted what they had learnt from one context to the next without any educator guidance, well done!
Over the next few months we will be focusing on some well-known children's books and basing our activities around them and of course the children's current and growing interests.
With the weather being so unpredictable at this time of year please remember to pack both a winter and summer change of clothes in your child's bag
See you next time
Lots of love Miss Melissa, Miss Zeljka and Sprouts 1 friends xoxo
Hello and welcome to our new children and their families to the sprout 2 room. They have settled very well and establishing relationships with their peers and started exploring the environments with eagerness and curiosity.
Currently the children are demonstrating interest in home corner, baby play, pretend role play like doctor, construction workers, fire fighters, … activities like these help them to develop range of skills such as curiosity, cooperation, creativity and learn about becoming socially responsible and show respect for the environment.
They also build strong interest in art activities in groups, as small and large group play helps them to build a sense of belonging and understanding of reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active participation. And by this they are able to use their fine motor skills, sharing skills and communication throughout the play.
We also have a group discussion and story time. These group discussions help them to learn together and cooperate with each other and express an opinion. We discuss about numbers, alphabets, colours and talk about their favourite books.
Discussion and activities help children to build awareness as well as support belonging in the world around them.
See you next time,
Isha and Htee
Hello and welcome to all the families that have joined us!
As the weather is becoming warmer, we are currently learning to toilet train. So far children who are toilet training are doing really well. If you feel that your child is ready to toilet train please feel free to speak to Ms Sharon and Ms Lorelle.
Whilst we have been learning about colours, letters, numbers and shapes during each group time, we are also focusing on experiences on the farm, learning about a variety of animals that live on the farm. Through communication children have been engaging on enjoyable interactions naming animals, the colours and sounds animal makes. We are extending children's interest from choosing foods from home corner area and communicating about what food farm animal makes and what they eat. Cows make milk and chicken's lays eggs....While playing outdoors each day, children have shown a lot of interests in practicing our fine, gross motor and balancing skills. This includes running races in the yard, obstacle courses and painting the fence with paint brushes, riding bikes, climbing the fort area and engaging in shared play experience taking turns on the swings.
We have also started looking at being responsible for our belongings such as hats, shoes and drink bottles, experiencing our self-help skills, placing our belongings away when we come into the room and practicing putting our socks and shoes on when we wake up from our rest.
We would like to thank you all for ensuring that you provide your child with a water bottle, hat and sheets each day. Just a reminder, please name your child's belongings to prevent them from getting lost.Please don't hesitate to ask any questions to Ms Sharon or Ms Lorelle.
Until next time,
Ms Sharon and Ms Lorelle
We would like to welcome our new friends Lucas, Yuxin and their families to join us in Blossoms1 room. I believe they will have a great time and will make great friends.
In these past few weeks, we learnt about family. We talked about our family members, and the jobs that each family members do. We talked about jobs in the community such as those involved in building/construction, those that make yummy foods - baker/Chef, and others like painter. We did different types of activities and art work.
This month we will continue to talk about jobs in the community and doing halloween activities in the classroom. We will continue to develop good behaviours and habits with the children.
Lastly, just a reminder to all parents to bring in family photos if you haven't already, and apply sunscreen on your children before dropping them off. If you have any question please feel free to talk to us.
Thank you and till next time!
Miss Nikki and Miss Briohny
Hello Blossom 2 Family!
I am now back from leave and ready to roll for the last few months of the year. During the past month, the class has focused on learning the alphabet in different contexts. Children have begun to trace the letters in their names and some have even written their names by themselves. It is great to see everyone take on the challenge to practice their names independently. To target everyone's learning styles, we set up different stations to learn about the alphabet in various contexts. For example, tracing letters in sand, using play dough to outline the letters, making art collage and singing songs. With all that learning, this month the favorite activity has been building jack's beanstalk based on the book. All children showed great teamwork to create their own tall beanstalk.
The class also celebrated some birthdays this month; Happy Birthday to Nathan, Natalie and Han-yu! Thank you for sharing yummy treats with everyone!
Next month, we will continue to develop more skills to prepare those children who are going to prep next year. We will focus on transitions, continue on our alphabet and other self-regulation skills.
A kind reminder to parents that in November there will be an opportunity for parent teacher meetings and a transition report will be provided for all children, who start prep in 2019 on their progress this year.
Until next time!
Miss Yu-mei and Miss Cindy
Kindergarten report
Poppies
Greetings from the kindergarten room!
It's coming! Christmas is coming! The children are already talking about Christmas and presents they would like to get from Santa. The shops are filled with Christmas decorations, a clear reality that yes, the year is coming to an end.
This is also evident in the kindergarten room as we witness how the children have grown holistically. We welcomed Anna, Angelnar and their families into the kindergarten family where they have settled in nicely following the kindergarten program and routines as they transitioned from another childcare centre.
We just love Spring! Flowers blossoming, spotting the odd butterfly, birds chirping, nature coming to life. This was an inspiring topic in the room with lots of creative expression through arts and crafts, rhymes and songs. Look at the amazing spring Muriel in the hallway the children worked on after discussions and collaborating what should go on our Muriel.
The children's emergent interests then lead to building; building houses for the animals, for their families, gathering wandering ants in the playground into containers and putting it back into nature. This led to our topic of habitats. Habitats of different animals; jungle, ocean, farm with supportive resources and educational tools.
Supporting our community; the children were aware of the strawberry dilemma the farmers faced and during group time we talked about how we can support the farmers. We baked strawberry cupcakes and made pikelets spread with strawberry jam. A delicious treat showing the farmers "we've got your back!"
It is very rewarding to observe how the children have grown into independent and confident learners with just a few needing a bit of encouragement and assurance. Lots of writing, spelling by putting letters together with a few reading sight words fluently. Working in small groups, co- and supportive learning amongst themselves. Confidence in asking for added resources to work towards their learning goals. These attributes are so important for their social and emotional competencies when they transition to prep next year as this is a focus point EVERYDAY in the kindergarten room alongside strategies we discuss if they should find themselves in a situation.
Soon, we will have parent/teacher interviews. A letter will be sent out and a time schedule roster will be available in the room closer to the time. Transition Statements will also be distributed and will form part of our discussions during the parent/teacher interview to discuss your child's learning or concerns you may have.
Summer is well and truly on our doorstep. Please make sure your child has sunscreen and a hat.
Lastly, communication is key to the wellbeing of not just your child, but to you as a parent, too. Please feel free to have a chat, call me or leave a message in the parent/teacher communication book on the back shelve if you have a concern or just want to know how your child is doing.
Cheers
Ms Tertia & Amanpreet