ELC Communication Notes
Term 2, Week 5
Important dates
Wednesday - Library Day
15 June - ELC Photo Day
24 June - Mini Athletics Carnival
General reminders
We have a number of children in our ELC that have severe allergies (anaphylactic) to nuts and eggs and for this reason we request that no food items containing nuts and eggs are included in your child's lunchbox. Please be aware of this when packing your child's food for the day.
Quality Improvement Plan review
We will be sending out a survey to seek your feedback on our Quality Improvement Plan. This plan captures all areas of operations of the centre including children's health and safety, our program and our partnerships with the community. Your feedback on this survey will be used to compile our Quality Improvement Plan over the next 12 months and help identify any areas for improvement.
Upcoming excursions
In response to some of the projects happening across the centre, some of the rooms will be venturing out on an excursion in the coming weeks. The Burudyara room is considering an excursion to Riverstone library as part of the exploration of countries. The Mao Chong room will be heading to the Museum in the city to look at all the dinosaurs as part of their current project. The children in the Kamala room are starting to plan an excursion to Sydney Aquarium to extend on their learning about sea creatures. Permission notes and Risk Assessments will be available for families to view and complete prior to the excursion.
Fundamental Movement Skills
The children have been working on the skills of throwing and catching over the past couple of weeks and their abilities in this area also help to inform their Semester One report. We will continue to work on these skills as well as refining their techniques in other movements.
Car park safety
A reminder to all families about safety in our car park and driving through this area at minimal speed. Please hold your child's hand while walking through the car park and not let your child run ahead of you. The drop off and pick up times can become busy so please be patient as you wait for a space to become vacant. The gate on McCulloch Street is locked between 9:30am and 2:30pm which will help inform the best place to park depending on your arrival time.
Term 2, Week 3
Important dates
Wednesday - Library day. Don't forget to pack a cloth bag clearly labelled with your child's name so they cab borrow a book from the Library.
General reminders
With the cooler weather in the mornings it is important to make sure that your child is still dressed in the school uniform. Jackets, jumpers and long pants are available from the uniform shop and are delivered to the ELC for your convenience. Long sleeve white tops are acceptable under the polo shirt however stockings or leggings under shorts are not acceptable. Please also ensure that your child has the school hat and that everything is labelled so that it can be returned to you if lost or misplaced.
BPL disposition - Perseverance
Our focus BPL disposition for this term is perseverance. Our team of educators have been teaching the children what perseverance means and have been providing experiences which promote perseverance. Our news time for this term is centred around perseverance in which families are provided with a perseverance challenge along with a Percy the Persevering Parrot puppet to help them with this challenge. There is a scrap book to record your challenge and post some photos of how your family went with the challenge. We look forward to seeing how children develop their perseverance this term.
Prep Room Learning
The children in the Prep room have started their new projects for this term including an investigation into the Arts, learning about small creatures in the garden and continuing with discovering different countries around the world. Please check your child's Storypark posts to see what your child has been learning about so far this term.
Preschool Room Learning
The children in the Preschool rooms have started new projects for the term including a classic project on dinosaurs and sea creatures. We have already started to see some amazing creations come from these projects and new words added to our vocabulary.
Munch and Move - Fundamental Movement Skills
Each fortnight our educators focus on a new Fundamental Movement Skills as part of our outdoor program. Our focus skill is on display in the foyer and shared on Storypark. We have been working on catching and running over the past few weeks and ensuring children have the correct technique with these skills. Depending on how children are developing with these skills will determine if we revisit a particular skill. This is often the case for skipping and hopping as this can be a hard skill for children to master.
Devotions - Fruits of the Spirit
Each of our rooms are focusing on the fruit of the spirit and discussing how we can grow more in this character. It has been wonderful to hear the children list the fruit of the spirit as well as using this knowledge in their play.
Term 1, Week 7
General reminders
Wednesday - Library day
Upcoming events
Meet and Greet is on Monday 21st March at the ELC from 9 - 10am. This is a wonderful opportunity to meet with other families, to chat with your child's educators and to see what learning experiences your child has been involved in. There is no need to rsvp for this event. Light refreshments will be available in each of the rooms. We look forward to seeing families at this annual event.
SPM's are coming up on Tuesday 29 and Wednesday 30 March. For those families that are new to the College, SPM's are Student Progress Meetings. These meetings are a formal opportunity for parents to meet with their child's educator to discuss how their child has settled in for the start of the year and discuss their progress in learning and development. SPM appointments can be booked online by clicking here or by using the SPM tile on the College App.
Uniform
A reminder to all families of the requirement for children to be in uniform when attending ELC. As the weather starts to become cooler in the morning it might be time to order a jacket or jumper and some long pants for your child. Wearing leggings or tights under the school shorts is not acceptable. If your child would like to wear a long sleeve top under their school shirt, a white long sleeve top is acceptable. Please do not dress your child in a black long sleeve top or any other colour. A reminder as well to label all of your child's uniform items so that they can be returned to you if they become lost during the day.
Term 1, Week 3
General reminders
Wednesday - Library Day
Learning across the rooms
Mao Chong - Preschool room
The children in the Mao Chong have been learning about all kinds of animals. The children have been investigating farm animals, sea creatures, jungle animals, bugs and insects. The children have shared their favourite animals and have enjoyed creating animals at the craft table. News time has started with the children bringing in five fun facts about themselves as we get to know each other a bit better. During Devotions time the children have been exploring the story of Noah and the story of Creation. This is going to be an exciting term for the children as they continue to grow their friendships.
Kamala - Preschool room
The children in the Kamala room start each day by sharing how they are feeling by indicating this using some images on the wall including happy, sad, tired, unwell, excited and calm. This exercise helps children identify their feelings and emotions as well as start to develop empathy for those who may be feeling sad. The children have been exploring more about colours, identifying colours and new colours that are made by mixing them together. They have also used different fruit and vegetables as a way of reinforcing their knowledge of colours. During Munch and Move time the children have been practicing their jumping skills, by using their arms to propel their bodies and by landing with two feet together.
Mariposa - Prep room
The children in the Mariposa room have been learning about how to have a healthy and strong body. This has been reinforced as the children learn about healthy eating and have set up lots of restaurants and cafes in their room. This learning will be extended in the coming weeks as Healthy Harold comes to the ELC to talk to the children about being healthy and staying physically active. DIGGER time has started for the children as they move between the three Prep rooms to engage in phonics, language and comprehension development as well as exploratory play which builds on the BPL dispositions for the term.
Burudyara - Prep room
The children in the Burudyara room have been investigating the different countries of the world represented by children in the room. So far the children have been exploring Australia, China and India and will be continuing this project by discovering more about Sri Lanka, Zimbabwe and Indonesia. It has been fantastic to see all the learning happening with this project and understanding more about different cultures. In Devotions time, the educators have been sharing with the children about who God is and in the coming weeks they will be learning about the story of Creation.
Papillon - Prep room
The children in the Papillon room have been learning about all things construction including construction vehicles and all sorts of tools used in construction. This has also resulted in the children designing their own home complete with bedrooms, a backyard pool and garden. This has been a fantastic way to extend their imagination and collaborating skills as they work together on this project. In news time, the children have been sharing five fun facts about themselves which has been a great opportunity to learn more about the new children in the class.