dee’s message - reddam householidays in china. as part of our group times, we introduced the...

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER 1

Dee’s Message Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Ours is a diverse and wonderful world, with

fascinating cultures and even more

fascinating people with whom we interact

daily. Our country is truly a melting pot of

nations and over the past couple of weeks,

the children in the ELS have been able to

explore some of the interesting facets of two

of these cultures.

Firstly, we celebrated Chinese New Year and

the children learned all sorts of interesting

facts about the event. But more than that,

what they learned was transferred into a

creative demonstration of the New Year

celebrations. From their creation of

exploding fireworks, as brightly coloured

paints were flicked across their papers, to

giant dragons which danced their way

around the classroom, there were all sorts of

ways to have fun while learning about the

Chinese New Year.

In addition, Stage 3 had the opportunity to

take part in a tradition of giving and

receiving red envelopes. They tucked a gold

coin inside their envelope,

sealed it up and gave it to a friend who took

it with two hands. Stories were read

and ideas explored, all of which

combined to make it a memorable time of

learning.

But the learning about another culture

was not over, and this week we all had

great fun celebrating Purim, on Wednesday and Thursday. This festival

commemorates how Queen Esther saved

the Jewish people from Haman‟s evil plot

to kill them. It is a joyous festival

celebrated by listening to the Megillat

Esther, dressing up in fancy dress, eating

hamentashen, and giving out

mishloach manot. Thank you to

Rabbi Mendel Kastel for providing the

delicious hamentashen to all our children

and for your valuable time on Wednesday

and Thursday.

Once again, it was a joyous and

sensory experience for the children –

and the teachers. It is always fun for

children to dress up and this occasion was

no different, with a wide variety of all

sorts of interesting costumes.

2 MARCH 2018


They took great delight in admiring the

clothes which their friends were wearing,

while at the same time proudly showing

off their own costumes. The taste buds

were also treated with some tasty

hamentashen, while some classes even

perfected some exuberant dances!

Rather than confining discussions about

diversity to allocated time slots on the

term‟s teaching calendar, these two

festivals provided ideal „teachable

moments‟, in which to explore the joyous

festivals of two cultures. Through

immersing the children in such activities it

is hoped that they will not only learn

information about other people but also

develop understanding and a

fascination to learn more about those

who hold different beliefs to theirs. By

learning acceptance and tolerance –

and even a fun-filled immersion in the

celebrations which others enjoy – we

hope that these children continue to be

as accepting of diversity as they currently

are.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dee Pitcairn

Principal

Dee’s Message


The Nest We are going on a bear hunt... Tatiana Botrel , Priscilla Corazza & Rachael Soegiono

This week the children engaged with

the book written by Michael Rosen “We

are going on a bear hunt”. Through this

book, the children were exposed to

different experiences to explore a

variety of textures and activities.

Uh-uh, Grass...

The children helped the teachers to

collect leaves and sticks from the

playground, placing them in a basket.

Back in the classroom, the children

used these resources in the Mini Art

Atelier, scrunching the leaves and

building with the sticks.

Uh-uh, a river...

We enjoyed the warm weather by

playing with water, we filled the sensory

tub with a small amount of water. The

children enjoyed splashing the water

everywhere. In the Mini Art Atelier, the

children used bubble wrap paper and

the blue and white colours of paint to

create their river inspired artwork.

Uh-uh, mud...

The children enjoyed the outdoor play

by going on an adventure to the mud

ponds around the trees. Shoes were off

so the children could feel the wet

texture of the mud on their feet. They

were also encouraged to touch the

mud, “squelching, squelching”

everywhere!

This week we also embraced diversity in

The Nest, and we all celebrated Purim,

dressing in fancy clothes or costumes.

The children enjoyed this celebration,

and we enjoyed this opportunity to

show our best dance moves on the

Nest dance floor.

Outcome 2: Children are connected

with and contribute to their world.

Children respond to diversity with

respect.

Outcome 4: Children are confident and

involved learners. Children resource

their own learning through connecting

with people, place, technologies and

natural and processed materials.

Early Years Learning Framework, 2009


The Nest Photo Gallery


Nest Photo Gallery


“Early childhood is a crucial period for the

physical and cognitive development of

children. It is critical for young children to

interact with their natural environment

both to develop a positive regard for the

environment and to flourish as healthy

individuals” (Wilson 1996)

Playing outdoors is important for

developing capacities for creativity,

symbolic play, problem solving and

intellectual development. Outdoor play

has clear physical benefits for developing

children including helping children to

acquire gross motor skills, eye-hand

coordination and helping to prevent

obesity. Sensory stimulation derived from

interacting with natural environments

allows children to learn with all of their

senses. These senses include seeing,

hearing, touching and smelling.

The children‟s recent interest in natural

objects has allowed them to seek further

knowledge through exploring their

outdoor environment. In our garden many

of the Fledglings collected and gathered

some natural materials. The children had

the opportunity to feel the many textures,

all while having the natural outdoor scent.

The natural parts could be used any way

the children choose and adapted and

manipulated in many ways, encouraging

open ended learning and supporting

imagination.

Using our natural objects such as leaves,

flowers and sticks, we created our own

natural paintbrushes, bringing our

outdoors inside and getting creative at

the Mini Atelier.

Learning Outcome 1.4: Children learn to

interact in relation to others with care,

empathy and respect.

Learning Outcome 2.4: Children become

socially responsible and show respect for

their environment.

Learning Outcome 4.3: Children transfer

and adapt what they have learned from

one context to another.

Learning Outcome 5.1: Children interact

verbally and non-verbally with others for a

range of purposes.

Fledglings Inspired by Nature... By Hannah McCooey, Shirley Brockwell and Jane Teh


Fledglings Photo Gallery


Over the past few weeks, the activities in

the Kookaburra class have all been

about Chinese New Year

celebrations. Chinese New Year is one of

the most important traditional holidays in

China. The day is celebrated on the first

day of the first month according to the

Chinese calendar and is also known

as Lunar New Year. The day is all about

centuries-old customs and traditions and

is one of the most popular public

holidays in China.

As part of our group times, we

introduced the children to the Chinese

Lion puppet used to perform traditional

Chinese Dances for good luck. A book

called “Lanterns and Firecrackers”

assisted the children in understanding

how to celebrate the occasion.

What we have learned about Chinese

New Year:

You clean your house, put on new

clothes, give red envelopes for good luck

and celebrate with fireworks and a big

party with food.

The Lions and Dragons dance in the

streets to help celebrate and to bring

good luck to everyone.

Each year has a special animal, 2018 is

the Year of the Dog.

In Stage 2 we were all born in the year of

the Goat, Horse or Monkey.

To help celebrate and to scare away

any bad luck, we have made a fireworks

display! POP, POP, POP… This was a

collaborative work with the Kookaburra

class using runny paint colours and

brushes to flick onto the paper, which

created a firework display effect. They

also watched a fireworks video.

We worked collaboratively with the Tree

Frogs on a making a large dragon to

dance and prance. The body was

collaged and the head painted and

then we performed the dance wearing

the costume.

See the Lion dance and prance

Dance and prance, dance and prance,

See the Lion dance and prance,

On Chinese New Year‟s Day.

(Hear the drums go boom, boom, boom,

Hear the cymbals clash, clash, clash,

See the fireworks go flash, flash, flash

See the children laugh and play, On

Chinese New Year‟s Day)

Purim Celebrations

On Wednesday and Thursday, we shared

the Jewish Celebration of Purim with

many of our friends in the class. We

dressed up in our favourite costumes,

made crowns to wear like Queen Esther

who triumphed over good over evil and

we made some

yummy hamentashen cookies that are

popular treats for the feast of Purim. We

read the story “Sammy Spider‟s First

Purim”.

Thank you to Samara‟s family and

Veronica‟s family for sharing this special

celebration with us.

Children respond to diversity with

respect, when they explore the culture,

heritage, background and traditions that

diversity presents.

(Outcome 2 - EYLF 2009)

Stage 2 Cultural Celebrations Daniella Gosty, Karla Cabezas, Shauna Corry, Min Pattharasiritanarat, Sarah Noone and Elizabeth Turner


Stage 2 Photo Gallery


Stage 3 Through my eyes... By Christina Mandalidis, Susan Casey, Jason Corrigan, Polina Rodov, Deanne Jacobs and Yuliya Ginis

The Provocation “Through My

Eyes” allows us to be curious about how

a child feels as they listen to their friends

and teachers, watch the myriad of

interactions, and take in the scents and

sounds that permeate the walls of the

Early Learning School. At school, there

are opportunities to negotiate with

others, whether about who the first is to

walk down the staircase, to who gets to

play with a desired object, or how to

respond when somebody does

something you don‟t like. One of the

tools we have been using this year to

support the social and emotional welling

of each child is the Kimochi

programme. This programme helps to

develop positive habits and good

communication skills.

Kimochi means “feelings” in Japanese

and there are five characters (Bug, Cat,

Cloud, Lovey Dove, and Huggtopus.)

Each of these toys has a specific

character that the children have been

hearing stories about and have been

getting to know. We call them our

Kimochi “friends” and it is fascinating to

watch the children as they engage with

these toys. There are challenges which

the Kimochis are faced with that the

children can relate to, for example,

Cloud is a bit unpredictable. One day he

is happy, the next day he is angry, and

the next day - who knows - maybe sad or

even happy again. The unique thing

about Cloud is that his head rotates,

indicating either a happy or a sad

face. Bug is thoughtful and is extremely

cautious. He is really smart, a skilled

conversationalist and is known to talk

himself and the others out of any given

situation because he likes to examine all

sides. This can sometimes confuse the

Kimochis and make them forget what

they were trying to

accomplish. Huggtopus is all smiles and

hugs. She is very affectionate and strong

and sometimes gets a little carried away

by her big friendly

personality. Huggtopus doesn‟t know her

own strength and can sometimes be a

little overbearing. She always means well

but has to learn about respecting others‟

boundaries. Cat knows what she wants

when she wants it, and why. Cat can be

very persuasive. When she makes up her

mind there is no stopping her. When the

group needs a leader, they can always

count on Cat. She loves to be in charge,

but can sometimes be a bit bossy. Lovey

Dove is sweet and nurturing and is always

there to help smooth out a bumpy

situation. If the Kimochis had one mum

they could all share, it would be

Lovey. Lovey Dove is a great cuddler.

Through our Kimochi friends, the children

have the opportunity to relate to

situations in a way that is non-threatening

and helps them to develop skills. They

are used for free play, circle games, and

stories, as well as a teaching tool as we

help the children develop effective ways

to get their needs met. As children are

taught to communicate their feelings

effectively this helps to build confidence,

self-esteem and strong relationships.

Children learn about emotions in the

same way that they learn other things

such as reading, writing, riding a bike or

bladder control - through trying things,

practising new habits and getting

feedback from people around them. Just

like the other things that children learn,

the skills for managing emotions come

easier to some children than to others.

Learning these skills from a range of

sources, including teachers, parents,

siblings, friends and the media, can lead

children to pick up some very useful and

some less useful ways to handle their

feelings.


Stage 3 By Christina Mandalidis, Susan Casey, Jason Corrigan, Polina Rodov, Deanne Jacobs and Yuliya Ginis

The Kimochi programme is one of the

ways to practise and role play what

works best.

One of the first steps in helping to

manage emotions is to help children

identify and name what they are feeling.

When a child can name their feelings

and their cause, we can help them

understand that they have a choice in

how they cope with difficult emotions.

The programme comes with a bag of

feeling cushions. Each cushion is an

emotion we might feel and can be

tucked into a pouch on each of the

Kimochi characters.

What is vital to be aware of is that no

matter what a child says, it is important to

always listen and keep the lines of

communication open.

The children also had a great time

celebrating Purim. The children loved

dressing up, making hamentashen and

listening to the Rabbi tell the story of

Purim. What a great two day celebration!


Stage 4 Australia, our country By Anita Martin, Sandra Carberry, Nina Bergel, Cassandra Holmes and Kristina Rocchi

„Experiencing belonging – knowing

where and with whom you belong – is

integral to human existence. Children

belong first to a family, a cultural group,

a neighbourhood and a wider

community. Belonging acknowledges

children‟s interdependence with others

and the basis of relationships in defining

identities‟. (EYLF)

We have begun this term with the

Provocation „Australia, Our Country‟. This

Provocation emerged from the children‟s

interests and conversations about

„holidays‟, „myself‟ and „my family‟. They

thoroughly enjoy sharing personal

experiences with friends and teachers.

This is evident through their detailed

conversations, and through the attentive

listening to each other‟s stories.

The children have first been exploring

their own identities as they engaged in a

creative experience to draw a self-

portrait. The children sat at the table,

looked at their reflection in the mirror and

engaged in conversation with their

teacher about what they could see,

discussing the many features that make

them who they are. They spent some

time observing and looking for detail

before creating their beautiful and

unique portraits on paper. The mirrors

reflected smiles, funny faces, serious

faces, and open mouths to check for

teeth! The children expressed their

knowledgeable and confident self-

identities throughout this experience.

Following on from exploring „my identity‟,

the children shared some information

about the wider community and where

they live:

Joanna: „I live in Australia. My friend is

close to my house called Milly.‟

Georgia: „I live in Sydney close to a café.

It‟s called Clovelly. And I live near the

park.‟

Ashley: „I live in Randwick. My Grandma

and Grandpa live in the same house as

me.‟

Luke: „Bondi in Australia.‟

Alexis: „I live in Little Bay. There is two

things that all of you guys would like to

play with – the beach and the park.‟

Demitra: „I live on a big hill.‟

Felix: „I live in Bellevue Hill. Rose Bay is

near my house and I catch the ferry

sometimes.‟

Maxwell: „I live in Bondi Junction. There is

a pool in my garden.‟

Gabriel: „I live on Rose Street. I live next to

Luke. He has a black house.‟

Regina: „I live in Clovelly. There is a park

next to Clovelly and a beach.‟

In the classroom the children have been

showing interest in engaging in small

world play with the Australian animals,

and with the puppets. To further extend

on this interest the children picked one of

our animal puppets and shared some

information with the group.

Gabriel: „This is a kangaroo. They can

jump and I know this because I‟ve seen

one before in Singapore Zoo.‟

Georgia: „A platypus. They swim and kick.

They are brown. And they have black

and brown eyes.‟

Alexis: „The Possum hides sometimes. I

saw a real possum in china once, and I

fed them.‟

Demitra: „A cockatoo is really white all

over. One came to my house before and

it‟s really, really sweet.‟

Mila: „Koalas stay in trees. They eat the

green leaves and they go to sleep in the

morning and sleep all day. I saw one with

my Grandma. It was up in the tree.‟


Stage 4 All about me By Anita Martin, Sandra Carberry, Nina Bergel, Cassandra Holmes and Kristina Rocchi

Luke: „I saw a koala and a kangaroo. The

koala was climbing up the tree.‟

Felix: „I‟ve seen a platypus when I was

little. It looked like it was swimming.‟

Ashley: „Kangaroos jump. They are

„orangey‟. They have babies called

joeys.‟

Regina: „The mouse is white and grey. It

has ears and a tail.‟

Maxwell: „Kangaroos jump. They look like

orange and white and brown. They have

a joey in the pouch.‟

This week the children also enjoyed

celebrating Purim. Thank you to our

families for sharing books, and for coming

to read to the children. They had a great

day dressing up, making crowns and

noisemakers, and eating hamantashen.


Dance and Drama By Laura Hudson

Stage 3

Students participated in a group led

improvisation as characters from fairy

tales and nursery rhymes. Students

worked together through a teacher-led

piece of drama, exploring fictitious

characters, while demonstrating their

ability to use mime and other drama

techniques which they have learnt this

term.

Students used their imagination to

transform one object into many other

objects.

Skills learnt this week:

Improvisation and creativity

Taking on the role of a character in

a story

Working together

Perform and present a piece of

drama for their peers

Mime

Spatial awareness

Activities included:

Oath of the day

Using their imagination to pretend

the wand is another object (e.g.

guitar, paddle etc. etc.)

Discussed what kinds of seats there

are

The Life of the seat – children, who

are the audience, tried to guess

what seat the performer is in

Moving Body Shapes

Teacher led improvisation

Whole group performance (the

children performed all of the

characters and actions)

Discussed possible endings and

acted them out


Music By Angelique Goldworthy

This week ELS children continued to use

music to explore and respond to their

world. Our bright and ebullient children

have no trouble making each new

activity a celebration of life.

Stage 3 and Stage 4 used the call and

response song, „Tickety Tickety

Bumblebee‟, to say their names, using

varying dynamics and tempo. By using a

microphone prop, the children were able

to listen to vocal phrases and echo in

response. Children then echoed rhythmic

patterns by matching dynamics and

tempo in a similar way.

Purposeful listening and correct diction

were practised using the traditional

chant, „One Potato Two Potato‟,

graduating from body percussion to

maracas, drums and claves. Children

thoroughly enjoyed singing, dancing and

moving to the lively beat of some

favourite songs.

As we develop a regular lesson routine,

the children in the Nest are joining in

more, singing and clapping. Familiar

songs, such as „The Wheels on the Bus‟,

„Twinkle Twinkle‟ and „Old MacDonald‟

are firm favourites. Each child gets a turn

to play maracas and find their own beat.

The Fledgling and Stage 2 classes are

learning to sit in a circle, take turns during

music games, and join in with singing and

moving to the music. Actions songs like

„Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush‟

and „Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes‟,

encourage active group participation for

all.

This week the students learnt the folk

song, „Peace Like a River‟ and were

accompanied on the guitar. They were

surprised to meet a new musical friend,

Percy Possum the puppet, and said

„hello‟ using the Solfa „So‟ and „Mi‟ while

singing their names to Percy. After a lively

dance beat we always end our lesson

with a calm goodbye song.


Physical Education By Mighty Mites

This week in Mini Mites Stage 1 were

individually welcomed to the class

through our welcome song. Our mystery

food today was a pear – again we

discussed how delicious and healthy fruit

is, and in particular, pears. Our Stage 1

Mites loved the nursery rhymes today

(„Incy Wincy Spider‟ and „If you‟re happy

and you know it‟) with many of the

children quickly recognizing the tunes.

Our sport of choice today was

basketball. All children had an

opportunity to throw the foam ball and

try and get it in the hoop. We ended the

class with a cool-down routine where the

children loved listening to calming music

while lying on the Mighty Mites

parachute.

Stage 2 went on an adventure under the

sea. We “put on” our snorkels and

goggles to see what sea creatures we

could spot. Continuing from the previous

weeks where we discussed different body

parts, today we focused on our toes and

fingers. We counted them and took turns

for each Mite to stretch and touch their

toes with their fingers. Our sport activity

today was „catch and throw‟ – each

person in the class had a turn to firstly

catch a ball and then return it to their

coach by throwing it. We ended the

session with a musical segment. We sang

our goodbye song while we shook

shakers to the tune.

Stage 3 learnt about the muscles we use

when we swim. The children were excited

to lie on their stomachs and practise their

long-arm swimming stroke (crawl) and

share with the instructor what muscles

they felt they were using. This adventure

activates the children‟s core back

muscles and makes them aware of the

role their arms, back and legs all play

during swimming. A highlight of the class

this week was the egg and spoon race!

Children were asked to balance an egg

on a spoon while they ran around two

orange cones. The concentration and

effort from everyone was tremendous!

Again our Mites loved picking a yoga

card for the cool-down exercise at the

end of the class. The calm music and

opportunity for the children to wind down

after the classes activities are always a

nice way for them to transition from

Mighty Mites to the rest of their days.

Stage 4 warmed up by swinging our arms

and shaking our legs which led to a

discussion about swimming. The children

were re-introduced to Action Mite. In this

class, Action Mite whispered the word

“quadricep” and the children

enthusiastically guessed the actions that

use their quadriceps (jumping, bending

and crouching). The class is starting to

make the link between specific muscles

and specific sports and off the back of

this we had some lively discussion about

which sports use which muscles the most.

Again we ended our session with a cool-

down activity focusing on calmness and

slow, deep breathing.

We look forward to seeing all our

Reddam Mites again next week!


Reddam Early Learning

would like to wish a very happy birthday to

Luella Hart & Owen Sofair

who celebrate their special day this week and on the weekend

We hope you had a fabulous day!

dee’s message - reddam householidays in china. as part of our group times, we introduced the...

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