dee’s message - reddam houseto time, to go through our collection of cds and to consider the...

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER 1

Dee’s Message

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

It is an interesting experience, from time

to time, to go through our collection of

CDs and to consider the „soundtrack‟ of

our lives. For some of us this might even

mean looking through vinyl records from

many years ago, or perhaps dusty boxes

of audio tapes! Or, for the more up-to-

date amongst us, to flick through the

playlists we have saved on memory sticks

or other technological devices.

We may be taken back to certain

moments in our lives, both happy and

sad, through the memories associated

with particular songs or albums. Perhaps

specific people come to mind, or a

beautiful beach, or an occasion. Music

has the power to do that. It enfolds and

captures us. It becomes part of who we

are. We only need to hear the first few

bars of a piece of music or song and our

emotions are immediately affected. So it

is with young children too.

Throughout their days here in the ELS, the

children are exposed to music. Whether

it is playing in the background as they

create beautiful works of art, or if in the

songs they sing in class as part of their

daily routines, or in the songs they learn

and the music they play in Music lessons,

music is inextricably woven into the fabric

of the ELS – and into the lives of the

children.

Music has a powerful social influence.

Whether in joining together to learn a

new song and then combining to sing it

as a class, there is constant interaction. It

teaches children to listen to the voices

and sounds of another and to blend their

own voices into that harmony. Young

children love to sing – yet how quickly, as

they grow older, many lose the innate

sense of joy which singing and music

brings.

I am reminded of a researcher who

asked a class of High School students

how many of them liked to sing. Only a

handful sheepishly lifted their hands,

obviously fearful that they might be

asked to sing in front of their peers.

16 MARCH 2018


And yet, when he asked the same

question of a group of pre-schoolers their

hands shot enthusiastically into the air.

We cannot let up for a moment,

therefore, in our pursuit to encourage the

children in the ELS to sing for all they‟re

worth. For them to enjoy the sounds they

make, even if the words sometimes go

astray or take on completely new

meanings! It is worth noting that research

has shown that young children generally

prefer lively, fast music regardless of their

personality types. The exuberance of the

music lifts their spirits and makes their little

voices soar, which is evident as one walks

through the corridors of the ELS.

Music also opens a window into their

lives, and provides a wonderful

opportunity for parents and teachers to

engage with them. Perhaps you may

have such a chance this weekend, as

you spend time together – to find out

more about their favourite music and

maybe even to learn a new song

together!

May you enjoy a musical and happy

weekend, especially for those who will

be celebrating St. Patrick‟s Day. The

teachers and children certainly had fun

warming up for it this week, with every

shade of green invading the school!

Enjoy reading about some of the St.

Patrick‟s Day activities in this newsletter.

Dee Pitcairn

Principal

Dee’s Message


The Nest Happy St. Patrick’s Day Tatiana Botrel , Priscilla Corazza & Rachael Soegiono

Although The Nest children are still

young, they also participated in the

celebrations for St. Patrick‟s Day. The

classroom had significant additions of

activities and resources that set the

tone for our fun week in The Nest.

When talking about this celebration, our

primary focus was on the shamrock and

its beautiful green colour. Throughout

the week, new sensory activities were

introduced to the group, such as

coloured rice, surprise bags and

collage activities. During these

activities, we played traditional Irish folk

music for the children to listen to and

become familiar with in our classroom.

Some of the children enjoyed pausing

what they were doing for a moment to

show their best dancing moves.

The children enjoyed exploring the rice

box for the first time. Some of their

favourite actions were: running their

hands on top and under the rice;

catching a handful of rice and

watching it fall back in the box;

observing how the rice stuck on the

palm of their hands and then picking

up one by one; or just touching the rice.

In the Mini Art Atelier, the children were

very excited to make their shamrocks.

The Monday to Wednesday group

made a green painting in the shape of

a shamrock, using its shape to paint

around it. The Thursday and Friday

group used the shamrocks as a frame

to thread a string around. Threading

activities are still very challenging for

this age group, but it is incredible to

observe the children‟s determination to

pass the line through the small holes.

We also had the pleasure of having

Teacher Susan (Stage 3) reading us a

story about St. Patrick‟s Day and

helping us to bake traditional Irish soda

bread, which the children took home to

share with their families. Susan is

originally from Ireland, and she was very

proud to share this celebration with The

Nest children.

Outcome 2: Children are connected

with and contribute to their world.

Children respond to diversity with

respect. EYLF, 2009.


Nest Photo Gallery


What a great St. Patrick‟s Day we had at

school.

To celebrate St. Patrick‟s Day, the

Fledglings dressed up in green coloured

clothing and engaged in many different

activities, which related to this special

day, celebrated each year in Ireland and

in many countries around the world. We

took a look at the globe to see where

exactly in the world Ireland is positioned.

We also looked at many different symbols

that represent this day such as,

shamrocks, rainbows, harps and

leprechauns.

In preparation for St. Patrick‟s Day, the

children were invited to create some of

their own shamrocks at the Mini

Atelier. We used apples cut in half. The

children painted half an apple and used

the apple to make three prints on their

page, creating the shamrock shape.

In keeping with the green theme we had

a sensory tub, filled with lots of lucky

charms that the children had to search

for. The children enjoyed the sensory tub

and were particularly intrigued by the feel

of the green pasta.

The Fledglings were thrilled to make their

own traditional Irish soda bread. Working

together, the children helped to add, mix

and then stir all the ingredients together.

The children really enjoyed the method of

making their own bread and everyone

enjoyed tasting it in the afternoon.

Fledglings Green, Green and more Green By Hannah McCooey, Shirley Brockwell and Jane Teh


Fledglings Photo Gallery


Over the past term we have had many

celebrations that reflect our culture and

the culture of others who live in Australia.

In January we celebrated the love for

our beaches as part of our Australia Day

celebrations. In February, Valentine‟s Day

was a celebration to recognise those

whom we love and Chinese New Year

was a fun cultural celebration of fireworks

with lions and dragons dancing to bring

in the New Year of the Dog in China.

Now we are in March and we are joining

our Irish friends and teachers to

celebrate their National Holiday of St.

Patrick‟s Day.

Shauna and Sarah are both Irish, and in

the group times this week they told the

children all about the celebration for

which we were preparing.

People all over the world celebrate St.

Patrick‟s Day on 17 March, but it is

particularly special to the people of

Ireland. The children were told the story

of how St. Patrick supposedly helped

lead the snakes out of Ireland. They were

shown some pictures of the green

hillsides and the old castles that are part

of the Irish landscape. We were

introduced to a cheeky little Leprechaun

(all dressed in green) who hides treasure

and pots of gold at the end of

the colourful rainbows.

Questions were asked by the children -

“Why don‟t they like snakes and where

did the snakes go to?” Harry B. If you ask

the question “What‟s at the end of the

rainbow?”, a lot of the children will all

call out “A pot of gold.”

A collaborative display was created by

the Stage 1, 2, and 3 children. This is in

the piazza (hallway), and represents the

Leprechaun and the sheep in the green

hills of Ireland.

The Kookaburra and the Tree Frog

children all worked on individual pieces

for their display. We looked at rainbows

and recreated these using a marking

texture. The Kookaburra children used

fine paintbrushes to create the bright

colours of the rainbow while the Tree

Frog children collaged multi-coloured

squares.

Irish music was played and even Angie,

our music teacher, joined in on the fun.

We had fun having a go at Irish dancing.

We searched for gold amongst a textural

pasta mix with plenty of green, and

many other colours of the rainbow; we

made gold coins with the yellow play

dough that had gold sparkles, which is

part of our Art room activities. We also

learned a song about the funny

Leprechaun who loves to hide the gold.

We went on a hunt for the gold coins

that we were lucky enough to find. We

also created light sensory bottles (by

using water beads and recycled water

bottles) with the many colours of the

rainbows inspired by St. Patrick‟s Day.

Finally, on Friday we dressed in GREEN to

help our Irish friends get ready for the big

day on Saturday.

Happy St. Patrick‟s Day!

Stage 2 Celebrating all things Irish Daniella Gosty, Karla Cabezas, Shauna Corry, Min Pattharasiritanarat, Sarah Noone and Elizabeth Turner


Stage 2 Photo Gallery


Stage 3 St. Patrick’s Day By Christina Mandalidis, Susan Casey, Jason Corrigan, Polina Rodov, Deanne Jacobs and Yuliya Ginis

Over the past two weeks the children

have truly embraced all things Irish. Last

week they helped to decorate the

Piazza. Marco volunteered to be our

Leprechaun model and after tracing

around his body, we cut his shape out,

ready to be painted in green. The

children decided to name their mystical,

magical man Finnegan, after Harry‟s very

own leprechaun which he brought into

meet the group. This brought to mind a

song, which Ari knows, called „Michael

Finnegan‟. The children also learned

another Irish themed song called „I‟m a

little leprechaun dressed in green‟, sung

to the tune of „I‟m a little teapot.‟ On the

deck this week the children were invited

to draw and to paste their own little

collage of all things Irish, such as a

shamrock, leprechaun etc.

At the atelier this week, the children were

invited to create the national emblem of

Ireland, a shamrock, which is a three

leaved plant that Saint Patrick used as a

metaphor to describe the Christian Holy

Trinity. Using a capsicum cut in half and

different shades of green paint the

children stamped the capsicum onto

paper and used their thumb to create

the stalk.

The children found a new numeracy

activity on the shelves. There were little

picture cards with traditional Irish objects

including a pot of gold and a

rainbow. The children counted out the

object cards and matched them to the

corresponding numeral. This activity took

a lot of concentration and

perseverance.

A new Montessori activity was introduced

in the classroom. The children were each

invited to find their initial name sound

written out on a piece of card. They then

used a texter to put dots on their letter,

after which they pinned around the

outline of their sound. The benefits of pin

poking can be amazing. This activity

alone helps the children increase their

concentration and self-discipline and it‟s

wonderful for strengthening the hand for

writing, along with developing the

necessary pincer grip. This activity will be

available to the children to complete

each day for the rest of the term. In the kitchen the children had a new

baking experience. To top off their St.

Patrick‟s Day celebrations the children

took turns measuring and mixing

wholemeal flour, plain flour, bicarbonate

of soda, salt and buttermilk to make

Susan‟s great, great, great

grandmother‟s traditional Irish brown

bread recipe. This was a great

experience for the children and they

were delighted to have the chance to

come together in the afternoon to enjoy

the bread together long with some music

and dancing.

Lá Fhéile Pádraig!


Stage 4 St. Patrick’s Day By Anita Martin, Sandra Carberry, Nina Bergel, Cassandra Holmes and Kristina Rocchi

St. Patrick’s Day

At Reddam we are lucky to have the

opportunity to embrace many festive

celebrations from other countries and

cultures. Over the past week the children

have begun discussing St. Patrick‟s Day.

St. Patrick was a very special man to the

people of Ireland and on 17 March every

year people from all over the world dress

in green and pin a special plant called a

shamrock on their clothes. This three-

leaved plant is thought to bring good

luck. The children have also been

learning about the mysterious and

mischievous characters called

Leprechauns. It is believed that they

have a pot of gold, which they hide at

the end of the rainbow and if you catch

one he will give you his pot of gold.

The lead up to St. Patrick‟s Day is as

exciting as the day itself for many of the

children as they search for clues to see if

the cheeky leprechaun is playing tricks

on us. As you can imagine, the children

are fascinated by this mystical creature!

They have been busy at the mini-atelier

creating their own leprechauns using

collage materials and rainbow pictures

to decorate the Piazza in the hope that

the leprechauns won‟t be able to resist

coming for a visit so we might get to see

one!

La Fheile Padraig Sona Dhuit!

(Translated to Happy St. Patrick‟s Day in

the Irish language.)

Provocation: Australia – Our Country

In the past few weeks the children have

been participating in group time

experiences that revolve around their

current interest in Australia. We have

seen the children enthusiastically present

various items of interest from their travels

around Australia and the world itself

during Show and Tell. We have seen

books from London, bracelets from India,

money from Qatar, world maps, photos

from ice hotels, and stories from many

other places.

One book we have been reading

progressively is „This is Australia‟ by

Miroslav Sasek. This book takes the

children on a journey to many of the

iconic places in Australia such as the

Opera House and the famous Harbour

Bridge in Sydney, the garden city of

Canberra, bustling Melbourne, colonial

Adelaide, mineral rich Perth, semi-

tropical Brisbane, and Alice Springs in

Australia‟s outback region.

One common interest that continues to

appear is Australia‟s indigenous history.

This first became apparent when they

children were outdoors studying the flags

that proudly fly outside of our school –

the Australian flag and the Aboriginal

flag. A casual discussion initiated by

Isabelle emerged amongst some of the

children about our indigenous people

and the explorers that came here many

years ago.

When Alexander brought in his London

book the children quickly made the

connection between the Union Jack flag

(UK flag) and the fact that this is also

represented on the Australian flag. This,

coupled with a book Gabriel brought in

on the same day called „River Boy „by

Wugularr children and community,

sparked the conversation about our

history once again.


Stage 4 St. Patrick’s Day By Anita Martin, Sandra Carberry, Nina Bergel, Cassandra Holmes and Kristina Rocchi

This gave us the opportunity to delve a

little deeper. We discussed what Australia

was like many, many years ago and how

the explorers arrived and changed the

ways of our country. We talked about

how people lived off the land, as well as

about their cave drawings and the

meaning of symbols, different Australian

languages, and how our country has

developed within our big cities and

beyond.

Australia is made up of many different

people from different backgrounds,

religions, beliefs and traditions.

Incorporating relevant, culturally based

experiences and celebrations in our

programme presents many different

learning opportunities. These include:

Fostering a sense of belonging and

inclusion for every child, family and

staff member (EYLF, p.7)

Increasing children‟s understanding

of, and respect for, diversity and

differences (EYLF, p.13)

Raising children‟s self-awareness

and confidence

Providing for children‟s holistic

development

Supporting a positive, cultural

identity for every child and family

(EYLF, p.2)

We will continue to explore our interest in

indigenous Australia and see where it

takes us. As always, if you have anything

relevant to our provocation or the

children‟s current interests please

remember that we welcome all input

from our families.


Dance and Drama By Laura Hudson

The Magical Wizard

A poem about a Wizard was the

starting point for this week‟s

lesson (Stage 4).

A Wizard hat was also introduced and

placed in the middle of the circle,

allowing the teacher to ask the children

questions.

The children used the ribbons to move

like wizards.

We played the shoe game, the children

moved around the room pretending

they had different shoes on e.g. running

shoes, bouncing shoes, etc.

Teacher in role as the Wizard. The

Wizard told a story that the children

acted out, using words that sound

delicious. (candy-floss, spaghetti,

meatballs, marshmallows).

We continued telling the story that

developed the drama, allowing the

children to use facial expressions, mime

body gestures and Freeze when

instructed.

The children helped the Wizard do a

number of magic tricks.

Making a spell - The name of spell

described what the children had to do

e.g. Jumpus Jellibeanus – Jumping

Jellybeans; Doggis Barkis – Bark like a

dog etc. The children then had a turn of

making their own spells up.

The Wizard and the children said the

magic spell they had made up to create

magical shoes (running shoes, jumping

shoes, camouflage shoes etc.) Rhyming

words for Stage 4. They then had to think

which shoes they would like to wear and

walk along the magic rope .

The wizard then revealed a magical

message under the hat. The message will

be the starting point for next week‟s

lesson.


Music By Angelique Goldworthy

This week our musical activities took on

an Irish theme in honour of the upcoming

St. Patrick‟s Day celebrations. We learnt

to step, hop and kick as we danced an

Irish jig to the Wiggles‟ song „Let‟s Irish

Dance‟.

Our Stage 3 and 4 children formed

smaller groups of drums, scrapers and

triangles as part of a percussion

orchestra. They played soft/slow and

fast/loud and learnt to pause together

on cue, while accompanied by the

guitar. We learnt some fun new verses to

the folk song, “Michael Finnigin”,

accompanied on the piano.

Stage 1 and 2 children also enjoyed the

green theme, as they sang along with

Freddy Frog and danced to a lively Irish

jig. This developed into Musical Games

such as Irish Musical Freeze and

Shamrock Shuffle. The Nest children

developed eye hand co-ordination while

learning to play triangles and bells. They

engaged in pretend play while singing

„Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush‟

and danced with Percy Possum to the

lively Irish song “Dicki Do Dum”.


Physical Education By Mighty Mites

This week Stage 1 thoroughly enjoyed the

Mighty Mites song and dance and are

now able to anticipate what move

comes next. Our mystery food today was

tomatoes – how surprising that a tomato

is a fruit rather than a vegetable and how

yummy and juicy tomatoes are, not to

mention filled with vitamins for a healthy

body! During our motor skill development

game of the day we focused on soccer

and in particular the coordination

needed to kick a ball in a certain

direction. We spoke about the graphic of

the day which showed Mighty Mite

eating a banana and how bananas give

Mighty Mite lots of energy to play, run,

swim and dance!

Stage 2 went on an adventure to the

farm. We “rode” our bus to the farm and

followed on by acting out a fun farm

adventure with the goal of warming up

our bodies, stretching our muscles and

engaging our imaginations. Continuing

from the previous weeks where we

discussed different body parts, today we

focused on our ears. We spoke about our

sense of hearing and how this sense helps

us to experience the world around

us. During our exercise routine to music

we focused on raising our heart rate to

increase our fitness and on developing

our strength and coordination through

various exercise moves.

Stage 3 learnt about their deltoid muscles

and how these important muscles help us

move through so many of our everyday

activities such as lifting, swimming and

carrying. The children loved the

developmental game of the day which

was an obstacle course! They needed to

zig zag around cones, leap through

hoops, crawl under tunnels and balance

on ropes to reach the end of the course.

Our goal during the obstacle course was

to develop their balance, coordination

and agility as well as their ability to follow

the instructions for each part of the

course. The children enjoyed seeing the

Mighty Mite picture of the day which

showed Mighty Mite sitting amongst a

pile of oranges. This led us onto a

discussion of the health benefits of

oranges, where oranges grow and how

they are filled with vitamin C to help

prevent colds and flu.

For the Stage 4, we warmed up our

bodies by playing a game of Exercise

Musical Statues. The children were then

led through an adventure obstacle

course. In the obstacle course we

encouraged them to develop their 1-

legged hops, their ability to balance

while walking over a narrow beam and

their agility and speed through various

change in directions in the course and zig

zags between cones. The children were

re-introduced to Action Mite. In this class,

Action Mite whispered the word

“pectorals” to talk about this special

muscle and how this muscle helps us to

push. In the graphic of the day, which

showed Mighty Mite holding a basket of

breads, we spoke about the many

different breads we can make or buy

and the health properties associated with

grains, seeds and the wholemeal

varieties.

We look forward to seeing all our

Reddam Mites again next week!


Reddam Early Learning

would like to wish a very happy birthday to

Adele Azar, Anna Grice, Otto Hart & Summer Palermo

who celebrate their special day this week and on the weekend

We hope you had a fabulous day!

dee’s message - reddam houseto time, to go through our collection of cds and to consider the...

Documents