Newsletter August 2015

Rosella Room 0-2 years old NQS: 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.5 & 5.1.1 In the Rosella Room, all the children have been busy enhancing new skills learnt. To extend on children’s interests, the educators setup the musical instruments table in indoor setting. Musical instruments are popular as children are able to bang them to make different sounds from the different musical instruments, enhancing their creative and problem solving skills. Musical instruments also develop the children’s appreciation of different sounds and we also play a variety of cultural music that also expands the children’s understanding of music and sounds and how music is made. During NAIDOC week, Ashton, Ailish, Henry, Riyaana and Iksha got involved in a variety of art and craft activities such as making the Aboriginal flag, painting didgeridoos, boomerangs and also dot painting, which Miss Antu displayed in the room beautifully for parents to see. Through these activities, stories and discussions the children developed their understanding of the Indigenous Aboriginal culture.

We organised sustainability week at Grow ELC. During this, the educators attempted to teach the children about the recycling process and how to look after our planet. We demonstrated this to the babies by using recycled items for art and craft activities. The children also had a nature walk with Miss Antu and collected a variety of leaves, barks and feathers in their little buckets. Later, the collected items were used by the children for art and craft activities, developing their sustainability awareness.

All of the Rosella children had fun playing in the outdoor

setting, enhancing their physical skills; such as jumping on the trampoline, see-sawing, balancing on the stepping

stones, bike-riding, kicking balls and completing obstacle courses etc., enjoying their days in the rosella room.

LO1.3: Exploring different identities LO1: Children feel safe secure and supported.

Grow Early Learning Centre Long Day Childcare Centre 204 Targo Road, Girraween, NSW 2145 Ph: 02 9688 1080 Email: growgirraween@gmail.com Web: www.growelc.com.au

Lorikeets Room 2-3.5 years old NQS: 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.5, 3 & 5.1.1 This month in the Lorikeet Room children displayed a big interest in the story called ‘The Very Hungry Caterpillar.’ Children would request the story during group times and were fascinated by the pop out pictures that they saw. Educators then extended on their interest by taking them into the meeting room where they watched an animated version of this story. From there the children then participated in art and craft activities where they stuck some empty tissue boxes together using glue and sticky tape and painted it green to make a caterpillar. Darsh moved the caterpillar they made along the floor and said “the caterpillar walking slowly”. The next day the children then worked together to make a caterpillar using patty cases where they glued the colourful patty cases in a line to make their own caterpillar. During music and movement time children have been pretending to be caterpillars crawling along the floor and pretending to eat yummy food just like in the story. Then after resting in their pretend cocoon they would jump up and flutter around the room like a beautiful butterfly. By participating in these activities children are developing their understanding on the life cycle of a caterpillar. We will continue to explore this fun topic and if any families have any cocoons or caterpillars that they would like to bring in and show us, we would love that!

We have also been focusing on recycling to prepare them for recycling week. This is a great way for children build on their awareness of sustainability and their understanding of recycling. Children have been participating in many art and craft activities using recycled products like empty glove boxes to make trains and making music shakers using cardboard rolls that they decorated and filled with uncooked pasta. We also had a great time having a fun ‘Sack Race!’ The children held the sacks up around their shoulders as they jumped down the runway, as their friends watched. Harper giggled as she jumped, while Breeti, Shree, Girija, Sai, Devin and Krishiv were very competitive and did a fantastic job keeping their balance.

LO4: Children are confident and involved learners-Children develop dispositions for learning such as creativity cooperating and imagination.

Kookaburra Room 3.5-5 years old NQS: 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.1.5, 3, & 5.1.1 The Tiger Snakes this month have started their school readiness program and they have been very busy learning and engaging in a variety of learning experiences that will help them get ready for school, such as the lunch box week, where they prepared their lunches, buttering rice cakes, making cheese wraps and sandwiches etc. They also engaged in literacy and numeracy learning experiences such as identifying and writing their names, numbers up to 10, cutting and pasting sequence picture stories and selecting the recyclable items and non- recyclable items, matching words and numbers on the IPADS and playing the shape number Incy Spider board game. These learning experiences enhance the children’s self help skills and turn taking skills, sorting, and matching skills, social and co-operative skills and identifying and labelling letters, words, numbers, objects, shapes and animals. This also enhances their memory and capacity to follow more than 2, 3 verbal instructions. Tiger Snakes watched on the smart board and discussed the stages and process of recycling and how can we contribute to make the planet Earth a better place to live.

We followed up on children’s interests in building houses by having a sustainability/recycling week to enhance their knowledge in more detail about recycling, its benefits, why it’s so important to recycle and the stages of recycling. The project was to build a cubby house with empty milk cartons, newspaper and corn flour to make glue. We would like to say a big thank you to all the families that contributed with newspaper, corn flour and milk cartons and also to Harkeerat’s dad for joining in on Wednesday and helping to build the house. We are half way on this project and unfortunately we have run out of milk cartons, a box will be placed in the foyer to collect more so we can finish our recycle cubby house project. Please contribute what you can, it will be greatly appreciated.

The Kookaburras have been interested in fairy tales this month and the Emus have been looking at Cinderella in particular. During transition group times, the Kookaburras have been talking about the characters of the story and the storyline. For one of the focus group activities, the Emus talked about Cinderella losing her slipper at the ball and Miss Winnie measured their feet to write down the size in a table for the children to see. Michael was proud that both his feet measured up to 15.5cm and he got excited when he heard that Thea’s foot was also 15.5cm. He said, “Thea, you have the same as me!” When it was Varesh’s turn, the Emus were surprised to see that he had the biggest foot in the group! In another focus group time, Miss Winnie asked the children if they knew which fairy tale had a pumpkin in it and Nina answered quickly, “Cinderella.” Miss Winnie explained to the Emus that they were going to look at the life cycle of a pumpkin and started from the seeds, then the sprout, the flower and finally the pumpkin. Educators helped the children to identify each step correctly and stick it on their sheet in the right order. We will continue with this strong interest of the children. LO1.3: Exploring different identities LO1: Children feel safe secure and supported. LO4: Children are confident and involved learners

Upcoming Events Fire Truck Visit – Monday 3/8/15

We will be having a visit from Seven Hills Fire Brigade to discuss Fire Safety with the children.

Rainbow Day – Tuesday 11/8/15

Please send your children child/ren dressed in beautiful bright colours on this day as we are

celebrating diversity and difference by having a rainbow day. This will be a colourful and fun filled

day!

Winter Pyjama Day –Friday 28/8/15

Please come dressed in your snugly warm PYJAMA’S today and share in a fun filled day, filled with a movie

and special games.

Update on Previous Events. NAIDOC WEEK 6-10th July 2015

This week the children were involved in activities that further developed their knowledge of

Indigenous Australians and their traditions and customs, through art and craft, music and

drama.

RECYCLE PROJECT WEEK 20-24TH JULY

Thank you to everyone who has been donating recyclable products for Miss Lina. During this

week we discussed how to keep our planet healthy and really enjoyed making a recyclable play house

for the children using all recyclable materials. .

Happy Birthday to:

Child Turning/ Turned

In August

Vedanth 4 5th Anvitha 5 15th Lucia 5 26th

Varesh 4 28th

Staff Training Staff

Involved Training Date

Sussana & Kylie

Coaching Course 26-27/8/15

Regular monthly room meetings are held to ensure

that all staff are updated and informed of what is

happening within the centre community.

Educators on Holidays: Miss Sarah 12/8/15- 23/9/15 Miss Erin 19/8/15- 31/8/15 ATTENTION ALL FAMILIES:

Dear Parents, We would like to hear your feedback

about our Childcarers Program on your child’s developmental progress. You are able to download the

APP for your phone for FREE. You

can find it on Google Play and the Apple Store.

To receive important centre information and updates straight to

your phone! Please ensure you have activated your

parent account, as this is where all of our newsletters, day boards and other

important centre information is posted.

Policy Updated – Please read the displayed POLICY in the SIGN IN/OUT AREA and sign to say you have read and understood this policy. Arrival and Departure Policy (NQS: 7.3.5) Upcoming Family Portraits Just a reminder to all of our families about our upcoming family portraits that will be held at our centre on Saturday 17th October. For $15 you will receive 2 x 10”x13” (same image) photos. Please see the information sheet in the sign in/out area or Miss Kylie for more information and booking details. Parents Participation We encourage parents’ involvement in the centre. Parents’ participation helps build up your child’s self-esteem with their friends & in addition the other children benefit from the extra skill & knowledge you may bring in. Please remember that we are an Open Doors Centre.

Weekend/Interest Sheets To ensure that we are able to offer a high quality and relevant curriculum, we endeavour to find out as much information about your child and family as we can. This helps your child’s educators to plan accordingly based on (but not limited to) your child’s current interests, activities that they are involved in outside of childcare or things that they enjoy doing with their family and friends. We are attaching a ‘Weekend/Interest Sheet’ to this newsletter and encourage all families to fill these out regularly with your child/ren and return them to the centre so that we can cater to and extend on (where appropriate) your child’s interest, likes etc. This also helps us to build quality relationships between your child and family with the centre staff. We look forward to receiving lots of feedback in the near future! If you have any questions regarding the Weekend/Interest Sheet please ask Miss Kylie, who is more than happy to help.

Weather Appropriate Clothing A quick reminder to all families, that as the weather is

slightly unpredictable as the seasons change, please dress your child accordingly. This means they must have a hat

everyday and wear a long sleeve t-shirt and tracksuit pants or something similar, so that they can learn and

play without getting too hot or cold. It is always a good idea to provide a jumper in their bag, for the cold mornings and afternoons. Please remember that all

SHIRTS OR DRESSES MUST COVER THE SHOULDERS. This is a SUN SAFETY

REQUIREMENT. Children must wear either sneakers or sandals as their

footwear at all times, NO THONGS, NO SHOES WITHOUT BACKSTRAP, NO SOCCER BOOTS, NO

SLIPPERS (EVEN in WINTER), this is for your child’s health and safety. Please remember to place spare clothing in your child’s bag. Thank you for your

cooperation.

URGENT REMINDER: We urge all parents to REMEMBER to sign your child IN at the time of drop off and OUT at the time of pick up. Please remind your authorised person to sign in/ out when they are dropping off/ picking up your child. Failure to sign in/ out at the time of drop off/ pick up will incur $5 charge each instance up until 5 occurrences in a calendar year and then we will increase the charge to $10 for each instance thereafter. You will be charged each week until you have signed for those missed signatures. (Revised “Arrival and Departure” policy is enclosed) It is our legal requirement to the DEC and Centrelink (CCMS) to have every child signed in and out at the time of drop off and pick up. It is also for your child’s safety that your child is signed in/out. Our LATE PICK UP CHARGE HAS BEEN CHANGED TO $20 FOR EVERY 1O MINUTES that you are late to pick up your child after 6pm. Please ensure that your emergency contacts/authority to collect list is up to date in your child’s file and also in your HUBWORKS account. If a parent or authorised person has not been able to be contacted or hasn’t arrived to pick up your child by 6:30pm then the Police will be contacted.

Reminders to Parents: x From the 6th of July 2015 GROW ELC will be

providing fruit for your child. This means you are no longer requested to provide fruit each day.

x 5 Nappies (MINIMUM) each day for children in nappies

x Wipes for children in nappies x Spare clothes in bags (2 undies, pants/ skirt,

shirt, jackets, socks, shoes) x Bed sheets (bring beginning of the week and

take home to wash at the end of your child’s week)

x Hats (bring daily) - NO HAT NO PLAY! x Take your child’s bag and items home daily x Use the correct allocated locker for your

child- this will help educators/ teachers return items back to the correct child. It also allows the educators/ teachers to teach the children organisation.

If educators/ teachers need to use spare items for your child there will be a charge.

x Nappies $1 each x Undies $2 each x Use of spare bed sheets $2 x Replacement Hat $10 each

These will be charged to your account. Educators will notify the supervisor when nappies need to be brought in for your child’s next attendance. You will be sent a message to bring in nappies before your child’s next day of attendance. Your co-operation is appreciated and will allow our housekeeping and day to day running to be effective, efficient and eliminates any frustrations.

From the Office NOTE: Niki will be on holidays from 27/7/15- 1/9/15, for any account or enrolment queries please see Sussana or Kylie. Paying your Account by Netpay If you choose to pay your weekly fees by NETPAY please ensure you make your payment no later than 7.30pm Monday evening (especially if your bank is not Commonwealth Bank), to ensure your payment is received into our account by Wednesday evening of each week. Thank you for your co-operation.

****IF YOUR CHILD IS UNWELL****

PLEASE BE CONSIDERATE TO YOUR CHILD, THE OTHER CHILDREN AND PARENTS IN OUR CENTRE AND DO NOT SEND YOUR SICK CHILD TO CHILD CARE. IT IS OUR DUTY OF CARE AND IN OUR POLICY THAT WE TAKE EVERY PRECAUTION TO CONTROL THE SPREAD OF INFECTION IN OUR SERVICE. SO WE URGE PARENTS TO DO THE RIGHT THING BY KEEPING YOUR CHILD HOME DURING YOUR CHILD’S INFECTIOUS PERIOD. We remind all families that if your child is sent home with vomiting, diarrhoea or high temperatures, then we ask that you please keep your child away from the centre for a minimum of 24 hours (if your child is meant to attend the centre the following day, then we ask that you please keep your child at home) until a minimum of 24 hours after the last episode of temperatures, vomiting or diarrhoea. THANK YOU FOR YOUR CO-OPERATION.

Inspirational Quote

NQS: 1.1.1, 1.1.2 & 5.1.2

this information may be useful.

Miss Jenny’s Mandarin Class

Every Wednesday we will have our regular Mandarin lesson with Miss Jenny. We all really enjoy this class

and feel that the children learn a lot. NQS: 1.1.1, 1.1.2, 1.2 Ni hao Parents: This month children in Grow ELC focused on colours. The

children could identify eight colours in Mandarin and also

they could label some of the objects in different colours in

Mandarin.

Vocabulary List:

Red --- Hong Se

Yellow ---- Huang Se

Blue ---- Lan Se

Green ---- Lv Se

Purple ---- Zi Se

White ---- Bai Se

Black ---- Hei Se

Pink --- Fen Se

Rainbow --- Cai Hong

Colour - Yan Se

Butterfly--- Hu Die

This month our children were learning to tell the colours

in Mandarin. After a few lessons, the children could

identify the meaning of “What colour is it?” in Mandarin.

With this question, some of the children can provide

direct answers, and some of the children still need a little

help. We will keep practicing this skill over the next few

weeks.

We also discussed about the clothes we wear and what

colours we had on our clothing. The discussion helped the

children review different clothes in Mandarin as well. Also

the lesson helped the young children’s listening skills,

speaking skills, reflective thinking, and problem solving.

During the craft time, the children use their creativity,

imagination and problem solving skills to make beautiful

butterflies and rainbows.

Xie Xie (Thank you) NQS: 4.2.2 & 7.2

From The Kitchen Winter Warmer Pumpkin Soup

x Ingredients

x 2 tablespoons olive oil, plus extra to serve

x 1 onion, roughly chopped

x 2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

x 600g pumpkin, peeled, chopped

x 1 potato, chopped

x 2 carrots, chopped

x 1 leek (white part only), chopped

x 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

x 3 cups (750ml) Campbell's Real Stock Chicken

x 1/2 cup (125ml) pure (thin) cream

x 1 tablespoon pumpkin seeds (pepitas), toasted

x Dried cranberries and finely chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves, to serve

x Method

1. Step 1

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes until soft. Add garlic, vegetables and nutmeg, then toss to coat. Add stock and 2 cups (500ml) water, then bring to the boil. Reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 25 minutes or until the vegetables are tender. Cool slightly.

2. Step 2

In batches, transfer to a blender and whiz until smooth. Return soup to the saucepan and place over low heat. Stir in cream, then season. To serve, ladle into bowls and top with seeds, cranberries and parsley, then drizzle with extra oil.

ENJOY!

Miss Jenny will be on holidays from 12/8/15 – 15/9/15, therefore there will be no Mandarin classes during this time.

Child’s Name: __________________ Date: ____________

Please fill in this sheet about your child’s week/weekend. Weaim to use the information given to further develop andenhance our program and extend on any interests your childmay have and/or special events that have occurred.

What I did during the week and/or on the weekend (e.g. Helping Mum/Dad walk the dog or do the grocery shopping):

Something that I am interested in at the moment (e.g. The Planets, Transport, Earthworms, Frozen):

Special events/celebrations that have occurred (e.g. Birthday, Cultural celebration, lunch with family etc)

Anything else you would like to share with us (e.g. comments, suggestions.)

- Thank you! -