June 2016

Preschool or Kindy Is there a difference? Does my child need to go? Where should they go?

In Australia preschool is the name used by the Commonwealth Government for education programs in

the year before children commence school. In South Australia this has historically been called Kindy

and many parents continue to use this term. However Kindergarten or Kindy is the first year of formal

school in NSW so this can be a bit confusing, especially to those born and schooled in NSW.

Preschool in Australia is not compulsory but is promoted by governments.

Since 2012 all children have been entitled to an early education program delivered by a degree

qualified early childhood teacher for 15 hours per week, 40 weeks of the year in the year before the

commence formal schooling. The same year marked the beginning of single entry intake to school with

children able to commence school if they are five before May 1st. However, school is not compulsory

until children are 6 years old.

Preschool services are offered in a range of settings public, private and community based preschools

and childcare; they can be in ‘stand alone’ services or integrated into long day care programs as is the

case at WCCC. All are delivered by registered early childhood teachers.

The most obvious difference between ‘stand alone’ preschool and the more integrated model offered by

LDC are hours of operation and sources of funding. Stand alone preschools operate usually the same as

school hours and are funded by State Governments. LDC has longer opening hours and higher costs

with some subsidies to families provided by the Commonwealth Government. There has been no

Australian research as to which setting offers a higher quality program. Children can access all 15

hours of preschool at one service or across multiple services.

Families attending WCCC must maintain a minimum of 2 full days attendance at the Centre throughout

their child’s enrolment (exception only for families where one parent is on parenting leave).

Families today are able to make a variety of choices with respect to the education of their children. The

Universal Access to preschool program has changed the way preschool hours are offered by services

and ensures that most services now offer between 6 and 7.5 hours per day providing greater flexibility

and choice for families. Every family’s needs are different, and there is no right or wrong choice

At WCCC the preschool program integrates seamlessly with our existing Room 3 program.

Our early childhood teachers (Dani and Penny) oversee a range of programmed experiences for all the

four and five year old children including group times and excursions away from the Centre. Programs

are focused on the whole child and build on children’s strengths and interests to scaffold their skills and

knowledge. The early childhood teachers are also responsible for transition to school summative

reports and, if needed, transition to school visits. All preschool age children have an early childhood

teacher as their primary educator. Our program meets the requirements of National Quality Standard

(NQS) and the National Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). All four and five year old children

in Room 3 access the same program. Children continue to participate in Mandarin Immersion (and

now (ELLA) and Education for Sustainability (EfS), which are focus programs at WCCC. .

Transitions and enrolments There will be some changes to enrolments in July with several Room 2 and 3 families going on

sabbatical or changing work location. This will provide the opportunity for some transition between

rooms. Unfortunately we have still some days that are fully booked so all transitions will be

negotiated with respect to children’s attendance days, friendship groups and vacancies in the new

room.

PARENT NEWSLETTER

AUCS Board 2016 The Adelaide University Childcare Services Inc (AUCS) Board continues it work on the 2016-17

budget with delays due to our EB negotiations. New fees will be implemented from 1st August.

The AUCS Board is currently recruiting a new Director for ACCC in the interim Kaarin will be working

across both Campuses on some days.

Board meetings during winter are held at Nth Tce. The Board will next meet on Monday July 25th.

Please remember your bedding: From February 2014 WCCC children were requested to bring their own sheets and in cooler months a

small blanket for sleep time. This was initially requested of all new families and children in Room 1.

Most of these children have now moved through the Centre and the majority of children are using their

own bedding.

From 1st August all children will be expected to bring their own labelled sheets and blanket.

Families who have not provided any bed linen will be invoiced for second hand Centre sheets at a fee of

$10 per sheet. These will be labelled with the child’s name and sent home for washing.

Clear labelling

Bedding should be clearly labelled to prevent the occasionally issues of sheets being misplaced.

Initials on the product label are not sufficient. Each child’s name needs to be clearly visible to

educators and to older when they are making and unmaking beds for rest and sleep time.

The simplest way to do this is using a laundry marker to clearly write the child’s name at the foot of the

sheet. Those who are creative could embroider or applique the child’s name or initials.

Looking back on parenting practices with Kay Fenlon The article in the June news about why it is important for everyone to get fresh air even in the cold, wet

winter months and childrearing in Scandinavia facilitated lots of discussion, including discussions about

how we were parented and how our grandparents raised their children.

Karen from Room 1 had long discussions with her mum Kay.

Kay reflected back on her childhood and her time as a young mother in London:

“I was born in the 1940’s with two brothers and a sister coming after me. We lived in a suburb of

London, so the winters were long and very cold. We were all healthy children, but all had the usual

seasonal colds and coughs. My Mother’s way of keeping us all healthy in the winter months was to give

cod liver oil to the babies and the older children would have malt.

Every morning in the winter months my mother would wrapped up the younger children and put them

out in the garden in their pram for fresh air and the older would be wrapped up to walk to school.

All the others mothers we knew did the same thing and I did the same with my two children in the late

1960’s and the early 1970’s.

My children’s colds and coughs didn’t seem to last as long as children’s colds and coughs last these

days, I feel this is due to the fact that my children went out in the fresh cold air which cleared their nasal

passages. Going out in the cold fresh air made my siblings and I and my two children resilient and robust

to children’s ailments.

(Of course I would not have put my children out in the fresh air if they had temperature)

I found that my children were always happy being out in the fresh air. They would go down easy for

their sleep after been out in the cold fresh air but on the days when it was raining and just too hard for

me to be able to put them outside, it was much harder to get them to go down for a sleep.

As well as being healthy for my children being outside meant they could watch the different birds flying

around and see the trees moving the wind and listening to all the different sounds around them. Of

course I would go to the garden to check that my child was still happy and listen out if they cried, but if

for some reason I did not hear them cry and the neighbour did, they would call over the fence to you and

you would do the same for them.”

The power of strength-based parenting By: Lea Waters in Opinion, Top Stories June 15, 2015 0 As parents, we all hope to raise happy kids. Yet

this simple goal has become increasingly complex in today’s world and there are unprecedented levels of

youth depression and anxiety in Australia. Parents need to do as much as they can to build strengths and

wellbeing in their children to help combat stress and help their sons and daughters make the most of their

lives during the good times. But how do we do this?

A new research program on strength-based parenting from Centre for Positive Psychology at the

University of Melbourne is giving some promising answers. In strength-based parenting, parents

consciously identify and cultivate positive states, processes and qualities in their children.

The strength-based parenting research program is based on three key principles:

Every child has strengths and the inherent ability to learn and grow.

When parents and children work together through a strength-based approach, a child’s capacity to

achieve their potential and experience wellbeing is increased.

A strength-based approach helps children be more resourceful and persistent when dealing with stress.

In a study published recently in the Journal Psychology, research from the Centre of Positive Psychology

showed that primary school children who rated their parents as providing high levels of strength-based

parenting reported less stress than those who rated their parents as providing lower levels of strength-

based parenting.

In addition, strength-based parenting was a factor in how children coped with stress. Children who had

strength-based parents were more likely to use positive, strength-based coping responses. This is because

strength-based parenting adds a positive filter to the way a child reacts to stress. While parents accept the

importance of providing love and emotional support , the need to deliberately identify and build strengths

in children does not seem to be as valued by parents. Some parents are concerned that giving too much

praise to their children will create selfishness and entitlement. However, a strength-based approach does

not advocate for false or excessive praise. Instead, it asks parents to identify and validate a child’s

strengths realistically and give an equal focus to strengths as weaknesses. Parents can become aware of

their children’s strengths through strength spotting, which is a process of observation that looks to

identify strengths in oneself and others. We can spot strengths in our sons and daughters by looking at

their energy levels, which will be higher when they are using a strength. Other clues to look for include

levels of engagement, fast learning curves and behaviour that is beyond above age-appropriate levels in a

skill or personality aspect. For example, they could be wiser, kinder or quicker than you would expect for

their years. If parents truly want to raise well-adjusted, happy kids, I urge them to think about adopting a

strength-based approach. The new research program from the Centre of Positive Psychology will provide

meaningful science over the next few years to help parents and children thrive.

Professor Lea Waters is the Gerry Higgins Chair in Positive Psychology at the Melbourne Graduate

School of Education, University of Melbourne.

Coming Events Yoga classes are continuing on Fr idays for all groups. Claire has been providing age appropr iate

experiences to all age groups including mindful experiences with her stretching and yoga.

Photos are being posted on the slide show screen in the reception area .

August 20th –26th Childrens Book Week we will host a Little Big Book Swap all week. This years

theme is Australia Story Country.

Saturday 20th August Advanced Backyard Vegie Gardening— a joint event for the Waite

Community Garden and the Childrens Centre. We will start the day at the Childrens Centre with

information on site selection, soils overview, propagation & crop planning, soil preparation and irrigation.

We will then move to the Waite Community Garden where Nat and Steve will build a wicking bed. Q&A

across the day. This informative day cost only $65 including lunch and is be invitation only. Families

were emailed an invite via Eventbrite. We will re-send the invitation every few weeks.

Monday 26th September 7-9pm - Parent Evening with Mark Le Messurier; Building young children’s

resilience and optimism

WCCC Green Page

Plastic Free July The challenge is simple. Or is it? ……attempt to refuse single-use plastic during July.

Plastic Free July aims to raise awareness of the problems and amount of single-use disposable plastic in

our lives and challenges people to do something about it. You can sign up for a day, a week or the

whole month and try to refuse ALL single-use plastic. The TOP 4 are listed as plastic bags, water bot-

tles, takeaway coffee cups and straws.

Just thinking about this and what we purchase on a regular basis highlights how much plastic we use

every day. Think about, biscuits, chips, cheese, cereals and even flour and sugar…. Just about anything

we buy in a supermarket today comes in plastic. Even if the outer packaging is cardboard the packaging

inside is most likely plastic.

By 2050 its estimated there will be more plastic than fish in the world's oceans. Most comes from land

and was once in our hands. Refuse single-use plastic and together we can keep our oceans clean. Join

over 40,000 people, schools and organisations from 90 countries and let those same hands be part of the

solution.

http://www.plasticfreejuly.org/

Is your life too plastic? Some Facts about Plastic

Plastics are made from non-renewable natural resources such as crude oil, gas and coal. According to

the 2002 Nolan ITU Report for Environment Australia on Plastic Shopping Bags - Analysis of Levies

and Environmental Impacts; just 8.7 plastic checkout bags contain enough embodied petroleum energy

to drive a car 1 kilometre.

Plastic bags are recyclable. If plastic is not recycled, this embodied energy is lost from the resource

chain

Australians are the second highest producers of waste, per person, in the world with each of us send-

ing over 690 kilograms of waste to landfill each year (the United States is the highest waste producer).

The amount of waste placed in landfill each year in Australia is enough to cover the state of Victoria

How does plastic litter harm the environment?

Many thousands of marine mammals and seabirds die every year around the world as a result of plastic

litter. When the animal dies and decays the plastic is free again to repeat the deadly cycle. There are 2

major reasons that plastic bags are particularly problematic in the litter stream:

1. They last from 20 - 1000 years

2. They escape and float easily in air and water, travelling long distances References

(1) Worldwide Home Environmentalists Network home.vicnet.net.au/~when/plastic.htm (2) Environ-

ment Australia, Plastic Shopping Bags - Analysis of Levies and Environmental Impacts (Nolan ITU,

2002) www.deh.gov.au/industry/waste/plastic-bags/bags-analysis.html

Green development WCCC was successful in receiving $5000 from the University’s Green fund. This money will be used

to fund the Odyssey energy efficient cooling system which is a part of our ‘patches of green’ project.

The other areas of our project were more water efficient soft touch taps to replace the leaver taps and a

heat condenser A+++ energy efficient dryer. We have had one of the soft touch taps installed in Room 3

as a trial and this is proving, as hoped, easier for children to use. Our new dryer is on order and should

arrive in the next few weeks.

On Monday July 4th Adelaide Green Clean took up the contract for cleaning the Centre each night. This

means all cleaning products used in the Centre are certified environmentally safe.

Sustainability, ensuring the future of life on Earth, is an infinite game,

the endless expression of generosity on behalf of all.

Paul Hawken

Eroni and Ollie’s chooks:

Our 3 Isobrown chooks live in the sleepy Hills town of Kanmantoo with Eroni

and Ollie Vakaci. The chooks are called "Little My' (named by Eroni), 'Kariel'

and 'Alby' (who has chest plumage like a Wandering Albatross). They live in a

wonderful coop that was made by a friend. The coop is made of 100%

recycled materials (except nails and screws). The fox proof chicken run is also

made from another friend's recycled front picket fence. The chooks roam our

whole yard on most days when someone is home. The 3 plucky chooks

regularly have territory battles with the local magpie family which is

humorous to watch. They are very friendly and follow us around,

always hoping for kitchen scraps, especially on childcare days! Eroni enjoys

patting and talking to them, but he has to chase them out of his sandpit at

times. Ollie chuckles at their antics and is fascinated. Eroni stands on a couple

of bricks to reach the nest box lid to check for eggs. He helps his

parents collect 3 brown eggs each day and he carefully carries them

in his little bucket back to the kitchen. He always thanks the chooks

by name for their eggs.

On lazy Saturday mornings, we make bright yellow omelettes with

spinach, parsley, onion, mushrooms, bacon and cheese. We collect

20 eggs each week, which is more than we need, so we regularly

give eggs to staff at WCCC and to our friends. Its a great way to

give something back for all the amazing food scraps we bring home

from WCCC! We also get to peek at the diverse, nutritious and

Joseph’s chooks:

Our chooks are Edna, Polly and

Pandora. Edna is Daniel's chook and

she is a bit of a hard one to catch.

Polly is really nice and always ready for

a cuddle. Pandora is the black chook

and belongs to mum. She is our oldest

and usually lays a lot but is moulting at

the moment.

Waite CCC family’s chooks

Recycling of food waste at WCCC follows several paths.

We use our worm farm, bokashi, and Jeffries for composting which includes soft paper and green waste.

Grace also collects the leftovers from lunch each day with some selected green vegie and fruit scraps in

our ‘chook’ buckets for the Waite CCC family chooks. Thank you to all the families who have provided

these stories of our chooks:

Cathy’s chooks

Our girls are very special to us their names are Yoghurt,

Lighty and Darkie they are three years old and are Isa

Browns. Henry and I are their main carers they have layer

crumble, wheat and sunflower seeds as a treat. They love

the white bucket from Waite and they run to the fence

wings out and cackling.

We get three eggs

a day mainly laid

in the box in their

shed, but they have

a habit of

hiding them in the

wood heap in their

yard.

Eggs are scrambled on Sunday for breakfast. Henry has

spent many an afternoon chatting to the “girls” carrying

them around and hand feeding them treats before locking

them up so they are safe at night.

Euan and Kira’s chooks:

Built from a repurposed cubby house and other items

scavenged from the hard rubbish, our fox-proof chook run

houses a handsome rooster called Angus (formally known as

Agnes), a 7 year old Barnevelder called Geraldine who still

lays eggs, two black Australorps (Hattie and Winifred) and two

blue Australorps (Olive and Violet).

Euan and Kira love interacting with the chooks and introducing

their friends to the feathered members of the family. We have

a treadle feeder which means we don’t get little critters stealing

their grain and we can go away for multiple days. The combination of the chooks, worm farms and

compost pile means kitchen scraps in our household never go to waste, and the eggs are amazing.

Hugo’s chooks:

Hugo (Room 3) is the proud

owner of 8 chooks. They are a

mixed bunch, but his favourite

is "Slinky Malinky" the laven-

der coloured Araucana hen.

She's beautiful. He also has

"Pumpkin" the Rhode Island

Red, "Sparkles" the Australorp

and a cute little Belgium ban-

tam with spotty feathers, cur-

rently nameless.

Hugo's chickens often are the target of foxes, even

during the day time, so they have a large enclosure

that has been fortified against such invasions! They

have the best view of any chicken run and are given

loads of greens and of course, the fabulous left over

food from WCCC! Their favourite foods are pasta,

cake and cockroaches.

Kaarin’s chooks:

After a house extension we were left lots of 2nd hand materials Following several

months of planning my son and nephew recycled these materials into a hen house

and run. My now seven year old granddaughter Fynnley spends hours with her

chook friends when she visits and is a great help when it is time to clean and refresh

their yard. The chook run is also home to a pink lady apple tree which produced

some very delicious apples the first year after planting.

On the weekends the chook run is extended with some portable fencing so Abby

and Rosie get more space to search for earwigs and worms and occasionally they

are let free to roam the whole back yard!

These two highlighter hens enjoy feasting on WCCC kitchen scraps. I am sure they

recognize the white bucket when I take one home,

eagerly awaiting to see if they will get some of

their favourite leftovers - pasta!

The best egg dish I have made recently is impossible quiche with

chorizo and zucchini, yummy and spicy on a cold winters night and,

most importantly for me, very easy to make!

More about our chooks

Ethan and Charlotte’s chooks:

The Cotton family has two chooks called

Molly and Polly. Ethan loves chasing them

around the backyard and trying to catch them.

Although egg production has slowed recently,

they still enjoy leftover food from childcare.

Our favourite dish using eggs is of course

poached eggs on toast, but also made into lem-

on meringue pie.