Balcombe Pre-School Newsletter - Term 1 - 2015

N E W SL ETT ER Term 1 - 2015

WELCOME

To Term 1 Newsletter For 2015!

In This Issue: Presidents Report

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Fundraising & Social Commitee Report

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4 Year Old Teachers’ Report

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3 Year Old Teachers’ Report

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4 Year Old Photos

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3 Year Old Photos

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WORKING BEE DATES Help Needed! Come and lend a hand and make the kinder look great.

Sun 19 Apr Sun 19 Jul Sun 11 Oct 2015

THE TEACHERS

Jessie

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Jessica

Kerri

Kellie

Natalie

Kristy

F R O M T HE PRESIDENT Term 1 - 2015

Hello one and all, Welcome to our first newsletter for 2015. A huge welcome to all the new students this year, and especially those returning from three year old Pre-School in 2014. It is great to have your support once again.

After 9 weeks in this new role, I have to say it is great. Like previous roles in the CFA I am overwhelmed by the support of the committee and the extended family members. If a task needs doing, it is not long before sleeves are rolled up and the job is done. Few, if any, are true painters, carpenters, electricians or chook-keepers, however we have a great team and everyone chips in.

With the added adopted role of Interim Maintenance Officer my time at the Pre-School increases, but I can say it is wonderful to see those happy faces on all the students at each visit. When I am not pushing someone on the swing, I’m checking the well-being of Casserolethe-chook, or looking for items to fix. Naturally all the credit really should go to the teachers and co-educators. From the ‘reflection’ emails received, we are entertained on the weekly basis on their development, upcoming events and important notices.

Aside from the fun Eliza and Jessica have day to day, they have been incredibly busy with preparations for the Department of Education - Quality Assessment program. Talking this week with Jean from the department, she is very impressed by the report submitted. The assessment is a chance for the teachers to review the policies and practises of the Pre-School and show off how Balcombe Pre-School exceeds the requirements set by the department. The National Quality Standard sets a new national benchmark for the quality of education and care services, and promotes the safety, health and wellbeing of children. It includes seven quality areas:

The ‘surprise date’ for this falls between April and May and will see the department staff on site, and in closed sessions with teaching staff. Good luck everyone.

The fund-raising BBQ this term was a huge success on many levels.

With the weather ominous, the turn out was great. A new layout meant all activities were inside the Pre-School grounds, including face painting, temporary tattoos, a jumping castle, hair-extensions, fruit-cups cupcakes, and my favourite the lolly-jar lottery. Thank you to all the volunteers from the fund raising committee and parents.

As you know, the Pre-School relies on these events to raise monies for capital improvements and replacement of indoor and outdoor equipment. You will have all noticed the new ‘wheelies’ in use, and soon new audio visual equipment will be installed.

Over the holidays a number of generous trades-persons will be on site to build new cabinets for the teachers room, repair the gates and install the last of the synthetic turf on the steps. Look out for the new and future working bee dates everyone - remember many hands make light work. Thanks to Tim Curtis, a parent and our webdesigner, who is also donating his time to compile and publish this and future newsletters.

A special thanks goes out to all 2015 Committee members, many of which many already donated their time to ensuring our Pre-School is running smoothly, subsidised and a joyful and safe environment for our children to play in. My partner Julie and I have a daughter Ella in the Dolphin group, and her eagerness to attend is testament to the hard work of all involved.

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Educational programme and practice

Please enjoy a safe holiday break and remember the words of Jim Hensen: “[Kids] don’t remember what you try to teach them. They remember what you are.” - Creator of The Muppets and famous US author.

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Children’s health and safety

Regards,

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Physical environment

Peter Tisdall - President on behalf of the Committee

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Staffing arrangements

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Relationships with children

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Collaborative partnerships with families and communities

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Leadership and service management.

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S O CI AL & FUNDRAISING C O MMI T EE REPORT Term 1 - 2015

What a big start it has been to our fundraising efforts this Term 1.

We kicked things off with the wonderful Family ‘Welcome’ BBQ. It was a great night enjoyed by all and raised $1500 for our pre-school. Such events cannot take place without the generous support of our community, families and volunteered time from the committee members. A big THANK YOU to those parents who volunteered on the night by supervising/manning an activity or stall. Your efforts are much appreciated. The support from our local community was overwhelming. Sponsors included Bendigo Bank Mount Martha, Linden’s Fresh Benton Square, Baker’s Delight Benton Square, Brendon’s Cakes Mornington, IGA Mount Martha, Harcourts Mornington, and Amazing Toys Mornington. A special thank you to Nanna Lizzie for her time with the coloured hair extensions … the kids certainly enjoyed the experience!

The Easter Hamper Raffle has also been a great success. The donations were fantastic. We have 5 amazing parcels that will be going to some lucky families. Thank you again for your generosity in donating an item to this fundraiser.

To end the term, we of course have our Bunnings BBQ Sausage sizzle. Again this would not be possible without generous community and volunteer support. Thank you to all of you who are volunteering your time on the day. No doubt this will be a good revenue raiser for our school.

Looking towards Term 2 we will have a couple of fundraising opportunities including a Mother’s Day Stall and Tea Towels with our children’s special drawing available to order as a memento of your child’s preschool year. We also hope to plan a social get together for our mums, giving us an opportunity to chat without the kids rushing in and out of pick up!

So thank you everyone for your support thus far. We look forward to another great Term ahead.

Happy Holidays!

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4 YE AR O L D TEACHERS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

On behalf of all the staff, I would like to welcome all of our families to Balcombe Pre-School 2015! It has been wonderful to see some familiar faces of past families return as well as getting to know new ones! This newsletter comes out at the end of each term and celebrates the wonderful learning, achievements and community that we have here at our pre-school.

A massive thank-you to Sarah’s Dad Tim Curtis (Seal Group) who is continuing for a record breaking third year in his role as the Balcombe Preschool website co-ordinator!

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Seals, Sea Stars, Penguins, Lobsters & Dolphins This year has begun as a standout one in terms of how few tears there were with the commencement of preschool and how well the children have settled in. We thank our kinder families for taking the time to fill out the “Transition into Pre-School” questionnaire and “Mind Maps”. These documents were vital for our planning as we got to know the children this term.

Term 1 sees us largely focus on Outcome 1 - “Children have a strong sense of identity”;-

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build secure attachments with one and then more familiar educators

In terms of the pre-school curriculum, our program during Term 1 revolves largely around the children settling in and becoming familiar with the pre-school staff, their peers, routines and

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use effective routines to help make predicted transitions smoothly

environment.

Both teachers meet together each Friday to plan and evaluate the program and to pool ideas and resources. We use the Victorian Early Years Curriculum as the basis for our program planning. This curriculum identifies five Early Years Learning and Development Outcomes for all children; - Identity, Community, Wellbeing, Learning and Communication as displayed in the teacher’s program in the locker room. The Victorian Early Years Curriculum booklet is also available in the locker room for any parents interested in further reading!

For the children to begin to feel safe, secure and supported

For children to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect •

show interest in other children and being part of a group

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engage in and contribute to shared play experiences

Staff has spent a lot of time explaining the “rules” to the children in order to ensure that our pre-school is a safe and happy place for all. Understanding limits, expectations and routines has also been of great importance. We have tried to remember the more practical things such as putting lids back on textas, wiping our paint or paste brush, finishing puzzles or asking for help if the puzzle is too tricky and returning books to the library shelf when finished! The children were entertained and amused by the staff role playing these various scenarios, forgetting what to do and needing the children’s help to remember!

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4 YE AR O L D TEACHERS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

Term 1 has also seen us spend time developing the children’s fine motor skills (Outcome 3 - “Wellbeing”), such as beginning to use sticky tape dispensers, staplers, hole punches, scissors and threading needles which will be important in promoting the children’s confidence to participate in a lot of our craft activities throughout the year. In Term 2 we will be encouraging the children to be more independent with what they can make now that they are more self-assured in using these preschool “tools”!

Our fantastic playground also provides the perfect environment for the children to develop their gross motor skills (Outcome 3 - “Wellbeing”) with the provision and planning of outdoor equipment and games.

One of the Early Years Learning and Development Outcomes areas we spend a lot of time developing throughout the year is Outcome 2 - “Community”. We focus on what makes the Mt Martha area in which we live and it’s community unique. For

this reason, in Term 1 we spent time learning about the beach, marine life and being safe in this environment. Special visitors were organised to reinforce these concepts such as “Seaweed Sally” and Bob and Mike from the Volunteer Marine Rescue Mornington. The use of songs, discussions, picture books, craft activities and other experiences further extended this knowledge (Outcome 4 - “Learning”), however the children probably had the most fun out of our “Pirate & Nautical Dress-Up Days”!

The final 2 weeks of Term 1 has revolved around our first preschool excursion to the Enchanted Maze Garden for a teddy bears picnic. The children made making teddy bear hats, gingerbread teddy bear biscuits and practiced some bear songs to sing on this special day. As well as being lots of fun for the children, this event also provided a great opportunity to get to know families in the group. Unfortunately, the weather did not do the right thing by us, however this did not dampen (excuse the

S P E C I A L E V E N T S TO N OT E I N YO U • TUESDAY 5TH MAY - Mother’s Day Morning for Penguin & Lobster groups Mother’s Day Afternoon for Seal & Sea Star groups • WEDNESDAY 6TH MAY - Mother’s Day Morning for Dolphin group • WEDNESDAY 13TH MAY - Responsible Pet Program visiting Dolphin, Penguin & Lobster groups • THURSDAY 14TH MAY - Responsible Pet Program visiting Seal & Sea Star groups 8

Seals, Sea Stars, Penguins, Lobsters & Dolphins

pun!) the children’s excitement or enthusiasm in exploring the various mazes and the thrilling tube slides for the brave (or the crazy!)

On the last day of each term, the children take their portfolios home for the holiday break to share some of their Term 1 artwork and special experiences with their families. It would be fantastic if you could make the time to help your child add their own page at the back of the folder with any stories/photos/ drawings of how you spent the school holiday break! This will help us with mat time discussions and form the basis of our planning for Term 2! We would appreciate it if portfolios could be returned in the first week back please.

I would to say a big thank-you to our Social/Fundraising Committee who planned and ran the fantastic “Welcome BBQ” on Friday 27th February. It was well organised, there was lots

for the children to do, perfect weather and the money raised has enabled us to purchase new equipment including a new iPod dock, a new television for the teachers to show children educational material off the internet such as children’s science programs. Well done and thank-you to all the families who came along and supported this event!

Thank-you also to our Maintenance Committee in getting jobs done around the preschool. We have an amazing, massive playground, but it is high maintenance in terms being compliant to safety regulations. The team is onto dealing with these issues, hopefully with the help of families attending our working bee on Sunday 19th April!

Another thank-you to the Curtis family (Sarah – Seal Group) and the Lloyd family (Piper – Sea Star group) for babysitting the preschool chickens for us over the holiday break!

U R D I A R I E S F O R T E R M 2 I N C LU D E • WEDNESDAY 20TH MAY – Penguin, Dolphin & Lobster groups “Fire Safe Kids Program” at Mt Martha Fire Station • THURSDAY 21ST MAY – Seal & Sea Star groups “Fire Safe Kids Program” at Mt Martha Fire Station • MONDAY 8TH JUNE – QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY HOLIDAY – NO PRESCHOOL

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4 YE AR O L D TEACHERS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

Term 2 commences on Monday 13th April. Just a reminder that the children will still need to wear their broad rimmed hats until 1st May please. We have a student working with us commencing on the first day of term.

Please welcome Tathra Lamb who will be doing her Diploma placement with us.

We are hoping to set up two new areas outside under the roofed area; - a quiet space where children can retreat to and a new permanent science learning table. If you have any suggestions or items that we could use for the science table it would be greatly appreciated!

Sometime in the first month of Term 2, our preschool will be assessed and rated by “ACECQA” - the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority. We will be assessed and rated against the “National Quality Standard” which we spoke briefly about at last Novembers AGM. For the past 3 years, we have had to complete an annual “QIP” - Quality Improvement Plan for our preschool, looking at the following seven quality areas, identifying where our strengths lie, where there is room for improvement and what we need to do to achieve this.

1. Educational program and practice

We will receive a ranking for each one of the above areas and then an overall rating. As part of the assessment process, last week we had to submit our 2015 Quality Improvement Plan.

Teachers will be emailed 5 days before the assessment to notify us of the exact date in either April or early May 2. We have been waiting 3 years for this to occur and now it’s finally happening, it’s both daunting and exciting at the same time!

Since the introduction of this process 3 years ago, staff and committees have been working very hard to address the areas that we identified as needing improvement. Now the time has come to show how special we think our preschool is!

2. Children’s health and safety

Wishing all of our families a safe and happy holiday break!

3. Physical environment

Eliza on behalf of the Balcombe Preschool Team; - Jessica, Kerri, Jessie, Nat, Kristy & Kellie ☺

4. Staffing arrangements 5. Relationships with children 6. Collaborative partnerships with families and communities 7. Leadership and service management

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Seals, Sea Stars, Penguins, Lobsters & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Stars, Seals Penguins, and SeaLobsters Stars & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Stars, Seals Penguins, and SeaLobsters Stars & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Stars, Seals Penguins, and SeaLobsters Stars & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Stars, Seals Penguins, and SeaLobsters Stars & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Stars, Seals Penguins, and SeaLobsters Stars & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Lobsters, Stars, Penguins, Dolphins Lobsters & Penguins & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Lobsters, Stars, Penguins, Dolphins Lobsters & Penguins & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Lobsters, Stars, Penguins, Dolphins Lobsters & Penguins & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Lobsters, Stars, Penguins, Dolphins Lobsters & Penguins & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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Seals, Sea Lobsters, Stars, Penguins, Dolphins Lobsters & Penguins & Dolphins

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4 YE AR 4 YOELAR D TEACHERS OL D PHOTOS REPOR T Term 1, 2015 News

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