Balcombe Pre-School Newsletter - Term 2 - 2015 by Magneto Design

N E W SL ETT ER Term 2 - 2015

WELCOME

To Term 2 Newsletter For 2015!

In This Issue: Presidents Report

Fundraising & Social Commitee Report

4 Year Old Teachersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; Report

Seals & Sea Stars Photos

Lobsters, Dolphins & Penguins Photos

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

Sun 19 Jul Sun 11 Oct 2015

THE TEACHERS

Jessie

Jessica

Kerri

Kellie

Natalie

Kristy

F R O M T HE PRESIDENT Term 2 - 2015

Hello and welcome to a wrap up from the Balcombe Pre-School General Committee. It has been a long term for the children, parents and of course teaching staff. A number of moments I remember vividly are; Mum’s morning Tea - with several embarrassing comments from the children said around mum’s favourite things; The Responsible Pet Ownership program was a hit with everyone. Kerri with her puppy [or shaggy horse] have been a hit, and the ladies up the back [Casserole the chook and partners] enjoy the interaction. To finish the term, a special “Breakfast In Bed” event was planned and who does not like going to school/work in their PJ’s. !! Well done to everyone with the donations for the Tea Towel drive. I purchased four for the family, and look forward to this timeless piece of art working hard for me. Monies from these events have recently been used for the purchase of new Wheelies - and don’t the children love them. It is fair to say, that the master plan for the development of the grounds has halted somewhat, and this needs to change. An extra-ordinary committee meeting will take place to prioritise the next phase and complete a significant space this calendar year.

have volunteered their time to show the kids how to cook international dishes and, amongst others, understand what life as a paramedic involves. The maintenance committee, albeit light on members, was busy with new shelving for the staff room, a fix to the door key-pad, new gate hinges and latch along with preparing the site for the assessment authority. Hard rubbish removals, and day to day repairs have helped keep the centre safer and usable for all. With that in mind, I will be posting a to-do page at the sign-in window area listing maintenance items that need attention. It will be dynamic, and as tasks are completed, new items will be added. Whilst they are typically small jobs, they build up over the course of the term and ultimately are left to one or two regular staff doing all the work. “Calling All Dads” we need your help.

The CFA incursion, with the emphasis on Fire Safe Kids, provided the children with the vital skills needed in the unfortunate event of a fire. A reminder if you have not done so - please double check your smoke detectors/alarms are working, and correctly positioned. $5 and a 15 minute check is all it takes to save your family. Going forward, we are looking into using the adjoining reserve for a Nature Program, and guest walkers/talkers. With the assistance of the BERG program, children will be able to learn about the natural wildlife and plants, water as a resource, sustainability, preservation. This idea follows an excursion Eliza took to visit the Minimbah ELC Nature Program. This term has seen other community helpers on site, and importantly those close to us. A number of mums and dads

Please add you name to the small task on the list if you can assist, and review each week. Mums - you are welcome to help out, or simply mention to the dads the list of tasks currently open.

A special thanks to all parents who took the time to complete the survey. The feedback is invaluable, and the anonymity allows free-flowing comments to be expressed. All comments will be reviewed by the committee for any immediate action, as well as future planning. Recently the results from the Australian Children’s Education and Care Quality Authority were released. We are very happy to announce that we received the “Exceeding National Quality Standard” rating for all 7 Quality Areas! Naturally Eliza, Jessica and all teaching staff were over the moon. From the General Committee, we would like to thank Eliza & Jessica for all their handwork. You have taken control of a review task that the committee was not equipped to complete to the level you produced. The Social/Fundraising Committee has been hard at work with a number of initiatives over the term, and one you all need to diarise is the Bogan Bingo night - 22nd August. A well earned rest is upon us now and I hope everyone keeps warm, and the children apply the skills developed over the course of the term. Peter Tisdall - President For the Balcombe Pre-School General Committee.

S O CI AL & FUNDRAISING C O MMI T EE REPORT Term 2 - 2015

Fundraising continues to assist with our children’s pre-school learning environment. Firstly, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed to the fundraising efforts of Balcombe Pre-School! Without your continual support, volunteering your spare time, and your donations, our children’s pre-school couldn’t be the amazing space that it is! Well done to you all! We left the last newsletter informing you that the Bunnings BBQ was going to be held on the first weekend of the school holidays. Although we had a lot of families away and weather wasn’t on our side we were still able to raise approximately $1,500 which isn’t to be sneezed at :-) We would like to make special mention to those incredible parents who rolled up their sleeves to help set up, throw a snag (or 800) on the BBQ, serve the customers and clean up, all while having a great time! Without our super volunteers we wouldn’t have been able to get it done - you know who you are so a massive THANKYOU!!! This term the children loved selecting a ’special’ mothers day gift from the beautiful Mother’s Day stall! We hope all our Balcombe mums enjoyed their little keepsakes and also had a lovely Mother’s Day with your families :-) The always popular and personalised tea-towels will be sent to the printers this week and we look forward to seeing the kids reactions when they see their own profile drawings printed on a keepsake that reminds them of their time at Balcombe PreSchool. We also hope families and extended families enjoy these as much as our children do.

What’s next… Term 3 we have the “parents only” Bogan Bingo night! It is Balcombe’s main fundraising event. This will incorporate many items available in both silent and loud auctions and is your chance to grab a bargain or two. There will also be great giveaways, raffles and prizes. If you ask any parents from previous years, you’ll likely hear what a great night this always is. The fundraising team is working hard to reach out to our local businesses for items to auction and raffle off on the night. If any of our kinder families or extended families could assist in anyway it would be greatly appreciated. Please touch base with one of our fundraising team members or a teacher with your ideas or leads on how to help. Tickets will be on sale next term and we suggest to get in quick as it sells out fast. So beg, borrow or steal to get those babysitters lined up and pencil in the following details:

WHERE: Balcombe Grammar School Hall, 389 Nepean Highway, Mt Martha WHEN: Saturday 22nd August 2015 TIME: 7.30 - 11.00pm COST: $30 per person DRESS: Come as a bogan or in 80’s/90’s gear (optional but encouraged!)

We canâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t stress to you how much we appreciate your ongoing support and contributions to our pre-school. It is because of you all that we are able to continue to better the facilities and grounds at Balcombe for our children now and the generations to come. So, where are these hard earned funds headed? Well, the new BBQ will be ordered soon, and the new TV and music dock are a welcome addition and are making our spaces more entertaining. Headphones will be ordered shortly to have yet another great indoor activity available over the cooler months and there are several new external projects being devised, so keep watching this space. Thanks again for a wonderful fundraising term and have a sensational holiday! So thank you everyone for your support thus far. We look forward to another great Term ahead. Happy Holidays!

4 YE AR O L D TEACHERS REPOR T Term 2, 2015 News

This term, we have embarked on many learning adventures and as always, have enjoyed sharing in a range of special experiences with our Pre-School children and families. It’s certainly hard to believe that we have already reached the middle of our Pre-School year together!!! Term Two started with a bang … after 3 years of waiting, our initial assessment through the Australian Children’s Education & Care Quality Authority (ACECQA) is complete. We are very happy to announce that we received the “Exceeding National Quality Standard” rating for all 7 Quality Areas! An excerpt of the reports summary, can be found below;

Seals, Sea Stars, Penguins, Lobsters & Dolphins “The service has achieved an overall rating of Exceeding the National Quality Standard. The educators demonstrated strength in their pedagogical practices and were supported strongly by the Committee of Management in accessing resources, professional development and in scheduling time to engage in reflective practices and to complete comprehensive documentation for individual children and daily program information for families to view, discuss and comment on. Children were regarded as competent and capable and educators consistently reflected on the program to support individual children’s strengths and interests. There was a supportive, respectful environment with encompassed families, children and team members in the provision of a high quality program which offered tangible learning outcomes for children. The physical environment fostered children in their learning and exploration and enabled them to make decisions about their play and learning. The program supported collaborative relationships between families, children and educators and aimed to develop a love of learning” This assessment was a great opportunity for us to share what a fabulous Pre-School we have; - the staff’s commitment to excellence in providing a welcoming environment for our families and a fabulous program for our children. We would like to take this opportunity to thank our wonderful team;Kerri, Jessie, Kristy, Kellie and Natalie for all of their help and support leading up to this day. Thank-you also to the Committee for their assistance, especially to our President Peter Tisdall for coordinating all of the recent maintenance and to Amanda Curtis and Sally Lloyd who represented the Committee by being interviewed on the day ☺ Throughout Term Two, activities have incorporated appropriate knowledge and skills which the children have demonstrated a real thirst for (for example, by following recipes whilst engaging in a range of cooking experiences and when introducing specific concepts at our Numeracy and Literacy

tables). In response to the children’s emerging interests, our dramatic play area has been transformed into a range of different spaces, including;- a Picnic Area (complete with picnic table and pretend BBQ!), Home Corner, Veterinary Clinic as well as the most recent, Balcombe Pre-School Café! We also created our very own camping area outside using the tee pee and camping chairs as well as a pretend camp fire (which the children loved toasting imaginary marshmallows on …. yum!) This term, the children have also enjoyed participating in a wide range of sensory-based experiences (with colored soapy water, uncooked pasta, rainbow rice, corn flour goop and kinetic sand just to name a few!) In response to the changes we could observe in the environment around us, during April and May we engaged in a range of Autumnal experiences. The children had an absolute ball collecting the many fallen leaves in our yard as well as engaging in a range of craft activities, including; making our own leaf creations after reading the story Leaf Man and experimenting with colour-mixing using dye and diffusing paper leaves. The children also had the opportunity to develop their understandings of Autumn further with the introduction of our new Science Table (complete with assorted nature items and magnifying glasses!) This same table has since encouraged exploration of concepts relating to Mushrooms, Magnets and Light through a range of exciting resources ☺ In May, we also participated in the Responsible Pet Ownership Program which focused on how we can live safely with dogs. This included learning what to do if we are approached by an aggressive or angry dog and the correct way to greet a dog (for example, by asking the owner “Can I please pat your dog?” before using our ‘hello’ hand). Following this experience, many children eagerly bought in photographs of their own pets from home to share and enjoyed engaging in dramatic play in our Balcombe Pre-School Veterinary Clinic (where we observed many interesting procedures taking place!!!) Building upon the children’s interest in Pets, Kerri has recently started bringing her beautiful dog Barkley into Pre-School for us to

4 Y E AR OL D PHOTOS Term 2, 2015 News

play with and care for which the children (and staff!) have absolutely loved! This has also been a wonderful opportunity for us to consolidate our understandings from the Responsible Pet Ownership Program further ☺ On Wednesday 20st May and Thursday 21st May, we participated in Mt Martha Fire Station’s Fire Safe Kids program. The children’s understandings of fire safety were consolidated leading up to and following on from this experience through a range of interactive learning opportunities, including; fire-fighter imaginative play, firesafety related songs and games as well as a range of craft-based activities. During the program, we discussed concepts including; “Stop, Drop and Roll”, “A Meter from the Heater” and “Get Down Low and Go, Go, Go!” … with of course climbing aboard a real fire truck being a highlight! This special experience also enabled us to create a link to our local community (addressing Early Years Learning and Development Outcome 2: Community). Building upon our discussions about our community as well as the people who help us, our local Postie, Anthony, came to

visit us at Pre-School in early June! During his visit, Anthony talked to the children about the role of a Postie as well as the mailing process. After having the opportunity to ask Anthony some questions, we went outside together to have a look at his special bike! It had lots of features, including; - fluorescent coloured bags, a tall flag on the back of the bike (so that Anthony can be seen easily!) and a very loud horn! As part of this educational experience, we then gave Anthony some of our very own letters that we had made (to be delivered to our home addresses) … we thought that this was very exciting! On Wednesday 17th June and Thursday 18th June, we participated in a special incursion run by Mt Martha School of Dance! This experience built upon our recent discussions in relation to healthy lifestyles and also provided opportunities for us to combine gross and fine motor movement and balance to achieve increasingly complex patterns of activity (addressing Early Years Learning and Development Outcome 3: Wellbeing). During this incursion, we had lots of fun pretending to be bunnies, clowns, wizards, butterflies and various Australian animals whilst experimenting with the different ways in which we could move our bodies!

S P E C I A L E V E N T S TO N OT E I N YO U

• SUNDAY 19TH JULY – Working Bee (from 9am until 12noon)

• TUESDAY 4TH AUGUST (Seal and Sea Stars) - Australian Wildlife Incursion with Andrew Wegener • WEDNESDAY 5TH AUGUST (Dolphin, Lobster and Penguins) - Australian Wildlife Incursion with Andrew Wegener • MONDAY 17TH AUGUST - THURSDAY 20TH AUGUST - National Science Week • FRIDAY 21ST AUGUST - Professional Development and Planning Day • SATURDAY 22ND AUGUST - Bogan Bingo (Social/Fundraising Evening) 8

Seals, Sea Stars, Penguins, Lobsters & Dolphins

To celebrate Term Two as well as the children’s interest in cooking and our Balcombe Pre-School Café, we were very excited to have Breakfast at Kinder (with the children and staff arriving in their pajamas!) On this day, we were amazed to see Kerri sound asleep when we arrived at Pre-School in the morning! After waking Kerri up, we had to choose what we would like to eat from the “Balcombe Pre-School Breakfast Menu” (including scrambled eggs, toast, cereal, yoghurt or fruit) before getting changed into our kinder clothes and brushing our teeth . . . we enjoyed a delicious breakfast with our friends and had lots of fun in the process!

assists in developing the children’s communication skills, sense of identity and confidence in speaking in front of others during our mat time discussions.

Like last term, the children’s portfolios will be sent home during the final week of Term Two. Please feel free to contribute to these over the holidays . . . we would love to hear your thoughts, ideas and all about what you get up to over the break! This information is very useful to us and will help to inform our planning for Term Three ☺

During Term Three, the children will make some special gifts in preparation for Father’s Day. We will be holding a special ‘Dad’s Night’ once daylight savings begins and the weather becomes warmer! Further details will follow shortly ☺

Once returned to Pre-School, the children will also have the opportunity to share their holiday pages with their peers which not only helps us to learn more about one another but also

Term Three commences on Monday 13th July 2015 (Please note: our Professional Development and Planning Day has been rescheduled to Friday 21st August 2015. As such, there will be no Pre-School sessions running on this day. We thank you for your understanding!)

Fathers Day:

We wish all of our families a relaxing, safe and happy break and look forward to seeing you again in Term Three! Eliza, Jessica, Kerri, Jessie, Kristy, Kellie & Natalie ☺

U R D I A R I E S F O R T E R M 3 I N C LU D E

• MONDAY 24TH AUGUST – FRIDAY 28TH AUGUST - Pre-School Photos • MONDAY 24TH AUGUST – FRIDAY 28TH AUGUST - Book Week • MONDAY 24TH AUGUST (Dolphin and Penguins) - Book Character Dress Up Day • TUESDAY 25TH AUGUST (Lobster, Penguin, Seal and Sea Stars) - Book Character Dress Up Day • Fathers Day • WEDNESDAY 16TH SEPTEMBER (Dolphin, Lobster and Penguins) - Footy Day • THURSDAY 17TH SEPTEMBER (Seal and Sea Stars) - Footy Day

4 YE AR O L D TEACHERS REPOR T Term 2, 2015 News

Seals and Sea Stars