Balcombe Pre-School Newsletter - Term 4 - 2013 by Magneto Design

NEWSLETTER Term 4 - 2013

THE TEACHERS

Welcome to Term 4 newsletter for 2013! In This Issue:

Eliza

Jessica

The 2013 Committee Presidents Report Social and Fundraising Report 4 Year Old Teachers’ Report 3 Year Old Teachers’ Report Seals & Sea Stars Photos Dolphin, Lobster & Penguin Photos The Turtles Photos

2 3 4 6 8 10 20 30

THE 2013 COMMITTEE

Position Name

Jessie

Kerri

Kellie

Lee

Natalie

President/Public Officer Secretary Treasurer Enrolment Officer (4yr old) Enrolment Officer(3yr old) Website Manager IT Officer Maintenance Officer(Gardens) Maintenance Officer(Playground) Maintenance Officer(Indoor) National Quality Framework Staff Liaison Officer Party Officer Fundraising/Social General Committee

Chris Britt Kate Robinson Renee Skipsey Sally Fisher Sam Howard Tim Curtis Merran Wood Victoria Smith Jo Mackay Melinda Binder

Administration Officer Office Hours: Thursdays 10:30-3:15

Glenys Hodgson

Claire Dyer Merran Wood Marie Williams Renee Skipsey Kirsten Beshara Rachel Drysdale Kerryn Heffer Suzanne Fahey Liz Andrews Sasha Balchin Liz Andrews Jill Ford Pamela Moore Karen Lewis Geoff Lawyer Decima Chadd Melanie Robinson Melinda Binder Wayne Binding Amanda Curtis Marie Williams Suzanne Fahey Julie Kendall Prue Richards

FROM THE PRESIDENT Ho Ho Ho, Merry Christmas to all the Balcombe Prechool Families. What a year! With the children learning Christmas songs and getting ready for their long holiday period, we certainly know the end of term four has come. Our children are also getting ready to take their next step, whether it be local school or back next year, but there’s still time to wallow in the joy of the festive season and celebrate the kinder year that was.

Finally I would like to thank the 2013 Committee. This special group dedicate their personal time to the Preschool and do so much behind-the-scenes work to enable our kinder to run in a smooth but fun way. The amount of hours that have been put into meetings, email discussions, fundraising, planning, working bees, enrolments, cooking, cleaning (I could keep going) is phenomenal – and to this group I say thank you.

As my final newsletter report for 2013, I thought it would be a good idea to share my thoughts from the year from my perspective.

Thanks to Marie Williams who was incharge of the playground Party Officer role which we have stop doing from next year due to council directive.

Our Preschool has a long and proud history of providing quality education for young children in a supportive and nurturing environment – and 2013 has been no different. This year we have seen five groups of children develop in our 4 year old 15 hour program , learn and grow. Our kinder provides more than a scholastic education working with the National Quality Framework structure – we feel passionately about teaching our children about being learners in the journey of life.

Thanks to our Fundraising team what a great job this year to Liz Andrews who lead this team even when a baby came along awesome.

We are able to provide our children this through having a wonderful teaching team.

Thanks to Kate Robinson as Secretary you did an great job of keeping me in toe and you juggled work commitements and family with doing this role which was a great feet

Thanks to Melinda Binder and Victoria Smith who tireless work on our maintenance, playground, Gardens and indoor Thanks goes to Tim Curtis behind that beard there is a talented man who keeps our website a fresh and up to date

Eliza , Jessica, Kerri, Jessie, Natalie, Lee and Kellie are a Thanks to Wayne for being the backbone and giving sound fantastic group who work harmoniously in a no-fuss manner. advice when needed. Our Director and Pre-School teacher, Eliza, has once again done a sterling job leading the teaching team and we thank her To Renee, Pamela, Sally,Kerryn, Suzanne, Sasha, Merran, for this. Jill, Claire, Amanda and big thanks for the advice, help and guidance. Particular thanks go to Eliza and Jessica for her dedication to the children’s transitions statements, various reports to To the new commitee for 2014 im looking forward to working parents, and individual assessment of children with regards to with you and I wish the best for a fun and fortuitous year school readiness. ahead. With enrolments in a good position and a strong Big thanks to Jessie who was running our 3 year old Saturday teaching team with a new 3 Year old teacher coming on board , we feel confident we will have a great year. morning program with Kerri these two complete our fabulous teaching team. From a personal perspective Im staying on for another year and looking forward to keeping Balcombe Preschool a great We are thankful for Jessies tireless commitment to our kinder and we are looking forward to her being more involved in our 4 environment for your children and i was so happy to have this role to assist a great group of people during a challenging yet year old children – she has such a warm and caring style and enjoyable year. the kids certainly benefit from that. It is with sadness that we say good bye to Kellie and Lee for there help on a Maternity cover for Kristy who will join us back next year thanks again.

Merry Christmas and stay safe!

Christopher Britt

President of Balcombe Preschool

SOCIAL & FUNDRAISING REPORT We have had a great fundraising year. The kinder relies heavily on the efforts of fundraising for money to go towards the continued improvement of the kinder and it’s facilities.

TERM THREE Bunnings BBQ

TERM ONE

We held a bunnings BBQ in August and although the weather was not the best, we were still able to sale a great amount of sausages with thanks to parents and families volounteering their time on a Sunday to come down and help. We raised $1,180.90

Family BBQ

Father’s Day raffle

The family BBQ, where all families were invited to the kinder as a get to know each other event, food and drink was available to buy, as well as the chance for face painting, activities and guess the lollies. It was a great night and we raised $957.75 profit.

Local businesses donated goods for a Father’s Day raffle. Most prizes being donated by Silvanna at Main Desire in Mornington. This raised $647.

Here is a brief outline of what events we have ran this year and profit made.

Trivia Night

Trivia night is the big annual fundraising event for the year. Donations were sought out from local businesses which were Easter Raffle auctioned or raffled off on the night. This year our event was held The Easter raffle was also held in term one. Families were asked at Balcombe Grammar School. It was a fun evening, with lots of to donate items to make up Easter raffles, the kinder families great auction items and a chance for everyone to let their hair were very generous this year and there were fantastic hampers down! the event raised $6,027.30 profit. to be won. The profits from this are included in the total for the Art work on a plate BBQ, as the raffle was drawn on the night.

TERM TWO Ladies Night

The children had the chance to complete an art work template at home with their parents that could then be turned into an art work picture plate at the cost of $25. Lots of families took part and the end results were fantastic! This raised $356 profit.

We had a VIP shopping evening held at Main desire in Mornington. For $5 a head we had entry to the store after hours, TERM FOUR drinks and nibbles, plus fantastic raffle and door prizes. This was Unfortunately what with everyone’s busy Christmas schedules, a new event for the kinder and was a great success. We raised our Christmas VIP shopping night had to be cancelled due to lack $556.30 profit. of numbers. Mother’s Day raffle Family Picnic Local businesses donated goods which we made into hampers This was a lovely and relaxed afternoon where the children that we raffled off for Mother’s Day. There were some fantastic played beautifully, and the parents were able to enjoy the hampers to be won and the raffle raised $691.05 profit. beautiful sunny day! There were ice poles and drinks for sale Tea towels as well as face painting and a raffle. There was even a special appearance from Santa Clause which was definitely the highlight! The children drew self portraits which were then turned into a this raised $158.90 profit. gorgeous 2013 Balcombe Tea Towel. Everyone loved the end result, the children were very proud of their work. This raised $678 profit. This means that total profit for the year was $11, 933.20! Art work tiles To celebrate the finished extension and courtyard the children On behalf of the 2013 Social and Fundraising committee I would were invited to make art work tiles, with the teachers and with help from one of our kinder mums. The tiles are on display on the like to say a huge thank you! To all of those families who have purchased raffle tickets, tea towels, picture plates etc and to totem poles in the courtyard. The profit from the tiles was $680. those who have given up their time attending BBQ’s, picnics and volunteering to help out. Your help and support enables the committee to raise the funds necessary to continue to improve Balcombe Pre-School, which is a fantastic Pre-School that all of our children are lucky enough to attend. So thanks again, and we wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Liz Andrews

4 YEAR OLD TEACHERS REPORT:

News from the Seals, Sea Stars, Penguins, Lobsters & Dolphins Our final term together has flown by and it’s hard to believe that our Pre-School year is already coming to an end! We have been very busy this term with a range of special experiences as well as school orientation days. The children are very excited about becoming ‘big school kids’ and some have already come to PreSchool wearing their school bags and dressed in their uniforms . . . talk about being prepared!!! Following the holidays, the children were very excited to participate in our “Dad’s Night” celebrations. As part of this special event, our Dad’s had the opportunity to experience a range of Pre-School activities (including; construction, clay, puzzles and stories) whilst meeting their child’s friends, teachers and other Dads. Some Dads were even lucky enough to have their faces painted by the children (much to their horror!) For dinner, we cooked sausages on the Pre-School BBQ and had some juice to drink before singing some songs together ☺ At the beginning of Term Four, we celebrated “World Space Week” with mat-time discussions and a wide range of learning experiences relating to Space. We transformed our dramatic play area into a Space Station (complete with a rocket and control headquarters) and also enjoyed a special visit from Dream Puppets who performed their show; “Dreamer in Space” for us! On Wednesday 23rd October, we braved the wet and windy weather to participate in Kids Day in the Park. Despite the weather, many families enjoyed participating in a range of free activities from local Pre-Schools on this day, including making paper windmills in the shelter of our Balcombe Pre-School tent ☺ Fingers crossed we have better weather next year! Following the children’s interest in Space, this term, the children have also worked together to perform all sorts of interesting procedures in the Balcombe Pre-School Hospital . . . often (to their delight) on staff members or the lucky parent who was on duty each session! In response to the children’s interest in how we can care for our bodies, we had a visit from Jill (Declan’s Mum) from Hastings Family Dental Care followed by Breakfast at Kinder (with the children and staff arriving in their pajamas!) On this day, we enjoyed a delicious breakfast with our friends and were amazed to see Kerri asleep on our mat when we arrived to Pre-School in the morning! After waking Kerri up, we had to choose what we would like to eat from the “Balcombe PreSchool Breakfast Menu” (including scrambled eggs, toast, cereal, yoghurt or fruit) before getting changed into our kinder clothes and brushing our teeth . . . we had lots of fun together! Our dramatic play area was then transformed into a Supermarket! We talked about the shops we go to with our families, how different shops sell different goods to meet our needs and how money is used in exchange for what we want to buy. We then went on an excursion to the Mt Martha Shops and had a tour of IGA, posted a letter we had written to a friend at the post office and also visited the Bendigo Bank before enjoying something to eat at the park! Recently, the children have begun to talk a lot about Christmas (surprise, surprise!!!) We have been very busy making special Christmas surprises with the children which will be handed out at their end-of year parties this week. At these parties, we will celebrate our year together with yummy food, games and some of the children’s favorite songs from throughout the year whilst of course having lots of fun ☺

It has been a pleasure getting to know you and your children over the past twelve months and we would like to say a huge thank you for all of your support and for all that you have done to make our year so fulfilling and memorable! It is wonderful to be part of such a great community â&#x2DC;ş Your children have bought such joy and happiness to our Pre-School this year and although we are excited to see them embark on the next stage of their school lives, we will of course be sad to see them leave! We would love for you to come back and visit us next year â&#x2DC;ş We would also like to thank all of our outgoing committee members . . . the time and effort that you have put into the PreSchool over the past twelve months is greatly appreciated. On behalf of the staff, committee, parents and children we would also like to say a huge thank you to Kellie and Lee (who will be leaving us at the end of this year with Kristy returning from Maternity leave at the beginning of 2014). Kellie and Lee, thanks for all of your support, hard work and dedication . . . your smiling faces will be missed! We hope you all have a safe and happy holiday and wish you all the best for 2014! Eliza, Jessica, Kerri, Jessie, Natalie, Kellie and Lee.

3 YEAR OLD TEACHER’S REPORT: News from the Turtles

December is always a bitter sweet time of year. Christmas is upon us, the sun starts shining and our beautiful Turtle Group move on to bigger things. What a wonderful year 2013 has been! Kerri and I consider ourselves very lucky to have had this group. It has been wonderful watching the Three Year Olds mature, gain independence, build social skills and form friendships. Those who were hiding behind mums and dads legs now come running into the yard with not even a glance back over their shoulders. We painted, glued, cut, traced, laughed, sang and now we are ready to move up to four year old kinder. I would not have made it through the past few years without the beautiful Kerri helping me through. It has been an absolute pleasure working with her and I will miss our Saturday mornings together. We have had many highlights this term… • Watching a life- cycle with our kinder tadpoles • Getting to know the chickens • The wooden fire and police station • Scaring Kerri on ‘The Bear Hunt’ • The new wooden car in the yard • The farm coming to visit • And the lead up to Christmas I am also proud of our parents for trusting Kerri and me when times got tough. We understand that this can be a first- time experience for a three year old to be away from their parents. You all did so well, so thank you. We have loved getting to know the siblings and parents (sometimes even grandparents) and hope to see you all again next year for kinder duty. To all our families thank you for a great year! We hope you have a safe and relaxing break and look forward to seeing you next year!! Jessie McGovern and Kerri McMillan

SEALS & SEA STARS PHOTOS

DOLPHINS, LOBSTERS & PENGUINS PHOTOS

TURTLES PHOTOS