Principal’s Message
By Mrs Kath Boyd
Dear Parents and Caregivers, 新Xīn 年 nián 快 kuài 乐 . . . Gōng xǐ fā cái! (Mandarin) . . . Chuc Mung Nam Moi (Vietnamese) . . . sending all Reddam ELS Lindfield families best wishes for a prosperous Lunar New Year. Since Tuesday, our classrooms have been adorned in red & gold decorations and the teachers have been supporting children in developing their understanding of other’s cultures and beliefs. The EYLF (Early Years Learning Framework) maintains that ‘celebrating who we are and how we connect with those around us is fundamental to promoting children’s sense of belonging and supporting their holistic development.’ Pictured above: 1E Chinese New Year Provocation display. The Tiger centrepiece was created by the very talented Mr. Kai. “Rituals set everyone up for success, promoting active and engaged children, increasing their independence, and fostering a sense of community.” (Loader & Christie) At Reddam ELS Lindfield, young children experience many routines including mealtimes, sleep and rest times, nappy changing and toileting, transitioning from one part of the day to another. Routines are important for children as they provide them with a sense of security and stability. However, the Teaching Teams aim to ensure that these experiences are not rushed so that the children can get back to learning. Everything we do is an opportunity for learning. A traditional definition of ritual is that it is a series of actions that are always performed in the same way. However, Dr. Toni Christie’s definition is rather different: “Rituals are a powerful way of using gestures, actions and behaviour to bring positive energy and intention to our daily rhythms. Within the early childhood setting, rituals assist us in creating a healthy emotional environment, making them a purposeful and enduring aspect of each day.” The difference between a routine and a ritual is the attitude behind the action. While routines are actions that need to be undertaken, rituals are more meaningful practices that have a real sense of purpose. Applying mindfulness to daily routines is a great way to create rituals. Before our Educators change a routine to a ritual, they firstly reflect on: * How they view the capability of the child/children in their class. * What is working well. * What routines could be changed. * Where they could support independence and choice in daily routines. * What they would like to achieve from the experience as a teacher and for the children. * How they can promote a sense of calmness within an experience.
Principal’s Message Continued...
By Mrs Kath Boyd
Current routine and ritual behaviours at our school include: Routine: Children are asked to wash their hands before eating and after play. Ritual: Children become independent and recognise the importance of hygiene. Routine: Children are directed to sit before being eating. Ritual: Children are invited to choose where they would like to sit. Routine: Children’s meals are placed in front of them, and children are encouraged to wait for their peers before they commence eating. Ritual: Children are given a choice at mealtimes and supported to develop the skills to serve themselves and clean up afterwards. Routine: Children are hastened to finish meals as friends are unsettled and need to get to sleep. Ritual: Children are encouraged to choose an activity to support relaxation prior to bedtime, such as reading, puzzles, whilst others finish their meal. Routine: Children ‘Acknowledge Country’ at the beginning of each day. Ritual: Children respect and understand the importance of the First Nation People and culture. 2022 Parent Information Evenings We are erring on the side of COVID-19 caution and have decided to hold the 2022 Parent Information Evenings remotely. Your child’s Core Teacher will be emailing you shortly in regards to the updated meeting details. Wishing you all a safe and relaxed weekend.
Pictured below: Stage 4R children engaging in sensory experiences.
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Happy Lunar New Year May the Year of the Tiger bestow upon us strength, courage, bravery and resilience!
2022 Lunar New Year artwork created by Mr. Kai
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Stage 1R
By Heather Gaskell
“Believe you can and you will.” (Debasish Mridha) Welcome to our second newsletter of 2022 and goodness, how our beautiful little ones are settling into the routines and in our classroom! It is so delightful to see the relationships between both children and teachers blossoming. The smiles and cuddles are plentiful and huge. As Australia Day was on Wednesday the 26th of January we decided to celebrate all Australian things this week. The children assisted in making damper and were able to taste their endeavours for afternoon tea. Yum, yum, very tasty indeed. Just a lovely sensory thing to make, we all loved mixing up that sticky dough. They also were able to explore making vegemite sandwiches, just so Aussie. As part of our Australian animal experiences, Miss Doris collected cicada shells for the children to observe and handle. Miss Doris then incorporated them into an artwork and invited the children to decorate the shells. We had glittery shells all around the room. The sound of cicadas is a very typical Australian summer sound. It is amazing just how loud they can get. One of the books we read was Wombat Stew by Vaughan & Lofts. This is a funny story about a dingo who catches a wombat and wants to eat him in a stew. But the wombats' friends have other plans and convince the dingo to add yucky things to the stew to make it taste terrible. After reading this we decided to try and make our own Wombat Stew. The children had fun adding the sticks, leaves, mulch and other items into our bowl, stirring as they went. The children enjoyed this experience as we cooked this al fresco. Our Term 1 provocation is All About Me in which we will look into the various parts of ourselves. Our weekly focus will include selecting different body parts to explore, caring for babies, investigating the 5 senses and experimenting with foods we eat. Have a lovely weekend! Heather, Doris and Resie
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Stage 1R: Celebrating Australia
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Stage 1E
By Charity Acera
“Childhood is a time to be, to seek and to make meaning of the world.” (The Early Years Learning Framework) Welcome back to yet another week of fun learning and discoveries! We continued celebrating the diversity and unity of Australian culture. In line with our celebration of Australia Day, we led Stage 1E to appreciate the land and its vast produce provided to us by our hard working farmers. To do so, we welcomed everyone to our ‘Stage 1E Green Grocer!’ We encouraged the group to participate in a dramatic play going to the grocery store and visiting our friendly neighbourhood farm. We had baskets and cloth bags for the children to use as shopping bags, wooden grocery items and soft toys for them to collect and manipulate. An Australian Flag themed table display was also prepared for the children to learn about the colours of the Australian flag; pom-poms and candy spoons were provided for them to express themselves through a dramatic play experience. Such activities enhance children’s expressive skills in terms of displaying their likes and dislikes, gaining social interactions among their peers, and improving children’s confidence through role playing. Our sensory table offered a variety of fine-motor, eye-hand coordination and social interaction opportunities for our children. The children were invited to explore and investigate different types of fruits and vegetables that are very common in our homes and in our community. We also played hide and seek with Mr. Sheep as we paid tribute to the wool industry and pretended as shearers using shaving foam as wools. More so, they were offered a supervised risky play using plastic knives to let them slice their own bananas as well as participate in a taste testing activity using Australia's very own organic honey product. This allowed them to be exposed to a situation that teaches children to gauge risk while learning how to use plastic knives properly at such a young age, promoting early independence skills. In the past three weeks our little friends have warmed up for the term! Seeing their enthusiasm for school and participation in all learning experiences inspires us to offer a meaningful range of activities that will increase their sense of self and confidence. It has been our pleasure to increase their knowledge and interests towards learning and making meaning of the world around them. We are looking forward to exploring the concepts of individuality and uniqueness through our new provocation All About Me, which initially will focus on Who Am I? Please share funny and cute stories about your sweet children with us! Charity, Fatima and May
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Stage 1E: Appreciating Australian Produce & Culture (Part 1)
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Stage 1E: Appreciating Australian Produce & Culture (Part 2)
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Stage 2R
By Sara Haddadi
"All cultures are connected to Country. Connection to Country will always uplift the spirit." (Sue McPherson) This week we explored our country Australia, an island continent in the Southern hemisphere. We discovered its rich history, beautiful landscape, and diverse culture. We are grateful for its beauty, the freedoms we enjoy and the prosperity that is ours. Australia is now a country of many ethnic groups all of whom must learn to live together; perhaps this situation will help the Aborigines, the first Australians, to be accepted as 'first class' citizens. To acknowledge and respect the First Nations Peoples of Australia who lived on the continent and its islands before the British settlement, children were encouraged to be engaged with a variety of Aboriginal experiences and activities. The lands and the natural world provided sustenance for Aboriginal people enabling them to live and to develop their nations when they first found Australia. There is a strong connection between nature and the aboriginal culture. To help 2R have a greater understanding of this fascinating culture, our provocation tables offered children natural small worlds in different settings for children to develop their knowledge of Australian native animals and connection to the natural world. Habitats were created for these animals and children engaged their creativity moving the animals around and creating new habitats for them. The ability to be creative is vital to the success of our children and the well-being of our world. Moreover, to create a stronger connection to Australia, children were encouraged to have a cooking experience. 2R made ANZAC biscuits and took their time to identify each individual ingredient. What a meaningful week we've had with our curious 2R. As we know them more we realise that they are developing new cognitive, motor and language skills. They insist on doing things for themselves and have a strong drive towards independence. As teachers we are there to support them in their attempts to be independent, so they can emerge from this stage feeling capable and positive about their own abilities. Next week we'll start our provocation - I Belong - to help children gain a better understanding of themselves. We aim to develop their self-esteem, sense of trust in the world, sense of feeling of control over their actions and decisions, sense of responsibility and feeling of competence. Hope you have a peaceful weekend that will ease your mind. Sara, Vivian, Lizzie and Indi
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Stage 2R: Our Country, Australia
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Stage 2R: Artistic & Culinary Experiences
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Stage 2E
By Mia Doan
“The land owns and grows us and no human is older than the land itself.” (Bob Randall) This week's focus is The Land Owns Us which is a living philosophy of Bob Randall - Yankunytjatjara Elder and Traditional Owners of Uluru. According to Randall, flora are Aborigines’ relatives and fauna are their friends. Integrating Aboriginal perspectives into learning experiences guides children’s understanding of the respectful and interwoven relationships between natural resources (Mother Sun and Mother Earth), flora, fauna and people. We read a range of Australian and Indigenous illustrated stories. Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Wandin Murphy impressed us. This is a resoundingly beautiful book that invites us to recognise the traditional lands that lie beneath our feet and to celebrate local Indigenous culture. This book takes us through a beautiful Wominjeka (welcome) ceremony which gives Yannabil (visitors) permission to enter the Indigenous lands where we can see waterways, night skies, native flora and fauna of the area, and images of the ancestors around campfires, gathering food and celebrating. The Indigenous perspectives were embedded in a sensory experience in which 2E children learned Aboriginal symbols such as kangaroo tracks, water, rain, boomerang by tracing with pebbles or drawing on the yellow sand. Our children were curious to learn about the meaning of each symbol and diversity that also builds their literacy and language skills. To enhance the children’s understanding of Australian habitats and living things around them, we invited the children to explore Australian wildlife by engaging in a small world play and sensory experiences. These play-based learning experiences promote 2E children’s sensory development and social skills as they initiated conversations of identifying Aussie animals or sought for connections with a lovely smile. Different sensory materials create great opportunities to scaffold children’s oral description language when they touch and feel the differences between each object. Excitingly, Miss Xanthe brought special clapping sticks and boomerangs which were made by the Indigenous Australian with beautiful dot painting art and burning patterns. Our friends all had a chance to explore a variety of Aboriginal musical instruments. They waited patiently for their turn and respectfully shared with each other. Have a lovely weekend! Mia, Tracey, Xanthe, Ona and Sabrina
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Stage 2E: Exploring Aboriginal Culture
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Stage 2E: Exploring Australian Wildlife
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Stage 3R
By Grace Nolan
During the last week of our January Program we focused on both Australia & Summer combined, repeating beloved experiences from the past two weeks as well as introducing new and exciting ones. This year we aim to foster independence and self-help skills within the children, and as a result, this week we invited the children to make some jelly. Cooking is a great way to introduce real life tools and equipment that the children can use, while also learning about safety and hygiene practices. With the guidance of a teacher, the children made fruit jelly. They cut the fruit and mixed the hot water with the jelly crystals until incorporated. The children showed great care in handling the hot bowl and were happy to place the fruit pieces in the bowl. Our sensory experiences included kinetic sand with buried treasure and Australian animals and frozen ocean trays with glistening blue water, ocean creatures and coral. Another sensory experience saw children experimenting with bicarb soda, dye powder and vinegar. Using pipettes of vinegar to uncover the hidden colours below the bicarb, the children were in awe of the colours that fizzed to the top. Our art for the week saw children engaging in a creative experience that develops hand strength which in turn supports their emerging fine motor skills. This was accomplished with spray bottles filled with black, red and yellow paint for the children to squeeze and spray onto an easel. This was an acknowledgement of our First Nations community with the colours representing the flag. In our small groups we concentrated on following the children’s lead, and in this case we observed that the children were beginning to foster relationships with each other, especially in the dramatic corner. As a result, educators were guided by them and joined in play to help facilitate initiation of play by others and social interaction. In other small groups the children were challenged to complete an obstacle course, working on their spatial awareness and gross motor skills. Next week we welcome everyone to the official beginning of Term 1 where our provocation will be How I Connect With The World. This provocation will focus on the children and their ability to connect with and contribute to their world. Using Bronfenbrenner's ecology model, we hope to explore the children’s connection to self, to their family, to their natural environment and the wider community. Enjoy your weekend! Grace, Carina, Shandie, Margaret and Chloe
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Stage 3R: Indigenous-Inspired Spray Art & Leaf Painting
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Stage 3R: Herbed Play Dough & Making Summer Jelly
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Stage 3E
By Deb Walsh
As Australia Day approached, we decided to explore Australia as part of our provocation for the last week before Term 1. We investigated our country’s wildlife, flora and Indigenous culture. The children were drawn to our red earth sensory trays which contained orange lentils and rice to represent the Outback. They enjoyed scooping up the red 'soil' and pretending to feed the Aussie animals, such as platypus, echidna and kangaroos. Another sensory experience had the children manipulating green and yellow play dough. They enjoyed helping to make the dough, adding and mixing all the ingredients together. Using rollers and cutters, they had a lot of fun making different shapes and animals and they even added green leaves to it. At the creative table, the children were invited to create a beautiful golden wattle artwork which is a symbol of unity and is the Australian floral emblem. It is said that the resilience of the wattle flower represents the spirit of the Australian people. The children were tasked with using wooden pegs to pick up pom-poms and then use them to create the shape and textures of the plant. This reinforces their fine motor skills and hand-eye coordination. They did a wonderful job making their own Aussie masterpieces. It wouldn’t be a true Aussie celebration without learning and including Indigenous perspectives in our program. We practised saying the Acknowledgment of Country, drawing Aboriginal symbols with sticks in the sand and listening to Aboriginal music. Mr. Kai invited the children to a sensory and creative experience. This incorporated sand and the colours of the Aboriginal flag. The children were scaffolded to apply the sand and glue to the surface of the flag, promoting the need for patience and concentration. Some of the Australian-themed books we read included Captain Kangaroo Saves the Day by Mandy Foot, Where is Stripey? by Wendy Binks, Josephine Wants to Dance by Jackie French, Edward, the Emu by Sheena Knowles and Edwina the Emu by the same author. For Term 1, Stage 3E’s provocation is Belonging To The World Around Me as we look at the children’s sense of belonging - being able to recognise and identify themselves, the feeling of having a home and a loving family, fitting in at school, acknowledging the community around them and understanding and celebrating their individual culture. Each week we will aim to help each child explore their identity and how they perceive the world through group discussions and learning experiences that are challenging, fun, play-based and related to their interests. Have a restful weekend! Deb, Nat, Connie and Kai
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Stage 3E: Outback Sensory Trays & Aboriginal Flag Artworks
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Stage 3E: Wattle Flower Artworks & Newspaper Koalas
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Stage 4R
By Veronika Roth
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn.” (Benjamin Franklin) Over the past two weeks, our classroom has been a vibrant environment filled with emotions, engagement, learning and most importantly a meeting place, where children and teachers came together to connect with each other. These formed attachments and connections furthered as children and educators enjoyed meaningful conversations and play together. The last week of the Vacation Care Program was inspired by our national holiday: Australia Day. This day has a significance for all people calling this beautiful country home. We explored the many cultures of Australia through the books I’m Australian too by Mem Fox and We are all equal by Crumble and Bentley. The children listened to the Australian National Anthem, Advance Australia Fair, and we also read a picture book Advance Australia Fair by Peter D. McCormick with beautiful illustrations of Australia's geographical landmarks supporting the learning. Our main focus has been the acknowledgement of the First Nations Peoples. By learning and celebrating Aboriginal culture children develop respect for diversity and understanding of cultural differences. Our home, our heartbeat by Briggs is a book recognising the achievements of many Indigenous fellow citizens. The children were also introduced to the Aboriginal cultural dreamtime stories through the reading of The secret of dreaming by Jim Poulter. Our week concluded with the identification and exploration of some of the native plants of Australia, focusing on the banksia and golden wattle. The golden wattle plant is the inspiration for the national colours of gold and green. The children were encouraged through visual art to draw and paint the national floral emblem. Based on our discussions of the multiculturalism of Australia and the children’s displayed interest and participation in communicating their cultural backgrounds, in Term 1 we will be exploring the variety of 4R’s cultures. This will involve the class to become familiar with one culture each week. Week 1 will commence this learning by celebrations of Chinese culture in line with the festival of Chinese New Year. Warm wishes, Veronika, Rebecca and Rowel
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Stage 4R: Advance Australia Fair (Part 1)
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Stage 4R: Advance Australia Fair (Part 2)
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Stage 4E
By Lauren Hall “Children want the same things we want. To laugh, to be challenged, to be entertained and delighted.” (Dr. Seuss)
The inquisitive children in 4E are growing in confidence with each day. This week the teachers focused on engaging the children in their interests including space exploration, penguins, robotics, dramatic play, experiments, construction, and sea life. At our learning tables the children manipulated blue kinetic sand, stars, aliens, silver spaceships and marbles that represented the Solar System. Some of the children were observed singing one of their new favourite songs, Five Little Men in a Flying Saucer as they role-played with the alien figurines around their trays. At our art station, the children were invited to create their own space collages using glitter, coloured paper and sequins too. The story book The Smeds and the Smoos by Julia Donaldson, extended on the children’s interest in aliens as we read how two rival species learnt to get along on their faraway planet, and taught us that blue and red make purple in a surprising ending. The colour mixing continued in our STEM trays, which featured different sizes of petri dishes and blue, red and yellow water to drop with pipettes. The children used the process of trial and error to mix the primary colours together to make secondary colours, creating many shades of purple, green and orange. To foster the children’s interest in the ocean, we read The Rainbow Fish by Marcus Pfister. The children were captivated by the magical fish with sparkly scales and we had a rich discussion about the importance of being kind and sharing. Blue play dough was provided with sea creatures, shells, stones and seaweed to mould and create sculptures inspired by the coral reef. The ocean theme continued with small fish counters to practise one-to-one correspondence, number identification and basic addition. Our discovery trays were filled with blue ice and penguins for the children to slide along the surface. During our investigation, we learnt about the life-cycle of a penguin and that the devoted fathers look after the chick eggs during harsh winter conditions, while the mothers hunt for fish. There had been a lot of talk about robots in our classroom so loose parts including nuts and bolts, washers and hooks were used to create robotic friends as if they were constructed out of spare parts. The construction area was extremely busy with wooden blocks, train tracks, and small houses being transformed into cityscapes and towers. It was lovely to observe the children working cooperatively together to realise their designs. Our home corner was transformed into a bakery and sweets shop where the children took turns assuming the roles of shop workers. They served coffee, hot chocolate, cakes, pastries, ice-creams and sweets to the customers in a high tea fashion. What a treat! It’s been a very busy week in our classroom however, the children have been completely absorbed in their interest-led play and learning. Next week our class will begin our provocation for Term 1 Belonging – I Call Australia Home, where we will explore the history of our country, its culture, geography, the flora and fauna, and how Australia is home to many multicultural communities. We look forward to a wonderful term of learning together! Lauren, Luan and Tas
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Stage 4E: Colour Mixing, Space and Robots
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Stage 4E: Exploring Penguins and the Ocean
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Happy Birthday! A very happy birthday to our children who are celebrating their special day this week. We wish you all the best!
01/02 - Charlotte (4R)
04/02 - Hayden (2R)
04/02 - Chloe (4R)
05/02 - Avalyn (1E)
06/02 - Olivia (2R)
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