Principal’s Message
By Mrs Kath Boyd
Dear Families, Reddam Early Learning Schools are guided by the highly-regarded Reggio Emilia Approach to early childhood education. Teachers at our ELS view young children as individuals who are curious about their world and have the powerful potential to learn from all that surrounds them. We expose every child to a wide variety of educational, creative opportunities that encourage self-expression, communication, logical thinking and problem-solving. Even the dramatic play experiences have been purposely offered – to enhance social and language skills. The thoughtful arrangement of furniture and selection of natural materials and loose parts encourages children to engage in playful inquiry. This reflective and pedagogically sound arrangement of environments and materials results in learning. Pictured above: Matilda, Femi and Sosuke (4E) collaboratively working on a puzzle of Australia. Our task as Reggio Emilia inspired teachers is to help children communicate with the world using all their capabilities, strengths and languages. If, by the time your child leaves our ELS for Kindergarten, they are a confident and involved learner (Reddam Educational Philosophy), then the road ahead will be that much smoother for them. It is immediately evident to Kindergarten teachers which students are curious and fearless learners, and which students are not equipped with the tools or confidence to ‘learn’. We present environments to the children that are invitations for inquiry. These environments have the potential to promote learning processes where children engage with one another and with meaningful materials - exploring, constructing and representing their understanding and theories. Reading and writing come after approaches to learning such as wonder (curiosity), self-discovery, problem-solving, interaction, exploration and play are established. Children learn best when they can make their own choices and set their own goals. Because each child is unique, multiple channels of learning must be celebrated. I encourage parents to join our teachers and be joyful in your engagement with children as you observe and participate in this developmental and educational process. “Learning and teaching should not stand on opposite banks and just watch the river flow by; instead, they should embark together on a journey down the water. Through an active, reciprocal exchange, teaching can strengthen learning and how to learn.” (L. Malaguzzi – 1998) This approach also emphasises hands-on discovery learning that allows the child to use all their senses and all their languages to learn. The Hundred Languages of Children is the belief that children use many, many different ways to show their understanding and express their thoughts and creativity. Each child is thought to have a hundred different ways of thinking, of discovering and of learning. Through drawing and sculpting, through dance and movement, through painting and pretend play, through modelling and music, each one of these Hundred Languages is valued and nurtured. These ways of learning, are all a part of the child. Learning and play are not separated. We do not give the children stencils to colour-in, but instead present them with a blank piece of paper, a variety of resources and provocations which ignite their creativity.
Principal’s Message Continued...
By Mrs Kath Boyd
Upon enrolment, all families are given an online copy of Reddam’s Early Learning School Guide – Stage 1 to 4. This comprehensive document outlines useful information, roles and responsibilities of our staff and important practice statements in relation to child safety and wellbeing. Reddam ELS follows recommended exclusion guidelines to reduce the spread of illness in the classrooms. Maintaining a healthy, safe environment for staff, children and families is paramount for high quality care. Our staff have a Duty of Care to ensure the health and wellbeing of the children, staff and families within the school environment by implementing exclusion periods when necessary, for the benefit of the Reddam community. If you have misplaced this document please contact Jennifer so a new one can be emailed to you, as many frequently asked questions are answered in the guide. Pictured below: Harry, Grace, Felicity and Clara (2E) enjoying a music lesson. Our final three 2022 Parent Information Sessions will be held online next week. A Google Meets invitation will be emailed to those parents who are attending before the event: •
Monday 21st February: 1E (6 - 7pm)
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Wednesday 23rd February: 3E (6.30 - 7.30pm)
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Thursday 24th February: 4E (6.30 - 7.30pm)
Wishing you all a restful and safe weekend. The Hundred Languages of Children (Excerpt) by Loris Malaguzzi No way. The hundred is there. The child is made of one hundred. The child has a hundred languages a hundred hands a hundred thoughts a hundred ways of thinking of playing, of speaking. A hundred always a hundred ways of listening of marvelling of loving a hundred joys for singing and understanding a hundred worlds to discover a hundred worlds to invent a hundred worlds to dream. The child has a hundred languages (and a hundred hundred hundred more).
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Stage 1R
By Heather Gaskell
“Curiosity is the wick in the candle of learning.” (William Arthur Ward) Another marvellous week of wonder and learning here at Reddam Lindfield. Our beautiful little ones in 1R have settled well into their routines and are now feeling very confident in their indoor and outdoor environments. They have made wonderful connections with their teachers and peers, and now they are happy to take an adventure in the various learning spaces. During this week, as part of our focus, All About Me, we have read the book ABC Let’s celebrate you and me by Walter Foster Jr. This is an amazing book which celebrates the things that make us unique, from the colours of our eyes, hair and skin to our abilities and dreams. The children have also been enjoying playing with our multicultural dolls we had in the room which complement the book beautifully and allowed the children to observe the diversity of the people around them. The children have engaged in the other group activities, such as playdough portraits. A variety of materials, brown playdough (made with coffee grains), original playdough, pasta, hay and fresh yellow flowers, were offered for them to manipulate, which also involved their senses through the experience. When making a portrait, we reviewed each body part (including eyes, ears, nose and mouth) while looking in a mirror. The experience challenged their fine motor skills and encouraged creativity by experimenting with various resources. During one of the creative sensory experiences, the children were invited to make 'All about Me' snacks, healthy fruit faces. To create our own snack faces, the children were provided with cracker faces, bananas, oranges and apples. They used initiative to join the group activity, taking each piece into their mouth straight away and enjoying the juicy from the fruits. The activity involved their senses as they tasted and squeezed the fruit, saw different colours and felt textures of the food, which, by the way, promoted their healthy eating. It also supported their creativity and encouraged the children to confidently express themselves and made use of a range of media, but it was obvious that they enjoyed tasting the food more. Heather, Doris and Resie
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Stage 1R: All About Me
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Stage 1R: Happy Snaps
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Stage 1E
By Charity Acera
“Take care of your body. It is the only place you have to live.” (Jim Rohn) Advocating more on our learning about Me, our week’s focus was on discovering and exploring different body parts. Teaching 1E children to identify and somehow take care of themselves at a young age promotes a sense of self-awareness and responsibility to keep their bodies safe, strong and healthy during their growth and developmental years. To meet the outcome of having a strong sense of self and healthy physical well-being in the Early Learning Years Framework, we furthered their knowledge by leading them to activities that discuss major body parts and their functions. What started as a discussion about being safe in the classroom led to further curiosity and exploration of the parts that make up the human body - especially when our young ones are just learning about their physical self, as well as their balance and coordination skills. Thus, we engaged in songs, read a picture book, had fun exploring an X-Ray light table that depicts images of the human body parts and their bodily functions. The provocation table invited the group to enjoy Mr. and Mrs. Potato Head, although it seems like a very basic toy, it has fine motor skills, body part recognition, and body map awareness benefits of learning. We put together Mr. and Mrs. Potato's head by identifying and locating all of its missing facial features such as eyes, nose, mouth, ears and other body parts such as arms. The children each took turns placing each body part in the correct spot and even used their own faces to help guide them to put the parts in the right places. The X-ray corner was also a popular resource, we had a light table that clearly showed off the film of the various body parts. We even had a scan of the brain, also some feet and a shoulder in which we could also see the ribs. The children were quite interested in the lighted images they observed from the lighted films, increasing more of their knowledge about their own body parts. More so, for our sensory and creative learning, we challenged them to use syringes as a tool for their painting experience as well as pasting blue and red coloured spaghetti representing the blood vessels of our body. Identifying body parts and being intentional about using them and keeping them safe is a cognitive, physical, and language-enriching process. It is important to communicate to our children that a happy body is a happy me. And if we start reinforcing this in early childhood and even at home, children will be more inclined to cherish and take care of their bodies through life. What an interesting week with our young learners understanding parts of the body and its functions. The Five Human Senses will be next week’s study to further their learning about themselves. Until then, we wish you all a lovely weekend! Charity, Fatima and May
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Stage 1E: Body Parts
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Stage 1E: Blood Syringe Art
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Stage 2R
By Sara Haddadi
“Everyone needs a house to live in, but a supportive family is what builds a home.” (Anthony Liccione) This week our provocation focused on family. Home is a place where we can be ourselves and are accepted for who we are. Learning about families allows children to connect with who they are, feel pride in themselves and their families, while also setting down a foundation for understanding others. Throughout the week, our little learners were invited to share their family photos with their friends and teachers. This opportunity offered 2R the chance to talk about the people most important to them and also helped them realise that family is something we all have in common. Teachers showed them the importance of family and values of parents by practical actions which were enlightening 2R about the importance of family. The children were invited to engage and use their imagination to manipulate magic sand to make homes using wooden blocks and wooden people. This activity encouraged social and emotional growth. The use of loose parts also helped children to expand upon their ideas and renew their interests in block play. With ‘All the people we love’ sensory bins, 2R practised family member names and their roles and learned the values of parents in their lives. Art of the week involved our little artists painting love hearts for their loved-ones. Children should be taught responsibility as a part of family values. They should know that they play an important role in the matters of the family and must carry out whatever they are asked to do responsibly. Because family is also about cooking together and cooking requires everyone to have a responsibility, this week our 2R's family participated in a variety of cooking experiences. These experiences helped children practice some basic maths concepts and build language skills, self-confidence and laid the foundation for healthy eating habits. If we sow the seeds of the importance of family in children’s lives and nurture the familial bonds by leading the way, setting examples with lots of patience and love, the children will bloom and smile through life as strong and sensible individuals. A good family results in strong, mature, balanced and caring individuals who are very relevant and much needed in society and the world today. We wish you all a happy weekend! Sara, Vivian, Lizzie and Indi
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Stage 2R: Our Families
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Stage 2R: Cooking, Sensory & Creative Experiences
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Stage 2E
By Mia Doan
“Children gain deep satisfactions and knowledge from following their own interests.” (Unknown) In response to the children’s play ideas, this week focused on Our Interests. The 2E children’s favourite things were integrated into play-based activities and texts to scaffold their learning and knowledge. 2E children are able to restore and recollect information and prior experiences to connect with new learning and exploration. When 2E children experience learning programs that reflect their interests, it strongly promotes their sense of belonging and identity, motivates children’s interactions with others and builds on their prior knowledge. They came to school with full bags of knowledge and wanted to share this with peers who had similar interests. Reading books related to 2E children’s interests inclusively boosts their confidence and extends their attention skills during group-time. They actively participated in the group-time by sharing their knowledge and facts related to fire engine and emergency services, dinosaurs, wild animals and construction vehicles. Integrating 2E children’s interests into shared-book reading experience and discussion paved the way for our children to raise their voices and created an enormous opportunity for children to find similarities between peers and learn from each other. Besides reading narrative books to build up imagination and connections towards characters in the stories, two pieces of informative texts, Roadwork by Sally Sutton and Emergency! by Margaret Mayo & Alex Ayliffe were introduced to our 2E children to extend their oral language development, vocabulary bank and logical thinking skills. On the provocation table, the children were invited to engage in multiple sensory activities from red dyed salt fire and emergency services, cotton sand candy construction vehicles, small world to greenery, slimy rainforest floor, icy Antarctica small world and ancient dinosaur small world. In their play, they took on the roles of firefighters, construction workers or explorers and created imaginative play series. 2E children were excited to come to school everyday to see their interests were enriched and reflected on the provocation table. Differentiated learning with a small group of children effectively engaged and enhanced their learning process. During the literacy session, our little bees listened attentively to hear their letter sounds, tried to repeat and compared the different sounds and length of their names by counting how many letters in our name. Our lovely children were eager to learn about the letters and sounds of their name. In the numeracy session, we explored shapes with popsicles and counted how many sides triangle and square have. They were proud of themselves and said "I made it" or "Look!" with a big smile on their face when they completed a square. Next, we took away one popsicle to make a triangle. They persistently engaged in problem-solving and trial and error processes to achieve the goals. Some friends confidently asked for help when they struggled. On the art table, Miss Tracey invited us to an exciting painting process which extended on last week’s Lunar New Year celebration. We used glass marbles to paint the tiger pattern. We placed orange paper in a clear tray, added some black paint and ran marbles around the tray. The 2E children were intrigued by observing the trajectory of the marbles according to their arm and shoulder movements. We also tested marbles and pebbles and noted the differences. Pebble didn’t run because they are not a sphere. Also, they observed the patterns made by the movement of marbles and identified the unique stripes on the tiger. Thank you beautiful friends for actively engaging in another week of learning. Have a lovely weekend! Mia, Tracey, Xanthe, Resie and May
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Stage 2E: Exploring Our Interests (Part 1)
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Stage 2E: Exploring Our Interests (Part 2)
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Stage 3R
By Grace Nolan
When sharing aspects of one's home life, their family and their identity, children “feel valued, their culture and identity are upheld and their strengths acknowledged… [they] experience an increased sense of belonging.” (ACECQA, 2016). As the provocation evolves, this week the children are invited to share parts of their home life with each other and their educators. In the class ‘Morning Meeting’ the children shared their family structure, with children explaining how many mums, dads, brothers and sisters as well as pets they had in their family. By sharing this, the children are beginning to gain confidence in sharing with the group and thoughtfully discuss their family. The children’s responses were written down to place value on their voices and to extend upon this throughout the week. This was seen as we used family photos to inspire discussions of home, traditions, culture and identity. The children showed immense pride in sharing their families with each other and their teachers. As our creative experience this week we used our observations of the children to incorporate more tactile art opportunities for them. As a result, the children were offered to paint their hands to create both ‘Stop’ signs and their ‘Family’. Initially, the ‘Stop’ signs were made to encourage children to save the progress of their work, whether it is a structure in the construction corner, a play dough creation or loose part scene. By providing children a visual reminder to pause before packing away or pulling apart a specific thing, it demonstrates value and meaning to all children’s work and creation. Following the success of the handprints, we adapted the ‘Family handprint’ to include the child’s favourite colour and to write on their fingers who is in their family. The children relished in explaining who was in their family and dictated to the educators. In our small groups this week the children were asked to pick pictures that represent their family and add it to a large cardboard piece to graph how many people were in their families. This was accompanied by the children’s photos from home to help children recognise the different members in their family as well as practice one-to-one correspondence counting. Other small groups concentrated on identifying cardinal numbers with the use of Indigenous wooden numbers and counting cards. Similarly, the children have also begun to unpack their emerging literacy skills as they match letters to bingo cards and play literacy games such as Kaboom which works on letter-sounds. Next week we continue to look at the children’s home life with visits from household pets! Grace, Carina, Chloe, Margaret and Shandie
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Stage 3R: My Family & My Name
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Stage 3R: Sensory Experiences
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Stage 3E
By Deb Walsh
“Experiencing belonging - knowing where and with whom you belong - is integral to human existence. Children belong first to a family, a cultural group, a neighbourhood and a wider community.” (The Early Years Learning Framework) Over the past couple of weeks, we have been instilling a sense of belonging among the children in the 3E room as we explore our provocation for the term Belonging to the world around me. As stated in Quality Area 5 of the National Quality standards, good relationships early in life help children to connect with others, build positive friendships and support children to self-regulate their emotions. Last week, our educational program was designed to allow ample opportunities for the children and educators to get to know one another better. In keeping with promoting a sense of belonging, this week’s focus turns to family. Upon reading books in our group times such as Just The Way We Are by Claire Robertson and Jessica Shirvington, the children are developing a greater awareness of diversity among families, which have similarities and differences to their own. Both children and educators then shared aspects about each of their own families, who is in our family, what we love about them and what we love to do together. This led to discussions about how there are many different kinds of families and how they are all unique and special. To bring a piece of home into the classroom and the school, the children are invited to bring in a family photo to add to our Belonging Gallery. This focus on ‘Family’ has begun to give shape to a learning environment where the children feel safe, secure and supported as individuals and as part of a community. To support this sense of belonging further, our creative experiences included family portraits, where the children were invited to create their families using play dough. As with self-portraits, family portraits can reveal many things. As with a piece of art, it shows the development of a child’s fine motor, observation and focusing skills while giving insight into a child’s perception of family. We have placed a huge emphasis on building positive relationships in the room these past few weeks and continue to see strong friendships unfold as we all settle into our new routine and environment. Next up on our learning journey, we will explore some cultures from around the world as we look at traditions, foods and celebrations from a variety of countries. Please feel free to share any aspects of your own culture with us as we endeavour to celebrate the traditions, customs and beliefs of every 3E family. As educators, we believe that learning about cultures helps the children appreciate diversity and cultivate a keen interest in the world at large. Lastly, a massive thank you to the parents who joined us for our first Parent Information Night - it was a pleasure to catch up with you all. I look forward to meeting with the rest of you next Wednesday evening from 6.30pm. Have a wonderful weekend! Deb, Natalie, Connie and Kai
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Stage 3E: Paper Fan Craft
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Stage 3E: Making Dumplings
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Stage 4R
By Veronika Roth
“One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.” (Malala Yousafzai) Described by the British Backpacker Society (2018) as ‘one of the friendliest countries on Earth with mountain scenery that is beyond anyone's wildest imagination’, Pakistan’s remarkable landscape and vibrant culture surely pleases its visitors, just as we experienced it throughout this week's virtual travel journey. We arrived at the second highest mountain range of Mount Karakoram, part of the complex mountain ranges of the Himalayas. The artwork of our Pakistani learning incorporated the representation of Mount Karakoram using a variety of art methods. The children used their sense of smell exploring ingredients such as turmeric and bay leaves, then tasting a well-loved Pakistani dish, the biryani rice. We explored national items such as the national flower of Pakistan, the jasmine - a very common plant found in most people’s gardens. The jasmine plant symbolises attachment and represents modesty, hence why it is named the national flower of Pakistan. The national colours are green and white, and our classroom’s provocations were inspired by these colours, such as the sensory trays of green and white ice, green sand and exploration of shades of green applied onto cotton buds. Looking at agriculture, we’ve learnt that cotton is one of the major crops of Pakistan and it occupies the largest area in Pakistan compared to other crops. We looked at the process in which cotton goes through to create a fibre that we use in cotton buds in clothing. The children recreated their own version of a cotton plant using sticks from our garden and recycled cotton buds. Our learning journey of Pakistani culture also took us back in time, as we explored one of the world's oldest civilizations. Mohenjo-Daro was once the largest city of the Indus Valley civilization. This ancient civilization flourished between 2500 and 1700 BCE on the Indian subcontinent. By looking at pictures of Mohenjo-Daro in the book Cities that shaped the Ancient World by John Julius Norwich, the children were encouraged to apply their critical thinking: What could the buildings have been made from? Alexander: "Moon and stones." Charlotte S.: "Stone." James: "Rocks." Lily: "It's a second level."
Charlotte C.: "Bricks." Hannah: "Blocks." Katherine: "I see a circle on the house." Valerie: "Dirt."
How long does a house stand/last for? Alexander said, "15 years" and Dominique added, "1000 and a million." Through this learning, the children could meaningfully engage and take ownership in their own learning, predicting the passing of time with numbers, and think about older civilizations and ways of living, long ago. On our travels, next week we will visit Japan. Until then, Sayonara! Veronika, Rebecca, Monica and Rowel
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Stage 4R: Learning About Pakistan (Part 1)
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Stage 4R: Learning About Pakistan (Part 2)
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Stage 4E
By Lauren Hall
“Acknowledging the past brings about the opportunity for Australians to learn about the real history of our Country, and to understand that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture has survived.” (Mark ‘Dion’ Devow, Manbarra and Torres Strait Islander) This week our class explored the culture and traditions of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders - the First Australians. We learnt how they inhabited the land we now call Australia for over 60,000 years before the first British settlers arrived in 1788. Our story books of the week included, Welcome to Country by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy and Somebody’s Land by Adam Goodes. During our group discussions, we unpacked each story to understand the hurt the indigenous people have been through. To pay our respects to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, our class incorporated the Acknowledgement of Country into our morning group time. Each morning we say “thank you” to them for allowing us to live, learn and play on their land. Extending the children's interests in ocean habitats, exploration trays were provided with seaweed, sea turtles, and dugongs, otherwise known as the ‘cows of the sea’. Whilst reading Dugong Magic by Deborah Kelly, we learnt that these herbivorous and graceful creatures live around the Torres Strait Islands and are traditionally hunted for their meat. The children engaged with our sand trays, role-playing with the figurines, creating stories about living in the bush, and hunting the snakes on the land. Loose parts such as stones, sticks, beans and leaves were provided to create outback scenes inside picture frames, and wooden shapes created intricate mandala designs. In our construction area, the children engineered train track designs and used the process of trial and error as they balanced wooden resources to make their structures around it. Inspired by indigenous artist Bronwyn Bancroft, the children were invited to the atelier to create a nature picture of their choice. They used a black marker to draw straight, wavy and curved lines and applied watercolours to fill in these shapes. During our circle time, we practised our turntaking and played ‘Memory,’ matching indigenous symbols and pictures to make a pair. In the afternoons, the children continued to enjoy learning new songs including Inanay Capuana, an indigenous lullaby that we sang whilst using shaker eggs and clapping sticks to keep the rhythm. It was so lovely to see the children’s smiles as they played their instruments. Next week our class will explore Dreamtime stories, which are traditionally told by Aboriginal elders about how they believe the world came to be. Thank you for another wonderful week of learning in our classroom. Lauren, Luan, Priya, Doris, Kai and May
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Stage 4E: The Torres Strait and Outback
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Stage 4E: Exploring Lines and Symbols
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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!
18/02 - Joel (2R)
19/02 - Oscar (3R)
19/02 - Ayden (3R)
20/02 - Dominique (4R)
20/02 - Lily (4R)
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