Reddam Early Learning School Newsletter Vol 22 Issue 21 by Reddam House Sydney

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL

VACATION CARE PROGRAM LINDFIELD NEWSLETTER Principal’s Message

29th July 2022

By Christine Irwin

Dear Parents, Welcome to Term 3. As the children launch into their new projects for the term this week this newsletter provides a reflection of our last 3 weeks of the Vacation Care program at

Reddam ELS Lindfield.

Our educators had a team discussion at the end of Term 2 regarding what concepts we would explore as a whole school for the vacation period. So, at our staff meeting our team put their heads together and reviewed their observations of children, and decided on the concepts that children were interested in that could be reflected in the following concepts:

Week 1—How We Move Week 2—Boxes and Construction,

Week 3—The Arts

The children enjoyed the 3 weeks of using their imaginations throughout the spaces and manipulating the resources provided from how we move as human beings to the types of transport that move us from A to B, from making castles and cities with boxes and loose parts to our babies enjoying sitting and hiding in the boxes, and finally exploring different art mediums from clay to paint, collage and drawing. Boxes were also incorporated into the final week with painting and collage being added to the castles and cities from the previous weeks. This type of emergent learning is a great way for children to return to their projects and extend their learning from previous experiences.

Principal’s Message

(continued)

By Christine Irwin

The rain has certainly been a key player in the amount of time the children have been able to spend outdoors however that didn’t stop our educators from taking on the elements with gumboots in hand and exploring the muddy puddles. Children really enjoyed these times as it provided a different aspect of their environment and where they fit into this space and community.

The children have also been tending to our vegetable and flower gardens where radishes and carrots have been picked throughout the week. Using their senses to explore the garden and discuss their findings with their friends has been a great learning experience where new words are added to their vocabulary as they investigate their environment.

As stated in the Early Years Learning Framework: “When educators create environments in which children experience mutually enjoyable, caring and respectful relationships with people and the environment, children respond accordingly. When children participate collaboratively in everyday routines, events and experiences and have opportunities to contribute to decisions, they learn to live interdependently.”p28. Looking forward to chatting with you soon. Christine Irwin Principal

Stage 1R

By Heather Gaskell

‘A Holiday isn't a Holiday with out plenty of freedom and fun’ by Lousia May Alcott Our first week of vacation care concept was “How we Move” and during this time our delightful babies really extended their interest in transportation. We started with trains as we have a real live train pass by very regularly and the children love to wave to the train. When it passes we often talk to the children about where the train may be going. So it seemed only natural to start with that transportation and the children engrossed themselves in building the track and of course pulling it about. All that imagination and motor skills were used to create a super system of train track. This was followed by construction, emergency and of course just good old cars. We even made paper planes and flew them around the room.

During our second week of vacation care the concept was “Construction and Boxes” this was a wonderful flow on from the first week and we included our construction vehicles again. But along with them we had hard hats, tool belts, tools and lastly high visibility vests. The boxes were the biggest bonus, they children had some much fun exploring the world of boxes. We build towers, how much fun is it to knock down towers? Then there were tunnels to climb through to discover what was on the other side. But I think the most fun was just sitting in a box. We created our very own version of the school bus and used it to sing the Wheels on the Bus. And finally but not least, last week our concept was “The Arts” focusing on Colour, Imagination, Creativity, Curiosity and Uniqueness. This was a very creative week in which we explored many concepts and media for the children to express themselves. We also used our light panel to look at various objects, discovering which we could see through and which produced different colours, especially when you laid down various shades of cellophane. The children were able to share group artworks as well as individual masterpieces. For Term 3 we are going to look at ‘The World Around Us’ this is an opportunity to look at where we live and where we come from. We explore various customs and traditions of the many nationalities that make up our room and close neighbours in the Pacific. We will also investigate the flora and fauna that inhabit these continents. Heather, Doris, Jaycel and Yashi

Stage 1R

Stage 1E

By Charity Acera

The children had the best time exploring varying movements in their environment for this first week of the Vacation Care Program. Provoking children's imagination with the question, 'How We Move?', we engaged them in an exploration of the human body parts responsible for movements. Our display table showcased laminated images such as legs, knees, head, hands, and arms for them to identify against a human cardboard cut-out. Through this experience, the children had improved their understanding about the human body parts and how to use them for going from one place to another. More so, this has increased their cognitive and language skills as they verbally learn body part terms. They also had a great time manipulating a wooden body part puzzles. This wooden anatomy puzzle is a good way to teach curious minds about the human body. This was an opportunity for us to revisit our cognitive learning tasks on naming body parts and identifying it against our own. Extending these concepts, we also invited the group to challenge their body coordination skill as we put out an obstacle circuit for them to complete. With and without the aid of their educators, the children were able to demonstrate complex skills of balancing, eye-hand coordination and risk play-- a very good indication of their self-confidence and towards their learning environment. Our Week Two of the Vacation Care Program was all about 'Construction & Boxes'. A big empty box is a great starting point for creative and imaginative play. We included a cut-out cardboard photo frame that showcased the interest and engagement of children and building interaction with one another through photo opportunities and playing peek-a-boo, supporting their language through constant communication with other children involved with the play as well as strengthening their social skills by the said engagement. A mock road floorboard activity was also prepared with wooden vehicles. It was enjoyed very much by the children as they ran around their cars on cardboard. What a great way to embark and inculcate values and stewardship to environments in our children through an active play involving stacking boxes to create an architectural structure born out of their creative imagination! It helps children to make sense of the world around them, use their imagination to explore real life events, increase their vocabulary, make decisions and so much more! This is also a great learning opportunity for our children to involve them in sustainable practices. We let the children explore where their imagination takes them. For when they are free that is where creativity begins. This week’s theme is set to encourage children to use their imagination and their creative skills through arts and sensory activities. We provided them colourful pom poms and pasta which they enjoyed scooping and squeezing. They had a chance to observe an experiment initiated by Ms. Charity. She showed the children how water and vinegar produce bubbles when mixed with bi carb soda. They were so amazed by what they discovered. With this experiment, the children experienced the cause and effect of mixing solutions and the use of open-ended play materials to develop their creativity.

We guided the children in their learning through telling them what colours we could see in the books we read, which were based on rainbow and colour. These two books were called ‘The Rainbow Book’. Through this we learnt about the colours of the rainbow. This was followed up with our most loved song called 'I can Sing a Rainbow'. At our creative table, we re-used our cardboard box we had from our last week's theme to cover up with colourful paper cut-outs. The different shapes and colours of papers were enjoyably glued by our children onto the box emphasising on their colour and shape knowledge as well as creativity. Participating in rich, meaningful and inquiry based experiences will allow opportunities for the children to develop their curiosity building enthusiasm in their own learning. Charity, Fatima, Rowel, Resie and May

Stage 1E

Stage 2R

By Sara Haddadi

“"“Children need the freedom and time to play. Play is not a luxury. Play is a necessity.” Kay Redfield Jamison During week A, 2R celebrated NAIDOC week. It is significant to know, understand and respect the histories and current realities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for all Australian children and grow up in a society that acknowledges and addresses this past and present. The children also enjoyed 'how we move' week as their obsession revolves around cars and whatever it is moving. They explored how human beings use different vehicles to travel around the world, and were offered a variety of movement toys to discover. Children were fascinated by all the vehicles that move and saw them as cause-and-effect toys that teach children that their actions have an impact on the world around them. The children found it incredibly fascinating and exciting to learn that they can alter their environment. During week B, the children had the opportunity to open up their imagination and creativity as they used recycled materials to explore their interests. It enabled the children to use their creativity, master tools, and develop their ability to repurpose and create. Our young engineers were able to think outside the box and approach problems in creative ways by using recyclable materials. 2R could investigate several structures and their functions using construction materials, discover parallels and differences, and enjoy making or recreating their own! During week C, the children got artistic and explored the world of colours. They experimented with several mediums to produce works of art using colour and learned what each one could look like when applied in various ways. The goal was for children to discover new ways of expressing themselves so they can grow in self-assurance and tenacity. These activities also assisted in developing emotionally healthy responses to challenging circumstances and helped them develop visual-spatial skills, so they can analyse what they see and make choices based on visual information. Have a very happy weekend everyone! 2R Team

Stage 2R

Stage 2E

By Mia Doan

Week 1 The children investigated every kind of movement on land, underwater and in the air. How do people move, how do animals move? How do machines move? Travelling by public transport is one of the ways to reduce traffic jams and carbon footprint. 2E children were invited to a public train ride on the tabletop. With coloured blocks nearby, they can build their own city version using blocks along the tracks. While playing, we discussed train safety such as, standing behind the yellow line while they're waiting for a train; holding an adult's hand at all times; and staying seated while the vehicle is moving. While enjoying the train ride, we made a comparison to the snakes and found some similarities between the movements if we looked down from a bird view.

Week 2 During Week 2 of VCP, 2E children focused on construction and boxes. Our 2E little engineers and builders are working hard on it. During group time, we read 'Roadworks’ by Sally Sutton. Roadworks took us through all the stages of making a road; from planning to construction to driving on the finished road. This book is a realistic list of the major steps that go into building a road that help us appreciate all the efforts it takes to do public work projects. Reading through this amazing informative book helped our friends to recognise each type of construction vehicle and their functions. On the tables our children were invited to play with a range of construction sites from building skyscrapers to roads and bridges.

Week 3 2E children explored the world of art in multimodal modes. We recognised that art embedded in everyday life from mixing and matching our outfits to harmonious natural scenes on the way to school. We explored the colours of art and found that those colours inspired us in many different ways. With different painting tools from brushes to leaves and other objects, we created our unique pieces of art everyday. Have a wonderful weekend ahead! Mia, Tracey, Xanthe, Shandie, Chloe, Jenny, Marlon and Connie

Stage 2E

Stage 3R

By Grace Nolan

The 3R class were motivated by the provocation ‘How We Move’ to explore and extend the children’s observed interests in all things transportation! The children built train tracks, sorted planes, trains, cars and boats into their respective places and enjoyed using the road letters to trace letters using our cars. Our little friends incorporated movement into their week as they donned their raincoats and gumboots went on a muddy exploration of the school! Outdoor play regardless of the weather encourages risky play, negotiation skills and love for our natural world. The 3R classroom is brimming with little engineers, architects and imagineers! Boxes are an open-ended resource that allow children to use them in endless ways. Our friends in 3R created tunnels, caves, cars, slides and trains using the boxes! This saw many friends working together to move and stack the boxes. The children were also invited to cover the recycled cardboard in vibrant rainbow coloured paint and make their own miniature marshmallow constructions. Week 3 saw 3R exploring ‘The Arts’. We dove into exploring an array of styles of art including dance, music and of course, visual arts. Our little creators investigated scientific concepts while experimenting with colour theory , mixing paints, dyes and play doh from primary colours to create a rainbow of shades. We used our books and iPad to research famous artists through time and discussed the many fascinating styles and methods of creating visual arts. The children particularly took an interest in colourful and abstract pieces. Further to this, the group shared discussions about their experiences with music and instruments in their own lives, inspired by a clip of the Sydney Youth Orchestra. It was wonderful to see the group displaying such a strong sense of belonging, confidence and enthusiasm as they shared their ideas and continued this theme into their play. We explored sounds around the environment which led to wonderful dancing and singing experiences.

Stage 3R

Stage 3E

By Natalie Horstman

This week we talked about how we can move in manys different ways with our bodies and how we can move around in our everyday lives. The children this week explored speed, Air, bounce, Movement and Swim. The children were offered various experiences to be creative, sensory and still incorporating literacy and numeracy. During this week we had some opportunities to play outside even though it was raining that didn't stop us, the children that bought in their gumboots and raincoats had fun outside jumping in muddy puddles and having a ball!!!.

In the afternoons we watched movies and the children enjoyed being able to enjoy movies with their peers and even delicious yummy popcorn.. What a fun week the children had with the boxes. They were utilised in many ways, for pretend and dramatic play, they were used for painting and even used to construct towers so high up it was coming crashing down and the children loved it . During the Week the children incorporated engineering skills, architecture as well, with other learning experiences set up to introduce to the children.and the tables. The children were off e r e d f r e e r e i n t o b e c r e a t i v e . Through the week more children bought in their gumboots and raincoats and we had a great time playing outside getting some fresh air and enjoy their time with there peers.

This was a great week to explore colours and when colours are mixed together what does it make? The children during the week asked the teachers what colours make this? They were all showing curiosity and exploring their imaginations as well. The Arts here is what we believe in strongly offering the children to explore their curiosity and expand their knowledge and understanding of how we can express art, which we had a group discussion during the week, we can use pencils, crayons, paints and many more to be expressive in art. Natalie & Kai

Stage 3E

Stage 4R

By Rebecca Kim

Week 1: How We Move This week the children explored how our bodies can move and how various object move along our roads and through the sky. At the art table, we explored our creativity and imagination using roller tools and paint to create roads. They created different lengths of roads by painting long and short markings along the paper. During an experiment we discovered how force and velocity affects the distance the car travels. We used wooden blocks to support roads, and it was easy to increase the height of the ramps by adding another block to the supporting tower. The children also enjoyed making their own kites, developing their fine-motor skills as they engaged with cutting, tracing, folding and sticking materials on their kites. Then, we enjoyed flying them in the wind in the playground. Next, we explored origami paper folding and learnt how to take a piece of A4 paper and turn it into a plane. The children raced their paper planes outside, watching them glide and nose dive into the ground. To end the week, the children were invited to participate in some ball games and explore how they bounce. We then conducted some ‘Sink of Float’ experiments where the children were encouraged to make their predictions. Week 2: Construction and Boxes Throughout the week, the children explored various construction processes, vehicles and turned cardboard boxes into imaginative creations. We read Whatcha Building? by Andrew Daddo, about encouraging a natural fascination with how things are made. The children loved seeing tools and machines digging, cutting, banging and creating. We also explored different types of architecture, looking at famous landmarks around the world. On our learning tables and during floor play, the children engaged with wooden blocks, Lego, constructed with recycled cardboard rolls and boxes. They used their creativity and imagination to create to build structures they had seen in many of our story book illustrations. The children also demonstrated an interest in shapes. We identified 2D shapes and 3D prisms and went on hunt around the classroom to find the corresponding shapes the teachers held up. Week 3: The Arts We started off the week learning about colours. We read a book called Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh and we explored the three primary colours: red, yellow and blue. We brainstormed how colours are created, and what happens when a certain colour is mixed with another or when we mix two or more colours. We also talked about the shade of colour as we applied a blub of white to many of the primary colours creating tint and tone, and secondary colours we created: orange, green, purple, and brown. Next, we explored the paper shape art by Henri Matisse, and the children were invited to use scissors and cut out their own shapes to make a picture of their choice. Then we learnt about Vincent Van Gogh and studied his landscape paintings, including The Starry Night. The highlight of the week was definitely our rainbow milk experiment, where the children used q-tips dipped in dishwashing liquid to spread food colouring around the surface of a tray of milk. The children loved the swirling patterns and how the colours merged together. Veronika and Rebecca 31

Stage 4R

Stage 4E

By Lauren Hall

Week 1: How We Move This week the children explored how our bodies can move and how various object move along our roads and through the sky. At the art table, we explored our creativity and imagination using roller tools and paint to create roads. They created different lengths of roads by painting long and short markings along the paper. During an experiment we discovered how force and velocity affects the distance the car travels. We used wooden blocks to support roads, and it was easy to increase the height of the ramps by adding another block to the supporting tower. The children also enjoyed making their own kites, developing their fine-motor skills as they engaged with cutting, tracing, folding and sticking materials on their kites. Then, we enjoyed flying them in the wind in the playground. Next, we explored origami paper folding and learnt how to take a piece of A4 paper and turn it into a plane. The children raced their paper planes outside, watching them glide and nose dive into the ground. To end the week, the children were invited to participate in some ball games and explore how they bounce. We then conducted some ‘Sink of Float’ experiments where the children were encouraged to make their predictions. Week 2: Construction and Boxes Throughout the week, the children explored various construction processes, vehicles and turned cardboard boxes into imaginative creations. We read ‘Whatcha Building?’ by Andrew Daddo, about encouraging a natural fascination with how things are made. The children loved seeing tools and machines digging, cutting, banging and creating. We also explored different types of architecture, looking at famous landmarks around the world. On our learning tables and during floor play, the children engaged with wooden blocks, Lego, constructed with recycled cardboard rolls and boxes. They used their creativity and imagination to create to build structures they had seen in many of our story book illustrations. The children also demonstrated an interest in shapes. We identified 2D shapes and 3D prisms and went on hunt around the classroom to find the corresponding shapes the teachers held up. Week 3: The Arts We started off the week learning about colours. We read a book called Mouse Paint by Ellen Stoll Walsh and we explored the three primary colours: red, yellow and blue. We brainstormed how colours are created, and what happens when a certain colour is mixed with another or when we mix two or more colours. We also talked about the shade of colour as we applied a blub of white to many of the primary colours creating tint and tone, and secondary colours we created: orange, green, purple, and brown. Next, we explored the paper shape art by Henri Matisse, and the children were invited to use scissors and cut out their own shapes to make a picture of their choice. Then we learnt about Vincent Van Gogh and studied his landscape paintings, including The Starry Night. The highlight of the week was definitely our rainbow milk experiment, where the children used q-tips dipped in dishwashing liquid to spread food colouring around the surface of a tray of milk. The children loved the swirling patterns and how the colours merged together. Lauren, Priya, Intisar and Jenny

Stage 4E

Stage 4E: