Reddam Early Learning School St Leonards Newsletter Vol 22 Issue 2

4th February 2022

Principal’s Message

By Mrs Simone Cooke

Dear Families, Wishing you all a Happy New Year! This week our children enjoyed celebrating Chinese Lunar New Year and learnt more about festival traditions which have been celebrated for over 3,000 years. Many of the children shared with us their own experiences of eating reunion dinner with their families, putting up decorations, receiving red envelopes and lucky money and watching dragon dances and firework displays. The children enjoyed reading “The Nian Monster” which is a lovely story about the origins of Chinese New Year and explains why celebrations include banging drum and gongs, letting off firecrackers and wearing the colour red. They also read “Amy Wu and the Patchwork Dragon” which is a delightful book about celebrating our differences .Thank you to the many families who bought in sticky rice cakes and lunar treats for the children to enjoy.

Sharing our special cultural experiences together builds a stronger sense of belonging and encourages our children to value the rich diversity of our school community.

Some of our parents shared with us the many interesting customs associated with Chinese New Year and many of these are linked with Good Luck, such as:-

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Do not wash or cut your hair on the first days of the Lunar New Year. This would be seen as a sign of washing and cutting away good luck.

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Do not clean your house with a broom on the first day of Lunar New Year. Cleaning is a sign of swiping away good luck - so if one has to clean something away, then it must be done after dark.

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Do not do laundry on Chinese New Year. Doing laundry means washing away of good luck and wealth.

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Principal’s Message Continued...

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Don’t give gifts which are black or white in colour. Also do not give clocks or watches or shoes. Watches would mean that time is running out and shoes would mean that one could walk away from the friendship or relationship.

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Don't give gifts in uneven numbers. Always give gifts in pairs such as two oranges or two coins.

Each year a Chinese zodiac animal is the symbol for the year. The 12 Chinese zodiac animals are: rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The zodiac symbol for 2022 is the Tiger. Our little babies who will be born in this ‘year of the tiger’ will be considered as brave, strong, confident and well liked. ‘Tigers’ are considered good leaders. In our Mandarin Classes our children enjoy learning about the symbols for the years that they were born and their own traits. There are several special 25th Oc auspicious “Lucky Tiger” symbols for this year. lucky colours for the tiger: orange, black and blue lucky numbers for the tiger: 1, 3 and 4 - and any number combination thereof lucky flowers for the tiger: yellow lily unlucky numbers for the tiger: 6, 7 and 8 unlucky colours for the tiger: brown Wishing you all good luck, good fortune, wealth, prosperity and happiness.

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Principal’s Message

25th Oc

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Stage 4R

Ms Lauren Doughton

The Language Of Art “Through encounters with a wide range of media and materials, children explore the sensuousness and beauty of colour, texture, movement, lines and space. They learn to look carefully and discern nuances, to move with thoughtful intention, and to follow their intuition. As children become more comfortable and skillful with these media, they are able to use them to communicate their understanding, emotions, and questions. Their fluency in a range of art ‘languages’ in turn, opens new possibilities for collaboration and dialogue, for taking new perspectives and for deepening their relationships with each other.” – Ann Pelo, The Language of Art In the early childhood classrooms here at Reddam Early Learning School these understandings of the power of art guide our daily practices. Walk into any and you’re bound to step into a space that inspires curiosity, wonder and awe; a space that touches the senses in every which way and tempts you to feel, explore and express your ideas through mediums like music, painting, collage, dance or as founder of the Reggio Emilia philosophy, Loris Malaguguzzi, called them, the hundred languages.

We observe what happens throughout the day in one of these spaces and you’re sure to witness the children leading the charge in their own open-ended creations. Rather than leading children through product-oriented art activities, teachers offer students mediums like coloured pencils, tape and glue, watercolor paints and brush, or collage, allowing them to experience the process of creating art.

There is an art to introducing a new “language of material”. We must introduce children to an art medium, as we would introduce two of our friends to each other, launching a relationship that will be built over time with many encounters. It is about giving each child the respect and time to develop the skills to ensure they are supported during the learning.

Looking at this week's art language we took the children on an adventure of a progressive art piece. This started with the children talking about themselves and them embracing their own unique selves. We posed the statement “I am” to the children and they were asked to repeat the words and extend on what they felt represented them. For example; I am brave, I am friendly, I am me! We observed their conversations and took notes to use later in the artwork.

We started our artwork by providing the children with a piece of watercolour paper and some oil pastels. They were encouraged to make marks on the page in any way they wanted and in any colour that they wished. Once done the children were provided with watercolour paints and a brush to paint over their crayoned markings. For some children it was a bit of a challenge as in the eyes of children when they are asked to “go over” their work in another medium they feel that it is ruining their work and when observing this you could see the children painting around their work.

When our paintings were finished and dry we cut out our ‘I AM’ words and pasted them on the artwork along with a photo of themselves. I invite you to come and view your child's work that is on display in the classroom. Each and every child is extremely proud of their work and I'm sure they would love for you to see.

In building relationships with different art media over time, children have the ability to gain fluency in the language of art, turning to and using materials to express their ideas, honour memories and record their experiences. “Art” becomes a lively, joyful and playful process in communicating their everyday emotions.

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Stage 4R

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Ms Lauren Doughton

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Stage 4R: Language Of Art

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Stage 4R: Language Of Art

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Stage 4E

By Ms Sarah Ross

Rainbows This week Stage Four engaged in an investigation of the meteorological phenomenon of rainbows. As a class Stage Four did their own research to explore why rainbows occur and discovered that they are caused by sunlight reflecting and refracting off rain droplets causing a colourful arc in the sky.

Science After our research and discussions about how rainbows are made Stage Four were invited to create their very own rainbows using a torch and CDs. The children observed a short demonstration on how to create a rainbow by using the torch light to reflect the light and colours from the CD back onto the wall. Next, the children individually practiced reflecting the light of the CD’s creating the most beautiful light and colour displays on our walls. The children were amazed to see how the light bounced off the CD’s and pointed out all their favourite colours.

Art and Literacy The Stage Four children displayed high excitement levels this week with our rainbow exploration. To extend upon this the children created their very own rainbows. This began with a crayon drawing and then a water colour wash to represent the sky. This was an excellent challenge for Stage Four’s fine motor development as they practiced their pencil grip and drew neat colourful arcs. Stage Four loved this activity so much it was extended upon the next day with the different media of coloured paints.

Throughout our investigation the children have been discussing their favourite colours.

As an extension of this interest the children were invited to read and view the names of colours and to attempt to write the words themselves. As we looked at the words we talked about what letters we saw and their shapes. The Stage Four children were so proud of their achievements with the literacy and drawing table becoming a popular feature in our classroom this week.

At the end of the week the children came together to share what they had learnt about rainbows and how they are created. Some of their responses included; “You need to put some sun and rain to make a rainbow and some clouds” – Flynn “There are so many different colours” – Serafina “Rain goes with the rainbow” – Dylan “They are colourful” – Jack “You need sunshine” – Ethan D “We need lots of rain” – Ria

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Stage 4E

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By Ms Sarah Ross

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Stage 4E: Creating Rainbows

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Stage 4E: Rainbow Artwork

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Stage 4D

By Ms Emily Chacon

I am ME This week our focus has been looking into ourselves, what makes me unique? I am ME! Throughout the week the children engaged in a range of experiences that ensured they gained a sense of belonging to their new preschool classroom. On one table the children were engaged in fine motor play, using a paint brush to clear away the coloured salt to reveal their name.

A sense of belonging has been found to improve children’s learning. Children who feel that they belong are happier, more relaxed, and have fewer behavioural problems than others.

They are also more motivated and more successful learners. Belonging acknowledges children's interdependence with others and the basis of relationships in defining identities. In early childhood, and throughout life, relationships are crucial to a sense of belonging. Belonging is central to being and becoming in that it shapes who children are and who they can become.

On another table engaged the children in art, with a twist. Instead of paper, the children were encouraged to create a self-portrait onto a mirror. Firstly, looking down at themselves and then using cotton tips as their tools to spread the paint. A child's self-portrait can reveal many things. As with any drawing, it shows the development of a child's fine motor, observation and focusing skills. But it also can give insight into a child's self-concept.

In the classroom we have created an affirmation station, on the wall I stuck a mirror with many different affirmations stuck around it. Each morning the children are encouraged to say together each affirmation: I am BRAVE I am UNIQUE I am AMAZING I am SMART I am LOVED I am STRONG School can be daunting sometimes, and I want to ensure that every child feels valued for who they are. As the children walk into the classroom, I want them to be reminded of the amazing people they are.

Following on from this, the children engaged in another art experience. This time using a variation of art media; oil pastels, watercolor paint and glue. Firstly the children used the pastels to create lines, then using the water colour paints to fill in the gaps.

Individually the children were asked to say 5 things about themselves: I am… It was wonderful to see the children so eager and confident in themselves! Each answer was then printed and cut ready for the children to paste onto their page.

Art engages children's senses in open-ended play and supports the development of cognitive, social-emotional and multisensory skills. As children progress into elementary school and beyond, art continues to provide opportunities for brain development, mastery, selfesteem and creativity.

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Stage 4D

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By Ms Emily Chacon

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Stage 4D: I Am Me Artwork

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Stage 4D: Exploring New Art Materials

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Stage 3/4

By Ms Riina Andrew

Clouds What a wonderful start to the term. All the children have settled into the learning program happily and willingly and are eager to share their thoughts and comments. We have also been finishing off the Family Tree presentations, which have been exciting and informative.. The children have been starting to understand the importance of sharing their news with each other and like looking at each other’s tree.

Starting next week, the children will be invited to start to present another news item. A separate email will be sent, explaining the topic. The system of news presentation, is an opportunity for the children to engage in expressive and receptive language skills. It helps build confidence in front of an audience and helps foster relationships between home and school, as parents assist their child to choose an item to present to the class.

What are clouds?

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Tiny drops of water High in the sky White The high ones are made of ice

These are the items of information that the class were most interested in and the different shapes of clouds that we could see in the sky. We also watched a visual representation of different cloud types and participated in a group discussion, revising what we saw in the presentation and asking questions for clarification.

At the collage table, we using blue cardboard and cotton balls to make our own version of a cloudy sky. Some children placed the cotton balls in a neat row across the cardboard and other children decided to place the cotton balls randomly across their cardboard. These beautiful artworks were then placed in display in the classroom on the wall for all the children to enjoy looking at. ‘I can see my clouds Miss Riina’ said Hugo excitedly when he recognised his artwork on the wall. The children really love seeing their creations on display and show pride in their artwork.

We also tried our hand at making ‘Cloud dough’. Together we mixed flour and baby oil in a container to make our dough. It felt like ‘clouds’ exclaimed Tianze. We added small blue gems to mimic hail and watched as it ‘fell from the sky’.

A fun first week was had by all, have a good weekend!

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Stage 3/4

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By Ms Riina Andrew

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Stage 3/4: Cloud Collage

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Stage 3/4: Creating Cloud-Dough

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Stage 3E

By Ms Bianca Lazar

I Can Create!

“Creativity is now as important in education as literacy” – Sir Ken Robinson As many of you know, we are beginning the term with the provocation ‘I can..’. Within this topic, children will be involved in a variety of learning experiences that connect to their own world, as well as the world around them. As children participate in everyday life, they develop interests and construct their own identities and understandings of the world. This provocation highlights who children are and who they can become. A few of our topics include: • • • • •

I can create I can write I can sort I can measure I can count

This week, children participated in numerous activities that provoked their imagination and creativity skills, such as watercolor and crayon exploration, illustrating self-portraits and construction. All children utilised the appropriate tools to manipulate and construct their individual creation. Children are receptive to a wide range of experiences.

What can you do?

Faris: “I can climb” Owen: “I can run” Ethan. G: “I can swim” Ethan. C: “I can run” Franco: “I can play with Lego”

Sofia. A: “I can paint” Lia: “I can draw” Charles: “I can ride on my bike”

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Stage 3E

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By Ms Bianca Lazar

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Stage 3E: I Can Create Self Portraits

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Stage 3E: I Can Create

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Stage 2/3 & 3R

By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes

Learning About Australia This week we have been learning about the continent Australia! During the school break some children visited the zoo and last week’s provocation Australia day triggered the children’s interest of learning more about our beautiful country.

Did you know that Golden Wattle (or Acacia pycnantha) is the official floral emblem of Australia? This week the children were invited to create their own wattle collage.

The first thing we did was buying some wattle flowers so the children could get familiar how they look like and also enjoy the smell of this beautiful flower. This made the whole craft more meaningful, and it allowed the children to take the lead and be involved in decisions about the creative process.

We decided to use grass as the wattle leaves. We went out to the garden and the children loved cutting long grass. Then we ripped small bits of crepe paper from a streamer roll. These small bits were scrunched up into little balls, and then dabbed into some glue, and stuck all around the central twig and leaves. All that ripping, scrunching, rolling and dabbing, was great for developing hand control and fine motor skills.

We are also looking at the different biomes of Australia. Small world activities are a great way to enhance children’s imagination so we decided to assemble our Australian Outback tub. We gathered some desert looking resources and it turned out so great! Small world play has so many benefits such as expanding vocabulary, learning about different animals that live in Australia, learning about different habitats, sensory exploration and more.

During group time we read the classic Australian book Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan. ‘Wombat Stew’ is a hilarious book about a Dingo who catches a fat wombat and decides to make him into a stew for his lunch. To save Wombat from the stew pot all the other Australian animals make sure that Dingo’s stew turns out to be very nasty with bugs and mud before Wombat is added to the pot.

We talked about all the animals, their unique features and how they managed to work together to trick the dingo to save their friend, the wombat. We tweaked the recipe a little and added sand, mud, water, gum nuts and the gum leaves. This activity was great for Connecting children to the literature, inspiring them to be creative and hands on, developing fine motor skills and learning about Australian wildlife. We had a lot of fun making the stew while we sang: ‘Wombat stew, Wombat stew, Gooey, brewy, Yummy, chewy, Wombat Stew!’

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Stage 2/3 & 3R

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By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes

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Stage 2/3: Exploring Native Fauna

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Stage 2/3: Australian Sensory Play

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Stage 2R

By Ms Madeleine Grant

Discovering Letters This week we began our term of discovering the children’s interests from A to Z, starting with A, B and C. The activities this week were inspired by our observations of their interests and strengths over our first few weeks together, and designed with the aim of encouraging the children to work alongside each other and share their discoveries through their play.

A is for Australia We continued our Australia Day theme by incorporating it into our first provocation. The children created paintings inspired by wattle, using corks dipped in yellow paint to stamp the blossoms and twigs to make paint the leaves and stems. The wattle inspiration also appeared in our sensory tubs, where we used yellow lentils and green dyed rice to get the children engaged in hands on learning. In the tubs they also found an array of Australian icons, including eucalyptus leaves and banksia seed pods, as well as figurines of their favourite Australian animals.

B is for Building During the first weeks of the year we noticed many of the children were very interested in building activities, such as blocks or magnetic shapes, and enjoyed creating tall towers and wide structures. We set up a table with wooden placemats and an array of wooden blocks in various sizes and shapes, as well as a range of smooth stones. The children busied themselves in the activity, and showed great coordination skills as they carefully balanced the blocks and rocks on top of each other.

C is for Collaboration Throughout the week the children were invited to paint together on a large canvas. In small groups they worked together to add their own splashes of colour to the ongoing creation. By working side by side they were made to be aware each other as they navigated the space, moving aside to make room for their friends and working on different areas of the canvas to not disrupt with each other’s contributions. Each day we asked the children what colours should be used next, and asked them to observe what happened when the new colours mixed with what was on the canvas. Over the week the painting evolved from plain red to a fiery orange, before blending into peach and lilac, to its current state of violet. We will continue the collaborative painting throughout the term, until the children deem it complete and ready to hang on the wall!

Hope you have a lovely weekend with your beautiful children! Next week we are moving on to D, E and F, where we will be exploring the topics of dinosaurs and emergency services, and making beautiful flower art.

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Stage 2R

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By Ms Madeleine Grant

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Stage 2R: B Is For Building Blocks

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Stage 2R: C Is For Collaboration

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Stage 1E

By Ms Justine Heydra & Alessia Angilletta

“Children learn as they play. Most importantly, in play children l earn how to learn. ” ~ O. Fred Donaldson This week in Stage 1E we started our “Under the Sea” provocation. This is our first section of our term provocation “Animal Habitats”. Our classroom has been transformed into a magical underwater haven, filled with all types of ocean creatures, sensory activities and dramatic play area. The children had a wonderful time this week meeting our classroom fish and exploring their habitat. They all loved the vibrant colours of the fish tank and enjoyed looking for the fish. A fish tank or aquarium has great benefits for children; It encourages learning and vocabulary, it stimulates imagination and creativity, fish and the water have a great calming effect on children as they are mesmerised by the colours and flow of the water, and lastly it benefits the children socially as the learn to communicate and interact with one another.

Furthermore, this week the children enjoyed two sensory table activities. Our first sensory activity was a water and fish sensory bag. Sensory bags help young children to develop their sense of touch and fine motor skills as they manipulate the small objects around the bags.

Our second sensory activity was ocean slime and sea animals, the children enjoyed the texture and sliminess of the aqua slime.

In our dramatic play corner, the children had an opportunity to dress up as a fish or mermaid and they had so much fun playing and exploring with the different sea animals we had for them to play with.

For our art activity this week the children worked on their fine-motor skills by using and manipulating a dropper filled with ink. By using the dropper and this style of creating art the children worked on their hand-eye coordination, fine-motor skills and explored the concept of “squeezing” the dropper and watching the liquid ink come out onto their paper. The children all absolutely loved this creative process and were amazed at their art work when it was completed. Overall it was a fantastic first week of learning, exploring and having so much fun. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

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Stage 1E

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By Ms Justine Heydra & Alessia Angilletta

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Stage 1E: Meeting Nemo!

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Stage 1E: Under The Sea Sensory Exploration

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Stage 1R

By Ms Amanda Felton

Welcome Stage 1R “Three little ducks went out one day over the hills and far away..”

We commenced our Nursery Rhyme provocation this week by singing this children's favourite with the help of our puppet friends. Our little ones were highly engaged and nodded away in time to the music The Children are exposed to many concepts in the songs in relation counting numbers . The children further extended their learning through painting the three little ducks and what a great effort we saw from everyone. As part of our sensory experience we had fun with the ducks and soapy water. This was another wonderful way for children to explore their learning through touch and feel and learning about counting to three.

Our little ones are settling in well and are becoming familiar with their new environment and all the wonderful stimulation that surrounds them. Well done everyone, what a great start to Term 1.

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Stage 1R: Exploring Art

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Stage 4E: Extra Curricular Outdoor Play

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Stage 4D: Extra Curricular Singing In the Rain

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Stage 3/4: Extra Curricular Outdoor Play

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Stage 3E: Extra Curricular Outdoor Fun

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Stage 2/3: Outdoor Play

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Stage 2R: Extra Curricular Outdoor Play

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Stage 1E: Extra Curricular Outdoor Play

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Stage 1R: Extra Curricular Outdoor Play

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