Reddam Early Learning School - St Leonards Newsletter Vol 22 Issue 4

18th February 2022

Principal’s Message

By Mrs Simone Cooke

Dear Parents, It was with great excitement today that we unveiled our beautiful new renovated playground . The children were so excited to run around and explore the lovely large open spaces and enjoy our new enlarged sandpit. We are putting the final touches to the play spaces and have resumed our lunches in our covered outside dining areas.

With the days becoming warmer please be aware of our “no hat no play” policy, so please send your child in with their Reddam hat clearly labelled, so that these do not accidently go home in the wrong bag. We also ask that you apply a layer of sunscreen in the morning before dropping the children to school and our teachers are diligent in reapplying sunscreen before their mid-morning play and again in the afternoon after the rest period. Please be reassured that we rotate the children’s play areas based on the time of day and we do not have the children outside in the middle of the day or if the UV levels are high. We are very fortunate that we have a lot of shade in the rear playgrounds and under cover areas so we are able to rotate the children accordingly.

We are very fortunate at Reddam to have lovely large outdoor play spaces where children can run, climb and explore. The importance of outdoor play for children’s healthy development is grounded in a strong body of research, which shows that children who are exposed to unstructured outdoor play, which cannot be replicated inside, develop greater autonomy.

The outdoor play environment offers opportunities for self-directed play which fosters imagination, co-operation and socialization skills. It is important that children are given the opportunity to get messy and play with mud, feel sand between their toes and enjoy the value of water play. This provides real life engagement with concepts. Children who are exposed to natural elements from a young age develop a greater emotional connection with the environment and are also more likely to adopt ecological and sustainable behaviours as adults. Over the upcoming weeks we are looking forward to 1

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Principal’s Message Continued... establishing our new vegetable gardens with the children as it is very important that the children have the opportunity to get their hands dirty and explore nature, particularly as many of our children have been restricted to greater periods of time indoors due to covid.

Being physically active is a crucial part of healthy growth and development which also releases endorphins that creates happy children. Crawling through tunnels, riding bikes, balancing on beams and negotiating steps all have the effect of building self-esteem and confidence in our children. Outdoor play is extremely important for young children’s development, both in terms of building physical gross motor skills but also for connecting them to the natural world and providing them with endless opportunities for socialisation, risk taking and spontaneous learning experiences.

Enjoy this beautiful sunny weather. I hope you have the opportunity to be out and about this weekend and that the children have the chance to “Get dirty, poke a bug, lie in the grass, smell a flower and delight in the outdoors!”

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Principal’s Message

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Stage 4R

Ms Lauren Doughton

I am creative Often we talk about ‘creative expression’ in terms of the outcome. We see a painting, a story, a sculpture, a song, a dance sequence, a play or even just a tangle of string at the end of a craft session as the all-important end result of the creative activity. But a creative expression isn’t about the product. It’s more about the process.

Despite what many people think, creativity isn’t limited to artistic endeavours like art, music, craft, writing and drama and it’s definitely not only about a physical outcome.

We can be creative with maths, science, building ect. Creativity can be defined as the journey through which we use and develop our imaginations, originality, productivity and problem-solving abilities.

The same principle applies to creative expression in early childhood learning. Every child has creative potential and every child is capable of expressing that creativity but the process, not the quality of the outcome, should be the main focus. As we keep this in mind this week the children in stage 4 were provided with many opportunities to express their creative side. There were activities from building/ construction, observational drawings of flowers, a big carb and a vinegar science experiment. All of these activities promoted children’s creativity. The favourite activity for the week was the free observational drawings of the flowers. We provided the children with a bunch of flowers and some coloured textas, crayons and pencils the same colour as the flowers that we purchased.

The children then used the resources to draw what they saw in front of them.

Children need encouragement and support to develop their creativity and by extension, to develop important life skills like self confidence and relationship building and the process of creative expression is beneficial to both the child and the adults.

Reminders: Drink bottles: I highly encourage you to take your child’s drink bottle home each day and wash it. With the gastro bug going around the community, it's best we stay healthy and safe. Also, if your child does not bring a drink bottle to school I would highly recommend you put one in your child’s bag.

Appropriate clothing and school uniform: We have noticed that a lot of children have been wearing layers of clothing on hot days. If I could ask you to pack shorts and t-shirts for the warmer weather that would be a great help. Another thing we have noticed is a lot of children are not wearing school uniforms, in stage 4 it is compulsory that the children wear the Reddam uniform. If you choose not to put your child in uniform unfortunately your child will not be in the school newsletter.

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Stage 4R

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Ms Lauren Doughton

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Stage 4R: Flower Observation

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Stage 4R: Flower Observation

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Stage 4E

By Ms Sarah Ross

Thunderstorms There have been many requests to learn about different types of storms from the Stage Four children and this week we introduced the children to ideas about how storms are created and spent time developing our communication and expressive skills.

Our first expressive lesson involved a collaborative art piece that the children worked on throughout the week. The children were provided with a large piece of black paper and given a variety of mediums including; pencils, oil pastels, and paints to create their very own storms. This saw the children create large, dark clouds and bright jagged lightning. The children spent a lot of time at this activity discussing their creations with their peers and complimenting each other's work.

Describe a thunderstorm This week in literacy groups the children learnt about adjectives and how they are used to describe things. The children were given some examples and then were asked to recall events where they experienced a thunderstorm.

“I saw lightning when it was raining. I saw it through the window” - Ria “I have seen a big bright lightning” - Augusten “I have seen lightning when it was raining a lot” - Thomas “When I was sleeping I woke up and it was raining a lot. It was noisy and when I went to bed it stopped” - Flynn “It was thundering when I went to bed. It looked scary” - Ethan A “When my dad was driving to work he saw lightning” - Zavier “When I was three years old I woke up to a thunderstorm and it hurt my ears” - Leo Class discussions are a great way for children to develop their confidence and communication skills. These discussions are an integral part of our program and as each week goes by the children have been sharing longer and more meaningful stories, ideas and knowledge. After the children recalled these events they were asked to share one adjective to describe a thunderstorm. Some of their responses included; noisy, loud, bright, glowing, and scary.

Stirring up a storm To continue with our exploration of storms the children engaged with sensory and numeracy activity where they added different ‘ingredients’ to create a storm. The children followed recipe cards with numbers and pictures to describe the amounts of each ingredient. This was a great experience for the children to explore amounts through oneto-one correspondence and how to follow a series of instructions. The children loved using the storm ingredients to design their own storm using; clouds, lightning and rain drops.

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Stage 4E

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By Ms Sarah Ross

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Stage 4E: What are thunderstorms?

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Stage 4E: Brewing up a storm

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Stage 4D

By Ms Emily Chacon

I am CREATIVE “Every child is an artist” Pablo Picasso This week the children have been exploring all ways to be creative!

The children were exposed to various ways to show creativity, through sight, sound and art.

During group time the children were encouraged to lay down and close their eyes and listen to the story of ‘Peter and the Wolf’, narrated by David Bowie. Throughout this story each character is represented by a different instrument and tune. It was wonderful to see the children were able to follow the story without looking at pictures.

Following on from this experience, the children sat in a circle and could play their own instruments. Some of the children began to make links to the story, and even went as far as creating their own characters with their instrument.

Creative play develops preschooler confidence, language, physical and thinking skills, imagination and emotional understanding. Dramatic play helps preschoolers make sense of the world.

On our art table the children were given an observational task. In the middle of the table was a bouquet of flowers, the children were then encouraged to recreate what they could see.

This experience supports the children in slowing down, and really learning how to record what they see, rather than what they think something looks like. Through noticing the details, the children's understandings deepen, and further questions are provoked. It takes observation beyond simple sensory perception and allows children to organise knowledge and understanding.

On our science table the children explored through process and reaction. In a round tray was bi-carb soda, the children were then encouraged to use a pipet and squeeze out coloured vinegar. The children were amazed to see the fizzing and bubbling reaction. “This is amazing!” (Yonnie) When children use their fingers to manipulate art materials they are developing their fine motors skills as they use those small muscles in their hands. Their bilateral coordination skills improve as they learn to use both hands at the same time. With the development of these skills, a child is able to complete important tasks such as writing, feeding oneself, buttoning and zipping.

As there is so much to explore through creativity, we will continue to explore next week.

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Stage 4D

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By Ms Emily Chacon

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Stage 4D: STEM challenge

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Stage 4D: Flower Observation

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Stage 3/4

By Ms Riina Andrew

Cloud Investigation This week the children have been hypothesising and experimenting in small groups. Allowing each student to discuss and predict the outcome of an experiment allows the growth of cognitive skill and discussion (verbal and non-verbal) abilities. The experiment was called ‘Cloud in a jar’. Each child was offered the opportunity to express their thoughts on how many drops of coloured dye it would take to ‘make it rain’. Using a glass jar, the children filled it with water, added shaving foam (clouds) and used blue water and a dropper to imitate rain drops.

“Look, I can see the rain coming” exclaimed Hugo when he saw the blue dye dripping through.

“I think I can make it rain with lots of drops” stated Cyon.

“I will have a turn to make rain” said Alizay.

“More clouds” exclaimed Emma as she added more shaving foam.

“It’s blue rain” stated Annabelle S as she saw the drops coming through the clouds.

“I can make lots and lots of clouds cause I am strong” exclaimed Jack as he added more shaving foam to the jar.

Everyone was very excited when it was their turn to ‘make it rain’ and we wanted to revisit this activity over and over again!

Cloud poem At group time this week we created a poem together about clouds. Using the letters C L O U D S, we all discussed words that can be associated with them. The children all had fantastic descriptive words but we settled on the following ones: C L O U D S

old oud utside mbrella ark un

Observational drawing Another fun activity that we participated in this week was the observation of clouds. We look our interest outside and looked at the clouds in the sky. We then put pencil to paper to make our own sketches of what we saw. We had sketches of large clouds, small clouds, white clouds and dark clouds, cumulus clouds and cirrus clouds. These sketches are proudly displayed on the classroom wall for the children to view at their leisure. A fun week had by all!

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Stage 3/4

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By Ms Riina Andrew

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Stage 3/4: Snowflake sensory play

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Stage 3/4: Cloud Observational Drawing

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Stage 3E

By Ms Bianca Lazar

I Can “Education is the most powerful weapon with which you can change the world.” - Nelson Mandela I can create my name!

Following on from last week’s focus on letter recognition, this week Stage 3 children have been engaging in multi-sensory experiences to assist them to develop their letter recognition. On the literacy table set up this week, children created their names using the mini whiteboards and magnetic letters. Each child displayed great determination and attention to completing all the letters in their name. Throughout this learning experience, all children were sounding out the first letter of their name, whilst matching the corresponding letter onto the white board.

I can sound out letters!

We have continued using our alphabet flash cards during our morning meeting and transition to mealtimes. This week we combined the flash cards with our phonics song. All children displayed great confidence and excitement when corresponding the initial letter and sound of their name. This enables children to develop their phonemic awareness and manipulate individual sounds (phonemes) in everyday spoken words. We will continue to integrate this literacy experience each day within our preschool programme.

I can create letters!

One of our literacy components this week was our popular rainbow sensory writing tray!

The great advantage of using a writing tray is that it brings a multi-sensory element to the foundations of writing. All children thoroughly enjoyed making marks and inscribing letters in the salt and discovering all the wonderful colours hiding underneath. Children actively use, engage with and share the enjoyment of language and texts in a range of ways.

I can sign in!

Each morning upon arrival, children have been signing in their name on our ‘sing in’ table. All children have adapted wonderfully to our new morning routine and have displayed great eagerness to complete tracing their name.

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Stage 3E

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By Ms Bianca Lazar

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Stage 3E: I can write my name

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Stage 3E: My name is...

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Stage 2/3 & 3R

By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes

The Colours of Us Our aboriginal provocation has led us to a very confronting topic. Diversity. Our three year olds are at the stage in their development where they are questioning all different sorts of things and it is our duty as teachers to answer those questions. While exploring the aboriginal culture last week Mia made a very important observation, she mention how different was the aboriginal people skin colour.

To support our learning about diversity we started by reading the book “The Colors of us”

by Karen Katz. The book tells the story of seven-year-old Lena who is going to paint a picture of herself. She wants to use brown paint for her skin. But when she and her mother take a walk through the neighbourhood, Lena learns that brown comes in many different shades.

Through the eyes of a little girl who begins to see her familiar world in a new way, this book celebrates the differences and similarities that connect all people. Karen Katz created this book for her daughter, Lena, whom she and her husband adopted from Guatemala six years ago.

After reading the book we started exploring our diversity learning stations. The first invitation was a sensory bin filled with a bean mixture. We used diversity construction paper in different skin tones and roll them up to make skin tone tubes to pour the beans down.

The most important part of this activity was the conversations that we had with our preschoolers. As they scooped out the beans I asked them if they could find a bean that is the same colour as they skin; one a similar colour as me and one that was similar to mummy or daddy. As Reddam is a very diverse school; we had a diverse array of colours that we could talk about.

In the art atelier the children were invited to make their own self-portraits collage. It was a two-step art activity. On the first day the children had to choose a skin colour to paint their paper plates with after the paint dried the children then could use loose materials to add their features.

The purpose of these diversity provocations is to help children explore and embrace differences among the class. We were also able to introduce new vocabulary.

We’re working everyday to change the world…one classroom at a time. We want our children to grow up knowing their value and the value of others.

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Stage 2/3 & 3R

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By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes

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Stage 2/3: Exploring cultural diversity

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Stage 2/3: Exploring cultural diversity

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Stage 2R

By Ms Madeleine Grant

Letter of the alphabet This week we explored the letters G, H and I! G is for Gardening After last week’s flower provocation we decided to go out into the back playground and plant some flowers of our own! The children first sat down in small groups and were given a handful of various seeds to examine. We asked them to count how many they could see and try to describe what they looked like, such as the shape, size, or colour.

Then they were given small trowels and rakes and asked to dig around in the planter box to make the soil nice and fresh for our seeds. We placed the seeds deep in the soil and covered them up, and the children took turns using the watering cans to give them plenty of water.

H is for Heart As it was Valentine’s Day during the week it was perfect timing to make heart artworks.

We gathered all the heart shaped cookie cutters from out play dough supplies and dipped them in paint to use as stamps. We also used the topic to spark discussion during our group times, by asking the children to share with the class the things they loved. They told us they loved their mums and dads, siblings and grandparents, beloved toys and favourite characters. This was a great prompt for class discussions, and got many of the children speaking up using one or two word responses. Over the year we will be encouraging them to speak in these impromptu discussions, to improve their confidence and strengthen their language skills as they develop their vocabularies!

I is for Ice Cream The children loved the ice cream sensory and dramatic play experience! For this we made three batches of Neapolitan ice cream play dough; one with cocoa powder, one with vanilla extract, and one dyed pink for strawberry! The children sat in pairs and were given the chance to explore everything that was set out on the table, including cones, scoopers, bowls, and real and pretend sprinkles. Through this we wanted to observe how the children approached the task, and how they interacted with each other.

It was lovely to see them sharing with each other and making up ice cream cones to give to their friends, and they loved the role play of playing shopkeeper and customer as they served each other!

Next week we are moving on to the letters J, K and L. We will be making citrus print artworks to look at Juice, doing more dramatic play in our Kitchen set up, and writing Letters to refine their pencil grip and fine motor skills. We will also be using the theme to revise the letters we have learnt so far, as well as practice the rest of the alphabet in preparation for the coming weeks!

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Stage 2R

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By Ms Madeleine Grant

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Stage 2R: G is for gardening

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Stage 2R: I is for ice cream

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Stage 1E

By Ms Justine Heydra & Alessia Angilletta

Under the sea “Supporting children to play requires us to remember what life is all about. It’s not about getting from A-Z, but rather dreaming beyond both.” Vince Gowmon This week in Stage 1E we enjoyed our last week “Under the Sea” . The children had so much fun exploring and discovering with our hands-on sensory activities and they also thoroughly enjoyed our creative art work.

Our fist sensory activity this week was “Finding Fish” in our Ocean Foam. We used shaving foam mixed with different food colouring to create this very fluffy and colourful ocean foam. The children were given an opportunity to explore and play with the foam. We provided a natural wooden stick in case the children were a little hesitant to touch the foam with their hands at first. However, as they played and discovered they all enjoyed this hands-on sensory activity. Some of the children loved the texture so much they didn’t mind getting the foam absolutely everywhere and finding some fish in the process. Playing with shaving foam is a lovely sensory play activity. It provides children with the opportunity to make marks, develop fine motor skills and build strength in their fingers and hands.

Our second sensory activity was Goop (Cornflour mixed with water and food colouring)

During group time the children had the opportunity to touch and explore the goop.

Some of the children really enjoyed the texture and how the goop was a solid when they squeezed it in their hands. The goop turned into liquid when the children released their grip, they were all amazed at this exercise. Goop is a great, yet messy sensory activity , Messy play fosters curiosity, imagination and exploration, it encourages communication and language development and lastly it practices good concentration and nurtures future skills.

Our art activity this week was filled with texture and bright neon colours. Our main ocean animal focus this week was the Starfish. The children were given the chance to create their very own Starfish using bubble wrap and neon paints. They painted colours they chose onto the bubble wrap and we then placed their Starfish onto the bubble wrap and pressed down , transferring the paint and bubble wrap pattern onto their Starfish.

Lastly the children enjoyed some Valentines day arts & crafts with the help of the teachers created a beautiful keepsake. I hope you all had a great Valentines day.

Next week we will be heading out of the ocean and onto land to discover the habitat of “Mini Beasts” The children love finding all sorts of insects in our garden area and this had paved the way to our next Animal Habitat exploration.

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Stage 1E

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By Ms Justine Heydra & Alessia Angilletta

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Stage 1E: Under The Sea Foam Sensory Play

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Stage 1E: Starfish Art & Ocean Animal Exploration

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Stage 1R

By Ms Amanda Felton

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star We just love chanting this song with lots of hand movements and smiles from everyone. It is a rhyme that is wonderfully engaging and interactive for children of this age group. The children have been enjoying joining in the songs with lots of cheering and clapping of hands that builds the excitement and a happy, vibrant environment for our little ones.

Our children enjoyed engaging in the Provocation with a follow up art activity of stamping stars with glittery paint. Whilst it was a little bit of a challenge for some children as they build their fine motor control they loved the cause and effect of using the stamps and we all got there in the end and produce some amazing masterpieces.

Even though we have had a lot of wet weather of late we have been able to ensure that the children have still engaged in many gross motor outdoor play activities in our undercover outdoor play space and we have enjoyed many other activities such music classes with our music teacher Mr Alan and My Gym classes with Mr Andreas to build up those wonderful skills of balancing, rolling, climbing and tumbling.

Well done Babies! It’s has been another amazing week together.

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Stage 1R

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By Ms Amanda Felton

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Stage 1R: Twinkle twinkle little star

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Stage 1R: Free play

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Piano This week is the second week of term 1, 2022. Stage 1 and 2 were shown some songs such as "Fur Elise" and other children's tunes. They were also taught how to identify colours of the keys and the pattern of the black keys. Stage 3 and 4 were taught how to play "Potato song" from the Oxford UK piano method. It required concentrating on timing and counting, also they had to recognise C, D and E. The more advanced children who had been doing piano with us since last year, had played "Old MacDonald had a farm". It is a song which needed the correlation of 2 hands.

A wonderful miracle happened with Chole in Stage 3/4, she was watching me teaching another student and just started playing "The Potato Song" by herself without learning from me or any of my instructure. The children at Reddam were slowly getting used to the organised learning structure of Reddam. Looking forward to another exciting week of keyboard's lesson next week.

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Piano

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My Gym

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My Gym

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Mandarin

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