4th March 2022
Principal’s Message
By Mrs Simone Cooke
Dear Parents, These past few weeks have been challenging times for so many as they deal with the devastation of the recent floods and wild weather. Our thoughts are with those who have lost homes and loved ones in these widespread storms. Closer to home the wet weather has brought with it countless days of indoor play and we are very relieved that our new outdoor playgrounds are allowing the children the chance to get outside, dine undercover from the elements and engage in a range of gross motor play activities which is so important for their development. The rain also offers many spontaneous learning experiences for our children. Where does rain come from? What is a cumulous cloud? What is La Nina? What makes a rainbow? Are just some of the questions our clever children have been asking of late. Responding to the children’s interests is at the heart of our Reggio approach to learning and tapping into their questions and offering them opportunities to gain concrete understanding of these complex questions, so that they can make greater sense of the world around them. This week the children have donned their rain jackets, poncho’s, rain hats and gumboots and enjoyed the opportunity to stretch their legs and delight in the timeless childhood joy of jumping in and out of puddles, squealing with delight as the raindrops fall on their outstretched hands and delighting in the freedom of being outside. An initial impulse of allowing children to play outside on a wet day is that they may catch a cold. However, it is a myth to believe that they will get sick from being outside. As we know colds are caused by viruses and are not influenced by the rain. There are significant benefits to our children of outdoor play. Being outside on a wet day poses a different set of challenges to children, they are exposed to different sensory experiences and encourages creative thinking and gross motor movement.
1
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
1
Principal’s Message Continued... We are very fortunate at Reddam to be able to spread out across our lovely large outdoor play spaces where the children can investigate a shimmering wet spider web, find shiny wet stones or relish in the squelch of their gumboots on the wet grass. 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 and creativity. Singing in the rain, scooping up water, catching raindrops and watching a rainbow emerge from a puddle provides real life engagement with concepts that increases their understanding of the world around them. 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. So rather than keep our children trapped inside staring out through the rain splattered windows, our little ones are definitely making the most of the wet conditions this week and the wonderful fun, learning opportunities that they offer!
2
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
25th Oc
2
Principal’s Message
25th Oc
3
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
3
Stage 4R
Ms Lauren Doughton
Wet Weather Play “Life isn’t about waiting for the storm to pass, it’s about learning to dance in the rain!” Playing in the rain is great for children. So, when the sky turns and droplets start to fall, don't bundle your children indoors, let them enjoy the experience and let them to play outside in the rain. This doesn’t mean letting your child get soaked or playing in a storm as a result. But a little rain and some playing outdoors in the wet can enhance and improve children’s physical and mental development. We know how much children benefit from outdoor play in all weathers and seasons, so whether it’s the height of summer or a cold winter's day, head to your local playground and see what you can find. With wet weather play comes with many benefits; by letting children respond to the rain and nature helps them to understand what is and isn’t safe. They’ll get an understanding of the difference between a light drizzle and a torrential thunderstorm. Children will experience for themselves how slippery a wet surface can be, and how rain changes how well they can see. Being out in the rain also teaches them a little individual responsibility. They’ll learn to move items that might get ruined in the rain somewhere dry, and discover the importance of hanging wet clothes to dry. Also a wet day and a dry day have very different sounds, smells and sights. With the wet weather that we have had all week we allow the children to go out in the rain with their umbrellas, gumboots and raincoats. The children love exploring the yard, the garden beds and jumping in the puddles. Children are very resilient and adapt very well to the weather and it is important that we promote this outdoor play. It is important that we enforce that outdoor play shouldn’t be prevented by the weather. I asked the children what do they like about the rain and the responses I received were; “It feels nice on my face,” said Damian. “I don’t get my clothes wet,” said Liam. “The worms come out,” said Mavis. “I can see a rainbow,” said Abigail. “I love playing in the rain and laughing at the birds in the rain,” said Luna. “I like jumping in the muddy puddles,” said Betty. “The rain is wet when I touch it,” said Ruaan. Keeping children inside when it’s raining limits their experience of the world. There’s so much joy to be had listening to the splash a puddle makes when it’s jumped in.
4
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
4
Stage 4R
5
Ms Lauren Doughton
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
5
Stage 4R: I am singing in the rain
6
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
6
Stage 4R: Wet weather exploration
7
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
7
Stage 4E
By Ms Sarah Ross
What is an earthquake? Earthquakes are a new concept to many of the children so we began our exploration by reading a book about earthquakes. The children discovered that the Earth is made of four layers and the outer most layer is called the crust. Next, we looked at a map of the world that displayed fault lines and tectonic plates and discussed that the Earth’s crust is made up of lots of pieces like a puzzle that rub together, move apart, and push towards each other. To support this new information the children practiced simulating tectonic plates movements with their hands. Layers of the Earth To further reinforce our learning on the layers of the Earth, Stage Four created an artwork that represented the four different layers; the crust, mantel, outer core and inner core. The children were supplied with oil pastels and made observations of a diagram of the layers. Throughout, the children spent time discussing what each colour represented and discussed what each of the layers were made of. We are so proud of the Stage Four children demonstrating their ability to follow the sequencing and patterns of the artwork while also extending their knowledge and vocabulary surrounding earthquakes. Measuring Earthquakes
During our class discussions we spoke about how earthquakes can be different sizes and what the different impacts and outcomes of these might be. To investigate this concept further the children engaged in a project where we built our own seismograph which is a machine used to detect and record earthquakes. To make our seismograph we used a cardboard box, string, tape and a texta. After building our seismograph we placed it on a table and threaded paper through the bottom to make a recording of an earthquake. Next, Stage Four helped simulate an earthquake by shaking the table slowly at first and then gradually faster with bigger movements just like a real earthquake. Afterwards, the children made observations of the markings left on our recording papers and the children pointed out the times when the earthquake was at its; fastest, slowest, biggest and smallest. At the end of the week the children spent time reflecting on what they had learnt. Some of the knowledge they shared included; “Earthquakes are when the ground shakes” - Ria “Earthquakes can smash buildings” – Ethan A “You can measure an earthquake with a seismograph” - Thomas “The Earth has four layers” - Charlotte “A tsunami comes after tremors” - Azure “To stay safe, you get cover and hold on” - Augusten
8
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
8
Stage 4E
9
By Ms Sarah Ross
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
9
Stage 4E: Measuring earthquakes
10
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
10
Stage 4E: Layers of the earth drawing
11
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
11
Stage 4D
By Ms Emily Chacon
I am SAFE Over week 5 & 6 we will be searching into how to keep ourselves and others safe, from road safety, kitchen safety, classroom safety and general safety. Throughout our morning group time we discussed ways to be safe on the road, and the children recalled their knowledge of road signs and their meanings. Andrew - "Sometimes the signs on the road are for cars". Ariana – “The signs help people cross the road; you have to look both ways” Darcy – “The signs are on the road” Miss Emily then explained to the children to create their own safety sign using textas. As they began, she asked them, “Who is your sign for? Who does it keep safe?” Louise - "My sign is for the cars to stop when the construction cars come” Jayden – “My sign is stop sign for cars and people so they can cross” Chloe – My sign is for the people to stay back at the zoo” Kingsley – “My sign is a stop sign to keep the cars safe on the road” Once the children had completed their safety sign they pasted the sign into their activity books and Miss Emily assisted them in writing down the explanation of their sign. Throughout this experience the children engaged in further developing their creativity skills as well as their literacy skills. Throughout this experience each child was encouraged to transfer knowledge from one context to another. Learning to explain and discuss ideas allows children to learn about and interact with the world around them. These skills form a foundation for children's engagement with learning, building knowledge, and making connections to real-world experiences. Following on through the safety experiences, the children were broken down into three smaller groups, and were instructed to work along with their teacher to come up with a mind map full of their ideas to present to the class. Their topics were kitchen safety, road safety and water safety. With the guidance of the teachers, the children used the I-pads and laptops to conduct their research. Viewing signs that we see every day on the streets, to searching potential hazards in our kitchens and around water. Once everyone was finished, we all came back together for each group to present their findings. This research task helps foster public speaking skills and helps children feel comfortable with talking in front of a group of peers. When it is structured as a question-and-answer activity, presentations encourage the children to use descriptive words and full sentences. Being able to speak clearly and process speech sounds as well as to understand others, express ideas and interact with others are all fundamental building blocks for a child's development. Our table experiences further encouraged fine motor and literacy development. Our alphabet traffic light catching station, the children had to use a ladle to catch each letter. Once pulled out the children were asked to sound out phonetically each letter. Promoting phonetic development encourages children in learning to recognise how sounds are represented alphabetically and identify letter sounds, symbols, characters and signs. Phonics is essential for children to become successful readers and spellers/writers in the early years of schooling and beyond. Our small world play station engaged the children in fine motor experience. Using play dough, rocks, diggers and construction site safety signs the children were encouraged to create their own safety zones. Small world play encourages children to be creative and to use their imagination. It assists in boosting confidence and pride when they show off their creations to their peers and teachers. It is also an excellent way to build social skills and conflict resolution among children.
12
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
12
Stage 4D
13
By Ms Emily Chacon
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
13
Stage 4D: Traffic light letter find & construction play
14
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
14
Stage 4D: Sign safety drawing & writing
15
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
15
Stage 3/4
By Ms Riina Andrew
The World Around Us Over the previous week, the class have been interested in different countries around the world. As the current COVID pandemic has hindered our travelling for holidays, we decided to go on our own trips. Over the next few weeks we will explore places far and wide and hope that we may get to visit these places in the future! Ancient Egypt Over the course of the last two weeks, the class have been learning about Ancient Egypt. We first explored a great book of facts and knowledge surrounding the ancient pyramids and sphinxes. The class were very interested in how these great sandstone structures were made and what lay beneath. Sammy: “gold” Junso: “people” Alexa: “mummies and gold” Alice: “there are mummies underneath but not daddies” Matthias: “gold coins” Valentina “people in paper” Milo: “people” Alizay: “coins, gold coins” Julian: “people that are wrapped up in bandages” Wesley: “gold and more gold” Ashton: “there is water” James: “treasures for the people” Sarah: “mummies” Marcus: “done people” Patrick: “a broken boat for the people” Hugo: “all the mummies” Mark: “finished mummies” We also tried our hand at Ancient Egyptian writing, which is called Hieroglyphics. Each letter of the alphabet has a symbol which is used to ‘write’. We carefully looked at the letters of our name and matched it to a hieroglyphic. We then took care to stamp that symbol on a piece of paper to make our names. The class also had the opportunity to build their own pyramid using sugar cubes. We then used droppers of warm water to drip down upon the pyramids to show the process of erosion, similar to the real environment of the pyramids in the dessert. The final experience of exploring Ancient Egypt was the creation of Cobra snakes. We enjoyed cutting out a snake shape and decorating it to make it scary!
16
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
16
Stage 3/4
17
By Ms Riina Andrew
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
17
Stage 3/4: Hieroglyphics & pyramid experiment
18
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
18
Stage 3/4: Finding Egypt & painting palms
19
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
19
Stage 3E
By Ms Bianca Lazar
Nature Walk Thank you to our families who encouraged and assisted their child in filling their paper bag with sticks and leaves as we try to add natural materials to our program and number wall. Children have already started using their combined collection.
Numbers in our world This week we have continued our numeracy provocation of ‘I can count’. Each day we sat as a large group and discussed where we can see and find numbers. I mentioned to children that there are numbers all around us, not just at preschool. When children notice that numbers are an essential part of their life, learning numbers becomes more meaningful. During our group time, I questioned the children about this topic and asked them “Where can we see numbers in our world?”. Caelie: “At home” Sophie: “At school” Aneilia: “From books” Jake: “Phone” Summer: “In books” Ethan. C: “Watch. You have watch!” Franco: “My. Mummy’s phone” Leo: “On the clock” Claire: “On the tables” Charlie: “My Lego house” Children, in their everyday life, experience Maths and are building their understanding of mathematical ideas and concepts. Through their play, curiosity, observations and testing out of ideas, they are constantly gaining some understanding of the concepts of size, number, and of many other mathematical concepts.
Number detectives Extending from last week’s number exploration, children engaged in a variety of number recognition and subitising learning experiences. They explored numbers from 1 – 10 using natural and processed materials. On one of the learning tables this week children had to become number detectives. Each child had to use their subitising skills to match the dots on the keys to the numbers displayed on the padlocks to unlock them. All children utilised their fine motor skills to unlock the padlocks and applied their mathematical knowledge to confidently identify the numbers presented. In addition, they all demonstrated one-to-one correspondence when counting the dots on the keys.
20
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
20
Stage 3E
21
By Ms Bianca Lazar
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
21
Stage 3E: I can count
22
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
22
Stage 3E: Number detectives
23
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
23
Stage 2/3 & 3R
By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes
Me And My Body Children take great satisfaction in caring for themselves: picking out clothes to wear, feeding themselves, brushing their own hair and teeth. Even their play with dolls reflects how care, feeding, and learning are vital, it is also very important to their psychological and social development. Caring for our body, respecting it, and knowing how it works are fundamental to living and learning, and the early experiences set the foundations for building positive, lifelong standards. This week we have been investigating our bodies. Our main goal is to follow the children’s curiosity and guide them with their inquiries. Ben has asked one his teachers about where things are inside us so we decided to focus on the structure of our bodies and our bones. Learning about bones requires imagination, because your child can't see their bones. We started our week by asking the children to feel what's inside their arms and legs. We asked them to curve their backs and curl up tight. We have them feeling the small bones in their spine and compare them with the long bones in our arms and legs. The children were certainly intrigued by all their discoveries. To support our learning we set up invitations were the children could further explore the bones investigation. On our first learning station the children were invited to search for bones on a sand tray. On another table they could make bones x-rays on black paper by using cotton tips and white paint. We also set up a doctor’s corner. Imaginative Role Play is an important part of early childhood development. As children engage in imaginative and dramatic play, they are developing a range of skills including oral language, cooperation and problem solving. The children loved putting their doctor’s costume on, they not only looked after the dolls but their loved the role play with their peers. Teaching our children to love their bodies at a young age helps them grow into children and adults who want to keep their bodies strong, healthy, and safe so they can continue to do all the things they love to do.
24
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
24
Stage 2/3 & 3R
25
By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
25
Stage 2/3: We are doctors
26
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
26
Stage 2/3: Creating x-rays
27
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
27
Stage 2R
By Ms Madeleine Grant
To the Moon! This week we changed the direction of our learning based on feedback from our group times. The children particularly love singing the song ‘Zoom, zoom, zoom! We’re going to the moon!’, so we decided to alter the planned programme to allow this week’s topics for M, N and O to relate to each other to provide the children with a cohesive range of activities that reflected their emerging interests. M is for Moon The children loved the activity that blended art and science and saw them creating beautiful moon art. In a round tin we placed some paper, and covered some marbles in paint to track the paths they took as they rolled around the tray. We talked with them about how the marbles rolling around the edge of the tray was like how the moon orbits the Earth. While this is a concept that may be beyond their understanding at this age, it is never too early to expose them to the wonders of the world (and beyond) that surrounds them. Some took a different approach to the task, shaking the tray or tilting it back and forth, to create squiggly patterns or sharp, zig zagging lines. The result was a range of beautiful, colourful moons that were each as different and unique as their creators! N is for Numbers We used this topic to assess the children’s numeracy development. Through the year we will be tracking the children as they begin counting independently and memorising number sequences and symbols. This week gave us an insight into where they are now, and consolidate all the ways we incorporate numeracy into their routine. Songs like ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ incorporate counting to three, while ‘Five Little Ducks’ or ‘Five Little Speckled Frogs’ introduce counting down from five. During structured or free play we are always asking them to extend the activity by counting, sorting, or sequencing their toys. During group times we have started choosing a helper to count how many friends are in attendance, by walking around the circle and patting everyone’s heads while counting ‘Jamie is number one, Amiya is two, Rhys is three’ and so on. O is for Outer Space We extended the other activities through creating sensory trays to represent the moon, stars and planets. In tubs of rice dyed with galaxy-inspired colours they found pom poms, glitter, foil balls and pipe cleaners. They also were given wooden blocks with numbers carved in, and asked if they could identify the number they had been given. Once the had we encouraged them to dig around in the tray and try to find that number of objects. Next week our letter’s P, Q and R will let us focus on critical thinking and expression! R is for Rainbow will look at identifying colours as well as colour theory. This will connect with P is for Painting, where we will encourage them to use their knowledge of colours to paint in any way they choose! Q is for Question will take place during group times, where we will be asking questions to provoke their thinking and speaking skills. We will also try get them using their voices and extending their vocabularies as they start asking questions of their own.
28
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
28
Stage 2R
29
By Ms Madeleine Grant
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
29
Stage 2R: M is for moon
30
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
30
Stage 2R: O is for outer space
31
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
31
Stage 1E
By Ms Justine Heydra & Alessia Angilletta
Animal Habitats—Mini Beasts “Children see magic because they look for it” - Christopher Moore
This week in Stage 1E, we continued our "Mini Beasts" provocation. We enjoyed two art activities and exciting hands-on sensory activities. During our provocation group time we discussed the life cycle of the bee in simple and easy terms for our little ones to understand and focused on new vocabulary to repeat. We sang our beehive song which the children really enjoyed and love doing the actions too. We were very lucky and surprised that we found a lizard in our classroom this week. Miss Maddie from Stage 2R came and caught the lizard in a clear container and this provided a spontaneous learning opportunity for all the children as they could have a closeup look at our lizard friend. The children thoroughly enjoyed this learning opportunity. Our art focus this week was based on both the bee and the butterfly. Firstly the children were given the chance to create a symmetrical butterfly with bright coloured paints that they chose. They were amazed at their art work once we opened their paper and revealed their butterfly.
Our second art work was based on creating black and yellow bees by using a balloon filled with oats, that represented a bee. The children placed the bees in black and yellow paint and stamped their bees on their paper. We discussed the life cycle of the bee and made buzzing sounds as we did our art work. Our sensory activities this week was discovering "Mini Beasts" in jelly and counting snakes in yellow sand. The children loved exploring with the jelly as they enjoyed the texture and colours. Jelly is great for developing fine-motor skills and providing a fantastic hands-on sensory experience. Next week we will start our next Animal Habitat exploration, "The Farm". Wishing you all a fantastic weekend.
32
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
32
Stage 1E
33
By Ms Justine Heydra & Alessia Angilletta
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
33
Stage 1E: Counting snakes & bugs in jelly
34
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
34
Stage 1E: Bee & butterfly creative art
35
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
35
Stage 1R
By Ms Amanda Felton
This week had so much fun! We enjoyed lots of singing and clapping hands and singing nursery rhymes we have been learning. We are so very lucky to have our wonder music teacher Mr Alan come to class and really engage the children in musical themes and timeless musical pieces. This week we also learnt a new nursery rhyme...Oh’ my goodness! It’s a spider! Miss Muffet jumped out of her skin. Poor little Miss Muffet who was eating her curds and whey. The children enjoyed creating their live puppet show together and entertaining each other. The children shared well together and interacted with great social skills for their age. Each child respected one other and took turns to hold the puppet toys during the experience. We then followed up on this by creating some beautiful watercolour paintings and what wonderful coordination from the children as they tried really hard to coordinate their hand and arm movement. Producing strokes and marks on the paper and mixing colours together to make their own art works. Well done Children another fabulous week together.
36
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
36
Stage 1R: Spider artwork
37
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
37
Piano
By Mr Alan Tang
This week we had a productive week of piano lessons at Reddam ELS. Stage 4 had some advanced students, one student learnt the first line of "Fur Elise". The others learnt "Old MacDonald had a farm". The rest of the students had revised on "the potato song". Stage 3 and 3/4 were taught how to identify Major and Minor tonality, also they learnt how to distinguish between higher and lower pitches. They had a chance to learn "the potato song" as well. Stage 2 was revised on recognising the pattern of the keyboard. Some children in this stage were able to identify the key "D for Doggy" as well. Stage 2R and 1 enjoyed another piano concert, they were encouraged to identify the black keys and white keys. Looking forward to another productive week next week.
38
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
38
Piano
39
By Mr Alan Tang
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
39
Drama
By Katrina Maskell
Stage 1 and 2 explored the theme of Bears with the popular nursery rhyme “Teddy Bear’s Picnic”. Extending on our ideas from last week, we used our imagination to walk/ jump/ hop/ march through the woods and arrive at our picnic (on the parachute). Benji in Stage 2/3 showed us how fast and slow we can march. Mia showed us how to jump to the picnic. Stage 2 are very good at following the leader, and we are beginning to introduce walking in rhythms and freezing. Waiting at our picnic was a stuffed toy (ballerina bear). The stuffed toy was hungry! We discussed what food might be served at a picnic, and pantomimed eating some of the foods. In Stage 2 Ray ray was eating a banana and Marsha was eating a pear. The stuffed toys then wanted us to put on a show for them. In Stage 2 we discussed “what makes a good audience?” The children came up with some great answers and actions including “goggles for watching, audiences are quiet, shhh”, “audiences clap for you”. We then showed the toys how good we are at balancing on one leg and touching our toes. We also learnt a new dance and song called "teddy bear teddy bear". We did all the actions with ballerina bear, focusing on copying and listening. Stage 2 and 2/3 also used their bodies to become big daddy bears, mummy bears and baby bears. Liam in Stage 2 showed us the different volumes of roars from each bear. Claudia showed us how to stamp as different bears. Stage 1 had a special visit from my owl friend. Henry was very brave and touched and pat the owl. We finished by shaking the parachute for the toys. Lia in Stage 1 is becoming more and more confident with the parachute and Frankie had a huge smile while we were shaking. Stage 2 practiced their bows. Stage 3 and 4 explored the theme of bears in a few different ways. We started the lesson with reading the book “A Beginner’s Guide to Bear Spotting” by Michelle Robinson and David Roberts. The book explains two different types of bears: black and brown bears, and what to do if you find one in the wild. We then decided to go on our own bear hunt! First, we needed to pack an imaginary bag. The children came up with ideas on what we might need. Some suggestions included hats, sunscreen, water smd jumpers. Tyler in stage 3 brought his binocular, Summer packed some fruit and sandwiches. We used the popular song "We’re Going on a Bear Hunt” as a backing for our hunt. We mimed spotting them. Mia in Stage 4 saw a Brown bear and told us to climb a tree. Jakey also suggested playing dead. In Stage 3/4 George saw a black bear and we all backed away slowly. Betty remembered about the bubble gum from the story, so we used that to scare off two bears. We then found ballerina bear waiting for us at the picnic. We finished the class with our song "teddy bear teddy bear". Jane and Annabel danced beautifully. In the song we learnt all about the right things to do as an audience like listening, watching, sitting up straight, and clapping. What a busy and fun class we had!
40
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
40
Drama
41
By Laura Hudson
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
41
My Gym
42
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
42
My Gym
43
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
43
Mandarin Classes
44
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
44