Reddam Early Learning School Newsletter Vol 22 Issue 20 by Reddam House Sydney

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER 1st July 2022

Principal’s Message

By Mrs Simone Cooke

Dear Parents, An important component of our Educational Programme at Reddam is ongoing assessment of each child’s learning. As we approach the end of Term Two our teachers are busy preparing a mid-year report for all children from Stage 1E through to Stage 4. Ongoing assessment and evaluations are a valuable tool our teachers use to ensure that we have a good understanding of your child’s progress. They provide insights into your child as an individual and guide us on how we can support and extend your child further. Throughout the year our teachers carry out a range of observations on each child, using a variety of sources such as anecdotal observations, running records, learning stories and samples of children’s work, to document each child’s development. These are then analysed into summative assessments to provide us with information of the outcomes your child has achieved in relation to both the Early Years Learning Framework ( EYLF) and developmental milestones. This allows us to then plan for further learning and provides you as parents with feedback on your child’s progress.

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Principal’s Message Continued… It is valuable for us to reflect upon all the wonderful learning opportunities which have taken place within the children’s provocations. Each of our beautiful children have learnt new knowledge and skills, formed new friendships and built confidence and self-esteem as they engage in active learning which is built upon their questions, interests and needs, making it meaningful to each of them. When reading your child’s report it is most important to recognise that children REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL progress at different rates. We do not expect that your child will have achieved all 1st April 2022 ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

of the outcomes for their stage of development. Children are often very different at school than at home and it is valuable for us to work together to gain clear understandings of your child’s needs. Should a teacher recommend further evaluations such as Speech Therapy, Occupational therapy etc we have a range of Specialists that we work with who can arrange to visit your child at school and offer additional support. Over the next few weeks the core teachers will be sending home your child’s report. They will then be inviting you to attend a short face-to-face Parent Teacher meeting. These are valuable opportunities for us to partner together to gain a comprehensive understanding of your child’s specific needs. Whilst it is important for us to provide you with feedback on how your child is progressing at school it is equally important for us to involve you as parents in this process. As their primary caregivers you are able to offer us insights into your own observations of your child at home, this provides us with different perspectives that can lead to a deeper understanding of your child’s individual learning. Next week we embark upon our Winter Vacation Programme, which is a lovely opportunity for the children to have a break from their regular routines and programmes. This vacation we are heading off on a literary journey with author Julia Donaldson and the Gruffalo through the wild woods where many exciting adventures are waiting for us!! REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 4R

By Ms Emily Brazel

Maths is Fun Mathematics The children excitedly continue on with their exploring and discovering about STEM. So far, they have used their sensory skills to explore, predict and experiment with science, used their thinking and cognitive skills for technology and shown their beautiful construction and creative skills to discover about engineering. Now it is time for the last component of STEM- Mathematics. Mathematics is an important part of learning for children in the early years because it provides vital life skills. They will help children problem solve, measure and develop their own spatial awareness, and teach them how to use and understand shapes. Math is the means and foundation to the solid development of the skills of learning, logical thinking and reasoning. It is in every occupation, every activity we do in our lives. By exposing students to STEM and giving them opportunities to explore STEM-related concepts, they will develop a passion for it and hopefully pursue a job in a STEM field. Early math skills are being used by children throughout their activities, experiences and daily routines, whether at school or at home. For example, becoming familiar with their routines such as brushing their teeth, getting dressed, taking a nap, and learning about going shopping with their parents can all become math learning opportunities when approached a certain way. This week the children were invited to participate in a number of Math related activities. These activities encouraged children to either work with peers or by themselves, allowing them to use their thinking skills to explore and discover numbers, shapes and patterns. Mathematics plays a major role in a child’s development and helps children makes sense of the world around them. Children between the age of one to five years old are beginning to explore patterns and shapes, compare sizes and count objects. When it comes to preschool children, they use a variety of methods to problem-solve and talk about their findings. Stage 4R eye graphing We asked the children to talk with their friends and ask them “What colour is my eyes?” Once the children had an idea of the colour we gave each child their name and they had to place it on the wall. When all the children had placed their eye up we then used this as at tool for counting, estimating and hypothesising to see different outcomes. Creating number sentences By focusing on the basics of adding and subtracting, teachers can provide a stronger foundation in math skills for the future. This week the children were encouraged to create various number sentence using the whiteboard and different counting objects. Children were given a plus, minus and equals symbols for this activity, allowing them to use their cognitive skills to create number sentences. Typically, children will start learning to write and solve number sentences in first grade. They will likely start off by using objects such as counters and small toys to help them understand the value of numbers. By exposing the children to basic number sentences now, it will allow them to feel more confident when they head off the school and continue to learn Math next year.

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Stage 4R Continued … Shape creating Stage 4 are containing on with their Mathematics component of STEM, engaging in a number of experiences that encourage them to use their thinking skills to problem solve, measure and develop their spatial awareness and teach them how to understand shapes. Math is the means and foundation to the solid development of the skills of learning, logical thinking and reasoning. This week the children participated in an activity that allowed them to use their thinking and creative skills together to produce a colourful art piece. Individuallly each child was asked to find a number of shapes around the classroom to trace before using the watercolour crayons to colour in. Throughout this experience teachers were able to discuss with each child about spacial realisation and spacial orientation. Math is fun! During the week we discussed Math concepts with the children. Today w were able to put our thinking skills into action by making fairy bread. Making something as simple as fairy bread can help your child learn and practise basic math concepts and build language. Cooking with children can help develop basic Math skills such as measuring or counting and following a recipe and method. Teachers discussed with the children about fractions, including whole, halves and quarters. Once each child had finished making fairy bread they were asked “How would you like it cut?” The child were able to respond with “Whole, half or quarters” before eating the fairy bread. Delicious!

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 4R

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 4R

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Stage 4E

By Ms Sarah Ross

The Life Cycle of a Chicken This week the Stage Four children explored the life cycle of a chicken. Our investigation began with a class reading of an informative text that begins with a hen laying an egg. The hen then incubates the little egg by sitting on it and keeping it warm for twenty days. Afterwards, the baby chick uses its beak to break a hole in the egg shell and gradually pushes its way out. Once the chick grows into an adult the life cycle begins again as the adult chickens lay their eggs. Creating chickens Stage Four explored the anatomy of chickens through a creative collage art piece. The children were invited to use a range of materials including; glue, feathers, crepe paper, pencils, black markers, and googly eyes. Before starting the children discussed with their peers and teacher what a chicken looks like and named the different body parts they have. The children were then encouraged to make their own representations of a chicken as factual as possible and they came up with some beautiful creations! Counting eggs The children practiced their one-to-one correspondence and number recognition using pretend chicken eggs! Stage Four sorted eggs on number trays and then matched additional wooden numbers with their eggs. To extend upon their numeracy skills further some children practiced addition by adding the sorted eggs together and counting out the eggs on their trays to determine if their answer was correct. The children then used the wooden numbers to record their answer next to their work. Chicken coop dramatic play Stage Four transformed into chicken farmers this week with our dramatic play area. The children acted out feeding chickens and collecting eggs throughout the day. Many of the children used the toy chickens to create families that laid eggs to begin the chicken life cycle again! It was wonderful listening to the conversation between children regarding information collected from class discussion about the life stages chickens go

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Stage 4E

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 4E

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Stage 4D

By Ms Emily Chacon

How Does it Work? As we come to the end of Term 2, the children have completed their S.T.E.M provocation. In our last week we focussed on math! The children really enjoyed this week’s activities as we varied between group discussions, graph making and other hands-on experiences. Throughout our first group time of the week, I introduced simple fractions using images of fairy bread. We started with a whole and then talked about cutting into halves and quarters, halves having two equal parts and quarters being in 4 pieces. The children were then given a worksheet where they needed to cut out pictures of the steps of making fairy bread. As we had made fairy bread in the past it was easy for the children to place each card into the right sequence. In the afternoon we then got to follow our sequencing and create our own fairy bread. However, before the children got to eat their rainbow treat, they first had to choose and cut their bread into either quarters or halves. Math is an important part of learning for children in the early years because it provides vital life skills. They will help children problem solve, measure and develop their own spatial awareness, and teach them how to use and understand shapes. Preschoolers learn many different types of skills related to maths through graphing. They practise estimation, sorting, organising, recording, counting, classifying, problem solving, and comparing. As a group we discussed the different eye colours there are. Each child was then given an outline of an eye to colour in, matching their own eye colour. Once everyone was finished we then placed them onto a graph, counting each eye as they were placed on the board. Our art this week explored geometric shapes. Geometric shapes are the figures which demonstrate the shape of the objects we see in our everyday life.The children outlined our magnet toys onto their paper using a pen. As the shapes were placed on top of each other they began creating lines throughout each other. The children then used wax crayons to colour in each space. Children learn to use observational skills to identify the different shapes. They also learn how to compare different shapes and group similar shapes together. A big thank you to all the children of Stage 4D for a wonderful term. It has been amazing to see the children growing and learning, all while having so much fun. I can’t believe we are already halfway through the year! Have a wonderful break!

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 4D

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 4D

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Stage 3/4

By Ms Riina Andrew

Fractured Fairy Tales

To finish off the term, we tried our hand at writing our own fairy tale. Each class member had the opportunity to add their own part to the story and we all enjoyed each other’s input toward the story below:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Annabelle. One day Annabelle became a big sister. She helped look after the baby until he grew up. Then he went for a walk in the forest and saw five magic trees. The magic trees made everything grow to the sky. The lightening came and made the trees go back to normal and Annabelle and her brother lived happily ever after. THE END Each child was very excited when I read the story that they had created and wanted to make this story into a book so we did! The children were given pre-made booklets to write and draw pictures on to make their own story books. Using their imagination, the children were able to illustrate the above story with their own ideas and interpretations of the story and its characters. Taking this story further, the children had the opportunity to build a scene using Lego pieces to create the set of the story.

Working in small

groups, the children discussed the giant and crocodile and created these characters with the Lego pieces. They also made a bedroom for granny and some sandwiches!

A fun term was had by all as this provocation turned out to be the most enjoyable one yet!

Thank you also for the lovely fairy tale books that you have been sending to school with your children. We have enjoyed sharing these with each other very much and looked forward to each morning group when we explored a different title each day!

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 3/4

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 3/4

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Stage 3E

By Ms Bianca Lazar

Nǐ hǎo!

As we conclude our final week of our Term 2 provocation, ‘Around the World’, Stage 3 children visited China! As a class we discussed where China is located on our world map, considered traditional cultural celebrations such as Chinese New Year, explored all the wonderful iconic buildings and landscapes of China, and participated in multiple art activities including decorating Chinese lanterns and crafting dragons out of 2D shapes. These activities offer an excellent way to develop children’s fine motor skills whilst also engaging their senses. This is especially important to a child’s development, as strengthened fine motor skills can also yield benefits for their drawing, handwriting, and object manipulation. Chinese dragons, or East Asian dragons are mythological creatures which exist prominently in Chinese folklore, art, and literature. They differ from more European and British depictions of dragons as they have very long snake-like bodies, small legs and although they appear to fly, are often drawn without wings. All children displayed great enthusiasm in each learning experience. They all approached the learning stations with confidence and excitement and listened intently during whole group activities. It is great for children to learn new things from different cultures and traditions, as it helps them expand their thinking and broaden their understanding about other people and their environment. Moon Cakes Food is also a huge part of Chinese New Year. Many families enjoy dumplings, noodles, and tuan yuan, just to name a few favourite dishes. On Thursday, Ethan and his family brought in homemade mooncakes to share with all his friends in Stage 3. Thank you very much Ethan! The children loved them.

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Stage 3E

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 3E

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Stage 2/3 & 3R

By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes

Term Two Reflection Wow we reached the end of another fun- filled term and what a wonderful term it has been. With an interest in all things that go, we have travelled far in our imaginations over land, sea and sky. We have caught many trains, buses, cars, and hot air balloons and enjoyed every single little moment of the journey together. Throughout the term, we used intentional and child-centred teaching to help children develop a deeper understanding of the world in which they live in. By investigating deeper into concepts such as occupations, transportation systems, community establishments, community guidelines and environmental responsibility, we aimed to provide to our children opportunities to investigate concepts, ideas and issues that was relevant to their lives and their communities. On the last week of our adventure we put on our life jacket and sail in our boats. We set up provocations where children could explore this sea transportation. We started by challenging the children in a sink and float invitation. Our challenge was to see how many rocks we could fit in each boat without sinking them. We also added a few different resources to our boats and watched if it would sink or float. We also took the opportunity to explore trains and its parts by setting up a magnetic sensory bin. Sensory bins are an important part of our programs as they are little portable science labs that our children can access and experiment with at their own pace. There were so many learning possibilities that the children were able to explore such as polar nature of magnets, size comparison, comparing the strengths of magnets, what magnets will stick to?, counting, science, experiments and hypotheses. The children were also able to show off their transportation knowledge on a sorting activity. Land, air or water they knew where each transport should go. It has been a fun-filled and busy provocation, offering many opportunities for learning in different mediums. We thank the children for allowing us to come on this journey with them and look forward to many more adventures ahead. Wishing everyone a wonderful holiday either here at school or beyond!

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 2/3 & 3R: Exploring Trains a

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 2/3 & 3R: Sink or Float

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 2R

By Ms Madeleine Grant

Term Two Reflection This week we came to the end of our journey exploring the vast beauty of the planet we call home, and to finish the term we set out to explore some of the worlds most extreme landscapes - the polar regions. Through sensory experiences, interactive group times and science based art activities the children explored the far away lands of ice and snow, as well as investigating their own experiences of winter. In group times the children read the ‘The Snowy Day’ by Ezra Jack Keats, and ‘The Gruffalo’s Child’ by Julia Donaldson. As we read these well know stories we asked the children to think about the wintery settings, and used the illustrations to prompt discussion about what the characters were experiencing. We related it to their own experiences of being outside on cold days; the feeling of cold, fresh air on their faces and the comfort of wearing cosy layers. Following this Miss Sara set up an interactive group time to get the children speaking up and participating in meaningful discussions, using winter clothing as a prompt. Beanies, scarves, coats, woollen socks and mittens were set out on the table, and the children were invited to examine the items, tell us their thoughts, and try them on. They were delighted at the simple task of dressing themselves and each other, and through this we were able to assess their self-help skills as well as extend on their language and processing as they indicated the function and role of each item of clothing. Our tabletop activities aimed to provide a sensory experience while building on their pre-existing knowledge of snowy landscapes. We made pretend snow to fill our sensory tubs, and placed our miniature trees, cars and people figurines to complete our winter wonderland. The children loved sprinkling the snow around, or balling it up into snowballs and making snowmen! Another activity used chunks of ice floating in blue water to resemble ice bergs and glaciers. They were fascinated by the ice bobbing in the water, and attempted to balance as many toy seals and penguins that would fit before it capsized. We also used ice in our temporary art activity, where they were given paint and brushes and allowed to decorate the ice and watch the paint slip and slide away as it melted. Creating impermanent or ephemeral art is just as worthwhile as making lasting artworks, as it teaches children the value of the experience over the material products, and allows us to enjoy the process without concern for the end result. It has been such a beautiful term full of learning and discoveries, and the children have all shown such great enthusiasm and willingness to challenge themselves and extend their skills and knowledge in ways that will support them as we prepare for our next term together.

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 2R

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 2R

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 1E

By Ms Justine Heydra

“What we learn becomes a part of who we are.” Kathy R. Jeffords What an incredible Term 2 we have had in Stage 1E. The children had an absolute fabulous time learning and exploring our S.T.E.M provocation. The children had the opportunity to explore and ignite their curiosity for science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This week the children engaged in a wide range of S.T.E.M activities. Firstly we practised our concentration and balancing. The children love the tuff tray balancing activity. They each had the opportunity to place and balance white balls on our coloured rolls. The rolls were all different heights and this activity promoted fine-motor development and was enjoyed by all. Secondly the children engaged in two great hands-on activities. We constructed a cubby house, which promoted engineering. Once we completed our cubby house the children had a chance to play and explore. There was so much laughter and excitement as they crawled through their cubby. They also felt a sense of pride and achievement as they helped construct the cubby house. Our other activity was building a large pyramid with jumbo red cups. Once we constructed the pyramid the children used a ball to either throw or kick towards the pyramid and knock all the cups over. This activity promoted both gross-motor skills and concentration. The children were very excited when they knocked the cups over and then had the opportunity to rebuild their pyramid. The creative art activity this week was based on our balancing activity, the children were asked to use the colourful rolls as a stamp and create beautiful bright art work using their rolls and matching the rolls with their paint colour. This activity was great for colour matching and fine-motor skills development. Our term was filled with many experiments, sensory based activities, open ended play and self-exploration. The children developed many key and essential skills and had so much fun with their peers and educators. Wishing you all a great weekend and we look forward to continuing the learning journey with your children in term 3. REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 1E

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 1E

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Stage 1R

By Ms Amanda Felton

All Colours and Shapes We end the term with a colourful splash! As the Babies enjoy exploring all colours and shapes through a sensory experience that helps them to establish their understanding of shapes and colours. Each Baby would look and choose a shape that was most interesting to them and then we would talk about that shape. We also included another sensory experience of playdough where children had a lot of fun touching and feeling the playdough. To top things off we created a masterpiece of all colours and shapes painting. Each of the Babies had to stamp their shapes onto the paper. There were mixed reactions towards this as some of our little friends really didn't like to get their hands messy. great effort everyone, they look really beautiful. Specialist Classes had another action packed of intentional learning. Learning how to balance in My Gym and in Drama, it was all about reaching for the stars and exploring our solar system. Music was full of smiles and we were taking over the keyboard as it was just fun to bang out our own music. Well done Babies! Everyone is progressing and developing great social and sharing skills.

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Stage 1R

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Drama

By Ms Laura Hudson

This week in drama the children explored how energy is necessary when performing and learned how to control and focus that energy. Every stage started with a warmup called shake-out. Standing in a circle with plenty of room in between each person. The children followed and counted with me whilst shaking out their right hand, left hand, right foot, and left foot for 16, 8, 4, 2, and 1 counts. Annabelle and Amelia from Stage 3/4 wanted to do it super-fast it was very funny and Xavier said we looked like scarecrows!

Next, we discussed energy and excitement. The children named a few things that they get really excited about. Ava in Stage 4 said ballet, Dianna said playtime, and Georgia pointed at me! I explained that this excitement is a good energy that is needed while acting. Nobody wants to see boring actors who look like they are about to fall asleep!

In Stage 4 I asked a few children to stand up and give examples of having a lot of energy and then having low or no energy at all. I asked the other children to observe how mannerisms (facial expressions, body movement, voice levels) change as each child goes from high energy to low energy.

The next activity we played was called Energy Ball. Everyone stands in a circle and mimes an imaginary ball of energy and squish it in your hands. Whilst we were doing this, the children made squishy sound effects to keep the energy ball alive. We formed the energy ball into an imaginary object (i.e. a baseball bat). In Stages 3 and 4, the children told me what they had made and then mimed an action with the newly formed object. The children then passed the object to the next person, who squished it back into an energy ball (whilst everyone made squishy sound effects) and repeated the process.

Thanks for a wonderful term of Drama, well done everyone!

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Drama

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Yoga

By Ms Nicole Mulholland

This week at CORE Kids yoga, we did 'Alphabet Yoga' we read a book and moved our bodies into different shapes of the alphabet including an alligator, butterfly, guitar, jellyfish and tree. We then spelt out a special word, making our bodies letters. The kids soon realised that we'd spelt REDDAM ELS - When I gave the hint that they could also find this word on what they might be wearing! As it was the end of term, the children were also gifted a "Love Letter" card, from CORE Kids 'Lunchbox Love' range (CORE Kids have a range of social emotional learning products online at www.corekids.store) as a special thank you for being so willing to learn and for all the joy that they have brought with them this term. Thank you Reddam ELS for a beautiful term. Love Miss Nicole xx

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Yoga

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

Piano

By Mr Alan Tang

This week has been a productive musical week at Reddam ELS. A few students in Stage 4 and 3/4 asked to learn how to play "Jingle Bell", it is a song at the appropriate level of difficulty for children at that age and with their skills sets. It would be great if the children would like to celebrate Christmas in July :) Some children asked to revise on the "Rocketship". A number of them also looked at a

song called "Climbing up the

mountain". Stage 3 has demonstrated their ability to recongised pattern and location of C and D. Many of them tried to utilise all the fingers when they approached the piano. Using all their fingers has became subconscious competence for many of them. Stage 1 and 2 enjoyed a full interactive sing along concert with opportunity to exercise their fingers on the keys under supervision. Thank you to all the children who tried really hard this week at Reddam ELS.