Reddam Early Learning School Newsletter Vol 22 Issue 32

Principal’s Message

Dear Parents,

By Mrs Simone Cooke

“Halloween is not only about putting on a costume, but it’s about finding the imagination and costume within ourselves” - Elvis Duran

What a busy week of celebrations we enjoyed this week. The children have had a fabulous time dressing in their Halloween costumes and scaring all their poor teachers!

Our little witches, pumpkins and skeletons let their imaginations run wild and we travelled the school “trick or treating“ and enjoying the job of dressing up.

Dressing up as other characters has many benefits for young children. It provides them with a safe space to act out different scenarios, express and conquer fears and of course have lots of fun! With their capes and masks in place, young children have the opportunity to express their inner thoughts and feelings, which reduces stress and tension and encourages them to build self-confidence. Dressing up holds a universal appeal to children and is an important opportunity for children to use their imaginations and develop creativity. Pretending to be someone else, teaches children not only more about others but also about their own self -identity as well. Engaging in role-playing allows children to view different perspectives, builds confidence and helps children make sense of their world.

Principal’s Message Continued…

REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER

As we know many children become quite obsessed at this age with Superhero play and are constantly wanting to dress up as a character from one of their favourite movies or television shows. This can often be confronting, particularly as they may appear to become more aggressive in their actions as they invoke their ‘super-powers’. But again, this allows children to work through the complex issues of power in the world, helping them understand the difference between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ choices and distinguish between fantasy and reality. “There is a difference between encouraging combat play and managing play situations to enable children to get what they need out of it” (Finlayson, 2018). Rather than banning Superhero play altogether, managing this play and helping children explore the moral dilemmas of right and wrong that they are faced with is a valuable learning opportunity.

1st April 2022

Even dressing up as ‘scary’ characters such as witches and skeleton on Halloween can have positive benefits. Children are constantly confronted with scary situations, both in the real world and on television. Children process their fears through play and allowing them to take control of these emotions through

By Ms Emily Brazel

This week children continue on with their discussions and learning about school readiness. The benefits of a school readiness program really are invaluable. It builds a solid foundation for later learning which will help your child to thrive academically. But beyond that, it develops confidence, independence skills and the emotional stability children need through the promotion of healthy behaviour. Friendship week!

This week was all about our friends! The children participated in a number of friendship activities that encouraged them to use their language and communication skills to articulate their feelings to their peers. In a group time this week each child had the opportunity to stand up in front of peers and listen to the beautiful words their friends said about them. It was lovely listening to the children articulate kind words to their peers, allowing each child to sense of belonging and security.

Friendships help children develop important life skills like getting along with other people and sorting out conflicts and problems. Children with these skills are less likely to have social and emotional difficulties later in life.

Friendship mind maps

We extended this group discussions and sat with each child and assisted them as they wrote the words that were spoken during our friendship group times. This was a way for us to help reinforce what was said about them as we read through the words with them and they wrote them down. It will serve as a precious reminder to be able to look at their pictures surrounded by positive words given by their friends. Each child then sat down individually and wrote on their own photo the different quotes that there friends said about them serving as a great confidence boost for the children.

Some beautiful words included: “Mavis is beautiful' Xavier “Kai is vert handsome” Abigail “Felix loves soccer” Celine “Liam uses kind words” Ava “Rafael is strong” Andrew “Xavier is very nice to me” Luna “Damian is smart” Ruaan “Georgia is beautiful” Damian “Ava is brave” Felix “Savannah is good at making new friends” Mavis Come and have a look at the beautiful words and writing in the classroom!

By Ms Sarah Ross

Words of Kindness

Social and emotional development is an integral aspect of school readiness. When children are confident, secure, and happy in school social environments they are more likely to enjoy and actively participate in learning. In this activity the Stage Four children participated in a kindness challenge where they would say one nice thing about each of their peers. The children used words such as; kind, sharing, nice, smart, fashionable, beautiful, happy, and clever. Afterwards, the children spent time writing down some of the words said about them. From this experience Stage Four learnt the power of words and how we can use them to make others around us feel good. Each child shared that the activity made them feel really good about themselves and proudly read over the words said about them.

What makes a good friend?

Throughout the week Stage Four has been working on a collaborative mixed media art piece. The children developed the collaborative and creative skills through engaging, with tools including; paint brushes and markers. As the children created we encouraged them to share, work cooperatively, and reflect on what makes a good friend. The children engaged in many discussions about the traits a good friend should have with their peers and teachers. Some of their responses included;

“They talk to you” – Azure

“Be nice” – Lydia “They play with me” Kai “They share” – Leo “They are very very nice” – Ethan A “They are kind” – Hilary “Play with people nicely” – Flynn “Share” – Winnie “They make me drawings” – Serafina “They play with me” – Zavier “Make up games” – Aiden “They hold my hand” – Amelia “They do running races with me” – Thomas “They watch Jurassic World together” – Albert “Someone who will dance with me” – Yuno

This was a lovely discussion that really highlighted to the children what they should value in a friendship and what it means to be friends. In addition, the collaborative art project allowed the children to interact with others, express their thoughts, try out new ideas, provides opportunities for social growth and sharing. When children engage in collaborative art it supports them in recognising that they have personal worth no matter how great or small their contribution. Stage Four loved this learning experience and enjoyed being able to share the creation of an art piece with the whole class!

Reminder: Please make sure your child has a hat packed in their bag each day. Children must wear a hat when playing outdoors as per school policy. Thank you!

By Ms Emily Chacon

When I Grow Up

This week we focussed on the children's self-awareness and confidence. We encouraged the children to engage in various experiences that promoted public speaking and communication skills.

Self-awareness helps children to be reflective and think about their actions and behaviour, as well as to step back and consider what others in their environment are experiencing.

The children were introduced to a new game that encouraged the use of public speaking, assisting in visualizing concepts and promoting positive group dynamics.

The game was a twist of 'Pictionary'. The children broke down into pairs and were given a piece of paper each, they were then asked to think of anything they wished. The children were not able to tell their partner what they were thinking, but to draw it. Once they were finished, their partner then had to guess what it was, the children put so much effort into their drawing that most of the children were able to guess straight away.

For art the children were given a giant first letter of their name. The children were given water colour paints and told they could decorate in whatever style they wished. Once it was dry, they were given paint pens to create colourful designs. This helps boost their

By Ms Riina Andrew

Aperture and Photography - Negative Film Images

Following on from our provocation last week, the children extended their skills of ratio, boundaries, proportion and scale again by the investigation of photographic negative images. The children were interested in the way and look of photo negatives and were excited to explore this new concept. They were particularly excited to examine the sheet of transparent plastic film, in which the lightest areas of the photographed subject appear darkest and the darkest areas appear lightest.

We first decided to inspect the negatives by placing them on the light table. We then used a magnifying glass to have a closer look at the negatives. Wishing to have a clearer view of the negatives, it was decided upon to place the negatives on a window that was exposed to lots of natural daylight. Using the natural sunlight, the images on the negatives became clearer and with the use of the magnifying glass again, the children were able to view the negative images through a different means.

The children then took turns of expressing what they saw in the negative images:

Valentina: “I see two little boys and a Christmas tree and a Christmas tree”

Jane: “I saw a little boy who was getting into bed”

Annabelle B: “I saw two peoples”

Rohan: “I saw a city town”

Junso: “I saw a boy and a man dancing”

Mabel: “I saw a black Australia building”

Tianze: “I see a Ninja Turtle Boy”

Wesley: “I see humans”

Victor: “I see a Christmas tree”

Alexa: “I see houses and streets”

Leo G: “I saw water”

Matthias: “I saw the Harbour Bridge”

Tyler: “I can see a people”

Alizay: “I can see a castle and another castle

Ashton T: “It’s a sofa with a boy”

Milo: “It’s a house next to the water”

Elizabeth L: “I see some trees and mountains”

Brielle: “I saw a big white building”

As the children’s thoughts and questioning progressed, it was decided that the negatives look similar to a movie and that if we looked at them quickly, it was as if they were moving. This hypothesis will then be explored in further detail over the next week and the concept of film and moving pictures.

By Ms Itzi Garcia

Fairytales

During our first week of Term 4, Stage 3 were showing a huge interest in fairy-tale books their teachers were reading them, such as The Three Bears and The Three Little Pigs. Many children were frequently talking about ‘Elsa’ from Frozen so we decided to extend on their interests by starting up at topic of ‘fairy tales’and asked them what was their favourite fairy tale.

Stella “I like Jack and the Beanstalk”

Lia “I like Goldilocks”

Charlie “I like the Gingerbread Man the best”

James “I like Beauty and the Beast”

Finn “My favourite is the Ugly Duckling. We can also sing the song”

Joseph “We read The Three Little Pigs”

Aaron “Butterfly”

Morgan “I like 3 Little Pigs, and Peppa Pig. Pigs are so funny”

Sofia “Yes, pigs are funny. I like Three Little Pigs”

Caelie “I like Red Riding Hood because is a princess”

Oliver “Jack and the Beanstalk”

Stage 3 enjoyed getting involved in imaginary play, wearing various Dress Up clothes and role play masks. To continue our fantasy and fairy-tale topic we planned an awesome fairy-tale party! Everyone had so much fun dancing, listening to music and playing with balloons. Many of the children had their faces painted giving them the the opportunity to transform into their favourite character.

Children could also practice their fine motor skills making our yummy fairy bread. They used a plastic knife to spread the butter and after they put some edible sprinkles. Needless to say they loved the final result!!!

During this week we have had our Halloween celebration, with children arriving in their favourite Dress Up costumes. We have been visiting other classes in the school Trick-or-treating which the children have thoroughly enjoyed. They have seen many different costumes and have all loved the treats they received!

By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes

Welcome to India

India has always been known as the land that portrayed cultural and traditional vibrancy through its conventional arts and crafts. The children were amazed by the new set up in the classroom and they were intrigued about this different culture. We examined and smelled the different spices that the Indian people use on their food and we also used the spices as paint to create some art portraits.

In one of our learning stations the children were invited to make their own Mandalas by using loose parts. We talked about the Taj Mahal, and we investigated the different national costumes that Indian people wear including some breath-taking jewelry.

Rangoli is another form of art originated in India, in which patterns are created on the floor using materials such as coloured rices, dry flour, coloured sand or flower petals. It is usually made during Diwali Festival. The purpose of Rangoli is decoration, and it is thought to bring good luck. Rangoli designs can be geometric shapes, deity impressions or flower and petal shapes.

The children were invited to draw their own Rangoli pattern by using coloured textas. We first looked at some Rangoli pictures as inspiration then we used our artistic skills to decorate our classroom and get ready for Diwali.

In the art atelier, we created Henna Art. Henna hands was a wonderful craft activity that taught the children about the use of henna, a traditional art form that has been practice in India for hundreds of years. The children were fascinated by India week, a wonderfully diverse country with such a rich cultural heritage.

Diwali celebrations

Diwali is a Hindu festival, celebrated by millions of Hindus, Sikhs and Jains across the world. It is commonly referred to as the festival of lights since a lot of the celebrations involve big, bold displays of light and colour.

A special thank you to Aadya’s and Arush’s families for sharing some very special Indian resources with us. We were able to experience the real India by doing Diwali face paint, dancing to traditional music and looking at the Indian costumes shared by these families.

Wishing you a Diwali that brings happiness prosperity and joy to you and all your family.

By Ms Madeleine Grant

Fine Motor Skills

This week our focus was all about extending the children’s fine motor skills, and was achieved through a range of activities that targeted these crucial skills in ways that were different, sometimes challenging, and always fun.

When we meet for our group times, we ask the children what they are interested in and what they would like to learn about. This is a great way to assess their language skills by getting them to speak about topics they are passionate about, and also a means of getting them involved with the planning and structure of our programming. One topic they were particularly enthusiastic about was fish, maybe something to do with our Christmas concert songs!

To connect this to our programme we devised a fishing activity, where they found pipe cleaner fish swimming in tubs of water, along with a range of aquatic decorations. The children were given long, thin sticks are their fishing rods, and were challenged to hook the fish onto the rods and lift them out of the water. To complete the task they needed to focus on how they held the rods by refining their pincer grip, and utilise their hand-eye-coordination and concentration as they stuck the rods through the tiny loops on the fish. Once they got the hang of it we extended the challenge by asking them to catch a certain colour of fish, without accidentally moving the other colours, or catching as many fish as they could on their sticks without having any fall off!

Happy Halloween!

This week the children loved celebrating Halloween by dressing up in their favourite costumes, engaging in some spooky sensory activities, and visiting others classrooms by going trick-or-treating! Dress ups and role playing is a great way to extend children’s confidence and allow them a different way of expressing themselves through language and actions. Trick-or-Treating proved to be a great exercise in building their confidence in speaking, as they went around in small groups, knocking on different classrooms and office doors saying ‘trick or treat!’ and practicing saying a big ‘thank you’ when they received their treats.

Housekeeping

With the warm weather finally here, we kindly ask parents to ensure children are dropped off in the mornings with sunscreen applied. We will reapply mid-morning and again before afternoon play, and ensure children are wearing hats and suitable clothing when outside. We also recommend starting to dress them in short-sleeves again as long layers are getting quite hot when they are running outside! Please also bring a jumper in case the weather cools during the days.

Stage

Let’s Go Fishing

Stage 2R: Fine Motor Practice

By Ms Justine Heydra

- Loris Malaguzzi

This week in stage 1E we have extended our nature and loose parts provocation and the children had a great time exploring and learning about different natural materials , objects and resources. Natural materials are an integral element of a child's play and development. Loose things such as sand, twigs, wooden blocks and shapes or leaves benefit a child's early years experiences by stimulating their creativity and imagination. When children use materials that are natural and they can find them all around themselves in their environment it enables children to become observant and use all their senses in the process of discovery and play.

The children were very engaged in our sensory activities this week.

Our first activity was using wooden coloured circles in different sizes. The children named their colours and the shape. They also loved stacking the wooden circles from big to small and using their imagination to explore and play.

Our second sensory activity was bright green sand and various coloured and textured pipe cleaners. The children loved the colour and the texture of the sand. Using sand helped build the children's hand-eye coordination and fine motor skills. We incorporated a variety of pipe cleaners to our sand play to increase the textured experience. The children enjoyed using the pipe cleaners to scribble in the sand and some children moulded and changed the shape of the pipe cleaners.

For our last sensory activity the children enjoyed our nature sensory jar with their grass and wooden rectangle blocks. We identified leaves, sand and glitter in our jar and enjoyed watching these float around within the jar. The children also had the opportunity to stack and play using the rectangle wooden blocks and enjoyed creating their own natural play area on the grass using the materials given to them. Sensory jars are a great activity for toddlers as it helps the children learn about the world around them. Sensory jars are also great for emotional regulation and acts as a great tool to promote relaxation. The children enjoyed this hands-on sensory activity.

During outside play the children enjoyed the warmer weather with water play and through our provocation this week the children extended their stacking skills into the outdoor play area by stacking all the large construction blocks with their educators.

Reminder: That we are having our class photo on Monday 31/10/2022.

Wishing you all a great weekend with your little ones

“The wider the range of possibilities we offer children, the more intense will be their motivations and the richer their experiences.”

Loose Parts Play

By Ms Amanda Felton

Play and Soil

We love to get messy at every opportunity there is. As part of our intentional teaching and investigation through learning we want our Babies to feel a sense of connection with nature and why we need soil in our everyday lives. And what a great way to build our understanding of the natural world, through sensory play.

With our sticks the Babies, go digging around in the soil, making marks and lines in the soil. They also did a lot of picking it up with their hands to see and what it is. Lots of poking and grabbing at the soil was also very interesting form them. Some of our adorable Babies really took an interest with the soil and took the time to explore and some even picked up the soil to examine more closely. Great to see such strong curious minds take an active interest in such a simple and yet challenging concept that connect nature and the world we live in.

We then used our experience though art. Our Babies made a soil collage that was a collaborative work of soil. Lots of chatting and wanting to help others was part of the excitement of creating art. It is really lovely to see how Babies interact with each other during a group activity.

By Ms Laura Hudson

Stage 2 and 2/3 went on a very magical adventure this week in drama. First, we had to pack our bag. I prompted the children by asking if we were going on a trip what would we need?? Liam suggested a toothbrush, Madeline said clothes and Amelia said a hat! Each child had a turn to bring something. Other items included, sunglasses, sunscreen, swimmers, jacket, goggles, torch and toys!

Mia asked where we were going, and I explained a very magical place the cave of wonders. We had to do very silly walks to get there. We did crab walks, wiggling, jumping, tippy toes and more. Isabella showed us the very silly face too. Once we arrived, we explored and found many different magical animals. We saw a unicorn and Harry showed us how to gallop. Mark saw a Dragon and we all flew. We also saw fairies and Travis showed us how small they are. We found a lamp and even a heavy object and as a team all had to help lift it back to class. We dusted if off and was a magic carpet. We all jumped on it with our "A Whole New World" song and went flying around. We visited England, had tea and sandwiches with the King and even flew over the Great wall of China, India, Africa, Switzerland, and Australia.

In Stage 1 we started painting stars and rainbows with a breathing exercise. We explored different colours. Milo stretched up nice and high and showed us big breaths! I put some music on, and we made silly faces, silly crawls and Kianna showed us a wobbly silly walk and we all found the magical cave. I played the Wiggles and we all shook our sillys out. We had a visit from a Rainbow Unicorn, Dragon and Fairies. Daniel showed us how big Dragon wings are! We found a magic carpet and went flying over the skies to "A

Stage 3 and 4 continued their journey learning different Fairy tales. We began in a circle, and I read the "Little Red" poem. We then discussed what happened in the story. We learnt that there are many different versions of the story. Collectively we all decided that little Red was a strong brave girl and her mum Mrs good worked so hard and was very successful and strong. I asked everyone lots of questions like "Would you be scared of the wolf?" "Should little Red be in the forest alone"? Etc. This created a great discussion with everyone.

We then all got ready for our interactive story. I explained that there are different roles in the story and characters. Each are very important, and we will have a turn being different roles. We started our story with Mrs Hood (who has a blue dress). I chose a child to play her. Megan had a turn and told us what she did for work. She asked little red to go in the forest, who was played by another child Jayne and Emma and Ethan had a turn being little red. Who agreed to go on their own as they were brave and could look after themselves.

We all then went in the forest, and we had to imagine the sounds they might hear? I asked the children what we would find in a forest. Xavier Z said tress and showed us what sound they make in the wind. Risa became the pebbly road. We also had snakes, rocks, owls, and bushes. We then continued to tell the story Jakey had a turn being the wolf and Charlie and Lucy had a turn being the grandma who hid and then had their own secret plan. Mark showed us his scary wolf teeth. We all changed the ending and different classes came up with their own ending.

Well, done everyone, another wonderful week of drama!

By Mr Alan Tang

This week has been a really productive week at piano lessons at the Reddam ELS. Stage 4 and 3/4 learnt the story of Treble clef and Bass clef and how to read Middle C. Stage 3 looked at "Jingle Bells" and played games to find keys across the piano. With Christmas around the corner, the advanced students were refining their stage presents for the Christmas concert. Showmanship is an important part of music performance which gets overlooked.

Stages 1 and 2 once again enjoyed a mini concert with a famous meme song "Rush E". This Russian's tune has inspired many children to pick up piano for the past few years. With its distinctive melody and bouncy rhythm, it really captured the children's focus and attention like never before.

Looking forward to next week with more notes reading :) Have a great week.