REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER Dee’s Message Dear Parents and Caregivers, Last week, our classes celebrated Harmony Week, a very special time of honouring the wonderful diversity in our country. As the Week’s slogan says. ‘Everyone belongs’. This has a wonderful synchronicity with the Early Years Learning Framework, which has ‘belonging’ as one of its three cornerstone features.
1 April 2022 other, so discussions about what might appear quite complex topics are actually relatively simple. This is especially so when we relate those discussions to how they feel when they are loved and made to feel special – and how they can do this for other people.
Our sense of belonging cannot be understated. As we see the tragic scenes of refugees fleeing the war in Ukraine and from other conflict zones across the globe, we can hardly begin to imagine how frightening it must be – and how their sense of belonging to a place, a community, a family, has been completely shattered.
Most societies across the world are now heterogenous and multicultural, and ours is no different. As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, one year group in the ELS has no fewer than thirteen different nationalities in that year group, each with its own unique cultural richness. All of these add to the melting pot of what makes us Australian – proud both of our national heritage but also of the richness of all its parts.
For this reason, it is all the more important that we start early in our conversations with the children about cultural diversity and inclusivity. Young children show a wonderful sensitivity and understanding towards each
Children are soon able to recognise similarities – and differences – in those they meet. What is important is that these interactions are seen as positive and affirming, and that all are made to feel that
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they belong. Different cultural traditions should be seen as exciting opportunities to learn more about others, rather than as reasons to keep a distance from each other. In the ELS, we make a point of celebrating the special events on a variety of cultural calendars, which we hope will make the children ever more aware of what is celebrated and why. But even more than that, our teachers look for teachable moments during the day in which they can explore with the children how we should treat others – and how we would like to be treated, so that we can feel that we belong. Harmony Week was another reminder of how building relationships with others is an intentional action, and that making people feel that they belong relies on each one of us. Inculcating these principles and values from an early age is a wonderful way of investing in a future which is tolerant, understanding and caring to all. Enjoy your weekend! Dee Pitcairn Principal
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The Nest (1R)
Kiri Winders, Helena Zhang, and Min Pattarasiritanarat
It was another rainy week, so we bought some of the outdoors inside instead! Sand play is a wonderful activity for the children to enjoy and our Nest children loved playing in it every day indoors this week. As our children have developed an interest in the little toy cars and trucks around the room, we added these to the sand trays. The children loved pushing them around in the sand, making little tracks. They also enjoyed scooping and pouring the sand into small containers, trickling the sand through their fingers and watching it fall with fascination and wonder on their little faces. There are endless learning opportunities with sand play, as it is a fantastic early introduction to mathematical concepts such as size, volume and capacity. We watch the children as they use trial and error to learn the concept of cause and effect. They are also having to utilise their own problem solving to figure out how things work. The children really enjoyed playing alongside each other, passing (and sometimes grabbing!) the utilities to and from each other. Sand play is a great social experience where children can learn to communicate with others, work cooperatively and start to develop their language and communication skills to socialise, play and create together.
for setting, or upbeat music when we want to dance! Peekaboo continues to be a class favourite game. Teddy P and Alfie played a game of peekaboo with Teacher Fiona. They were looking through the window and then popping up to see her at the top of the cubby house. Alfie was giggling out loud. It was so adorable to witness! Atlas enjoyed a game of peekaboo with his favourite puppy toy. At first, he was a little unsure but once he realised the puppy wasn’t gone, he was smiling and enjoyed the game. Krishna loves to play peekaboo with his hands when he wakes from his sleep. Object permanence games like this help children to understand when something goes it comes back again, just like mummy and daddy! It builds confidence and trust, and helps them understand that mum or dad will always come back to pick them up at the end of the day. We look forward to our last week of the term next week!
We welcomed our new full-time teacher, Fiona, this week! All the children warmed to her very quickly. She has a wonderful singing voice and sang lots of children’s songs and rhymes to the children which they loved! The children find music very soothing and settling. We often use music in our room as a way of communicating and changing our children’s state whether it be calming music REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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The Nest (1R)
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Fledglings (1E)
By Tatiana Botrel, Jane Teh, Marina Moliboga and Nadia Breus
Communication skills “Language learning is a complex and multifaceted developmental milestone within early childhood. It is deeply connected with culture, identity and belonging. Understanding how very young children learn skills to communicate and form language is essential to supporting their development and future language learning skills.” (Christine Andell)
please”. Lately we have noticed that more children are starting to say either “water”, “please” or both at these times. We are looking forward to the many conversations we will have with the Fledglings this year!
Language development is a big part of the year in the Fledglings. As children start to develop their communication skills, we start to see more of their social interactions evident in our group as well. At group times, the teachers have noticed how actively the children have started to participate, contributing to this time, with words, sounds, and actions. The group is eager to engage in the activities promoted, quickly joining the teacher on the mat. You might have noticed that we spend a long time reading the same book and singing the same songs, as stated in our program. This is planned to give time to the children to assimilate and explore the resources in different ways, until they can extend their knowledge. Throughout our routine in the Fledglings, we have encouraged the children to communicate using single words, always role modelling what is expected. Eventually, they will start using these words to express themselves. For example, at mealtimes, the children usually use noises or actions to request their water. The teachers always hand out their water cups saying “water, REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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Fledglings (1E)
By Tatiana Botrel, Jane Teh, Marina Moliboga and Nadia Breus
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Stage 2
By Daniella Gosty, Shauna Corry, Sarah Noone, Roberta Sokame and Joyce Matsui
Playdough is a wonderful sensory and learning experience for children. As the children shape the playdough into a ball or a snake, they're thinking creatively. The squeezing, pinching, and pulling movements also strengthen a child's hand muscles and develop fine motor skills. Using playdough supports a child's social skills such as sharing, taking turns, and enjoying being with other people. Playdough also encourages children's language and literacy, science, and math skills – all at the same time. As the playdough has been introduced both in the art room and at the outdoor play area at the tables, the children have been enjoying expressing themselves through their creations.
experience all these skills with different sizes, weights, and resistance. For fine motor skills, the children can roll small balls between thumb and forefinger and then squash the balls. They can also roll, squeeze, and shape dough to make shapes, letters, and objects. Another idea is to hide beads or toys inside the play dough and let the children find them. Manipulating playdough helps to strengthen hand muscles and develop control over the fingers. Snipping playdough sausages helps to develop scissor cutting skills, for which the children have access to child friendly scissors on the art trolley in the Stage 2 art room. We look forward to extending this play throughout the term and year as we follow the children’s interests.
Playdough is used to help develop strength and manipulation through the fingers and is a fun way to learn letter formation and shape recognition. One of the ways in which playdough helps children's development is that while they work on their creations, they form new ideas and concepts. They are learning new words such as roll, squeeze, and flatten, as well as words describing what they are making. When playing with play dough, the children are beginning to use symbolic thinking, or pretending the play dough is something else. This is an important skill for cognitive flexibility, and a way in which children express their ideas. Playdough can be used in gross motor skill development by using the dough as a ball and throwing it, catching it, rolling it, and even kicking it. It's great for your child to REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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Stage 2 Outcome 1: develop knowledge and selfconfidence through new skill development, manipulating playdough and utensils. · interact with care, empathy and respect working together with shared materials. Outcome 2: become aware of fairness through sharing materials and experiences. Outcome 3: social and emotional wellbeing through creating and sense of achievement by working together. · fine motor skills through manipulation of the dough. Outcome 4: · creativity, imagination, enthusiasm, confidence, and persistence through creating with dough. · a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, experimentation and investigation. · learning through connecting people, natural and processed materials from their environment. Outcome 5: · interact verbally and non-verbally with others through discussion of creations. Express ideas and make meaning through manipulating and sculpting with dough and other materials
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Stage 3
By Susan Casey, Hannah Corrigan, Emily and Echo
It was a happy, busy week with a buzz of confident learners exploring the class activities with a strong sense of “Autonomy, interdependence and agency” (EYLF 1.2), which reflected their emerging identities and interests. The children enthusiastically participated in the activity set up: “Can you make a face?” This was an extension of our loose parts plays this term. Also, as we come to the end of Term One, next week we will do self-portraits. The children listened to the book “Faces” by Zoe Miller and David Goodman. They were each invited to look at themselves in the mirror before completing a loose part make up of their face. After looking in the mirror the children were asked, “What do you see?” The children’s identity is one that will be constantly developing and changing. Part of their identity is based on how they view themselves, emotionally and physically. Therefore, selfportraits are a great way to express and show their own perceptions of themselves. They use a mirror to look at their reflection and use their hands to feel different parts of their faces to understand its shape. They then took to an A4 page with a simple black marker to draw themselves. This is a first in a series of self-portraits that the children will complete each term. It will not only show the development in their drawing skills, but in their unique perception of themselves.
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Stage 3
By Susan Casey, Hannah Corrigan, Emily and Echo Jia
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Stage 4
By Jane Pledger, Sandra Carberry, Nina Bergel,Yuliya Ginis and Bri Rees
Engaging with diversity and respect Each morning, in our Yarning Circle, we acknowledge First Nations People and Country by following the children’s lead. Playing a daily Acknowledgement of Country is important because it encourages children to engage with diversity and respect. (EYLF Outcome 1: Children Have a Strong Sense of Identity and Outcome 2: Children are connected with and contribute to their world) "Yarning circles are a timeless way of learning. Ever since people first walked the earth, we have been sitting down together and sharing stories. Many groups have developed different approaches to yarning circles all of which are valuable because they are based on human processes of caring and communicating."
We honour our Indigenous people; we honour the culture and love of the land, stories and songs. We celebrate the heritage and the future of the first Australians. We have come from many places, we all like different things, but we are all Australians. We are grateful to live here. We share the Acknowledgment of Country and sing our Aboriginal songs with the Fledglings. An Acknowledgement of Country is a way of showing respect to the Traditional Owners of the land. In keeping with this important learning, we read Dreamtime stories, we play Aboriginal matching/memory games, complete puzzles, create art masterpieces and sing songs. Inspired by Aboriginal art in the books and puzzles, the children painted on rocks, made didgeridoos and told their stories about their paintings.
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Stage 4 Children’s voices during these art experiences: Aiya: "We use different colours to make Aboriginal stories. There was a little world filled with all the Aboriginal people. And there was a big Aboriginal wolf and it scared away all of the people. The wolf ripped all the Aboriginal pictures. It made people feel sad. The big bad wolf scared away the Queen. Then the wolf ate the Queen. The Aboriginal people made a big pot of hot water. And then the wolf saw a big pot of water and thought it was cold but it was hot. Then he got burnt and spat out the Queen. The end.” Yanni: "Once upon a time there was a sun. Then it split into two suns. The dots were the clouds far far away. There was a crack in the ground. It was an earthquake. The ground was dried bubbles. And everyone went out to the street. Every time the Aboriginal people walk, they fell into the water. And then the sun on the ground got bigger and bigger. And that’s the end of the story.” Alexander: "Once upon a time the clouds transformed into a big Queen. That was when she thought the pool was cold but it was hot. Then the Queen spat the little Queen out. Then everything was boiled. The wolf said you have to go to another earth. The end.” Luca: "Once upon a time the Aboriginal people were catching the spots and they got thirsty. They drank so much water in bottles that they fell. They got onto the floor and drank all the water. Then they never got thirsty. The end.” Oscar: "Once upon a time there was a house and the sign which way to go. One car goes to the sea and one truck goes to the playground. There were some Aboriginal people on the ground and one Aboriginal person upside down like a caterpillar.”
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Stage 4 Children’s voices during these art experiences: Monty: “Once upon a time, there was a tree and roses; and maybe some grass and Dada. The tree fell on Dada and hurt him. The end.” Presley: “Once upon a time, there was this land full of roses. New people come to make the land a better place. It’s the end.” Eva: "Once upon a time there was a big rock and a flower behind it. And then there was another flower popping up. Then it was another rock. Then it was a volcano popping up in the rocks. One got over a flower. The end.” Vasia: “Once upon a time there was a fairy flying in the woods. She was trying to find her friends. She couldn’t find friends. Then a caterpillar was walking about. The caterpillar turns into a butterfly. Then the fairy finally found her friends. The end.” Scarlett: “Once upon a time there was a rock and the rock had one leaf on it. The leaf was getting greener. And then there was a volcano. And the people were walking to the rocks to eat some leaves. The dots were making the volcano go away. The dots were very strong wind.” Owen: “Once upon a time the pirates were searching for treasure. This is the ant. And the red is the start. And their found some little dots. And then this dot is led to the treasure. Then it was the wind and it bolded the dots away.” Cultures and histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be embedded into our everyday practices and children’s learning experiences. It’s about exploring Aboriginal culture and learning about ways of belonging, being and becoming.
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Early Learning School Drama This week in the Nest and Stage 1 the children had lots of fun participating in several teacher-led adventures using props and music, which involved dinosaurs, animals, and a safari hunt.
by discussing what a wardrobe is and what you usually find inside as well as what the wardrobe looks like. We revisited mime and used music to mime going through the wardrobe.
Activities included using props to create shapes and patterns. We moved our bodies to the rhythm of the music as well as listened to African animal sounds and dinosaur sounds. I became an explorer and guided the children on an adventure through the jungle. I used a call and response activity to make sure all the children were following direction. Well done to Harriet and Alfie who responded to the elephant noise I made. Next, we used different parts of our bodies to balance when we went on our adventure, standing on one leg when going over the stepping-stones and placing one foot in front of the other when crossing the bridge. Along the way, the children met different characters from Nursery Rhymes (teacher in role and images) who needed help from everyone. A problem was given to the children, and they had to solve it. This is a method used by Dorothy Heathcote, a wonderful drama practitioner who used drama as a tool to promote holistic learning in schools. More of her methods will be used in Term 2. In Stages 2, 3 and 4, this week the children used their imaginations to go through the magical wardrobe, discovering a fantasy world behind it. They all took on the role of being a fantasy character, developing a whole class improvisation. The lesson began REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | WOOLLAHRA NEWSLETTER
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Early Learning School Drama Next, we used our imaginations to go through a Magical Wardrobe (like in Narnia). I was in role as a Witch from the fantasy world. The children gave the witch character a name; in Stage 4 they thought of their own fantasy names too before going on an adventure with the witch. We had some wonderful ideas. We travelled on our broomsticks to the first destination: “Rise rise, really high, just as high as a butterfly”. The aim was to get something from each place we visited so we could go back home (as they couldn’t go back through the wardrobe) – a pearl from the sea; breath of a dragon; hair of a unicorn, sugar drop from the fairy and a golden egg from the giant. The children used their bodies and worked together to make the shape of the cauldron. We received a message from the Lion about how to save Narnia. We put all the objects we had found into the cauldron to create a spell. The spell melted the Ice Queen and transported us back home. Stage 4 loved the “Bubble, Bubble toil and trouble” spell! Well, done everyone!
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Early Learning School Sport SPORT This week, the children were ready to go as soon as we started our sessions. They now relish showing me their ‘sports muscles’ at the start or our classes. Our warm-up game this week used prop fish of different colours stuck to the walls. I called out what coloured fish the children had to move to and then what locomotion they should use to get there. The children really enjoyed moving like a bear and a buzzy bee. This game required the students to use their executive function to listen to the colour that they had to go to and then scan the room to find that colour. We even had a round to look for the upside-down fish. The children began to relish being the first in the class to find the correct colour. For our skill session this week we played ten pin bowling. We used 6 red cups to create a pyramid and rolled balls towards the pyramid to try and knock down as many of
them as possible. We started fairly close to the pyramid and as the students became more confident and successful the distance was increased. The students were in groups and had to take turns. This part of the session worked on so many skills, from locomotion when rolling, to social skills when taking turns, and then to fine motor skills when stacking up the cups into pyramids. The students all became far more confident at increasing the force of their throws as the distance between them and the pyramid was increased. Most children enjoyed experimenting with their style of rolling and some even began to kick the ball, with mixed results. To finish up the session we played the group favourite ‘the floor is lava’. This week I took away an ‘island’ after each go so the children had to share. It was excellent to see some amazing sharing skills when the entire class had to share one ‘island’.
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Early Learning School Music In Stage 3 and 4 this week we opened the lesson with 'Around the Circle' – again focusing on and reinforcing good sportsmanship by reminding ourselves it's okay if we get out, and it's okay to make mistakes. In Stage 4 we had to swap single claps for doubles as the kids are getting too good. Once we were focused into the lesson, we revised our 'ZYXs' and continued adding more letters to our melody before going over our warm-up scales on 'MA-MOH', ascending and descending, and descending on 'FAH'. We sang through 'Open Shut Them', and in reverse before getting our bodies moving with 'The Sunflower Song' and 'Do Re Mi'. Our new mantra in 'The Sunflower Song' is to grow up strong; grow up happy; grow into a good person. And this week we saw some of our shyer kids step up and be the farmer – well done Harlow and Cici! 'Do Re Mi' was our first song for the term, and it never fails to spread laughter. Once our voices were warm each stage sang through their term song. Stage 4 added our chorus and they're sounding so amazing after only a few short weeks. Stage 3 revised began adding our first verse with the chorus for 'Here Comes The Sun'. In 'Stage 2' and 'The Fledglings' we got straight into our lesson with ‘The Good Morning Song’, clapping along before getting everyone standing and stomping along – working on our coordination. We moved straight into 'Open Shut Them', revising our reversed actions, and then
picked up our maracas for 'The Sun Flower Song' and our 'ABCs'. We again layered our 'ABCs' with shaking; stomping and freezing. In Stage 2, we revised beat and rhythm, with our rhythm animals for 'The Ants Go Marching'. We stomped out our animals as well as adding slow-motion moving and shaking and running as fast as we can to help our motor movement and control. The Fledglings sang through some other singa-longs and used our castanets to work on fine motor movement and clicked along with 'Twinkle Twinkle'. Stage 2 revised and reinforced our actions to 'Do Re Mi'. As well as improving our memory, repetitive lyrics and melody can assist with speech development; and also helps builds focus which some of our young’uns can struggle with. To end the lesson, The Fledglings has some free play on the xylophones and in Stage 2 we worked on colour recognition by asking the kids to find specific colours. In the Nest, we opened the lesson by waking up our body and our 'Good Morning Song'. We sang through our sing-a-longs with our maracas and bodies with actions. Some of our babies have taken a little longer, but have built up the confidence to collect the instruments themselves and pack them away. We sang through our 'ABCs' and tested if we could freeze when the music stopped. We sang through 'Wheels on the Bus' and swapped the roles of 'mum and dad' because dads say 'shh' too!
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Reddam Early Learning would like to wish a very happy birthday to Presley Hatzimanolis and Wolf Michael who celebrate their special day this week We hope you have a fabulous day!
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