Ross Circuit Preschool

PLAYGROUP

Every Wednesday

9.30-11.30am

(school terms only)

Contact Michelle on 0407 933 128 or

msg_83@hotmail.com

Welcome to the start of Term 2! Already we have had some special visitors to the preschool (Pirate Pete and residents from UPA) and we are expecting so many more visitors this Term. Soon we will have a visit from the Fire Brigade and their Truck and the Community Dental Nurse is booked in to inform the children about brushing properly and healthy eating.

Don’t forget the vision screening for 4 year old's. The screening has taken place at Preschool on the 16th & 17th of May but there is a ctach up day available to families. Please contact Albury Community Health to book a time.

Its important to remember that we have lots of children coming in and out of the preschool premises throughout the day and that we make sure the doors and gates are closing properly. We would like parents to remain mindful of this when picking up or dropping off their children. Please watch your children when you pick up and not let them run outside, just in case someone lets them into the car park by mistake. We have had a complaint made about finger marks on the side of a car, so can parents please not allow your children to touch cars in the front or back car park.

It is getting close to that time of year where it is important to think about preschool for 2018. If you would like your child to re-enrol for 2018, please see Amanda in the office to clarify that they are on the waiting list for next year. Each year, preschool places are not carried over to the next year, so families will have to re enrol. If you have 3 year old's and would like them to start preschool next year, also see Amanda to put them on the waiting list.

The centre was closed on Friday the 12th May as the staff were attending a local conference—Building Bridges, Tackling the Hard Stuff. We pride ourselves in the fact that we stay relevant and current with educational practises and thoughts. Many times these wonderful seminars are a long distance away, so we are fortunate that this is so close and all of our staff could attend.

Thank you

Pirate Pete visits—2nd, 3rd & 5th May

RCPS CLOSED— Friday May 12th RCPS is closed for staff professional development. There is no preschool on this day. VISION SCREENING 4/5yrs—16th & 17th May from 9.00am QUEEN’S BIRTHDAY Public Holiday—Monday June 12th Preschool is closed Term 2 finishes—Friday 30th June

VISION SCREENING FOR 4-5 YEAR OLDS

The Vision Screenings will be held at Preschool on:

TUESDAY 16th MAY 2017 from 9am

and

WEDNESDAY 17th MAY 2017 from 9am

If you missed out on our Vision screening session, Please ring 02 6058 1800 to book for a catch up appointment on the 26th MAY 2017.

at Albury Community Health , 596 Smollett St, Albury.

My Name is BELINDA and I’m the Early

Childhood Teacher for Blue group and

the Educational Leader for Ross Circuit

Preschool.

I have chosen to focus on Science,

Technology, Engineering and

Maths (STEM) for my centre project.

I have chose to explore this as a few

years ago our preschool contributed to

a university text book on STEM

concepts (including some great photos

of us exploring this together with the

children).

I know that there's are so many

opportunities here at preschool to use

STEM language with the children. It

might be looking at what we know,

what we’d like to know and what we

have learnt. This is sharing learning as

often there are questions that we, as

educators, might not know the answer

but can always research to find out.

Hi, my name is MELINDA and my project topic is“ Outdoor Activities and Gross Motor Skills”.

Our yard offers a large variety of learning opportunities and experience and in this book the children and I will show you

all the fun thing we do throughout the year in our yard.

A quick summary of Gross Motor Skills—Gross Motor skills are the development and movement of the body’s large

muscle groups. These are the arms, legs, torso and head. A few examples that help develop these skills are: running,

jumping, throwing, catching, balancing, peddling a bike, skipping, hopping and kicking a ball.

Hi, my name is FIONA and my project

with the children is

“Feelings, Emotions and

Kindness”

I feel that these are very important

individual qualities that everybody has

and they start within is at a very young

age. I’m very passionate about the

importance of people treating other

people how they would like to be

treated themselves.

Feelings and kindness are very

important life skills that we see every

day. I will talk to the children and

listen to their conversations amongst

themselves and observe when they are

helping each other, sharing, turn

taking, using kind words and sharing

empathy. These things will be written

in this book. I will use different

research tools to assist with my

project, researching the way that the

children deal with and process

different feelings.

Hi, my name is SIMONE and my

project is about “Literacy”.

As an early Childhood Educator I have

always shared a passion for Literacy in

the early preschool years. To support

each child’s understanding of literacy,

educators need a strong knowledge

of literacy and of each child’s un-

derstandings.

All children grow and learn literacy at

different stages of development. I

really enjoy supporting each child’s

growth in literacy through play and

encouraging their individual

accomplishments.

Some examples of literacy are:

Reading, writing, drawing, art, music,

drama & imaginative play. Also,

talking, listening and observing.

Hi, I’m NICOLE (Nic). I’m interested in “Mindfulness”. Mindfulness is about being relaxed, calm and focused in

the present moment with positive emotions. I look forward to learning more about mindfulness with the children.

Hi, the topic of my project is “MUNCH and MOVE” and my name is DENISE.

My aim is to provide staff with ideas to incorporate within their learning program and to encourage and support

our families and their children throughout the centre. These ideas are highlighting the importance of healthy eat-

ing and physical activity to help their health and wellbeing in their early years.

Throughout the year we will be incorporating cooking activities, music and movement. There will also be group

discussions about health foods and activities to improve gross motor skills and coordination.

Pirate Pete

With catch phrases like “Hoist the sails”, “Ahoy Me Hardies” and “Shiver Me

Timbers” been voiced from the classrooms, its like we've been over run

by Pirates from the Caribbean!. Pirate Pete never fails to entertain both

children and adults alike with his catchy pirate songs and

charismatic personality.

He visited Tuesday, Wednesday and will come again on Friday to

entertain our Friday groups and the Residents from UPA Lavington.

Grrrrrr

Hume Animal Hospital

The staff from Hume Animal Hospital came to preschool with two very special visitors

- Hayley the dog and Elijah the Kitten. The Hume Vet staff came to explain animal

awareness and how to stay safe with animals. Children learned the correct way to

introduce themselves to dogs and the children were given the opportunity to practice

the correct way of greeting dogs and gave a pat to Hayley and Elijah if they wanted

to.

Many Thanks to The Hume Animal Hospital for your wonderful visit!

Jumper Order

The Preschool has decided to get jumpers with our logo (same as on our T Shirts & Hats) on them due to popular demand from

parents and guardians.

This will be a once off order—no stock will be kept at the office afterwards.

The jumpers are a crew neck sloppy joe style available in a Red or Royal Blue.

Sizing available is 0—16 in these colours. We will have a few samples in the office to help you judge size.

Cost will be $28.00 per garment.

Order form due back with money by the 19th May 2017. EFTPOS, cash or Direct deposit will be accepted. Please use child’s

surname and group as reference for direct deposits.

No order without money please. Delivery of garments will be approximately 2 weeks later.

Please see Amanda in the Office if you would like an order form

Thank you

This month Blue Group are looking at the EYLF and especially how we as teachers are assisting children meet the learning outcomes. The learning outcomes are a broad selection of statements that we help children work towards during their time here at preschool and beyond. They are in no way a list of milestones that we can tick off nor are they met and then checked off. Often these outcomes can take time to meet and may occur in one scenario but not in others.

Outcome One is a great example of this– Children have a strong sense of identity. Often parents tell us that they are so very confident at home but can be quiet and reserved at preschool.. This transition and developing a sense of self as they mature is a big part of preschool. It is to me perhaps one of the biggest indicators of school readiness we can look for. As we prepare children to go off to primary school we need to know that your child is confident and secure enough to ask for help. They need to be able to express their point of view and be able to make choices about matters that are important to them. They also are beginning to understand that their actions and interactions with others are with ‘’care , respect and empathy’. This is a life long skill that we also believe that many adults could do more practice with ! We use lots of opportunities in our classroom curriculum to foster this. We role model language that is kind and fair and we also challenge children to share their voice within the classroom. It was wonderful this week to watch our children be kind, caring and patient with the residents from the UPA when we visited . This really is such a valuable part of our program.

Our holiday bags and sharing of news from home was a great example of listening to others, respecting diversity and the confidence to share what you know about yourself in front of larger groups. The classroom continue to be a busy place, a hive of activity and a place to learn new skills. Our play based curriculum choices are specifically chosen to support emerging interests and skills . We ask children to co-learn with each other and recognise the value in collaborative learning spaces. Children are fantastic at supporting their peers with tricky concepts and are often the ones cheering each other on when trying new things.

We have worked together in making gifts for Mothers Day and this has included looking at how seeds grow and what we need to do to nurture them from seeds to sprouts. Unfortunately given the cold weather this hasn’t happened in time for Mothers Day– but hopefully your jar of dirt will sprout soon into some herbs just for you !

Thanks

Belinda, Michelle, Melinda, Robyn & Fiona

The children have come back to preschool after our term break and all seem to have grown up a little more. They

appear more confident, taller and many forming new friendships with children in our class.

We finished last term on a high caking the most delicious chocolate crackle nests and began this term again cooking

gifts for Mothers’ Day. The children practicing their literacy and numeracy skills as they read the recipes, measured,

weighed and counted ingredients. They have practiced their fine motor skills and coordination as the cut

ingredients, mixed and beat and then rolled balls of mixture. The children estimated sizes and practice rolling all the

chocolate balls a similar size.

The children have shown much interest in our garden this term. They began by earnestly raking the huge volume of

leaves and the children wheelbarrowed them to garden beds to make compost. This week we will begin propagating

seeds for our vegetable garden and also planting flower seedlings for pots outside our classroom. As the seedlings

grow, we will chart and document their growth.

Now that we have permission notes signed for all our children for local excursions, we will take the opportunity to

shop for ingredients before cooking experiences. We will also visit other venues in our local neighbourhood.

This term we also introduced a morning routine where the children sign into our class each day. They practice their

reading and writing skills, letter recognition and fine motor manipulation and control. The children have also been

expanding their art skills, drawing and painting as they children explore pen and ink as an art medium.

All our learning, activities and practices are underpinned by the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF). We link

these learning activities to many areas of the EYLF and all the above link to the learning outcome 5 – “Children

interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes” and “as children begin to understand how

symbols and pattern systems work”.

All the best

Terry, Nic and Janine.

Have you liked us on Facebook?

We frequently post reminders, and interesting information about Early Childhood education

https://www.facebook.com/rosscircuitpreschool/?ref=hl

Preschool essentials Pack: Library Bag. Ice brick, Tshirt & Hat

$40.00 per pack

Hats or T Shirts: $15.00 each

Come and see Amanda in the office

Welcome back to Term Two. It was lovely to welcome the children back happy and refreshed after the school

holidays. We have enjoyed sharing their ‘Holiday Bags’ with us and we enjoyed sharing their excitement. It

sounds like our families had a wonderful break and the Easter Bunny found you all. Some of our pre-schoolers

went camping for the first time so we have set up a ‘camping play space’ to build upon their interest and

enjoyment in camping. The children are sharing their experiences with each other and creating new ones as they

build on their imaginations by sharing stories in social play.

This week we have set up the story of ‘Wombat Stew’ as some of the children enjoyed re-telling the story in our

kitchen mud corner finding various ingredients to add to the stew including leaves, pine cones, bark etc just to

name a few.

The children have returned to Term two showing a keen interest in Literacy. Children’s language and Literacy

development takes place in everyday activities and conversations shared with their peers and Educators.

Although the development of Literacy skills is different from the development of language it is inter-related. I will

be creating a Literacy Journal with all the Preschool children which I look forward to building upon their

understanding of Literacy to share with our families over coming months.

We focus on Five Learning outcomes which are designed to capture the integrated learning and development of

all children from birth to five years. Children’s learning is ongoing and each child will progress towards the

outcomes in different and equally meaningful ways. ‘Children have a strong sense of well-being’ ( Outcome Three)

focuses on a child’s well-being which includes good physical health, feelings of happiness, satisfaction and

successful social functioning. To support children’s learning, it is essential that we, as Educator’s attend to every

child’s well-being by providing warm, trusting relationships and respecting all children. We ensure that all children

experience pride in their achievements. As children become more independent they can take greater

responsibility for their health and personal care and become mindful of their own and other’s safety. Our routines

provide opportunities for children to learn about health and safety. Physical activity and attention to fine and gross

motor skills provide children with the foundations for their growing independence and satisfaction at being able to

do things for themselves.

Thanks

Simone, Denise and Melinda