www.homeroadkindergarten.vic.edu.au Page 1 of 7

TERM 1 NEWSLETTER 2016 Term one has been short yet very productive! This term educators have been fostering a sense of belonging and supporting children to feel settled in their kindergarten environment. We have focused on developing secure, warm and trusting relationships with children through positive interactions, stimulating activities and predictable routines. Educators were extremely fortunate to have Dr Sheri Todd present at our February staff meeting to offer recent findings, strategies and ideas to support this settling in process.

In addition, the children have been supported to make connections with others and form new friendships. Throughout the term children have had opportunities to explore their learning environment through play, allowing them time to develop relationships and investigate play themes and ideas (such as pirates, bakers and artists, just to name a few). This time offers the educators an opportunity to observe and develop ‘intentions of teaching’, where they can follow up on children’s ideas or explore inquiry questions to broaden, extend and shape the children’s learning and development. It also offers opportunities to consider incursions and special events.

Some of our curriculum highlights in term 1 have been:

Our four year old groups had an amazing opportunity to participate in a very unique pottery incursion, where Liz the Potter worked individually with each child to create their own pot.

An interactive African drumming workshop where the three year old groups learnt about a variety of interesting musical instruments from Africa.

In February the staff and children had the pleasure of welcoming eight students from Japan, studying early childhood. This invaluable experience supported the children to learn about other cultures, languages spoken, different foods and customs.

We welcomed several new educators to our wonderful early childhood team this year. They have contributed new skills and knowledge and have supported our educational team with progressive teaching practices.

We’d like to formally introduce our 2016 staffing team:

Christine – Aqua group Teacher Nicole – Orange & Green group Teacher Mary – Blue & Red group Teacher Sandra – Red & Yellow group Teacher Liz – Purple group Teacher & Educational Leader

Grace –Blue & Purple group co-educator Dianne – Aqua group co-educator Amelia – Red group co-educator Melanie – Blue & Purple group co-educator Jo – Yellow group co-educator Erin – Blue co-educator Lucy – Orange & Green co-educator

Carly – Administration Manager Janet – Administration Officer Liz – Educational Leader

We hope all families enjoy the holiday break and we look forward to seeing you all back for Term 2!

ORANGE GROUPWelcome to all our Orange Group families! We are having a wonderful time getting to know you all!

Earlier in the term we celebrated and explored Chinese New Year. We watched some videos explaining how the Chinese zodiac came to be as well as videos of lion dances and fire crackers. The children then had the opportunity to make lanterns.

The children have been interested in pirates! We got crafty and made pirate hats, eye patches and treasure maps. Miss Liz even came in to share one of her favourite pirate stories.

Our ongoing project was to make lavender scented bags for our relaxation time - to place on our tummy’s when doing belly breathing, or to fidget with while listening to a meditation. We asked families if they had any lavender plants at home if they could bring some in. The children then cut the lavender flowers off and collected them to dry out. The children then used fabric scissors to cut out squares of fabric for their own bag. Once everyone had cut out their squares Miss Nicole brought in her sewing machine and helped the children to sew up some of the edges, leaving a hole to fill it up with our lavender and wheat mixture!

We are very lucky that we have a relationship with Nagoya Women’s University in Japan and that we have student teachers come to visit on study tour. The children enjoyed learning greetings such as Kon'nichiwa and Sayōnara, counting in Japanese, making sushi, as well as Japanese crafts such as koi kites. We had a Japanese Cultural day when the Japanese students organised craft experiences for the children including festival masks, origami cups game, origami and their names written in Japanese and fireworks painting. This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to experience another culture.

We had the opportunity to have a pottery incursion later in the term, where the children worked one-on-one with Liz the Potter. She

guided each child through the process, teaching them specific techniques in how to mould, shape and decorate the clay. The children were fascinated and enjoyed watching their peers create.

Over the last few weeks of term we have been creating hats for our Easter Hat Parade on Thursday 24th March at 3:45pm. More information to follow in the communication book.

We hope you have a restful term break and are looking forward to Term 2! Miss Nicole, Mrs Grace and Miss Lucy

www.homeroadkindergarten.vic.edu.au Page 2 of 7

TERM 1 NEWSLETTER 2016 RED GROUP

Welcome to all our Red Group Families! Although this Term has progressed quickly, the children have shown their ability to adapt to two different teachers, building connections with each in their own unique way. We are enjoying getting to know all the children and their strengths and interests and building on these within the learning program. The children are forming friendships and confidently exploring their new kinder environment. We have gradually introduced the children to the indoor/outdoor program where they are developing their independence and choosing where they would like to play. It is working well at the moment.

We have a group of children who are physically active and love taking on pretend roles and situations within their play such as firefighters, policemen, ballerinas performing on stage, and café owners. We have also discovered great numeracy skills within our children, from pattern making to counting big numbers and they are becoming very familiar now with the sequencing of the days of the week.

We have spent some time re-enacting Wombat Stew; making pirate maps and going on a treasure hunt; enjoying the song ‘My Daddy ate an Apple’; and learning about the science concept of changes to matter through making playdough and erupting a volcano. There is always a lot of activity at our

many sensory experiences including art and craft activities, play dough, small world play and the children really loved our pottery incursion. We have introduced some relaxation into the program including colouring Mandalas and classical music. We are looking forward to our Easter celebrations including a hat parade and egg hunt. We would like to thank all our parent helpers for your valued contribution. We hope you all have a safe holiday and we are looking forward to inspiring the love of learning within each child as they develop and shine within the program. Miss Mary, Miss Sandra, Miss Amelia & Miss Jan

BLUE GROUPWhat a wonderful start to the year! The children have continued to engage well and explore through all the changes; aren’t they amazing, resilient people. So far Blue Group has been developing their gross motor skills through lots of ball

games, climbing and jumping on the trampoline. We have touched on sustainability through worm investigation and will continue this research by putting

together a Worm Farm and discussing recycling next term. Blue Group had a discussion on Potatoes and we even made our own Potato People. During Japanese Cultural week we participated in many Japanese games and crafts, we also discussed some Japanese words and festivals, we even made a volcano. Blue Group were also very interested in cooking; they made pizzas, mud pies, play dough cupcakes and pancakes in the cubby house. We also discovered in Blue Group many budding artists drawing and painting wonderful pictures. We had lots of picnics outside taking advantage of this gorgeous Melbourne weather so far.

Blue Group were fortunate to participate in a Pottery incursion where all the children had an opportunity to make their own pot. In Blue Group we discussed celebrations and how everyone

celebrates different things: Birthdays, Christmas, Eade, Diwali and Easter. We made some Easter baskets and Hats and will be having an Easter Hat Parade in the last week Some of our wonderful children were practicing their pre-reading skills and discussing the pictures in books consolidating their pre-literacy skills. At the end of each day for relaxation we have been doing some yoga “Cosmic kids” and the children love the stretching and listening to the story. After yoga the children have been colouring mandala – according to psychologists, colouring is the best alternative to meditation. Colouring allows you to unlock your creative potential. Perhaps more important, it helps relieve tension and anxiety. Next term we will continue to follow the children interests and encourage, support and engage the children in their learning journeys. Miss Mary, Miss Melanie and Miss Erin

www.homeroadkindergarten.vic.edu.au Page 3 of 7

TERM 1 NEWSLETTER 2016 AQUA GROUP

Welcome to all our Aqua families! It has been a fantastic start to the year! The children have settled in well and Mrs Dianne and Mrs Domenique and I are enjoying getting to know the children and their families. We are very excited about the year ahead. This term we have been focussing on the children’s emotional wellbeing and social skills. We have explored this through the use of social stories, participating in yoga and using the puppet Tucker the Turtle. Tucker used to have trouble keeping his anger under control and would react inappropriately. Tucker now uses different strategies to control his emotions and he has been helping the children to implement these strategies during their play.

Having the Japanese students visit was an invaluable learning experience for the children. During their visit, the children learnt about the country of Japan and the

Japanese culture. The children enjoyed making a volcano erupt in the sandpit, making sushi, learning about koi fish, reading Japanese stories, learning some Japanese words and

learning how to count in Japanese. A highlight of the students’ visit was the Cultural Day that the Japanese students organised for the children. The children were also very excited to participate in creating their own unique pot during a pottery incursion with Liz. This was an amazing experience for the children and we are

eagerly awaiting to see the finished product! We finished off the term celebrating Easter. The children learnt about the lifecycle of chickens and enjoyed many Easter activities such as baking hot cross buns, making an Easter basket for the egg hunt and an Easter hat which will be paraded around for the families on the last day! It has been great that we have started to have parent helpers in the room. This is a great way to get involved in the program so please put your name down when it is convenient for you. We look forward to seeing where the children’s interests and learning takes us throughout the rest of the year! Mrs Christine, Mrs Dianne and Mrs Dominique

YELLOW GROUPWelcome to all our Yellow Group Families! This term has moved along quickly and we are really enjoying getting to know the children and their unique strengths and abilities. The children are settling into their kinder routines and are actively exploring their new learning environment and showing an interest in other children.

Over this term we have spent a lot of time getting to know one another. The children were very excited to show their ‘All About Me’ pages during group time, sharing their interests and what they love

doing with their families. During group times we have explored how we are all the same but different, and discussed ways we can be a good friend and keep everyone safe and happy. The children loved our germ experiment using paint to show the transfer of germs.

The children’s emerging interests have included their love of balancing; dancing and performing; block construction and other manipulatives; cooking up a storm in the sand and mud pit

during their imaginative play; and learning to recognise some letters in their name.

They also enjoy the open-ended craft activities which inspires lots of creativity and amazing art work. We would like to thank Audrey D’s mum for introducing the children to process art, where the children explored different art materials and experimented with mixing colours and making

patterns. They loved it!

The children have loved singing the songs 5 Grey Elephants Balancing and 5 Cupcakes at the Baker’s Shop;

dancing to Fuzzy the Clown; and re-enacting Wombat Stew.

The children are very excited about our Easter egg hunt during our last session and we wish all families a happy holiday break and look forward to an amazing journey ahead watching each child blossom within the program. Miss Sandra and Miss Jo

www.homeroadkindergarten.vic.edu.au Page 4 of 7

TERM 1 NEWSLETTER 2016 GREEN GROUP

Welcome to all the families in Green Group, we are having lots of fun getting to know you all!

This term the children have been settling into kinder life, getting to know each other and our kinder routines. They have loved being outside! Although we

offer indoor/outdoor play where they can choose to be either inside or outside to play, we have found that they really enjoy being outside. Exploring outside they have been able to ride bikes, climb over the obstacle course, dig and cook in the sandpit, discover small worlds such as the African animals at the water hole, jump on the trampoline, dress up and put on shows at the stage, as well as climbing the big playground equipment! During group times we have been learning each other’s names by singing a song

called Bee Bee Bumble Bee. We were lucky to have Harper’s Nana visit who brought her guitar and introduced some new songs to us. We recently had our African Drumming

incursion, where the children had the opportunity to learn about African musical instruments and how to play an African drum. We have also created baskets for our Easter Egg Hunt during our last session on Wednesday 23 March. We hope you have a great break and look forward to Term 2! Miss Nicole & Miss Lucy

PURPLE GROUPThank you to all the Purple group families for being patient and understanding during the settling in process and for welcoming Miss Liz on board as the new Purple group teacher. Within a short timeframe Miss Melanie and I feel that the children have adapted well to the daily routine, transitions and classroom expectations. Our focus has been to support the children’s social and emotional development and to provide a happy, safe,

secure and inclusive environment through introducing puppets and visual prompts at group times.

The children were very excited to meet Fuzzy (our dancing puppet) and Barnaby (our classroom bear). Barnaby will help to create a lovely link between kindergarten and home. The children are able to take him home for a week and when he returns they can share Barnaby’s adventures with their teachers and peers.

We have started some Easter activities including working with chocolate playdough, painting, drawing and cutting oval shapes. The children have enjoyed

creating cards and their very own unique Easter basket for our Easter hunt on Tuesday 22 March. Many of the songs and stories we have

introduced have focused on Easter in Australia with a strong representation of Australian animals including the Bilby.

Purple group have shown an interest in aspects of science through

exploring magnets and participating in a science experiment “Guess what’s in the egg?” We endeavour to extend the children’s interest in science experiments and the exploration of cause and effect activities next term.

Have a lovely holiday and Happy Easter to those who celebrate it. Hope the Easter Bunny visits your home! We are looking forward to lots of fun, learning and laughter in term 2! Miss Liz and Miss Melanie

www.homeroadkindergarten.vic.edu.au Page 5 of 7

TERM 1 NEWSLETTER 2016 CENTRE INFORMATION

Committee News: Home Road Kindergarten is managed by a Committee of dedicated volunteers that devote their time and energy to keeping the wheels turning at the kindergarten. The Committee of Management meet on a Wednesday night each month. There is currently a vacancy for a general member so please let us know if you’re interested in joining. This year, we have reduced the number of Committee Members but increased the number of subcommittees. Our fantastic subcommittee members are:

Cheryl Hamill, Karli Ritchie, Corinne Pivk, Amy Smith, Katherine Hawken, Jacqueline Pace, Katie Mueller, Amy Quitoriano, Amber Collings.

We would like to thank each group representative for nominating to be the liaison for their respective groups. So far, there have been a number of morning teas and it’s great to see families getting to know one another. Group liaisons are as follows:

Sophie Hickford (Blue), Hannah Bald (Orange & Yellow), Sarah Glasson & Amy Smith (Red), Adele Mangano (Aqua), Cheryl Hamill (Green). We still need a group liaison for Purple group so please let us know if you’re interested.

3yo 2016: We have one vacancy in Green group, if you know anyone still looking for a 3yo kindergarten place.

3yo 2017: This process will start in Term 2 and usually first round offers are sent out in late June.

4yo 2016: We still have a few vacancies for 4yo this year, so spread the word if you know anyone looking for a place.

For any enrolment queries, please contact Carly at the centre or via email at carly@homeroadkindergarten.vic.edu.au

EVENT UPDATE: The weather was perfect for our HRK Welcome picnic, it was great to see so many families enjoying the day. Thank you to Spotswood Primary once again for the location and to Kelly Bailey for organising.

FUNDRAISING NEWS: 4yo Picture Plate templates will be handed out this week. If you would like to participate, let your child have some fun working on their plate drawings over the school holidays. Completed plate templates, orders and payment are due back by Friday 22 April.

We are holding a Cake & Goodie Jar stall at our Open Day and we’re inviting all of our families to bake some cakes or create Goodie jars. Please see flyer on page 7 and posted on Storypark.

We are selling Entertainment Books again so if you are interested, please follow the link in the email to purchase either a hard copy book or the digital version. The new 2016/2017 Entertainment Book will be launched on 11 April.

We’re looking forward to a fun and eventful year ahead! Kelly Bailey (Events & Fundraising Coordinator)

HRK 2016 OPEN DAY! SUNDAY 17 APRIL - 10AM to 12PM

Animal Pen, Sausage Sizzle, Cake & Goodie Jar stall!

Invite your family, friends & neighbours and come

along for some fun at our kindergarten!

Staff will be available to answer any queries parents

may have about our program.

Early Bird enrolments for our 2018 three year old kindergarten program will be taken at our Open Day. This applies to children born between 1 May 2014 and 30 April 2015. Application forms

will be available at the centre and early bird enrolments are accepted on THIS DAY ONLY. Enrolments will then reopen from

1 June 2016. Please speak to Carly if you have any queries.

One way you can support your child’s learning is by sharing your skills and interests. Perhaps you’re a budding artist? A musician? An amazing cook? Maybe you make pirates

out of playdough or entire villages out of sand?

Or, you simply love to share a good story, or a dance, or a silly joke?

Whatever it is, we’d love to welcome you!

At HRK we encourage all parents and carers to get involved because we know parental involvement in education makes a positive difference to young lives.

This is YOUR chance at showing off your skills to a captive audience, and the children and educators always enjoy a visit from parents and carers. After all, it’s your kinder!

Please let us know if you’d like to share your special skills/interests with your child’s group. Contact us via email or phone 9391 2958 to book in a time.

TERM 1 WORKING BEE The first working bee was held on Sunday 6 March

for the Blue and Orange group families. A small group of families turned out to give the kinder a

great tidy up and to do a few odd jobs around the centre. It was a great effort and the kinder is now ready for Term 2, so thank you for giving up your

time to help. A special thank you to Andrew Matiszak (Yellow group, Alexandra’s dad) for the great job with the wire installation in the rooms.

The educators look forward to hanging lovely fabrics from the wires and having more flexibility to create

inviting play spaces for the children. Thanks also to Amber Collings and Joe Frisby.

www.homeroadkindergarten.vic.edu.au Page 6 of 7

TERM 1 NEWSLETTER 2016

OUR VISITORS FROM JAPAN In February we welcomed eight early childhood students (Nagisa, Runa, Natsumi, Hiroko, Misaki, Mio, Yu and Tomona) to HRK. The students travelled from the Women’s University of Nagoya in Japan and are studying to become Kindergarten teachers. They visited to learn English and learn about our early childhood curriculum in

Australia. The children enjoyed teaching the students some English through songs and during play and conversations.

The students also organised Japanese Cultural day on the 1st and 2nd of March for all the four year old groups. They organised a

variety of craft experiences to represent their culture such as finger paint fireworks, Japanese dolls, demon masks, Japanese drums, fishing and sumo wrestling games and various origami such as helicopters, cups, sumo wrestlers and wrist bands. The

students also wrote some of the children’s names in Japanese and the children loved seeing the letters of their names.

During the students time at HRK they interacted beautifully with the children communicating both verbally and non-verbally. The children were enthusiastic to greet the students upon arrival and always eager to include them in their play. We were all

very sad when we had to say goodbye! We gave our Japanese friends cards, a HRK T-shirt and an Australian children’s book to remember us by. Thank you to all the children, families and educators at HRK for supporting the students during their stay. We

are confident they will make great pre-school teachers in Nagoya!

DATES TO REMEMBER Term 1 ends Thursday 24 March

Term 2 starts Monday 11 April

HRK Open Day 2016 Sunday 17 April from 10am-12pm Cake & Goodie jar stall, animal farm & sausage sizzle! Bring your family, friends & neighbours for a fun morning at our wonderful kindergarten

ANZAC day holiday – NO KINDER Monday 25 April

Mother’s day events Week commencing 2 May – more details to come

4yo Disco – SAVE THE DATE Friday, 13 May – more details to come

4yo Kinder Photos From Monday 16 May

www.homeroadkindergarten.vic.edu.au Page 7 of 7

TERM 1 NEWSLETTER 2016

CAKE STALL / GOODIE JARS

To all HRK Families Home Road Kindergarten will be holding their annual Open Day on Sunday 17 April from 10am-12pm. This year we are holding a cake stall for all those who can make or bake. Alongside the cakes, we will be offering ‘goodie’ donation jars. These jars are ideal for those who may not have the time or inclination to bake but would like to get involved. If you would like to participate in the cake stall fundraiser, please email the required information as listed in the form below by 5 April 2016. Once we have received your email, we will provide information on how to package your goods and include ingredients labels for your baked goods and drop off times for your items. Baked goods ranging from honey joys, cookies, cupcakes, slices or even whole cakes are always popular choices. Please note that we are unable to accept any products with NUTS or items that require refrigeration eg. cream fillings. If you would like to donate a Goodie jar, bring along any old jar with the contents totalling a value of $2. For example, a bag of jelly beans, lollipops, crayons, erasers, stickers, looking new but old McDonalds toys, really anything that will fit in a jar. We will have a basket available in the foyer where you can drop off your jar donations anytime from now to the Open Day. You are welcome to make as many cake stall treats or Goodie jars as you like! All help is appreciated and we thank you in advance for helping to make this stall a success on the day. ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. Please email the following information to Amy Eade mrsamyeade@gmail.com

Parent Name:

Phone Number:

Child and Group:

Please note that we are unable to accept any products with NUTS or items that require refrigeration eg. cream fillings.

I would like to participate in the cake stall. I will be contributing:

ITEM QTY

Eg. Cupcakes 12

1.

2.

3.

There are great recipes and suggestions on taste.com.au, Pinterest and kidspot.com.au Baking Suggestions Brownies, Choc Zucchini Muffins or Bread, Chocolate Coconut Bliss Balls, Donut Muffins, Flourless Choc Cake, Flourless Orange Cake, Homemade Marshmallows, Honey Joys/Choc Crackles, No Bake Slices, Scones, Orange Cake, Vegan and Gluten Free Options