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Amy’s Message By Amy Goodlace, Principal

Dear Families,

Last week we welcomed all our children and families that attend on a Thursday and Friday and we will be welcoming our three and five day children next week. We feel very pleased with our staggered start this year as it has been a very gentle way of introducing our children to their new school environment and transitioning them over the long break back into the school routine.

The teachers have started listening and engaging in conversations with the

children to determine their interests, which is then extended into our termly provocations. We will be discussing this further in the upcoming newsletters but you might ask – What is a provocation?

Put simply, provocations provoke! They provoke thoughts, discussions, questions, interests, creativity and ideas. They can also expand on a thought, project, idea and interest.

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Amy’s Message By Amy Goodlace, Principal

Provocations can come in many forms:

An interesting photo, picture or book,

Nature (e.g. specimens)

Conceptual (e.g. changing seasons, light)

Old materials displayed in a new way,

An interest that a child or children have,

An object (e.g. magnets, maps)

New creative mediums,

Questions (from any source – i.e. What is gravity?)

An event (e.g. a presentation, a holiday)

Ultimately, the intention of provocations is to provide an invitation for a child to explore and express themselves. It should be open-ended and provide a means for expression where possible. We look forward to seeing where the children's learning and thoughts will lead us.

I lead a very competent team of educators with a passion for children and education. Each stage has a coordinator that ensures that our wonderful philosophy is implemented. I am very proud to announce our coordinators for 2016 -

Stage 1 – Tatiana Botrel

Stage 2 – Daniella Gosty

Stage 3 – Nina Bergel

Stage 4 – Anita Martin

We will also next week be announcing our specialist teachers for 2016 and the rollout of our specialist programme.

Wishing you all a very peaceful and relaxing weekend.

Warm regards,

Amy

 

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The Nest By Tatiana Botrel, Lois Ma, Marie Claire Cronin

Welcome to The Nest

We have had a great start to the year, welcoming the new children to The Nest classroom. It can be difficult at the start but we are all confident that everyone will settle in nicely in to the new school routine and environment. Please contact Teacher Tatiana if you wish to discuss strategies to transition your child to school.

In the first few days it is essential that the teachers get to know your children better and the First Day Information Form together with the developmental story is an important way to make this process easier.

The children who attended school this first week were very curious to explore the Nest surroundings and resources. They spent a lot of time playing in the light box, discovering shapes and they also loved playing in the dramatic play corner, looking after baby dolls. In the outdoor space, the children had fun exploring shaving cream on a glass surface but also on the sand. Some children were not sure if they wanted to

have a turn, but they were certainly interested in what was happening by observing what their peers were doing with that funny mixture!

Friendly Reminders: - Please ensure your child come to school with their sunscreen applied in the mornings.

- Reddam ELS is a nut-free environment. Please be mindful when packing your child’s lunchbox.

- Ensure you label all of your child’s belongings. We have permanent markers available in the classroom if needed.

On behalf of all of The Nest teachers I would like to thank all families for trusting us your precious children. Let the adventures begin!

 

 

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The Nest Photo Gallery

 

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The Nest Photo Gallery Continues...

 

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Fledglings By Hannah McCooey, Olivia Binions and Eva Loo

We are very happy to see lots of smiling faces and hearing lots of laughs in our classroom this week. We are so pleased that the children from The Nest have made such a smooth transition to their new classroom and are still exploring this new, exciting environment. The Fledglings are certainly ready for their next learning adventure. We are amazed at how much enthusiasm and confidence the children are showing, as well as participating and enjoying life upstairs.

The Fledglings have been very busy this week. We have been learning a lot about Australia as it was Australia Day on Tuesday and we got to stay at home and celebrate. We learned about the Australian map and the colours that represent Australia. These colours included red, blue, white, green and gold. The children got the chance to choose the colours they liked best and create their very own Australian map, which we displayed outside our classroom in the Piatsa for all our loved ones too see when they came to collect us. We also looked at the Australian flag and seen that there were stars and lines on the flag too. The Fledglings also came together with their friends from stage 2 and stage three and we all made a huge Australian flag with all our handprints put together. – This was also on display in the Piazza.

As music is a highlight for some of the children we thought it would be a great idea to make an Australian instrument… the didgeridoo! So we talked about the native people of Australian and learned that they are called ‘Aboriginals’ and they use a special instrument called a ‘didgeridoo’ to make wonderful music. We

made our very own didgeridoos in school. We collected some kitchen and toilet roll tubes. We then used disinfectant wipes before we splashed the colours that we had chosen for our instruments. Abigail was very keen on the colour “green” while Ashley loved getting her hands all messy with the paint. When Margarita was finished we asked what she had made and she replied “my doo-doo”.

On Monday we made Lamingtons.

We found out what ingredients we needed and we all worked as a team and we had lots of fun making our own lamingtons.

They were delicious!!!

The children have been particularly excited about their new outdoor space. We have been climbing and exploring the physical equipment out on the deck. Luke had great energy exploring the obstacle course and playing hide and seek with his friends using the inside of the wooden boxes. The sandpit area was extremely popular with children making lots of sandcastles and letting the sand fall through the funnels. It was great to see the engagement, imagination and social interactions between all of our friends.

Lilah enjoyed getting her ‘new shoes’ on after the

holidays as we all danced to the Jamie Jam on

Toast CD.

 

 

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Fledglings Photo Gallery

 

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Fledglings Photo Gallery Continues...

 

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By Daniella Gosty, Karla Cabezas, Monika Ranjitkar, Helen Wilson and Raquel Rachnitz

Kookaburra’s and Tree Frogs.

The children have all settled in really well to the beginning of the year. They are getting to know whose group they are in.

If they are in Daniella’s group they are the Kookaburra group. The children have been learning the kookaburra song:

“Kookaburra sits in the old gumtree

Merry Merry King of the bush is he,

Laugh kookaburra laugh,

Kookaburra gay your life must be”.

If they are in Karla’s group they are in the Tree Frogs group and have been singing:

“Gulumph went the little tree frog one day,

Gulumph went the little tree frog,

Gulumph went the little tree frog one day

And his eyes went glump, glump, glump”

Run Run as fast as you can!

In celebration of Australia Day the children in the Monday group made their own Lamingtons after reading the story “The Lamington Man. Catch me if you can.” by Kel Richards. Just like the Gingerbread man, the Lamington man leaped out of the pan and ran away ending up with a following behind him of a cat, dog and postman until he

comes to a river where the smart crocodile lives. We have been reading this story all week and the children are helping us to read it by calling out “the Lamington man” and “snap” when the crocodile eats him.

Please take the time to look at our Australia day displays. The Kookaburra’s display is on the wall as you come into our classroom and the Tree Frogs are on display in our room. We also joined with the Fledglings and the Stage 3 children to create an Australian Flag from our handprints in the hallway next to the bathroom.

New Friends

On Thursday and Friday we had our new friends start at Reddam. It was wonderful to see how they settled into the daily life of Stage 2 and enjoyed their day. We danced, read stories, cooked ourselves yummy meals in the home corner. We did our first paintings at school which are now on display on the wall next to our room. We look forward to an exciting year ahead.

Reminders

Can you please provide cutlery for your child’s lunch if they require it. We have had lots of questions about heating of food. We do not have a facility for this and we suggest that you bring in a thermos container.

 

 

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Stage 2 Photo Gallery

 

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Stage 2 Photo Gallery Continues…

 

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Stage 2 Photo Gallery Continues…

 

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Stage 3 By Nina Bergel, Christina Mandalidis, Susan Casey and Deanne Jacobs

All the children from last week have settled in beautifully and we are all getting better at learning the names of our friends and teachers.

On Tuesday was “Australia Day”, so this week we focused on Australia:

We learned why we celebrate Australia, sang Advanced Australia Fair, and best of all, we made Lamingtons. Yummy, messy and sticky and so much fun:

First we had to make the icing, everyone had a turn stirring to make the icing nice and smooth. After we got our own sponge cake and applied with a spoon the chocolate icing. A few coconut sprinkles: Finished!

We are getting more and more used to our new routine. We really enjoy lunchtime. After washing our hands we get our lunch boxes out of our lockers. And guess what? We are

having a picnic, every day! And how exciting and healthy those lunch boxes are. It is always a surprise what is in them. And we don’t even need treats at all.

On Thursday and Friday we welcomed our new friends and helped them to settle in. Welcome everyone.

Please remember to send the First Day Information and bring in hard copies of family pictures for our family trees.

 

 

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Stage 3 Gallery

 

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Stage 4 By Anita Martin, Kristina Rochi, Cheryl Freeman, Jane Pledger & Alissa Turini

Celebrating Australia Day

On Australia Day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future.

Many years ago before Australia was how we know it today a ship landed at Sydney Cove. This week in Stage 4 the children learnt about Captain Arthur Phillip. They discovered that he was an important man and the leader of lots of ships (First Fleet) full of people. The ships came a very long way and sailed for days and nights on the ocean until they came to Sydney, Australia. They stopped at a place called Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788. This is where Captain Arthur Phillip took a flag called the Union Jack from his ship and placed it in the ground. It was explained to the children this is why we celebrate Australia day on the 26 January.

Did you know that the tradition of having Australia Day as a national holiday on 26 January is a recent one? It was not until 1935 did all the Australian states and territories use that name to mark that date and it wasn’t until 1994 did they begin to celebrate Australia Day consistently as a public holiday on that date.

The children also learnt about the native indigenous people of Australia known as

Aboriginals. We discussed how the Aboriginals lived on the land and were the first people to live in Australia. They hunted and collected food called such as Witchetty grubs, bush plums, wild figs and Kangaroo which is called Bush Tucker. The Aboriginals didn’t drive cars or live in big houses they lived outside on the land and slept under the stars, similar to when you go camping. We listened to traditional Aboriginal dreamtime stories which included ‘How the Kangaroos got their tails’ and ‘Tiddalik the Frog’. Some of the children also had a go at doing some traditional Aboriginal dot paintings.

In celebration of Australia Day many of the children were also busy seen making Australian flags using paint or collage materials.

There were many conversations amongst the children about what they were going to do on Australia Day. Some of the conversations heard included going to the beach, having a good BBQ, a birthday party and celebrating it home with family.

Lastly the children all helped their teachers make yummy Lamingtons. There was lots of pouring, mixing and stirring followed by the best bit of all, dipping the sponge into the chocolate mixture and getting fingers sticky. It was very tempting to lick our delicious fingers however the Lamington was not complete until we rolled it in coconut.

 

 

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Stage 4 By Anita Martin, Kristina Rochi, Cheryl Freeman, Jane Pledger & Alissa Turini

The children thought it would be a lovely idea to share their recipe with you. You may wish to make these at home together.

Lamingtons

1 store-bought sponge cake or 1 quantity basic sponge cake

3 cups (480g) icing (confectioner's) sugar

¾ cup (75g) cocoa powder

⅓ cup (80ml) boiling water

75g butter, melted

desiccated coconut, to coat

Make 1 quantity basic sponge cake in an 18cm-square cake tin and cool on a wire rack or alternatively you can buy a sponge. Cut into 6cm squares. Sift together the icing sugar and cocoa. Mix with the boiling water and melted butter. Using 2 forks to hold the sponge squares, dip in the chocolate icing and roll in desiccated coconut. Allow to set on a wire rack. Makes 9.

Did you know the Lamington was created through an accident at work by a maid-servant to Lord Lamington, the eighth Governor of Queensland. The maid-servant

was working at Government House in Brisbane when she accidentally dropped the Governor's favourite sponge cake into some melted chocolate. Lord Lamington was not a person of wasteful habits and suggested that it be dipped in coconut to cover the chocolate to avoid messy fingers.

From all of us in Stage 4 we hope you enjoyed your Australia Day.

OUTCOME 2: CHILDREN ARE CONNECTED WITH AND CONTRIBUTE TO THEIR WORLD

Children develop a sense of belonging to groups and communities and an understanding of the reciprocal rights and responsibilities necessary for active community participation.

Children respond to diversity with respect.

OUTCOME 4: CHILDREN ARE CONFIDENT AND INVOLVED LEARNERS

Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one context to another.

 

 

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Stage 4 Gallery

 

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Stage 4 Gallery