Angaston CHILD CARE & EARLY LEARNING CENTRE NEWSLETTER February 2018
I will be taking some long service leave I am away for the whole month of March and returning on the 2nd of April. While I’m away Suzy will be continuing with my role.
The Preschool children have started their visits to the Good Shepherd primary school were the educators conduct a physical education lesson and a library visit. The children are also involved in a buddy class sessions with the year 3/4 Good Shepherd children. We have a strong link with our community and enjoy our interactions with the school children.
Our music program has also started back up this term with Jeff our music teacher on Tuesday’s. the children where really excited to Jeff back
Our teacher Emma and I will be attending professional development training regarding our ongoing approach to the Reggio Emilia with Tiziana Fillipini on the 19-20 of March 2018 we are looking forward to the information that we will receive to support our ongoing development.
Quality Improvement Plan
As you may be aware we are working through our Quality areas and value our parent feedback. This helps us to improve our service and the care we provide.
-Sharon
Is your child up to date with immunisation?
Remember that children who are not immunised will be excluded during any outbreak of a government scheduled preventable illness within the centre
CHILD HEALTH
Sunscreen should be the last line of defense after clothing, a hat, shade and sunglasses. During sun protection times, apply SPF30 (or higher) broad-spectrum, water-resistant sunscreen to any skin not covered by clothing.
The sun protection factor (SPF) is a measure of protection sunscreen gives against UVB radiation. In lab conditions, SPF30 filters 96.7% of UVB and SPF50 filters 98%. Both can provide excellent protection if they are applied properly. Broad-spectrum means that sunscreen offers protection from UVA rays, as well as UVB. Check and follow the ‘use by’ date stated on the packaging and store sunscreen below 30°C.
DATES TO REMEMBER
Easter Break 30th March – 2nd April
ANZAC Day 25th April
Grandparents and Special Friends Day 15th May
Queen’s Birthday 11th June
October Long Weekend (Labour Day) 1st October
Christmas Party 10th December
How to apply sunscreen
Use a generous amount of sunscreen. The average-sized adult needs a teaspoon of sunscreen for their head and neck, each limb and for the front and the back of the body. That is about 35ml of sunscreen for one full body application. Apply sunscreen 20 minutes before you go outside and re-apply again every two hours (whether or not the label tells you to do this). Remember to reapply after swimming or excessive sweating. If you have an allergic reaction to a sunscreen, try another brand or look for a fragrance-free product such as a toddler or sensitive sunscreen. A doctor or chemist could also offer advice about choosing another product. For information about sunscreen application in childcare see Sun protection for children
Sunscreen and nanoparticles
Nanotechnology has been used in sunscreens for many years. To date, the Cancer Council’s assessment, drawing on the best available evidence, is that nanoparticulates used in sunscreens do not pose a risk. We continue to monitor research on this topic. Sunscreen has been scientifically proven to reduce the risk of melanoma and other skin cancers.
For more information, please visit: https://www.sunsmart.com.au/protect-your-skin/slip-on-clothing
UNDER 2’s ROOM:
Welcome to our new families in the under 2’s room. We look forward to providing the best care and education that you and your child deserve. Our main focus this month is settling and forming close attachments with our new children and families. It is very important to us that your child feels safe and secure within our service with our educators.
With the warm weather upon us, we will be exploring ice experiences. These are a sensory activity that opens the opportunity for new words, communication and friendships.
We will also continue our sustainability, recycle, re-use and repurpose experiences.
Please feel free to pop in and look at our program. Parent feedback and involvement in our program gives us the opportunity to know your children’s interests better and creates great partnerships with families.
Outcome 1: Children feel safe and secure
Outcome 5: Children are effective Communicators
Suzy, Ally & Jess
COCOON ROOM:
This year we have been focusing on setting up and decorating our room. We have set up a Jungle Theme in our bathroom with the children’s help and input. Following on from the Jungle Theme, we will be looking at Jungle animals through stories, research and sharing information amongst ourselves including about Habitats. The Jungle Theme has already sparked some amazing learning experiences from child led interests such as cutting out pictures of animals and making a tree for our room. In the toddler room we have also been focusing on sharing our feelings. We have had many discussions about feelings, what they are and how we express them. We have looked at books relating to feelings and using music and song to expand our understanding. Throughout the warm Christmas break we explored water and ice. The children had the opportunity to have lots of water play and experience playing with ice. The children used hammers to break up the ice and used boats to push the ice through the water. As of late, we have been focusing on the letters A and T. The educators have asked the children if they know any words or things starting with these letters and documenting their comments. From this, we have created pictures to visually show children what things start with the letters A and T. This will be an ongoing learning experience as we encourage children to learn and recognise letters and promote reading.
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
Andrea & Nikita
PRESCHOOL:
The Preschool room has been focusing on Biological Science and how things grow. We started off by going on an excursion to the Barossa Nursery where the children chose different vegetable seedlings and herb seeds to grow in our vegetable garden. We have been tending to the garden every day and making sure the plants have plenty of water. It has been very exciting watching the plants grow. We have also been growing our sprout seeds, looking at birds’ nests and why birds make them, making clay models of what we think plants look like and studying the effects of sun light and water on plants. We will also be focusing on learning a few different languages this month with the help of our student Christine. We have made many changes to our room, we have introduced a parent communication corner where we will be posting questions about the children’s development and interests for the month and sparking curiosity with Reggio Emilia inspired questions and comments from theorists. We have also created a stage/reading nook for the children to have a place where they can relax and read some stories or create a dramatic play scenario. We look forward to expanding our learning on Biological Science.
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
Emma & Kristy
Have you seen our Facebook page? We upload what the children are doing each day. We have had great feedback from families as they get to see what their children are doing throughout the day whilst they are at work. Look us up and like us on Facebook at: Angaston Childcare & Early Learning Centre.
Sharon
OUR COMMUNITY
We are continuing to build strong community bonds with the wider community as we look to continue providing high quality care and a sense of belonging. We would like to say a big thank-you to the Good Shepherd Primary School for allowing us to use the HUB facility. Also our physical education visits and the library visits which the children love. We are also grateful for our connection with the Angaston Primary School and the Angaston Kindy for their ongoing support.
Sharon