Director’s Report
Anna Hutchings
21 October 2021
Now is that fabulous time of the year when the kindy teachers begin to feel a little superfluous at times. Just as the jacarandas come into bloom, the baby magpies start to squawk and mince pies appear in Coles, the blossoming of the children’s skills and dispositions that have been developing all year can be observed in their independence and complex play that needs little interference from us. Our role shifts to one that is more about attentive observation leading to more precise interactions that will support their learning. We spend much less time supporting children to co-operate, communicate and negotiate, instead focussing on moments with children where we can support them to reflect on their learning, and document their learning. A good example is of some recent play when three boys spontaneously started a game of shooting matchsticks into a box by blowing them through a straw. Without teacher support they decided together where each contestant should stand so that the competition was fair and organised taking turns. Each time a matchstick was fired the boys shared their thinking about why it did or didn’t make it into the box: “You blew too soft,” “It bounced out,” and this game carried on amicably for a couple more minutes. I was enjoying watching this orderly play and the boys using language that demonstrated they were keen for fairness and that they wanted one another to succeed. At this point I suggested that they might like to keep a record of how many matchsticks were successful in going into the box, and demonstrated how to keep a tally on a piece of cardboard. The boys thought this was a terrific idea and gleefully added tally marks under their name after each successful turn and periodically counted them up. The game now had a mathematical component and without moving out of their chosen play the boys were meaningfully assessing and recording their progress. This example illustrates the sort of complex communication, problem solving and social skills that the children have learned over the year and can now perform independently.
Science experiments, deep and reflective discussions, theatre incursions and visits from some amazing native wildlife and a butterfly workshop will infuse the children’s play and thinking with new experiences and understandings. We are excited that our annual excursion to the Brisbane Botanic Gardens at Mount Coot-tha will go ahead in November - this involves a morning with the Gardens Education Team learning about various topics in a fun and interactive way, as well as a glorious chartered bus ride to and from the Gardens with a look at the fascinating Mt Coot-tha Quarry where we can see the big trucks moving the blasted metamorphic rock which will be used to build Brisbane’s roads.
School transitions have begun with many of our children heading off to orientation sessions at more than a dozen different schools. We are having lots of positive discussions about school to help children prepare, and little things like signing themselves in in the mornings and being responsible for their own belongings further supports that level of independence that we know is important before heading off to big school. At kindy the old school uniforms are getting a work out as children put them on to play, and school is a regular topic of conversation around the lunch tables as children discuss where they are going and when. “After Christmas,” “When I’m 5,” “At the end of Kindy”. Generally our friends who are moving on to school are very positive about it, and one little boy assures me almost daily that this is his last day at kindy because tomorrow he’s going to school. Twelve kindy children across both groups will return next year as Kindy Leaders - 25% seems to be a fairly stable portion over the recent years and we are looking forward to their helpfulness in settling in our new kindy friends and their own developing confidence and independence so that they will head off all ready for school in 2023.
The staff are very excited that the renovation of the kindy admin wing is tipped to go ahead over the Christmas break! We’ve had good meetings with the builder and with the amazing support of our resident architect Mum, Claudi, we are looking forward to the process and feel positive that the project will be completed by the start of Term One. There’s much to do and organise before then so that the builders will be entering an empty space on the first Monday of the holidays.
This week the staff participated in a professional development day and completed individual sessions in Reconciliation and Education for Sustainability, as well as working on the new version of our Quality Improvement Plan which is almost complete. This work will positively impact on how we as a kindy respect and interact with indigenous perspectives, how we embed sustainability in every aspect of our operations and in identifying and communicating our strengths and plans for improvement.
Congratulations
Congratulations to our Red Group Assistant Teacher, Phoebe, who has just completed her Master of Education (Early Childhood). This is wonderful for Phoebe and she will now be able to work as a teacher of her own class. Sadly for us this means letting her go so that she can pursue her career. We will miss her very much but know that she is ready for bigger things. We also know that she has loved her time at Chapel Hill Community Kindergarten and the valuable formative experience of early childhood education at a high standard.
Thank you
• Martina Barham for persisting with getting us a successful quote from a builder so that our renovation project can go ahead
• Claudi Bird for your commitment and generous, expert support with our renovation project
• Zoe Bayer and Emma Wiles for your organisation of the sausage sizzles and sock fundraiser
• Natsumi Uyeda for all your help covering books and prepping materials
• Rachel Meiklejohn for your donations of resources
• Marissa Gibb for your roster help and mending jobs
• The wonderful and talented Grandmothers of Asriel and Georgia who have knitted us some creatures and creations for the front garden, and Lachelle Waldron for organising this
• All our Bush Kindy volunteers for coming along and making the program possible.
