Red Group Report 20/08/2020

It is amazing to think that in a little over five months all the Red Group children will be at Kindy, in Blue or Yellow group with their amazing teacher Anna to guide them.  As I reflect on the last six months, I am amazed at the changes in the children since starting pre-kindy.  Their ability to share with and socialize with each other has improved greatly, with some already making strong friendships. The complexity of their play, especially imaginative play has increased also.

It has been a remarkably busy Term with some old friends leaving and new friends joining our community.  Our new friends have settled in, and it feels like they have been with us all year. 

Most children have adjusted to the routines and structure of the pre-kindy afternoon, which will help them prepare for big kindy next year.  There are a multitude of benefits for the children who attend pre-kindy at Chapel Hill and I know the timing can be tricky for some families, but the positive outcomes make it all worthwhile.

So far this Term the Red Group children have been:  cooking up feasts and feeding the babies in home corner, painting- a lot, climbing the ladder tree, throwing balls, swinging,  riding the “horse”, building with blocks, enjoying story time and singing, having a go at tricky puzzles … and I could go on for pages.  Please feel free to have a look through all the amazing photos on the Ipad or flip through the pages of our Red Group Big Book to see what we do each week.

Mat time at Red Group gives us the opportunity to come together at the end of our session and share music and stories together.  We have recently introduced dancing to music when we first come to the mat, which is so much fun for the children and teachers alike.  The time spent on the mat fluctuates each day, depending on how long the tidy up takes. Most of the children come running to the mat as soon as we ring the bells, eager to join in with their friends.

With the imminent arrival of Father’s Day and Art Show, the children will be making surprise gifts for their daddies and creating beautiful works of art for the Art Show in September.  Just a note for parents, in case you were wondering why so few paintings have been coming home, we have been putting aside some art for the Art Show, so we can showcase Red Groups finest creations.   We are currently working out how Art Show will be presented this year, due to Covid restrictions, but however it is done your children’s artistic creations will be celebrated.

Director’s Report Kindergarten Anna Hutchings

We are enjoying the last days of winter at Kindy, soaking up the soft sunshine and deep blue skies before summer returns with its heat and promises of storms and rain.

Budding the beehive

Our beehive is going well, with many sightings of tickle bees gathering at the hive opening in the mornings.  “They’re waiting for it to be warm enough,” shares one knowledgeable friend. The magic number is 18 – 18 degrees before native bees will venture out of their warm home.  Some children have learned to sit and wait in front of the hive, to be rewarded by a gentle swarm settling on their skin, tickling as they land, walk around and then fly off in search of a better flower.  Rod, our resident advisor, thinks they’ll start working on constructing their new hive and filling it with brood when the weather warms up – we’re checking through the window and can’t wait to watch it develop.

Coronavirus arts project

Our Pandemic Art Project is finished and all artwork sent to the State Library for processing.  We will hear from Barbara if there is to be an exhibition and any special events associated with it.  We are very proud of our young artists, both those involved in this project and those who create just for themselves at Kindy.

Uni Students

Our uni student, Tom, starts on Monday next week and will spend 15 days with us.  As this is his first prac he is feeling excited and quite nervous, and is looking forward to building his understandings about how children learn through play.

Imaginative Play

Our children are so independent in their play these days, choosing what and where to play, accessing resources they need from the shed and natural objects from the garden and sharing ideas and negotiating roles with their friends.  Every day there’s so much imaginative play, some based on recurring themes and some that are purely of the moment. I enjoyed the band of friendly pirates, a game which quite quickly changed to a family of friendly parrots – that shows our bird-centric interests in Blue Group!  The parrot family shared responsibility for sitting on their eggs and feeding their babies nectar.  One entrepreneurial parrot had a sideline making lollypops using honey and twigs, the major selling point being “when you’re finished just throw it on the ground, there’s no rubbish for the bin!”. 

There’s been endless reworkings of “families” games (human and nonhuman), witches and wizards, pretend construction projects, camping make believe, doctors and patients, rubbish truck drivers, vets and teachers, and more.

Why is imaginative play so important? At the core of it is children making sense of their world, playing with ideas and roles, re-enacting stories and scenes and recombining them in new ways to understand them.  Imaginative play with peers adds extra complexity as they “experiment with and learn about the power of language” (pentagonplay.co.uk).  Sometimes things go wrong and so children have to problem-solve to continue playing.  This can involve negotiation, compromise and self-regulation, all vital social and emotional skills. Pretend play often involves lots of physical play and use of gross motor skills.  Imaginative play brings all the areas of development together in one fun context.  There is a fantastic article about imaginative play at www.pentagonplay.co.uk/news-and-info/why-pretend-play-is-important-to-child-development.

Free Discussion

We’ve enjoyed some amazing discussions and subsequent explorations about a wide range of subjects: jellyfish - how do they know where they’re going? And why it’s a problem that plastic bags look like jellyfish when they get into the ocean; a discussion about the concept of perspective - that the world to a dog may look very different to the world viewed by a mouse or a fish or a bee; wondering how the moon stays up, why air doesn’t get through our skin and how the clouds make rain; about how the earth makes different kinds of rocks. These free discussions are so important as they nurture a sense of wonder, the driver of curiosity and the desire to learn. They can learn to value ideas, to think independently, critically and creatively. They develop their language, vocabulary, their understandings about the world, and their sense of well-being as their ideas are validated by others.

Bush Kindy

Bush Kindy has been amazing, we loved our first site and we’re sorry to leave it behind, but our new location is twice as large and full of different, interesting areas for play and exploration. While the first site had the beloved bouncy vines the new place has the jungle AND the fig tree with giant buttress roots AND the mysterious rocky gully AND an area where you can dig for worms.... there’ll be plenty of happy learning and adventure in this place for sure. Big thank you to Tracy for her terrific leadership and for sharing what we’ve been doing each week via Facebook.

Thank you

To Julie and Tim Lewsey for obtaining our new drum water tanks via a Bunnings grant. These will be located next to the sandpit and will collect rainwater from the sandpit roof. Fitted out with a tap the children will be able to independently access water for play. The tanks can also be filled via the hose. We can’t wait to use them once installed!

To families who’ve volunteered at Bush Kindy - we appreciate the support and attention you give to the children’s learning there.

To our committee for keeping things running smoothly.

To our staff for going above and beyond on a daily basis to support our children and the Kindy.

Red Group Report 18/06/2020

Nearly half a year has come and gone, wow, time really does fly when you’re having fun.  Playing/working with three-year olds can put one into a wonderful world where play and being in the moment is a very high priority.  All children have a unique way of looking at and understanding their world, which makes our job of guiding them so rewarding.  We love the many opportunities available for Red Group Pre-Kindy children to practice their communication and social skills.   The world has changed dramatically this Term, but I feel the children, parents and staff at Chapel Hill Kindy have come through this difficult time with amazing resilience and a sunny disposition.

We have welcomed many of our Red Group friends back to Pre-Kindy in the last week and we have welcomed two new friends.  Welcome to Olen and Freya and their families.  They have both settled in very quickly, which is wonderful to see.  In Term Three, we will be joined by one more new child, which will take Red Group up to our capacity of 16.  We will certainly be a busy group then 😊

Looking through the many photos from the last month reminds me of all the learning that happens every afternoon at Red Group.  They are developing their resilience and sense of self, which are evidenced by being open to new challenges and being able to co-operate and work collaboratively with others.  One recent example of co-operation happened on the climbing A-frame.  Being considerate when our friends move at a different speed to us and waiting for a turn are big achievements for a young child. 

The children love playing up the top playground, near the cubby and climbing tree.  We have had a few weeks of making bird seed and feeding our friends, the “birds”.  This is a lovely example of cooperative and creative play.  The doctor’s office is also used every session, with children in full doctor costume and the patients covered in bandages and stretched out on the small doll beds.

We introduced spray painting this week and everyone loved it.  The simple act of squeezing the spray bottle trigger and seeing a burst of colour o the paper is always magical.  With Art Show at the end of Term 3 we are starting to keep some works of art that your children have made in case you have been wondering why they are not bringing much home.

With restrictions easing we are welcoming back parents to join us on Roster, so please come along next Term.  We will put out next Terms sign up sheet out next week.  We will be asking the children to bring along a special soft toy to join us for a picnic on the last day of Term, Tuesday the 23rd of June.

Director’s Report 18 June 2020 Anna Hutchings

Now that the children are fully settled back into Kindy and feeling comfortable and secure in their familiar surroundings, we are seeing their thinking and learning really take off. The play has become more complex, and therefore their learning has become more complex, because their social skills have improved, they are able to communicate their ideas with each other more effectively, they know where and how to get to the resources they need for their play, they are able to regulate their emotions more affectively so they are getting along better, and their physical skills have improved so they are able to construct, create, and move their bodies in more complicated ways.

It is, unfortunately, a common trap for adults to think of children’s play as “just play” and to dismiss children’s thinking and behaviour as unimportant and immature. But from our perspective as professionals whose business it is to understand how young people learn, it is truly fascinating and gratifying to observe these very young people developing and expressing their thinking and understandings. It is amazing, for example, to hear someone for the first time reflecting on their learning – “I tried it that way but it didn’t work, so now I’m trying it this way”, or to acknowledge their social responsibility by organising their friends and themselves to take turns. These are not little things, they and the thousands of other developmental and learning milestones that we scaffold and witness every day complex behaviours that are fundamental to life as an active citizen.

Bush Kindy

Even though we haven’t been able to visit our Bush Kindy by the creek site this term, we have been able to enjoy some wonderful outdoor learning experiences with Tracy. Tuesdays and Thursdays have become times to really look forward to for the children - fun mornings when Tracy brings real tools, so we can learn new things and make stuff that is super cool – like ladders, a zip line, and spiderwebs that are strong enough to hold our weight. Through these wonderful outdoor experiences children are learning to stick at a task. Control their bodies in new and complex ways, plan and carryout a project, work together, share and take turns, assessing risk and build a strong sense of confidence and an attitude of “I can do it”. We are really looking forward to being able to walk down to Bush Kindy by the Creek next term, to really be in the bush, and to be self-reliant in that each child needs to carry everything that they need in their backpack. Tracy has some beautiful experiences planned for when we are there.

Arts project

We have been given the opportunity to participate in an exciting project run by Barbara Piscitelli a.m. Barbara has been collecting children’s art work since the 1990s and has an extensive collection in the Queensland State library. In this arts project, Barbara hopes to collect the perspectives of children in the COVID-19 pandemic through their paintings and drawings. Over the last few weeks, we have been having some interesting discussions with the children about coronavirus including what we think it looks like, how people can catch it, and how we can get rid of it. Their responses have been enthusiastic and extremely imaginative – Barbara has had a look at some of the work our children have done so far, and is very interested in their thinking. Children absorb so much from conversations, the news and what is happening around them. They can have very complex ideas about how/what/why things happen. Listening to and valuing children’s perspectives and understandings supports children to become confident, active citizens as they share, adapt and develop their view of the world.

Play from big book

In other play....

- Responding to some examples of aboriginal art during national reconciliation week

-     playing doctors and vets – Kev giving an medical rituals combined with imaginative role-play.

-     We have learned 30 Yuggerabul words so far. It is a time of day that many children look forward to and will keenly peek behind the board to see what words will be learning that day. We have been using a Yuggerabul words throughout the day – for example, on a really windy day a couple of weeks ago we referred to that cheeky “buran” that kept sending our paint pots, glue and all the collage swirling and wailing around the kindy, and making a bit of a mess! This led to a discussion about the wind and how we can tell where it’s coming from. “We could make a wind flag”. Where does the cold air come from? “New South Wales”, thought one friend, or maybe Antarctica.

-     This week we introduced the fire pit at Bush kindy time. Tracy discussed with the group the topic of “what’s good and useful about fire?” “It can heat you up”, “it’s good to cook things on”, “you can roast marshmallows”. Together we talked about how to stay safe around the fire – stay 1.2 m away Tracy showed them with a tape measure and they sat in a circle the safe distance. When you want to move away from the fire, walk away from the fire not towards it! What can we cook on our fire? Some children had some yummy and interesting suggestions – chicken, strawberries, sausages, popcorn copper apples with cinnamon, cow, cabbage leaves and Hulu me.

-     Taking a trip – bus and train play. Chairs were collected and carried to make a long bus which soon became a train. Tickets were sold, money was paid and you could even buy a coffee. Passengers happily got on and off, or simply stayed on to enjoy Relaxing journey with lots and lots of stops.

-     We’ve been having fun with our shadows in the winter sun, noticing how we can control them with our bodies movement. Humorous, fascinating and science.

-     Exploring police and working together in small groups with loose parts to make fabulous constructions such as wooden tents.

Red Pre-Kindy Group Report May 2020

I would like to start my report with a special word that sums up the amazing attitude of everyone in our kindy community, resilience.  One definition of resilience, from the Miriam-Webster Dictionary, is “an ability to recover from or adjust easily to change”.  The amazing resilience of the teaching staff, children, Committee and parents during this challenging time has been wonderful to witness.  We have also learnt news skills during this time as we transitioned to online learning.  Another positive result has been the great connections we were able to make with the children whilst staying physically apart.

Red Group has been back for two weeks this Term, with only half the group attending, so far.  I imagine more will return during the Term when they feel it is right for them.  Thank you to the Committee for allowing Red Group to be free from fees for Term Two.  I am sure all the pre-kindy families are grateful for that financial break.

We have a new friend at Red Group, her name is Brooke and she has quickly become part of our little pre-kindy family.  With a smaller group at present, Phoebe and I can spend more time with each child, which benefits all of us.

We encountered an injured Bush Turkey chick in the bushes on Monday and a few of the children were concerned.  We brought it some water and quietly watched it, sitting still so we didn’t frighten it.  Such kindness towards an injured animal was beautiful to witness and very much a part of the philosophy of Chapel Hill kindy.  The chick was taken to the vet on Tuesday and we all hope it has a speedy recovery.  The children hope it can come back to kindy when it’s all better.

The Doctors surgery in home corner has been immensely popular the last two weeks.  So many babies with broken limbs and children asking if we need an injection.  Sometimes there is also a receptionist answering the phone and doctors making notes on the patient care.   Dramatic play is a fabulous place for children’s creativity to blossom.

Have you thought about coming to visit Red Group?  We love parents and grandparents to join us for the afternoon, just add your name to the Roster list.  Impromptu visits are fine also, we value all family connections at pre-kindy.  If you have an interest or skill you would like to share with everyone, please have a chat with me or Phoebe and we can work out a suitable time for you to share it with the group.

Director's Report March 2020

 Directors report

Anna Hutchings 19 March 2020

In these unique times we are continuing our constant task, which is to put children first. Aside from implementing extra hygiene and distancing measures, this means creating a safe, predictable and happy environment for our children to learn and play. Our Kindy is a little sanctuary where life continues almost as normal, with the aim that any changes go undetected by children. The way that we talk about the current crisis in front of children is so important - we must be mindful of their young minds, their still developing ability to process complex information and their small-person emotions.

And anyway, there have been much more interesting things to talk about, such as, must this caterpillar eat brown leaves because it is brown? And, will I ever be able to touch the tree with my toes when I swing really high? Will I or the tree take longer to grow? These small things fill our days and we are joyful.

We begin each morning by saying our welcome:

“Here is the land, the water and the sky, here are our friends, and here am I. Today I will go with Yindyamarra my heart”. Yindyamarra is a Wiradjuri word that means to go slowly with honour and respect. We use the word in multiple contexts throughout the day, reminding ourselves to make choices that respect others, ourselves and the environment. I have been amazed and delighted with how children in both our Kindy groups have demonstrated Yindyamarra, how kind they are to each other how respectful they are. Obviously this comes from home.

Following are some examples of our play and learning recently

- Exploring balance and load, spontaneously in play by stacking cushions and walking along narrow beams, and through experimentation with a set of scales. These are fun opportunities to develop early mathematical thinking and language.

- Children are collaborating to build amazing structures and gadgets using a wide range and combination of open ended materials - a museum with a meditation area, houses with electricity cables, and an actual platform in the climbing tree.

- The climbing tree has been a focal point so far this year as children develop their courage to find a way up and make it out onto the little platform. We have used these moments to discuss “safety checks“ and making choices that are safe for yourself and others.

- Sensory play and learning with gorgeous goop, play dough, clay and playing in the rain one warm day.

- We have set up play experiences for children to explore the “connecting“ schema, where children experiment with different ways of joining things together, such as threading beads on to different kinds of materials, blocks and loose parts arranged in towers and snaking curves, giant twisty ties to connect larger resources together.

- Imaginary role play about animals, families and rescue games.

- Developing compassion and understanding through the discoveries we have made of a diverse range of insects and small creatures.

- Exploring ideas about the First Australians, meeting the beautiful Aunty Sharron and learning from her about some traditional indigenous dance, song, inventions and ideas and how we can all feel connected to the world around us.

- Imagining we’re in the Rainforest with the Evergreen Children’s Theatre and meeting some amazing native animal puppets.

- We’re learning about CHANGE by watching our Hawk Moth caterpillars go through their metamorphosis.

- We are exploring effective communication, listening strategies and literacy learning through our constant reading of books and through an ongoing game “teachers” where the children take turns sitting on my stool, reading a book and leading the other children in songs and games.

On Wednesday our staff had a very productive pupil free day. We completed our CPR refresher course, re-painted the outdoor bathroom, water blasted the cave, installed new worm towers for composting, worked on updating our MSDS, gave the mud kitchen a makeover, took to the front garden with needle and thread to make repairs to our crochet art and held a staff meeting to discuss, among other things, our response to the COVID-19 crisis.

In these unfamiliar times it is unclear what we should be looking forward to. Nevertheless we are making plans for our Bush Kindy program next term with some exciting new elements. We are looking forward to re-planting our veggie pod with winter plants.

Thank you to our families who have come on roster, we’ve enjoyed your presence and appreciated your help.

Red Group Report March 2020

Red Group Report

19/03/20

Welcome to all the children and families to Red Group.  This short afternoon program will provide many opportunities for your child to enjoy free play, social interactions with their peer group, creative arts, climbing, digging and much, much more.  For some of you this is your child’s first experience without you, which is a big step in a three year olds life and an emotional time for you too.  Some children at Red Group have watched their big sister/brother come to Blue and Yellow group and they are more than ready to have their own special time at kindy. Many children are happy playing alone or parallel to other children, whilst others are seeking out new friends to play with.  One thing for sure is that Red Group afternoons are filled with activity and opportunities for your inquisitive three year olds.

Term One is rushing by, only two more weeks until school holidays begin, and Red Group children are exploring their kindy environment with confidence.  The children are enjoying all areas of the kindy, from the home corner to the swings.  With the warm weather we’ve been having water play is a favourite with many of the children.  They especially love to use water in the sand pit, creating delicious cakes, focaccia and cups of tea. Moving water through pipes and buckets, wheelbarrows, anything that can hold water, has been a fascinating investigation recently.   During water play children are improving their problem-solving skills, physical development, social/emotional development and language development.  Maths and science concepts are also explored during water-play, what an amazing activity filled with rich learning opportunities. 

Easel painting is offered most weeks, with a variety of colour combinations each day.    The children are keen to use all the equipment on the stationary shelves, such as scissors, sticky tape, hold punches and a multitude of drawing materials.  Play dough is a favourite activity for some children, offering wonderful opportunities for creative expression.  We also painted on beautiful Leopard Tree bark this week, giving the children a new, three-dimensional, surface to paint on.

We have been busy with other activities too, such as: rolling balls down the hill on through the pipes, climbing, swinging really high, walking on stilts, balancing on the red boards and building towers, just to name a few.  How the children fit so much into ninety minutes is a real mystery. 

We get together as a group near the end of the session to sing, chat, play a game and read a story.  We are keeping group time fairly short at this stage with the plan to make it longer as the interest and maturity increases. 

To celebrate the end of Term One and the upcoming Easter Holiday we will be inviting families to join us on the last week of term for an Easter Egg Hunt with their children.  Invitations will be sent home next week.

Pre-Kindy November 2019 Report

Only three more weeks of pre-kindy for the year, time certainly does fly when you are having fun.  The Red Group children have had a fabulous year playing, building, swinging, imagining, digging, climbing and making new friends.  The children have matured and changed so much over the last ten months. 

They are seeking out their special friends, returning to favourite activities and trying new play provocations that we create every week.  We have noticed an increase in cooperative play this term, which is very exciting to observe as it shows a growing social maturity. 

The children all seem very ready for big Kindy next year.  We have been talking to the pre-kindy children about what they might do at Kindy next year, to help them feel ready for this big step.  The transition from Red Group into Blue or Yellow Group will be wonderful and exciting for the children and parents also.  I look forward to catching up with the Red Group children next year when they are in their new groups.  I love the opportunity to stay connected with the pre-kindy children next year as I help run the Bush Kindy program in Terms two and three.

Red Group has had a busy month; we celebrated many 4-year-old birthdays, carved a pumpkin, made playdough, washed dinosaurs and bravely leapt off a plank, just to name a few or the many experiences we’ve enjoyed recently.  Two weeks ago we had our annual visit to the creek to explore the local park.  It is always very exciting to be somewhere new, even if it’s only a few hundred metres from kindy!  We put on the hi-vis vests that the big kindy children wear, then went on a nature treasure hunt.  We found many treasures on our walk to the Bush Kindy site.  We used our treasures to create unique Bush creatures, using a piece of clay to attach them to a tree.  Thanks for all the wonderful parents who helped on the excursion, we couldn’t do it without you J

  There are many end of year preparations in the next two weeks, such as; making cards, wrapping paper and presents for our mums and dads.  This is a surprise present your child is making, so you will have to wait a few weeks to find out what it is.   We will also be cooking something yummy for our end of year party which will be on Tuesday the 10th of December from 1:00 pm till 2:30 pm.  Next week we will send home invitations and put out a food list for parents to select what they would like to bring to the party. 

We would like to thank all the parents who came on roster this year, to help or to come and play with your child, we love having you come to Red Group.  Phoebe, Cristina and I have had a wonderful year with your beautiful children, and we are looking forward to our last few weeks together.

I want to thank all the wonderful parents on the committee who give up so much time and energy to our kindy, you are all amazing!!  Our kindy is a very special place because you are all fabulous human beings. 😊

Pre-Kindy October Report

Red Group Report 17/10/19

 As always happens in Term Four we all wonder, “where did the year go?”  Which prompts us to look back on all that has happened so far with our amazing Red Group children.  A time to reflect on how they have changed during the year – socially, emotionally and physically.  I’m pretty sure some of the children grew a few centimetres taller in the holidays too. 😊  

With a larger group in Terms Three and Four, there are more opportunities for children to develop new friendships, that may carry on into kindy next year.  There are already many blossoming friendships, with children engaging in sophisticated, co-operative play.  Some children still prefer playing alone during our short session, but they are happy if others join in their play.  Everyone loves to join in at group time and I encourage the children to offer suggestions regarding what we do during that time together.  If any parent plays a musical instrument, they would like to share with the group please let me know.

With the hot weather returning we have introduced water play each day.  As well as cooling us down, water play is a wonderful open-ended learning opportunity to explore volume, gravity, improve eye/hand co-ordination and many other skills.  For the Red Group children, it’s just plain fun and a great way to socialize with our friends.  We will be offering it most days, so please remember to pack an extra t-shirt.

After a very busy Term Three preparing for and having our amazing Art Show we are enjoying a relaxed start to Term Four.  We are offering the usual well-loved activities of painting, collage, playdough, puzzles, home corner, tree climbing etc. as we continue to learn through play.  Later this Term we will have a special Pre-kindy session down at the local Cubberla Creek Park to explore that beautiful, natural environment and to, hopefully, visit our kindy Water Dragon sculpture.  We will be sending home Permission Slips next week in your child’s pocket by the sign in sheet.

To help the children transition to “big” kindy next year we have started to introduce some of the kindy routines they will encounter next year.  During snack time we have introduced the three-bin system for all waste/rubbish at kindy.  The green labelled bin is for recyclable materials and used cutlery, the brown labelled bin is for food scraps that are suitable for our worm tower or compost bin and the red labelled bin is for any rubbish that can’t be recycled or reused.

Red Group children will have a special job this Term, creating a homemade gift for their families for Christmas.  We will work on the gift during the last four weeks of the Term.  Red group also has an end of year Break Up party which will be on Tuesday 10th of December, from 1:00 pm till 2:30 pm.

There are plenty of available Roster Days available if you would love to spend the afternoon with Red Group, we would love you to come and play.   

Pre-Kindy Report September 2019

Red Group Report

19/09/19 

We have had so many amazing experiences in the last four weeks, where should I begin!   Let’s start in August with the Dads Campfire Day.  Many Red Group dads joined in the fun: playing, hammering, eating sausages and toasting marshmallows.  Everyone who came had a fabulous morning sharing the fun with their child, especially wonderful for the dads that can’t make it to kindy during the week.  The children were very happy to show their dads around kindy and loved having a real fire at kindy.

We spent time during Red Group at the end of August making memorable hand print cards for our daddies and gave them each a bookmark to help remind them to read us more books.  We discovered that many children loved getting their hands painted and returned several times to make more prints.  Some have continued for the last few weeks making handprints every time we have paint available.  We hope that all the parents send their children in clothes that can get painty, muddy and wet, as we encourage all these hands on explorations at kindy.

Now to the piece de resistance of Term Three…the ART SHOW!!  It was a fabulous success, said all who entered the gates and were amazed by the event.  Seeing the joy on the faces of all the children and their families certainly makes all the hard preparation work worth it.  Red Group contributed a beautiful “Ode to Blue Poles” which consisted of water sprayed on runny paint, which was won by the lovely Robinson family.  We were inspired to create our group canvas using a spray bottle because all Red Group children love to paint using the spray bottle.  We always try to create a canvas that reflects the interests of the group.

New friendships are blossoming each day at Red Group and we are witnessing a new level of maturity in social and dramatic play with some children.  We have celebrated a few Four-year-old birthdays this term and we have enjoyed singing to the birthday child and explaining several times that we cannot eat the Rock Cake, which is difficult because it does look so delicious.

Nearly all the Red Group families came to the Art Show and helped make the huge bottle top water dragon art piece, which is a representation of our special kindy friend, Magil.  A large sculpture of Magil can be found at the nearby Cubberla Creek Park.  We will visit the park and Magil in Term 4 when Red Group has an excursion to visit our Bush Kindy site.

 Thank you to all the children who created the art, teachers who mounted the art and all the helpers who assisted with the setting up and taking down of the Art show.  Thank you to the Deejay Family singers for their beautiful entertainment on the day.  Finally, a big thank you to the cupcake makers and sellers, well done.

Director's Report September 2019

Director’s Report

Kindergarten

Anna Hutchings

19 September 2019

 Where did the time go? We are already on the cusp of Term Four and our children are so busy and content as they organise themselves into rich, social play.  We are very proud of how far they come in their confidence, independence, capability and sense of responsibility.

 We also feel incredibly proud of another fabulous Art Show, of the children’s diverse creativity, of our staff’s commitment and flair for display, and for the support shown by our families in a huge turnout and helpfulness in setting up, running the delicious bake stall and packing down.  With our industrious set of volunteers, it took just over an hour to pack down and return the Kindy to normal - amazing!  The Art Show is not just about admiring colourful paintings; it’s about honouring and celebrating children’s exploration, thinking, creativity and expression.  Every year’s show is different because the children are different, and that’s what we love.  We are excited about putting our collaborative junk-art bottle-top mural depicting our Kindy totem, water dragon Magil, on display soon!

 With the Art Show over, we begin our preparations for the end of the year - we have lots to do - write transition statements, have conversations with school leaders and prep teachers, as well as prepare the children for their transition to school.  Schools will run their orientation programs, which are very important in helping children to feel comfortable starting in their new environment. 

It is common to feel anxious about your child starting school - are they ready?  “Readiness” has less to do with academic skills such as number and letter recognition and being able to write their name and count to 20, and much more to do with social and emotional readiness, which, happily, we have been working on with the children all year! 

 The skills and dispositions that Prep teachers perceive as “readiness” include:

•    independence - following instructions and taking care of their belongings, putting on their own shoes

•    positive social skills - taking turns, sharing, communicating their needs and ideas effectively, getting along with others

•    confidence and resilience - having a go, persisting with tasks, trying again, moving on.

It is important to remember that while your child may still have meltdowns for you and may not consistently demonstrate all of these skills at home (which is entirely normal!), at Kindy they mostly rise to expectations and save all that other “lovely” behaviour for you!

In terms of literacy learning prior to school, it is important that children understand that written words represent speech and that letters represent sounds.  If your child is counting naturally by pointing to one object at a time, and using mathematical language such as “more than”, “less than”, “longer” and “slower”, they are demonstrating appropriate numeracy development.

Early next term we will email some information and tips for things you can do to help your child feel ready for school.

Some children will be staying on at Kindy to benefit from another year of play-based learning.  Children develop at different rates and in different ways and we want all our children to head off to school ready to thrive!

Last week we ran our final Bush Kindy by the Creek sessions for the year.  Many of the children were sad to know that we would not be returning there together, but were cheered by the idea that they could always visit with their families!  I would like to extend my heartfelt thanks to Tracy for producing such a rich and enjoyable outdoor program.  The opportunities that it gave to develop resilience, curiosity, problem solving, creativity, practical skills, emotional regulation, compassion and responsibility in both the children and adults who attended was invaluable.  We are looking forward to next year’s program - what new adventures await us?

And now on to some other fun stuff …

•    The rescue of the Tawny Frogmouth chick on Art Show morning inspired rich imaginative play in the days afterwards.  A child (baby bird) would lie, bereft, on the ground.  Rescuers (children) would administer “worms”, make “medicine” and carefully drag the poor chick into a new nest (cardboard box) where it would lie recuperating until total recovery allowed it to flap around joyously.  Underlying this engaging and lovely play was the consolidation of ideas around compassion and care taking.  Children were sharing their thinking and working together, playing out a scene over and over that had obviously captivated their interest and imagination.

•    The Kindy children are greatly enjoying physical challenges - extending their skills and showing courage on the slippery pole and narrow balancing beam

•    Reading about what Earth and life was like before the dinosaurs - expanding the children’s  perspective

•    Extending the children’s emotional literacy by reading and discussing books that depict a wide range of emotions

•    Blue Group going crazy with box and mixed media creations - working independently and using problem-solving thinking.  Sharing ideas and skills with others

•    Yellow Group have been enjoying singing “Waltzing Matilda” and discussing the complex and mysterious storyline

•    Both groups are learning and applying local indigenous language words in our day to day Kindy life.  You may have noticed some being used at home too!   We are learning new ones each week

•    Interesting items for show and tell coming each week - beautiful books, handmade creations, unusual driftwood, a real dinosaur tooth.

I attended a professional development day to learn about the new online transition statement application developed by the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority.  I am looking forward to using the streamlined app and the opportunity to share the statements with parents and your child’s school via the QCAA portal.

Three of our staff will attend a Nature Pedagogy training course next month bringing the number of fully trained staff at our centre to five - a very high proportion!

Thank you

-     Our Dads and Granddads who came to Campfire Day and made it special.  It’s a wonderful Kindy event and we love to look around and see all the dads happily and playing and chatting - best day ever!

-     Our committee and families for Art Show support - we value your help very much - it makes the job much easier

-     Our Art Show bake stall bakers for amazing and delicious treats

-     The working bee team for a great clean up prior to Art Show

-     Families and strangers off the street for donations of priceless “junk”

-     Staff for putting in maximum effort right to the very end

-     The children for surprising us every day and teaching us as much as we teach them.

Director's Report August 2019

Director’s Report

16 August 2019

Anna Hutchings

Term Three is always a very busy time of the year, not only because we are gearing up for the Art Show, which is the Kindy’s biggest day, but also because of the way the children play and learn. They have been here for long enough that they are extremely comfortable with each other and the environment, they understand their responsibilities, their social skills have developed a great deal and they are ready for extended, rich play in collaboration with others. Our job at this time of the year is to provide interesting provocations and resources, to try and spark more complex thinking and skill development.

Because the children are feeling so confident at Kindy, we have observed many instances of children teaching each other skills. How to join boxes together to make a car that has 10 wheels and reversible lasers. How to make coloured mixtures by grating chalk and combining it with water. How to make an alien house out of plasticine to create an alien village.  Peer to peer teaching and learning is an incredibly effective way to acquire skills, often more effective than learning from a teacher.  It has the additional benefit of building the self-esteem and confidence of the child passing on their knowledge and skills, and this is something that we strongly encourage between children.

We have introduced new tools to expand the children’s experience and learning of practical skills.  The children relish the opportunity to use real tools, and so we have been using sewing needles, saws, hammers and nails, screwdrivers, palm drills, and even the electric drill in meaningful and purposeful ways. Our Father’s Day present this year has required an array of different tools and methods – the children are very much looking forward to presenting their dads with the gift that they made from scratch. We have also been exploring pulley systems and we are working on the idea of making a zip line – this one is requiring a lot of thinking from both children and teachers.  We have also been pulling things apart, like electronic games that no longer work, keyboards and typewriters, to see what is inside and find out how they might work.  We are always encouraging the children to be curious, to ask questions and to try to solve problems.

We have recently been selecting books for group story time that feature characters experiencing a range of emotions. As we read the story together, we stop to notice facial expressions on the characters – what are they feeling now? Why might they be feeling sad right now? These are questions that we ask the children during story time. The ability to recognise and label feelings is a key social skill. Being able to read how another person is feeling and respond appropriately enables getting along with others. Being able to identity our own feelings enables us to understand what makes us happy, sad or anxious, and helps us, over time, to learn to regulate our emotions.  The Kindy children have shown great interest in analysing and discussing the expressions and feelings of book characters and have shared sometimes surprisingly insightful reasoning. So that’s emotional literacy – in terms of language literacy the children are loving playing rhyming games and making up spontaneous rhymes throughout the day. Rhyming is a key element of early literacy development - rhymes teach children that words are composed of consistent sounds that can be played with to make other words - some real and some silly! And the silly is the fun part.

Thank you’s:

Thank you to our working bee team for keeping the Kindy neat and tidy.

To our committee for securing us the $1200 Rotary grant which we will put towards Bush Kindy resources, the Shell grant which we will put towards new home corner resources, and the Grill’d donations jar which we would love to put towards either some new books or a climbing wall.

To Adam and crew for modifying our fence near the climbing tree.

Thank you to our families for interesting donations of upcycleable junk.

To our staff for going hard at Art Show preparation!

Red Group Report August 2019

We have nine new friends at Red Group this Term and a new assistant teacher.  Welcome to all the new children and their families and welcome to our kindy teaching staff Cristina.  All the new children have settled in well at Red Group and have explored most of the kindy environment and all that it has to offer.  Cristina has quickly become an integral part of the group and the children love having three teachers.

It is amazing to think that in a little over five months all the Red Group children will be at Kindy, in Blue or Yellow group with their amazing teacher Anna to guide them.  As I reflect on the last six months I am amazed at the changes in the children since starting pre-kindy.  Their ability to share with and socialize with each other has improved greatly, with some already making strong friendships. The complexity of their play, especially imaginative play has increased also. 

Most children have adjusted to the routines and structure of the pre-kindy afternoon, which will help them prepare for big kindy next year.  There are a multitude of benefits for the children who attend pre-kindy at Chapel Hill and I know the timing can be tricky for some families, but the positive outcomes make it all worthwhile.

So far this Term the Red Group children have been:  cooking up feasts and feeding the babies in home corner, painting- a lot, climbing the ladder tree, riding the “horse”, building with blocks, enjoying story time and singing, having a go at tricky puzzles, putting on puppet shows, swinging, dressing up… and I could go on for pages.  Please feel free to have a look through all the amazing photos on the Ipad or flip through the pages of our Red Group Big Book to see what we do each week.

Mat time at Red Group gives us the opportunity to come together at the end of our session and share music and stories together.  The time spent on the mat fluctuates each day, depending on how long the tidy up takes. Most of the children come running to the mat as soon as we start our gathering song, eager to join in with their friends.

With the imminent arrival of Fathers Day and Art Show, the children will be making surprise gifts for their daddies and creating beautiful works of art for the Art Show in September.  Just a note for parents, in case you were wondering why so few paintings have been coming home, we have been putting aside some art for the Art Show, so we can showcase Red Groups finest creations. 

Phoebe, Cristina and I are looking forward to the rest of Term Three with your wonderful children and we would love some parents or grandparents to join us on Roster to share the fun with your child and us.

Chapel Hill Kindy's brand new Cubby House

Thanks to the talented craftsmanship and generosity of the wonderful teachers and students from within the St Edmund’s College Manual Arts Department, Chapel Hill Kindy will be the home of a brand new freshly constructed Cubby House next year!

The Cubby House will fit in very nicely to the beautiful natural playground setting that is already enjoyed by the Children at Chapel Hill Kindy and we really thank St Edmund’s College, so very much, for providing us with this fantastic new addition!

We would also like to express our gratitude to the ever-efficient Shane from Brown’s Delivery Service who did not hesitate to put up his hand, donating his time and service, to ensuring the Cubby houses pieces were delivered from St Edmund’s College to the Kindy itself, both quickly and professionally. A very big thank you shout out to Shane – we could not have done this without you!

https://www.brownsdeliveryservice.com/

Thank you McGrath Estate Agents

We got a wonderful surprise when we found out we would be the recipient of a $500 donation from the wonderful people at McGrath Estate Agents! Thank you very much Trent and Jill, and thank you to the mystery family who nominated us!

We plan to use the money to purchase a microscope to take with us on our Bush Kindy adventures!

Today

Enrol now for Pre-Kindy 2017

Are you looking for a Pre-Kindergarten place for your 3 year old child? Pre-Kindy is a wonderful opportunity for your child to experience a gentle introduction to the busy life of being a kindergartener.  For two afternoons every week, your child can come and play, sing, paint, create, make friends and explore in the beautiful natural environment at our outstanding kindergarten.

Our Pre-Kindergarten Groups run with two sessions per week from 3.15pm-4.45pm. Red Group runs Monday and Tuesday, while green group runs Wednesday and Thursday. The program is run by a fully qualified early childhood teacher and assistant and if you complete terms 3 and 4 of Pre-Kindy your child will be guaranteed a place in the 4 year old Kindy program the following year.

For enquiries, please contact the kindy office. Our office manager Lydia is there on a Tuesday and Thursday between 9.30am and 2.30pm and will happily answer any questions or organise a suitable time for you to come and view our beautiful kindy.

50 year celebrations - thank you!

Thank you to everyone who came to our 50 year celebration and community event on Sunday. It was a fantastic day. To our generous sponsors - Simons Gourmet Gallery, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Jindalee Pool and others, we could not have done it without your support!

To Julian Simmonds Councillor for Walter Taylor Ward, thank you for your support and coming on the day to unveil our sculpture.

To our amazing entertainment - Brett Campbell Children's Musician and Geckoes Wildlife Presentations, thank you - the children so enjoyed your shows.

To our artists, Suzi and Daniel, and our friends at the Cubberla-Witton Catchments Network, this would not have happened without your energy and guidance.

To our wonderful teachers - thank you for facilitating the excursion to Cubberla Creek and incorporating the water dragon into the children's learnings in term 4.

To the 2015 kindy children, thank you for contributing your amazing creativity to the tiles you each made. Thank you to past and present families who sponsored a tile. You have helped to create something beautiful for our community!

And last but most certainly not least, thank you to Yellow Group mum Julie Sanderson and her group of parent volunteers who made the day such a success. Julie worked tirelessly to make both the sculpture and celebration happen - we are so grateful and very thankful for your efforts.

50 Year Community Celebration - Sutling St Park 6 December

You are invited to our 50th celebrations and sculpture unveiling on Sunday 6 December, 2.30-4.30pm. All welcome, please bring your family and friends. Please see attached flyer for details. We hope you can make it! We cannot wait to see the sandstone water dragon sculpture that our kindy friends have helped to create! There are a lot of fun things planned for the day, so don't miss it!

Thank you to all our event sponsors - Simons Gourmet Gallery, Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, Julian Simmonds Councillor for Walter Taylor Ward and Jindalee Pool.

50th Anniversary Tiles Available Now

We would like to give you the opportunity to put your family's mark on our 50th anniversary sculpture. You can purchase a specially made tile that will sit alongside the children's fossils in a beautiful mosaic design on the water dragon sculpture. You can choose between a beautiful gum leaf glazed in rich organic colours, representing the beautiful habitat that surrounds the kindy grounds, or the concentric growth rings of a tree fused with an amber glass centre, representing growth, the past and the present. These photos give you an idea of what our artist Suzi will create this week.

You can purchase one tile for your family, or one tile for each of your family members that have attended our wonderful kindy!

Don't miss out, there's only 50 available. $25 each. Email chapelhillkindy50@gmail.com by 13 November.