Category: From the Director

From the Director

From the Director

From the Director

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A cornerstone of the Elonera Preschool philosophy is that children learn best through play. As kindergarten educators we are often asked how play based learning supports the children’s school readiness, so I would like to take this opportunity to share and explore with our families how play supports and develops the children’s transition to school.

Children make sense of the world and their experiences through play and they need to be provided the space, time and opportunity to work through these. Play based learning maximises adult interactions with children, enabling meaningful observations that inform future learning focuses and also reflects our high expectations for children’s individual achievement.

A play based program has many benefits for children as it facilitates the development of skills, dispositions and knowledge. An effective play based program can assist children to develop lifelong learning skills that will stay with them beyond the early learning environment. Engaging in play based learning enables children to use and develop thinking skills such as problem solving, reasoning and lateral thinking. It offers opportunities to interact with others, develop communication strategies and work in collaboration with peers and adults. It can foster literacy, numeracy and the development of scientific concepts. Pre-reading, numeracy and writing skills are embraced and embedded in the kindergarten program. The children are provided the opportunity to explore and experiment with letter and print; explore scientific and mathematical concepts; and are exposed to a variety of stories, storytellling, songs, puppetry and dramatic play. Through their participation in play based experiences the children are encouraged to explore and develop these skills at their own pace.

As children are empowered to make decisions and initiate play, they become confident and motivated learners. This in turn fosters responsibility and self regulation. Play also provides children with many opportunities to resolve conflict, challenge unfair play and embrace diversity.

School readiness in the context of play based learning at kindergarten is also about giving children the opportunity to develop the confidence and skills to make friends; to enter a group play situation; to be able to assert their own ideas and needs, and feel good about doing so; to be able to consider the needs of their playmates; and to self regulate their emotions; to cooperate and negotiate with their peers. It is also about encouraging children to make independent choices; to problem solve; and follow through to complete self-chosen experiences. Having exposure to and exploring these social and emotional skills throughout their kindergarten years lays the foundation for the children’s successful transition into primary school.

Gina

 

From the Director

From the Director

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My final report for the year will be the speech I presented at the Annual General Meeting.

On behalf of the teaching team at Elonera I would like to thank the outgoing Committee of Management for the tremendous amount of support, commitment and dedication they have provided to our kindergarten community this year. It has been a pleasure to work with you, to learn from you, and as a collective to lead our community to make Elonera the best that it can be.

I would like to say a huge thank-you to our teaching staff for all of their commitment, dedication and the endless hours they commit to Elonera each year. It is my utmost pleasure to lead this team – they are an amazing group of teachers who have built a commitment to support one another professional and personally, who are able challenge and support one other, are committed to provide quality programs and continually strive for excellence, while also being willing and open to test their own boundaries and become ‘life long learners.’

The concept of play based learning is the cornerstone of the philosophy of Elonera Preschool. Play based programs assist children to develop lifelong learning skills that will stay with them beyond the early learning environment. Engaging in play based learning enables children to use and develop thinking skills such as problem solving, reasoning and lateral thinking. It offers opportunities to interact with others, to develop communication strategies and work in collaboration with peers and adults. It can foster literacy, numeracy and the development of scientific concepts. As children are empowered to make decisions and initiate play, they become confident and motivated learners. This in turn fosters responsibility and self regulation.

For my presentation this evening we will be exploring play based learning in the context of music and movement experiences. Participating in Music and movement experiences benefits a child’s development in many ways. It allows children to participate in a group, develops social skills, encourages children to express emotions, refines listening skills, develops an awareness of movement and body positions, extends creativity and imagination, develops large motor skills, improves balance, coordination, and rhythm, develops small hand muscle strength, builds neural pathways, develops eye tracking skills, and develops bilateral and cross body coordination….to name just a few. And the most important feature is that the children are developing all these skills…..while having fun and being engaged in their play.

So in the spirit of music and movement in a play based learning program – we have some songs and movement experiences to do with you tonight. I will ask you to place all your chairs along the sides of the room and form 2 large circles. (Parents to play 3 different movements games with our Lycra panels – ‘Teddies bounce, Jelly on a Plate, Stretchy Lycra.’)

Thank-you so much for your engagement and participation tonight and we hope that this small exercise has provided you a new understanding of the benefits of a hands-on and child centred play
based learning program. In the words of Bev Bos who was an advocate for developmentally appropriate play-based learning, “If it hasn’t been in the hand and body, it can’t be in the brain.”

Thank-you! 

Director’s Report

Director’s Report

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The Possum children have enjoyed spending large blocks of time outdoors in the lovely spring weather. A firm favourite with all the children is of course our fabulous water pump. The children are now able to confidently and independently fetch water to incorporate into their play and we often observe detailed and complex games and conversations in the dirt patch and sandpit as the children explore ‘making cakes’, cooking, exploring how to create water channels, and our very favourite – jumping in muddy puddles! Mud play and sand and water play are wonderful sensory experience and many children are naturally drawn to them, as they provide endless opportunities for discovery and experimentation.

In relation to mud play, scientists have now confirmed something that children have always instinctively known; playing in mud is a joyful experience. Recent research has shown that dirt contains microscopic bacteria called Mycobacterium Vaccae which stimulates the immune system and increases the levels of serotonin in our brains, an endorphin that soothes, calms, and helps us to relax. The rich, engaging sensory play children partake in while playing with mud allows them to express their creativity while enhancing their fine motor skills. Children practice social skills such as cooperation, negotiation, communication, and sharing as they work together. Playing in the mud inspires children to feel a connection to nature and develop an appreciation for the environment. By providing time outdoors and the chance for muddy, messy play, you facilitate a love of the earth. But maybe the greatest benefit of mud play is the memories being created by the children. Mud play and the wonder and joy associated with it are the stuff that fabulous childhood memories are made of! And the Possum group have certainly created some wonderful memories this year!

We also enjoyed our excursion to The Melbourne Museum this week! We had the opportunity to explore the world of dinosaurs, explored the earth, participated in a museum led experience ‘Grandad’s Shed,’ explored the Children’s Gallery, had a picnic amongst the trees and participated in a rainforest walk. It was a very busy morning – and as you can imagine there were a lot of sleepy people on the bus back to kinder! Thank-you to our parent helpers Ike, Emily, Bronwyn, Jade, Karli and Steph who assisted us on the day. The children were so engaged and enthralled by their exploration of the Museum I would highly recommend you add this experience to your Christmas Holidays ‘to do’ list.

We don’t let the grass grow under our feet in the Possum group and we look forward to a number of events and experiences over the remainder of the term. The children are all very excited for our upcoming ‘Halloween Dress Up Day’ on Tuesday, our ‘Count Us In’ music performance on Thursday 2nd November, as well as a Library excursion, PJ/Teddy Bear Picnic day, and preparing for our Chirstmas Concert on Thursday 14th December.

The Teaching Team at Elonera have now completed all of our 4 year old children’s ‘Transition Statements’. These statements will be distributed to our families nominated schools in the week commence 30th October, in order to assist the primary schools with their transition processes. The children are also beginning to participate in their primary schools transition programs, they are enjoying talking about their new experiences with their peers, and we encourage the children to share their thoughts, excitement and at times worries about the next step they are about to take in their learning journey.

Gina

From the Director

From the Director

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It is difficult to believe that we are already at the end of term 3! And what a huge month we have had in the Possum group. We continue to explore and enjoy our cooking and music and movement elements of the program and have also been enjoying weekly visits from Nicole this term to participate in a ‘Playball’ incursion.

In August we organised for Valentina and Leah to visit us from Bunnings to assist us in creating a special gift. Initially a discussion was had with the children regarding how to use tools such as hammers and nails safely. Valentina then explained to the children they would each be building their very own wooden toolbox and then plant a strawberry plant in it. This was to be Dad’s special gift for Father’s Day. It was with great enthusiasm, gusto and (very loud!) banging that the children set to work! Once the children had constructed their toolbox they enjoyed exploring the concept of potting a plant. This was such a fantastic hands on experience for the children to participate in. It allowed them to explore and manipulate real world tools in order to create and construct a 3D object. The children explored elements of adult supervised risky play as they used sharp nails and hammers to connect the pieces of wood together. They also enjoyed meeting Valentina and Leah and connecting with members from their local community.

Thank-you also to all our wonderful Dads, Grandpa’s, Grandma’s, Mum’s and siblings who came to our special  Father’s Day celebration. The children enjoyed organising the event – selecting the songs they would like to perform, as well as selecting and baking a variety of muffins to eat. It was a fabulous morning full of laughter, fun, games and cooking toast on the open fire.

On Tuesday 12th September the Possum group enjoyed going on a special bus trip to the McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park in Langwarrin. The park showcases over 100 permanent outdoor sculptures located within the diverse settings of ti-tree forests, bracken paths, heathlands, landscaped gardens and lakes. The Possum group enjoyed participating in a tour of the grounds with our guide Imogen. We looked at the artist’s meaning behind the works they created as well as the different materials used to make art and the different ways it can be made. The children were encouraged to contribute their ideas and make connections to their own art-making practices, and enjoyed being able to connect to the different pieces through a variety of their senses. The children then spent time creating ‘Bush Bunyips’ using the medium of clay and natural materials. The children engaged in this creative process enthusiastically as they moulded the clay and explored shape, form, pattern and detail as they added natural materials. The children then enjoyed collecting sticks on order to explore the creative art of wool wrapping. These colourful creations, look delightful on their own but hung together make a wonderful collaborative art installation and we look forward to hanging them in our outdoor space at Elonera. What a wonderful day we had exploring this environment and observing the amazing sculptures, and then having the opportunity to create some of our very own to take home! A very big THANK-YOU to Ari, Ike, Amy, Deb and Carissa for volunteering their time to assist us on the day.

At Elonera the teaching team has a commitment to excellence and innovation in early childhood education and we strive to provide an inclusive, stimulating, high quality open ended play based educational program. The VEYLDF (Victorian Early Years Learning and Development Framework) underpins our play based program, while I personally also draw heavily upon and are influenced by the Reggio Emilia approach which comes out of Italy. Fundamental to the Reggio Emilia approach is the image of the child and viewing the child as an active member of society who is also the subject of their own personal rights and agency. Children are supported to be active participants in their own learning and learning itself is viewed as a hands-on and active process. The Reggio Emilia Project is a place of interaction and dialogue, provocation, self reflection and research which deeply values learning through relationships and is committed to sharing the child’s learning with families and the community. It is with great excitement that I can report that with the generous support of the Committee I will be participating in a Study Tour of Reggio Emilia in Italy in April 2018! I am so looking forward to the influence and challenges this will provide my own professional practice as well as the learning that I will be able to bring back to Elonera.

Elonera Preschool has a Facebook page that is run by the Teaching Team and Committee– we regularly post information and photos and videos of what the children have been exploring. While maintaining this page we also ensure that we respect the privacy of our families and do not post recognisable photos of the children. It is a fantastic way to engage in what is happening around the kinder. So please make sure that you take the time to ‘like’ our page.

I hope all our kindergarten families have a safe and happy holiday period and we look forward to seeing you all again in Term 4!

Gina

From the Director

From the Director

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To begin with I would just like to say a huge thank-you to all our families who participated in our Parent Teacher Conversations over the first few weeks on Term 3. It was extremely successful with a very high participation rate in the Possum group. It was beneficial to have the opportunity to formally meet with each family individually and be able to engage in discussions regarding their child’s learning and development. It also provided time for discussions regarding future goals and strategies to be implemented in the coming semester for our individual children. Lynne and I are also extremely appreciative of all the positive feedback we received and are so glad your children have been enjoying their time at kinder this year.

Transition to School – Starting school is a major life transition for both children and their families. Both challenging and exciting, it is a time of change in which children, families and educators adjust to new roles, identities, expectations, interactions and relationships. A focus for the Department of Education and Training (DET) is encouraging kindergartens and schools to continue to develop and strengthen relationships that will assist the children and families in their transition to school. This year we have participated in excursion visits to Parkdale, St John Vianny’s and Parktone Primary and the children have enjoyed exploring a variety of school settings and spending time in the classrooms completing some activities. We will continue to reach out to these schools and explore how we are able to continue to develop our relationships through reciprocal visits, shared activities etc. This term we will have children from St John Vianny’s coming to read to the Possum children on a Thursday afternoon and we look forward to sharing this experience.

An aspect of the Transition to School process is the completion of a ‘Transition Learning and Development Statement’ (the Transition Statement) which has been designed to assist families and educators share information and specific strategies to support each child’s learning and development. The Transition Statement helps to connect Early Childhood services, schools, OSHC services and families all working together to support transition into school and the continuity of learning for each child.

The 4 Year Old Teaching team will begin to prepare the individual children’s Learning and Transition Statements in the coming months with the intention of having they sent to the children’s nominated schools in mid October. Prior to the Term 3 holidays I will be sending home the ‘Family’ section of the Statement for families to complete and return. The finalised Statement is then provided to families to approve prior to being sent to your nominated school.

Excursions – We have some very exciting excursions planned and look forward to engaging in these with our children. On Tuesday 5th September we will be walking to the Parkdale Library to participate in a story time. On Tuesday 12th September we will be travelling on a bus to the McClelland Gallery and Sculpture Park to have a tour of the site and also participate in 2 very exciting art based experiences. On Tuesday 24th October we will also be adventuring to the Melbourne Museum! We will require adult helpers for these excursions so please volunteer your time if you are able to do so – it will be a wonderful adventure!

Donations – We are currently seeking donations of fire wood, kindling, newspaper and larger pieces of calico or fabric. If you are able to donate any of these resources it would be greatly appreciated!

 

Thank-you,

Gina

Directors Report

Directors Report

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Welcome back to all our families for Term 3! It is hard to believe that we are already halfway through the year, and we look forward to all the new learning experiences we will explore in the coming 6 months.

The initial few weeks of our program will involve supporting the children to settle back into the program with a focus being on extending social interactions with peers and continuing to explore cooperative play. We will also begin to introduce ‘activity captains’ to the children so that there is an assigned ‘captain’ to particular tasks each day and their role is to support their peers who may require any assistance. Each of the children will have the opportunity to take on this leadership role and it is designed to also support and extend their social interactions with peers.

Towards the end of last term we asked the children what they would like to learn at kindergarten as well as any wonderings they may have. This allows the children’s voices to be represented in our program and for areas of personal interest to be explored. As teachers we are also thoughtful as to the language we use and position ‘learning’ at the forefront of the conversation, so the children are more aware that we are at kinder to learn, explore, wonder and play. The children provided us with wonderful ideas and suggestions such as:

  • ‘How do you make paper?’
  • ‘How dinosaurs got distinct?’
  • ‘How fruit grows?’
  • ‘How to make puddles?’
  • ‘How lava is made?’

We look forward to engaging in experiences with the children that will allow them to explore their questions and discover some answers through this exploration. We will also source the children’s ideas about the best way we can find some answers to our wonderings.

The children have been participating in regular ELLA (Early Learning Languages Australia) Japanese lessons on our tablets. We are beginning to observe the children interacting with the games and practising simple words that they hear as they play. We would love family feedback on this experience so please let us know if your child is sharing this new language with you at home.

A large number of the Possum children demonstrate a particular interest in drawing, emergent writing as well as creation and collage. To support this interest in Term 3 we are going to introduce the children to some long term projects that will continue throughout the term. The children will explore storybooks and fairy tales through familiar stories and explore acting out, role play and puppet play in order to recall and retell the stories. We will also work with the children to create their own individual hand puppet. Through a series of steps (drawing a template, tracing and cutting out this template, sewing with the sewing machine, decorating) the children will be able to see their work evolve over time as they create a puppet they can use in their play. We will also explore creating our own individual books with the children assuming the role of author and illustrator. The children will explore concepts of print, literacy skills as well as creative expression as we work on the task.

During Term 3 the Possum children will begin weekly ‘Playball’ sessions which will extend their active play, large motor and coordination skills. The children will each participate in a half group 30 minute session with a Playball coach and we look forward to participating in this weekly incursion.

The children will also participate in Library every TUESDAY. In order to support the children’s participation in this experience we have created them each an individualised library bag which they can use each week, and it is theirs to keep once library concludes at the end of the year. We look forward to extending the children’s love for stories, language and early literacy skills through this experience.

In Term 3 we will also introduce the children to our take home bears (yet to be named as we will have the children participate in a democratic vote in the first week of term to decide their names). Each child will have the opportunity to take one of our bears home for a week and then share with the whole class what they did together during this time. This is a wonderful opportunity for the children to practice talking in front of a group of peers as well as developing turn taking, sharing and listening skills.

Currently the staff are also busily preparing for Parent Teacher Conversations. These will be held in the first few weeks of Term 3 and are a wonderful opportunity to discuss the progress and learning of your child at kinder this year. It also allows for the family and teachers to create shared goals for your child going forwards in the second half of the year, so please make a time with your teacher to have this valuable discussion.

Thank-you,

Gina

Director’s Update

Director’s Update

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This month I am able to start my report with some extremely exciting news. Our teacher Beck Cowley has recently had her baby, a beautiful little boy named Jasper Elliot Cowley. Beck and her family are all doing well and completely in love with their new little bundle!

I would like to say a huge thank-you to all our families who attended our very first Winter Solstice Festival. It received an overwhelming response and the attendance is a reflection of the amazing community that we have at Elonera. Thank-you all also for the wonderful feedback and emails the teaching team has received regarding the evening, we look forward to being able to make it an annual event. The idea of the festival emerged out of a discussion that the teaching team had regarding how we can actively provide opportunities for our families to connect and spend time together in a social environment. We are so grateful that our families embraced the concept and we all so enjoyed being able to share this magical experience with you all. The children loved being involved and engaged in the lead up to the event through singing, decorating lanterns, and cooking for their families. I would also like to say a HUGE thank-you to all of the teaching team for the enormous amount of planning, preparation and cooking that went into the event. They all willingly donated their time to decorate, shop, cook, set up, pack up and went above and beyond to support this event.

The Possum children have had another busy month and cooking continues to be a very engaging and popular experience for the children to explore. The children are now requesting particular foods to bake or cook and we look forward to being able to explore a variety of new foods. We enjoyed cooking both chicken and vegetable soup and a minestrone soup for the Winter Solstice. In order to support the children’s developing cooking skills and to support our philosophy regarding the children participating in real life experiences, we have also now purchased a set of ‘kiddikutter’ knives so the children are able to assist in the cutting and chopping of the ingredients. We also have introduced cooking on the open fire and the children loved having the opportunity to not only make damper but then they had the opportunity to cook it on the fire by themselves. Cooking is not only a ‘real life’ experience it also provides the children with opportunities to engage in a variety of learning dispositions and skills. While cooking we explore mathematical concepts such as weight and measurement, we explore science concepts as we observe cause and effect, trial and error and chemical reactions. As we sit together engaged in the experience we extend our observation skills, engage in cooperative learning and explore sharing and turn taking. We extend our verbal communication as we discuss what we are doing, but also as we just share our personal ideas and stories as we sit together. The children predict, hypothesis, observe and reflect – cooking is such a marvellous learning experience!

Planning is also now underway for parent teacher conversations in Term 3. We are looking to implement these around the third week of the term. The teaching team will set aside one night to offer interviews and also complete some during their non-contact time during the day. We will also send home an individual learning plan for parents to complete prior to the interviews to receive feedback on their child’s experiences at kinder and to support us for further planning in the next 6 months.

I have recently attended a Department of Education and Training ‘Transition to School’ course. The department are looking at extending and developing the ways schools and kindergartens support this transition for children. So far this year the children have enjoyed excursions to Parkdale Primary and St John Vianney’s and the teaching team will continue to look at ways we can strengthen these relationships. We also hope to be able to organise an excursion in the coming months to Parktone Primary so that we are developing relationships with all of our local feeder schools. Prior to commencing at Primary school each child is provided with a ‘Transition Statement’ that is written by the 4 year old teacher and sent to the school in order to provide them with information and strategies that can be used to support the individual child’s transition. For the first time in 2017 this will all be completed and submitted to your nominated school online along with a section completed with the child and a section completed by the family.

On a personal note I have recently been nominated onto the Australian Education Union Early Childhood sector council. This is a really exciting opportunity I have been presented with and I really look forward to being able to discuss the ‘behind scenes’ issues facing our sector. This role will require me to attend 8 sector council meetings and professional development sessions a year on a Friday. While it takes me away from the children I feel that having committed and active early childhood professionals leads to a stronger early childhood sector that works towards achieving the best outcomes for our children and families as well as our colleagues.

I hope that you all have a safe and happy holiday period and look forward to see all our wonderful children and families for an exciting Term 3!!
Director’s Update

Director’s Update

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Firstly I would like to begin by congratulating the Committee of Management and staff on an extremely successful Open Day, despite the gloomy and wet weather! It was a fantastic day with lots of new families enjoying our amazing kinder grounds and exploring all the different activities on offer. It was lovely to meet new families who look forward to joining our community in the coming year.  Thank-you to all the members of the committee who volunteered their time to set up, pack up, man the BBQ and enrolment desks. All your hard work was greatly appreciated and highlights what a dedicated and committed committee we have representing Elonera.

Thank-you to our Possum Mum’s and Grandma’s for their participation in our Mother’s Day lunch. It was a wonderful experience for the children to be able to share their first fire pit with you. The children enjoyed cooking and baking for the event and we all enjoyed this special time together.  During our preparations for Mother’s Day the children explored drawing pictures of their Mum’s in black and white and then extending a photocopy of this drawing into both a water colour and a collage artwork. It allowed the children to revisit their initial artwork and add further details as they reflected upon the drawing. We have begun to explore the concept of colour and colour mixing with the children. We have enjoyed reading art themed books such as ‘Mix it up’ and ‘Colours’ and have been exploring how to make new colours by mixing the primary colours. This will be a topic that we continue to work on with the children, particularly encouraging and supporting them to be purposeful in the process they use in order to explore and create.

Through our observations of the children engaged in their play we have noted that a number of children are requiring adult support in their fine motor development, particularly when manipulating scissors and writing materials. In order to support these developmental skills we will continue to incorporate experiences that strengthen the children’s small hand muscle strength (including clay, play dough, small construction pieces, threading, pipette painting). We will also incorporate a variety of cutting experiences that will support in children in learning how to hold and manipulate a pair of scissors correctly. In the coming weeks we will introduce our ‘sign in’ sheet for the children so they can practice independently identifying and writing their name when they arrive at kindergarten each morning.

We will also continue to explore a variety of numeracy based experiences that support and extend the children’s exploration of colour recognition, sorting and sequencing, counting and numeral recognition. During the children’s music and movement exploration we have also introduced a variety of action based songs that support their ability to count forwards and backwards.

We have been enjoying a variety of whole group games and experiences as the children explore cooperation, turn taking and performing in front of one another. The children have loved using the stretchy lycra panel to manipulate their bodies to music and it is a wonderful way for the children to work cooperatively in order to move the material together. The children have also taken turns in small groups to perform the song ‘5 cheeky monkeys’ with puppets, and all the children have actively engaged and participated in front of their peers.

The children are enjoying working on the floorbook together and it documents the experiences we have been exploring and the thoughts and ideas of the children about their learning. We hope you enjoy reading this book as much as the children enjoy creating it. The children’s individual portfolios are also located in the foyer area and you are welcome and encouraged to share these with your child at anytime.

Thank-you,

Gina & Lynne.

 

Kinder Clothing & Outdoor Play

Please ensure that you are sending your child to kinder with the appropriate clothing for the season, as well as a spare change of clothes. As the days get colder and wetter please provide warm clothing – jumpers, jackets, gumboots, waterproof clothes as the kindergarten programs would all still like to be able to provide the children time to explore and play outside regardless of the weather. It is amazing what new experiences the children can explore and discover when the rain begins to fall.
Director’s Update

Director’s Update

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We would like to welcome back all our families to Term 2 – and we look forward to another term full of exploration, creative thinking, socialisation and most importantly FUN!

I would like to say thank-you to all our families who attended the extraordinary working bee and assisted in the general tidying of the grounds, cementing in our new blackboards and moving the veggie beds. We are thrilled with the end result and it was wonderful to see our kinder community so actively involved in the continual progression of our beautiful grounds renovation.

What a busy last week of term we had with a very exciting visit from the Easter bunny. The children loved working cooperatively in order to discover all the plastic Easter eggs that the bunny hid around the yard for us to find. It was with great surprise and excitement that we also discovered he had left each of us a special treat in our decorated Easter baskets. It was fantastic to observe the children working together and supporting each other to discover the plastic eggs. This experience while fun (and yummy!) also assisted the children to explore concepts such as working as a team, sharing and verbalising their ideas and observations as they hunted together.

During Term 2 we will continue to support newly emerging social groups, friendships and interactions. Our focus will be on assisting the children to settle and explore experiences together and to continue exploring their developing negotiating and turn taking/sharing skills. We continue to link these concepts and experiences back to our Term 1 exploration of friendship and ‘the rainbow fish.’ We continue to encourage the children to actively use their verbal expressive language skills to ask others if they can join their play or subsequently to invite others into their play. Based on our observations and discussions with the children we will also explore the concepts of identity and self throughout the term. We will used a variety of mediums to explore representing ourselves and exploring the similarities and differences we discover in our community.

Throughout Term 2 the children will also participate in a term long yoga incursion each Thursday afternoon which will be taken by Kathryn from ‘Melbourne Kids Yoga.’ This is the third year Kathryn will be working with our kindergarten and she brings a lovely mix of fun, stretching, relaxation and calm into her program. We also look forward to continuing to include these concepts and experiences into our general program.

Term 2 is once again shaping up to be a busy period for all the teaching team at Elonera. We have a strong belief in the concept of ‘life long learning’ for our individual and team teaching practices. I will be attending a professional development session run by the Department of Education and Training in regards to the ‘Transition to School’ process and changes that have occurred in the relevant processes. I will also be participating in a 2 day mentorship program with the Victorian Institute of Teaching which is designed to extend my skills in mentoring provisionally registered graduate teachers to move to full teaching registration. We are lucky at Elonera to have two very passionate and engaged early childhood graduates in Ellie and Kaitlyn and they have both been a fantastic addition to our teaching team. It is an extremely time consuming and challenging assessment the graduate teachers must undertake to move to full registration and I am honoured and looking forward to supporting Ellie and Kaitlyn throughout this period. Lynne continues to immerse herself in her passion for music and movement in early childhood and is engaging in a variety of courses and theory based practice. Joanna also continues to undertake her Diploma and the feedback from her trainer is always overwhelmingly positive, and we are all proud of her hard work and achievements.

For more detailed descriptions and photos of the children engaged in their play and the specific experiences we are exploring please refer to our floorbook. Please also feel free to approach Lynne or myself at anytime for a chat or to discuss the individual learning and development of your child.

Thank-you, Gina

Elonera Pre School
P. 9580 2193
85 Davey St. Parkdale, VIC