March 2011 Newsletter
Welcome everyone to our latest edition of the Country Kids monthly newsletter.
Congratulations Jodi!
Our exciting news this month is that Jodi Sweet, Group Leader of our Nursery, has now finished her Diploma in Children’s Services, and is now qualified to become our Director. She will shortly begin study on her Advanced Diploma. We are very excited, and if you have any queries, please don’t hesitate to talk to Jodi.
Public Holidays for April
Please note that Friday 22nd, Monday 25th, and Tuesday 26th of April are all public holidays, therefore the Centre will be closed on these days.
If you are going away & your child won’t be attending on their booked in days, would you kindly let us know?
New Staff
Our new staff members are:
· Melissa Patti
Group Leader of our Senior Kindy
· Rebecca Quilter
Group Leader of Junior Kindy.
Please make them feel very welcome, and don’t hesitate to talk to them about your child at any time!
Spare Clothes
Parents, we still have children coming to the Centre with no spare clothes. Could we please have spare clothes in your child’s backpack EVERY DAY (including underwear), in case of water play and also for little accidents that happen from time to time. We do not want the children to have to wear damp clothes during the day. Now that the weather is starting to get cooler, you may also need to put a jumper in your child’s backpack. Please remember to clearly name them.
Upcoming Events
This month we are celebrating St Patrick’s Day, on Thursday 17th March. Please dress your child in green clothes for this day (if you have any!) We will do some Irish activities and teach the children what this day is all about.
Also, 28th March - 1st April will be Health, Fitness & Nutrition Week. We will talk to the children about the importance of eating healthy foods, doing daily exercise and being healthy. One of our wonderful mums, Liz, will be coming in to the Pre-School Room on Friday 1st April to help the children make some healthy & fun recipes! We know Lane will look forward to having his mum at the Centre!
Lost Property – could you please check at home and in your child’s backpack for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt that have gone missing from the Junior Kindy room.
We are also missing a pair of denim shorts with a pink flower on the back & a frill on the bottom, also from the Junior Kindy room.
Please let us know if you have either of these items - thank you!
Also, please check our lost property ‘pink bin’ in the hallway, as we are about donate the items to charity.
Found - We have found a velcro wallet in the Toddler Room. Have you lost one? If this is yours, please come and see us in the office!
News from the Rooms
Platypus Pre-School – Kindergarten – we have been a hive of activity during the last few weeks. We have been very interested in fishing, so we created our very own ‘rainbow fish’ display, painted and rowed a boat, and went fishing with magnetic fishing rods. We have also been investigating animals that lay eggs and those that have live babies. During this investigation, the children have participated in lots of activities including making hatching chickens, creating bird nests, rolling playdough eggs, painting a Humpty Dumpty finger puppet, and sequencing the life cycle of a chicken. Our class was even lucky enough to watch a ‘Komodo Dragon lizard’ hatch from its egg, thanks to Coel and Mel.
We are now beginning a mini unit on ‘the farm’, where we will investigate what farming life involves, including the role of a farmer, the various animals on the farm and their purpose (eg cows produce milk). Keep an eye out for our ‘farm yard’ classroom display.
Melinda & Katie
Kookaburra Kindy – in the last four weeks, we have been very busy, participating in many art activities & learning new songs. Through our learning experiences, we have become Germ Busters. We have been using the correct hand washing techniques, and discussing when and why we wash our hands. We have also been learning our friends names, and identifying them through our games.
Just a small thank you to all the families and children for making me feel welcome.
Our favourite songs at the moment are:
Doggy Doggy Who’s Got Your Bone?
Somebody Stole It from your Home
Wake Up Doggy!
Little Peter Rabbit had a germ upon his nose,
Little Peter Rabbit had a germ upon his nose,
So he rubbed it and he scrubbed & the germ washed away!
From Melissa
Joey Jnr Kindy – Lately our children have been interested in farm animals. We have been talking about the noises that different animals make. We have done some cutting activities where we then find matching animals. We’ve done straw blowing painting; we’ve glued cotton balls on sheep, and made our own chickens. We’ve been singing songs at group times – Five Cheeky Monkeys, Twinkle Twinkle Star, and Old McDonald Had a Farm (where the children choose their own animal in the song).
Rebecca
Tree Frog Toddlers – Toddlers have been doing glittery art, learning our manners by saying please and thank you, reading ‘Counting to Ten with Animals’, and doing lots of collage, glueing and painting.
Elysia
Numbat Nursery – we have been playing with blocks - learning to stack them, listening to music, and clapping our hands!
Jodi
From the office
Please remember that all booked in days are payable, whether your child attends the Centre or not.
You are also entitled to two weeks holidays per year at half price. Conditions apply. Please fill in an Annual Leave Form and make sure you give us two weeks notice of your holiday.
Parents, we ask that fees are in advance at all times. If your account is behind, could you please arrange for payment this week. This saves the embarrassment of us having to speak to you in the busy drop off/pick up time! Thank you.
Parents, please remember that you are very welcome to attend any of our bi-monthly staff meetings. Our next one will be held on Tuesday 5th April at 6.00pm. Please come along and join in!
We do still have some availability in rooms on some days; so if you would like to increase your child’s days here at the Centre, please talk to Jodi, Mel or Brian in the office.
Immunisations
If your child has had an immunization lately, could you please give a copy of this immunization to us, as we need to ensure that all immunisations are up to date? Thank you for your co-operation.
Policy Review - this month’s policies reviewed were:
· Food Safety Plan
· Food Safety Plan - Nursery
· Food Handling Policy
· Debt Management Policy
· Complaints, Concerns & Grievances Policy: Families
· Complaints, Concerns & Grievances Policy: Staff
· Debt Management Policy & Procedure
There will be a staff/parent meeting on Tuesday the 4th of April at Country Kids; parents are very welcome to attend from 6:30pm to 7:00pm.
Thank you for giving us the privilege of looking after your children at Country Kids.
Brian & Mel
