Director's Report

Welcome to Livingston 2021

It has been lovely to meet lots of our families at Livingston over the past few weeks and finally put faces to names. Most of the children coming into kinder in the morning are happy to leave their parent and join in the kinder program. Some children may find this difficult and your child’s kinder teacher will work with you to support your child with this separation. You are welcome to come into the kindergarten with your child at drop off if you would like (Covid numbers/regulations permitting ) 

You are also welcome to come and spend time with your child in the session as long as you have a valid working with children check. These are free for volunteers and you can apply here.

https://www.workingwithchildren.vic.gov.au/individuals/applicants/how-to-apply

School Stream App

Hopefully families are enjoying viewing the photos from their child’s group that are being uploaded to the School Stream App. This provides a great opportunity for you to engage in conversation with your child about their day at kindergarten their friends, what they learnt etc. If you haven’t already- download the app, choose Livingston Kindergarten and we will approve you and assign you to your child’s group.

School Readiness Funding - 

This year we were allocated School Readiness funding from the Department of Education for the four year old children/groups.

The funding initiatives we applied for and were successful in were:

• The Body Safety Program
• The Dolly Parton Imagination Library  
• An additional Teacher in each four year old group every 3 weeks for 2-3 hours to work with small groups of children focussing on Numeracy and Literacy skills. The Teacher working with these small groups will also send activities, games, information etc (via School Stream) to families that you can do/read at home.

Sustainability at Livingston - 

Did you know that we have a recycling opportunities in the kinder foyer?

You can bring in your soft plastics, old textas, batteries and bag tags and we will ensure these are recycled via the appropriate channels.

We also have a children’s library where you can borrow books freely and add to if you like.

This week we had a bin delivered where you can bring all clean and undamaged clothing including paired footwear, handbags, bras, jackets, hats, belts, swimwear, new underwear, new socks, bed sheets, blankets, towels and jewellery. By placing your family's and friends' outgrown or good quality unwanted clothing in bags and bringing them to the kinder, you will be raising money for Livingston Kindergarten! 

Community Pantry - 

Always striving to be community minded, Livingston Kindergarten is also restarting the Community Pantry. This shelf will be a place where families can donate pantry items and also take a pantry item when needed. 

How it works…….

Parents can take food items from the pantry when picking up their children, perhaps an ingredient they’ve run out of that they need for dinner that night, and in return, parents can contribute something left over from their own pantry the next day.

The communal pantry includes basic food staples such as pasta, pasta sauce, cans of tuna, breakfast cereals, biscuits and crackers.

This helps children make community connections and fosters a sense of belonging to community groups and opens up conversations about helping others, sustainability, recycling and reducing waste. 

Take what you need….

Share what you can.

Thanks

Louise