The Nor'Wester

oshc & sprout

Sprout Canteen Update

Sprout screams community all over and is so well aligned with BNWPS values. As this special community has grown over the last couple of years, Sprout in turn has needed some tender loving care! Our school canteen is a highly valued asset and it provides scrumptious lunches and snacks for our little people, and coffees and chats for community members and staff. However, running this operation on a domestic level made it hard for Kris and her team of amazing volunteers to operate in a timely and cost-effective manner.

As such, Kris and I have looked at how this could be improved and service standards kept high. The school has since purchased new catering standard equipment in an effort to keep up with these increased demands.

There are future plans to upgrade the facilities further with a commercial dry store to streamline kitchen operations, and assist both Sprout daily and the Community Events Team for school events. These upgrades will also assist Sprout with providing further services for the school community such as regular take-home meals and other catering opportunities. 

Over the years Sprout has had to make do with donated tables and chairs which haven't been entirely suitable, so this year the school, through collaboration with the Strathmore Men's Shed, are getting custom-made heavy-duty outdoor furniture. The school's involvement with the Strathmore Men's Shed has been beneficial for the school not only due to the community involvement aspects, but also financially.

The project for outdoor seating is almost complete and we should have new furniture by mid-to-late June. Kris and I are super excited about this! We look forward to seeing you around Sprout for a chat and coffee soon.

If you like to be part of this group, please email me -natashacolangelo11@gmail.com or if you see me around, say hi! Any contribution to this team is welcome.

Tash Colangelo

The “We Love Sprout” Working Group

OSHC News

Wominjeka everyone,

It’s been another busy week at OSHC:

  • Cooking Club with Manuela: You have no idea what children can do in 30 minutes during a cooking class, especially when cookies are involved! Children, not only, learnt how to make the dough, they also learnt how fun it is working together as a team, sharing resources and helping each other. Obviously the best part was after the baking… anyone want to guess?

 

  • Butterfly Painting with Zoe: The students were creative and confident when experimenting with colours and patterns because the outcome was unpredictable; therefore they were able to take risks due to their curiosity. The students also used their skills to mix and create new colours by mixing the colours they had. They also bounced ideas off each other regarding the outcome of their butterfly. Using this type of creativity and communication is important for their confidence in their abilities to design and share knowledge.     

 

  • Paddle Pop Stick catapult with Bev: This activity provided an opportunity for students to problem solve because they had to work out how to construct the catapult from a photo. Students had to go through a cycle of thinking how they would proceed then testing their method and when it didn’t work re-thinking and re-testing. It took perseverance to successfully attach the rubber bands and create a working catapult. But at the end it was all worth it! Let the fun begin!

Important notes:

 

1. Science Club: even though our Science Incursions are now finished, we are proud to let you know that we are still providing Science Club with more experiments and experience for the children. Brianna was working with Charlie from the science incursions to extend her knowledge in this topic. Next Thursday, the 30th of May, Brianna will work with the children in Observing the Natural World very closely using magnifying glasses and microscopes.

 

2. Next Community Event: will be on the 20th of June to celebrate Solstice (the shortest day of the year or the longest night). There will be lots of outdoor education activities, such as firepit and story telling. And yes, there will be some marshmellow (shhhhh don’t say anything to the children!!!). Families and friends are welcome to attend the event!

 

3. A call out to any parents, families, friends: if you have a telescope we would like to borrow. As the sun goes down early in June, we are hoping to do some star gazing!!!  Don’t you worry, we will take good care of the telescope – promise!

 

Reminders:

 

1.Unidentified Payments: we received several payments with no reference and we have no idea who made those payments. Please check your statement and make sure that your payments has been receipted. If not, let Bernadetta Know ASAP.

 

2. Direct Debit: as mentioned in the email, we are setting up a Direct Debit payment from term 3. Forms are emailed out. You can write digitally on the PDF and email back or simply complete a hard copy form. Spare blank forms are also available at the program.

All families must complete a Direct Debit form. If you have any questions please let Bernadetta know.

 

3. Casual Booking: just a reminder for the casual bookings on MFL – please make sure to select the right roll for your child. For example, if your child is grade 1 you will need to select After School Jr (Grade1&2).

It is really important that you select the right roll for the After School Care. Misplacing the children in the wrong roll will cause lots of confusion for children and educators. Unfortunately this process cannot be automatic at this stage – so parents and guardians need to be more careful when they make their casual bookings. Thanks for understanding.

 

4. Sick Children: If you child is sick, please make sure to cancel your booking through MFL/Calendar. Unfortunately Sentral doesn’t talk to MFL!

 

 

OSHC Team.