I hope this newsletter finds you all well.

Grant for Outdoor Area

We are thrilled to announce that our kindergarten was successful in our application for a grant through the Department of Education to enhance our outdoor area This funding will allow us to create an even more engaging and stimulating environment for the children. Planned improvements include new play spaces, upgraded landscaping, and shaded areas for outdoor learning are planning to start Term 4. The company Urban Discovery has visited a couple of times and talked with the staff and some of the children about the space and what they would like to add/change etc. We will keep you updated on the progress.

Fundraising

A big thank you to our fundraising team -Mel and Sarah for organising the Local Matters jar at Grilled. We had the most tokens and won $300 !

Join Our Kinder Committee in 2025

We invite you to consider joining our Kindergarten Committee. The committee plays a vital role in shaping the future of our kindergarten, providing valuable input on policies, events, and improvements. It's a wonderful opportunity to get involved in your child’s early education and connect with other parents. Your contribution would be greatly appreciated if you have a lot of time to give or just a little. Please reach out if you're interested in joining or learning more about what’s involved.

Book Week

The children across all groups have enjoyed participating in Book Week this week. Retelling familiar stories allows students to learn to organise and describe events, which enhances reading comprehension. It also builds vocabulary and memory all important skills needed in Reading. Throughout the kinder year, we set up experiences that encourage children to retell familiar stories or stories we have read. Experiences include small world setups, magnetic story sets, story stones and making their own books using cutouts. We often discuss the stories after listening to them being read, questions we might ask include: Who are the characters? What are they like? Where did the story happen? What problem did the characters face? How did they solve it? How did they feel? Does this story remind you of any other stories you know?• Can you think of a different way to end the story?

Mem Fox's Ten read-aloud commandments

Spend at least ten wildly happy minutes every single day reading aloud.
Read at least three stories a day: it may be the same story three times. Children need to hear a thousand stories before they can begin to learn to read.
Read aloud with animation. Listen to your own voice and don't be dull, or flat, or boring. Hang loose and be loud, have fun and laugh a lot.
Read with joy and enjoyment: real enjoyment for yourself and great joy for the listeners.
Read the stories that the kids love, over and over and over again, and always read in the same 'tune' for each book: i.e. with the same intonations on each page, each time.
Let children hear lots of language by talking to them constantly about the pictures, or anything else connected to the book; or sing any old song that you can remember; or say nursery rhymes in a bouncy way; or be noisy together doing clapping games.
Look for rhyme, rhythm or repetition in books for young children, and make sure the books are short.
Play games with the things that you and the child can see on the page, such as letting kids finish rhymes, and finding the letters that start the child's name and yours, remembering that it's never work, it's always a fabulous game.
Never ever teach reading or get tense around books.
Read aloud every day because you just love being with your child, not because it's the right thing to do. This is as important for fathers as it is for mothers!

Dates for Term 4

Monday 7 th October – Wednesday 18th December.

Professional Development Closure Day Monday 4 th November

Kinder AGM Tuesday 19 th November

END OF YEAR CONCERTS

Waratah Thursday 5th December 2pm-3pm

Banksia Wednesday 11th December 2.30-4

Boronia Thursday 12th December 2-3

Wattle Friday 13th December 2.30-4.

Livcare runs as normal after the concerts

Nuts

We have children who are at high risk of Anaphylaxis.

We ask that you do not pack nuts or nut products in your children’s snacks and lunches.

Your actions will help to support these children by providing a safe environment.

Reminder -if you haven’t donated a box of tissues we would still love some.

Thanks,

Louise

Livingston Kindergarten | Quarterly Newsletter

Caring, Community, Connection

Issue 3 · 16 Sep 2024

In this issue