Boronia Group

What a fabulous Term 1the Boronia children had! It was a wonderful start to their kindergarten year. It has been a joy to watch them build confidence in the room, form new friendships and become familiar with our routines and learning spaces.

A key focus this term has been supporting children’s social and emotional development. With the help of our class puppet, Gail the Snail, we explored feelings, social cues, body boundaries and the ways we can use our voice—such as practising how to ask for help, take turns and share. Koko the Koala has also been an important part of our days, reminding us to check in with our friends and listen carefully to their “yes” and “no” when offering a cuddle or a high five. We finished some sessions with stories like Fox Makes a Friend, reinforcing messages about kindness, friendship and including others in play.

During group times we have been learning and practising everyday routines that help our kinder community run smoothly, including washing hands, blowing noses and sitting safely on the mat. Children have also enjoyed taking responsibility as our daily “Helping Hand”, assisting with transitions by ringing the chimes and bell and helping to organise mealtimes. Transition games and songs (including our fish game and “Barramundi”) have supported children to move calmly between experiences, and finger rhymes and songs have helped build listening skills, coordination and early literacy.

Children’s questions and interests have also guided many of our investigations this term. After discovering a little gecko in the room, we observed carefully, used new vocabulary and shared our wonderings about what it might eat and where it likes to live. Weather conversations grew from children asking, “Where does rain come from?” and “Where does lightning come from?”, leading to hands-on science experiences such as our Rain Cloud experiment and a “walking rainbow” investigation. We have also explored colour mixing through group experiences and painting at the easels, predicting what might happen when primary colours are combined and noticing the changes as new colours appear. 

Our play-based learning has been rich and varied. Children have been deeply engaged in construction experiences (with blocks, tools, loose parts and construction sets), and role playing Home Corner—transforming spaces into places like a hairdresser and nail salon as they share ideas, negotiate roles and develop language. Outdoors, the mud pit and water pump have been firm favourites, with children working together to create puddles, explore cause and effect and notice how the environment changes. These experiences have supported collaboration, creativity, problem solving and persistence.

Thank you for your support - we’re proud of the progress the children have made and will continue together this term2.