Kinder Picnic

On Tuesday this week we enjoyed a picnic at our school's Junior School play area, with many of our Early Learning families coming along. We thank God for the beautiful weather we had. It was lovely to see older siblings who used to come to Kinder, and to catch up with families for a longer chat than we usually get time for. It was great to see children making some social connections in a different environment, as they explored the playgrounds and chatted to the Chickens. The sausages were delicious, and some children enjoyed the freedom and independence of ordering dinner for themselves - even if Mr Rouse did try to make them work on their maths while ordering! Thank you to our Kinder families for making it a great evening.

Beth Parker

Head of Early Learning

Possums

The Possum Group love exploring their natural world and have a lot of questions about it. Lately we have been wondering - why are all of these bugs trying to come into our Kinder?

We find a lot of crickets, daddy long leg spiders, and sometimes slater beetles (aka roly polys, aka butchy boys) inside our Kinder! We have some bug aficionados in the group who notice, share, and rehome these bugs, but one day it seemed that enough was enough.

We tackled the question in a circle-time group discussion. Maybe the bugs are coming in because they like our bug stickers? Maybe they like our pictures? Maybe they like our puzzles? We thought about where the bugs should go instead. "Outside!" "On the garage!" "On the grass!" "In a hole!" After that there were quite a lot of plans about making a singular hole for all of the bugs at Kinder which would be sealed off with sticky tape, before one of the children suggested making them their own Kinder. That was the winning idea, and with the help of a box that Ms Parker had been saving for a rainy day, they set to work.

Many children collaborated on this bug Kinder, sharing their ideas, thinking about what a Kinder needed, and thinking of what the bugs might need. Our Bug Kinder has a bell to ring, books to read, toilets, places to eat and drink (sometimes we put some fruit in there) and rooms for playing, painting and sleeping. The children also thought it was important that it had lots of colourful things, as well as lots of sticks and rocks and other things we know bugs like.

We are now working on a book that has all of our ideas in it, which is written as a letter to our Kinder bugs. Maybe if these bugs see there is a Bug Kinder, and read our book, they will realise it's not the best idea for them to come into our kinder. As Wren said, "if they come in the kitchen, they might get cooked". However, if Sylvia and Boh are right we may never rid our Kinder of bugs because "they want to say hello to us" and "I think they love us".

Beth Parker

Head of Early Learning

Spotlight on Spotlight

Both 4-year-old Kinder groups have been learning about recycling. The Echidna group discussed their interpretation of the word ‘recycle’ and as a group thought that the best way to describe it was “using something no-one else wants anymore”. The Possum group talked about using things in different ways and had a group time conversation about it: “If we kept buying things and not using what we already have, there might not be any room left for plants and animals!”.

Warrnambool Spotlight approached the Kindergarten at the beginning of the year and asked if we would like to recycle some of their carboard pallets, and they could display what the children created with them in their store during the Easter period. We were in like Flynn, and Ms Parker and I both grew incredibly large biceps as the result of carving through the heavy duty cardboard to cut out 30cm eggs for the children to decorate with unwanted/donated goods.

The overriding theme of this partnership is the new life we have in Jesus that the egg at Easter represents, and the beautiful way we can breathe life into things people have finished with. Jesus died for us all, no matter what we have done wrong, even if we think we have no value and are finished with. When we come to Him in love and repentance, He breathes a new life of salvation into us, renewing us!

These photos show the bits and bobs parents and families contributed to the New Life Eggs. Everything used to create them was unwanted. These eggs will be on display in Spotlight from Friday onwards, and both the Echidna Group and the Possum group will be having an excursion to Spotlight during their last Kinder session for the term (one group after the other) so the children can see their exhibited New Life Eggs! We will also be having a tour of the store, but I think it is the bus trip that everyone will be most excited about! Parents are welcome to accompany us on the bus or meet us there.

We encourage you all to check out the Kinder children’s works of art during the lead up to Easter.

VEYLDF Outcome 2.1 - Children are connected to and contribute to their world: Children begin to understand and use sustainable practices in their settings and communities across all dimensions of sustainability.

Judi Missen

Early Learning Educator

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