Early Learning Centre

Transition Dates

Upcoming Dates

3-Year-Old Kinder

The ELC vegetable garden beds were full of ripe strawberries, and the children were able to pick a strawberry each. Mrs Nadarajah showed the group a strawberry that had been eaten by an insect and the children were very interested to see the slug still inside! The children were able to take their juicy strawberries home to eat. 

Using the Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour from Woolworths, we held a group discussion about fruits and vegetables. Each child took turns to choose a fruit or vegetable sticker, and attach it to a poster, in the place where the fruit or vegetable grows. The children learnt that fruits and vegetables can grow on trees, on bushes or plants, on vines, in the ground, or under the ground. Each child was able to take home a pack with an activity book, colouring sheet, and a pack of quiz cards from the Fresh Food Kids Discovery Tour.

4-Year-Old Kinder

Student Teacher Placement

Mrs Nadarajah has spent 5 weeks undertaking a placement within the Early Learning Centre to complete her university degree. For the final week she was able to complete her practicum by leading the staff and students as if she were the usual classroom teacher. 

The students engaged in an overall theme of understanding the Bible story “Jesus calms the storm” found in the book of Mark. The children participated in rich learning activities including music, movement, literacy, numeracy and science activities to investigate water, weather, and increase the students biblical knowledge. 

Thankyou Mrs Nadarajah for sharing your energetic and engaging lessons with us. We all can say confidently; we learnt from you in this time together. 

Mathematics

Exploring numeracy indoors and outdoors was a popular area of learning this fortnight with the children exploring shapes and grouping like for like in paper cups, learning to identify a number and represent this with loose part play through number one to ten and using unifix cubes and dice to complete addition equations. 

Outdoor Play

With the gorgeous weather, we abandoned the usual routine and began one morning outside to maximise the fresh air, sunshine and energy the children game bursting in with. Bubble mixture and bubble wands were a staple for a slightly windy day, as was bringing out a tent with baby dolls and pram, adding water to the sandpit and riding on bikes were among the favourite activities staff and children enjoyed playing with. 

2023 VM Christmas Hamper Drive for Pantry Plus

The 2022 Christmas Hamper Drive was so successful with almost 30 hampers that we are running it again this year. These hampers will be sent to Peninsula City Church and they will distribute them through their Pantry Plus program and Somerville Primary for people in desperate need of practical support and compassion this Christmas. 

It would be sensational if students could provide the following non-perishable goods for these hampers by Tuesday 28 November.

There will be drop-off boxes located around the College including the ELC and Reception. For Secondary students, homegroup teachers will collect these goods before the VM students pack them into Christmas boxes. Our VM students will also be making Christmas Cards with messages of hope and celebration for the families, who receive them. Thank you for your contribution, it is greatly appreciated. Year level donations are outlined below:

11: Canned Leg Ham

10: Shortbread or Fruit mince pies

9B: Chips, Pretzels or similar

9A: Chocolates or Lollies

8C: Canned Carrots or Peas

8B: Tea bags or Coffee

8A: Bon Bons

7C: Gravy (powder or ready-made)

7B: Jelly Mix / UHT Custard

7A: Soft drinks or apple cider

Year 6: Christmas pudding or tinned fruit

Year 5: Gingerbread or Marshmallows

Year 4: Christmas decorations or serviettes

Year 3: Canned Potatoes or Corn

Year 2: Chocolate stockings

Year 1: Long-life milk or Powdered milk

Prep: Cranberry sauce or mint sauce/jelly

ELC: Small puzzles or toys