Waratah Group

To all our new families and families returning in 2025- Welcome. 

We had a very different start to the year this year and the children coped extremely well with the noise levels and the large number of children in the room at Darcy Avenue. We have been spending the past few weeks engaging with the children to get to know them, and them us! We build on your goals from the Child questionnaires and information passed on from the three-year-old teams to set new goals (what next?) for each child and the group. We do this based on our observations, the children’s interests, their needs and developmental stages.

The Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) Has 5 outcomes Identity, Community, Wellbeing, Learning and Communication. This framework underpins all what we do and is reflected in our planning of the program and individual learning plans and when assessing children’s learning Identity, Community, Wellbeing, Learning and Communication. The experiences we set up and the routine, provide opportunities for learning, for example counting in a numeracy game, or literacy skills in an office role-play area. They also encourage the use and development of social skills- (EYLF community) -taking turns, entering existing play, engaging in reciprocal conversations, working collaboratively, listening to, and respecting others and Executive Processing skills- cognitive flexibility (mental flexibility), working memory and inhibitory control (self-control). We intentionally plan for the development of these skills throughout the year and often opportunities arise for learning through spontaneous “teachable moments”.

Group time happens every day at kinder and it takes many forms! We always start with our acknowledgement to country. We introduce this concept by talking about the first people of Australia, how they have looked after the land for many years and how we need to acknowledge, respect and thank them for this and continue to do so ourselves. 

We also have a special helper each session. Their tasks include ringing the 5-minute bell, putting out the place mats, choosing a transition activity to snack/lunch time. We use shape, number, name, colour, matching games and so on to do this- there are always opportunities for learning throughout the session!

We started off 2025 Term 1 at our temporary space at Darcy st, Sandringham. This was an adjustment for the children and teachers/educators, but the children showed enormous resilience and patience as the space was shared by 2 groups at the one time. We decided to have our group/story times outside which allowed opportunities to experience the sounds of nature, which there was an abundance of due to no one occupying the kinder for a while. During term 1, experiences also included group discussions related too acceptable behavior at kinder where we have been formulating a Waratah group code of conduct, learning the names of the group members, the importance of belonging and being part of the group, consent and personal space, singing, crossing the midline exercises, celebrating Birthdays and so much more! 

We record some of the learning moments via photos and on the whiteboard which are sent via school stream. We are including floor books in our programming this year and these will be in the foyer.  

We are always available to have a chat about your child if you need and can make time after the sessions for these.