Bayside Christian College

Early Learning Centre

 Director's Update

It is truly a privilege to be able to shine a light on the gift God gave us of his Son, Jesus. To be able to impact another person's life when sharing the knowledge that God loves them, brought his son into the world as a baby and then sent Jesus to the cross to pay for our sins. That no matter what a person may experience in life; they are not alone in this world. As teachers, we had this incredible opportunity this past month to teach our 44 students on the true meaning of Easter. 

 

In my teenage years, I had a close relationship with a member of my church who was like a surrogate Grandma to me. We spent many times after church sharing morning tea and talking about our week. Joop taught me that if there was one thing she could do in this life, it was “save one more for Jesus” and she hoped and prayed that I would also save one more for Jesus and always lean on him, learn more about him and live a life striving to be like him. This simple yet powerful and complex phrase was one I remember thinking about often after she passed away on how I could use my life “to save one more for Jesus”. 

 

Every Easter, I reflect on what an honour it is, to have this responsibility as a Christian to acknowledge my relationship with him and how I can use my time on Earth to bring one more person closer to knowing and loving the Lord.

 

This week was filled with incredible moments of witnessing 3, 4 and 5 year old children tell their parents, siblings and friends after kindergarten had finished or on the playground that there was this really interesting story in the Bible that spoke of “Jesus being dead and then alive” and “Mum did you know Jesus died for you too?” or even during class with one child saying “Miss Mitchell, God loves you”. 

 

I hope these stories help highlight that whether it be one teacher, one or forty four students, your friend, colleague, a family member or a stranger; that it is a gift to shine a light on Jesus and help other people to get to know his sacrificial love for us. It doesn't need to be a person on their deathbed that you save as a defining moment in your Christian walk, or someone going through a hard time. It can be a child learning and sharing their new found knowledge that can help another person draw closer to God and his Son, Jesus. Moments like this help me know we are not alone in this world, there is a bigger picture to our lives and there is goodness that we can be thankful for this Easter. 

 

As one child prayed this week before morning tea, I hope it is a simple reminder for your coming days to also go forth and save one more for Jesus: 

 

“Dear God, I love you, thankyou for giving us Jesus. Thank you he is alive. Amen”

 

With that in mind, I wish every family a wonderful, healthy and safe Easter break and we are so looking forward to sharing Term 2 with you all. 

 

Ms Fiona Mitchell, ELC Director

Upcoming Dates

  • Monday 24 April: Staff Work Day
  • Tuesday 25 April: ANZAC Day
  • Wednesday 26 April: First day of Term 2 for ELC 4 students
  • Thursday 27 April: First day of Term 2 for ELC 3 students

3-Year-Old Kindergarten

Last week we celebrated Harmony Week in the ELC. The children were invited to share an aspect of their family culture through bringing a special item or flag, wearing a significant item of clothing, or sharing a photo with the group.

We explored the theme 'Everyone belongs' with arts and crafts, as well as through engaging with picture story books. We joined in saying 'Hello' in many different languages when we read 'Hello World'-by Manya Stojic. We listened to songs and rhymes in other languages during rest time. 

'Bubbles’ the Bunny came in to visit the children in the ELC. Mrs Nadarajah and Zacc told the group all about Bubbles, whilst Mr Nadarajah set up Bubbles' enclosure outside. 

 

Mrs Nadarajah showed the group the different types of foods Bubbles likes to eat. Bubbles likes to eat cauliflower leaves, rose petals and can enjoy a small amount of carrots as a special treat. The children each had the opportunity to pat and feed Bubbles outside. Thank you to the Nadarajah family for this special visit!

The children have been preparing for Easter by talking and thinking about the story of Easter, singing songs and engaging in arts and crafts. We have been looking forward to our special Easter Celebration morning in the ELC this week!

 

Mrs Alyssa Cairns, ELC Teacher

4-Year-Old Kindergarten

PJ Day

As we concluded our topic of “Creation”, the children were excited to participate in the final week’s teaching of how God created the world in 6 days, and on the 7th he rested. To see this learning in a new way, we held a PJ Day to understand the feeling of rest. 

The children completed activities around rest- using blocks in the construction area to attempt to make a bed for God. Completed gross motor movements as they watched an interactive story unfold on the story found in the Bible. Later in the day, to explore “rest” the children watched a video on creation- focusing on day 7 and laid down as they rested. Half way through, a small fresh and warm cup of popcorn was much appreciated by the children. 

 

Harmony Week

 

What does Harmony mean? What does diversity mean? Who is represented in your family?

What language do you speak? How does your culture dress? Has your family come to Australia to live? Where in the world has your family originated from?

These questions exploded in wonder and curiosity in our 4 year old class as the children looked in depth at this topic. We invited the children to dress in the orange colour, or outfits that represented their identity.  Orange is the colour chosen to represent Harmony Day.

 

Traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect.

 

Australia is a vibrant and multicultural country — from the oldest continuous culture of our first Australians to the cultures of our newest arrivals from around the world. We learned how other cultures dress by learning from Mia who wore her traditional Vietnamese dress, which we now understand is called: Áo Dài. She wore this outfit in January when she visited Vietnam and celebrated with her extended family and friends the 1st day of the Luna New Year.

 

Elijah showcased his Indonesian heritage when he wore a traditional outfit from the Island of Java called a Bitak. Through communicating these ideas, the children were keen to learn where the island of Java was and an investigation began looking at a map and trying to find this place and then where Australia is located. 

 

We as teachers were thrilled to see children learn from each other about their community, country and world and how God calls us to live in harmony with one another. 

 

Adventure Time

 

The students were so excited to go on their first adventure through the south campus on Monday the 3rd of April. The intention was for the students to develop awareness of the greater college and learn about the community surrounding them. After discussing safety aspects of our school and going past the fenceline, the children walked in a “friendship train” to the library to see where they will be going for the rest of the year’s library classes. The children’s facial expressions showcased joy and wonder at the books, colours and even saw a few familiar faces in teachers and students they recognised. 

Next on the adventure was the oval where two students thought it was the biggest space they had ever seen! This of course meant running races on the track. Finally on our last leg of the walk to see the chickens, we saw Mr Manning, Mrs Steinbergs and Mrs Power outside which was lovely to stop and say hello. When we arrived to observe the chicken coop, Mrs Chester came out of her classroom and invited us to see her class’ stick insects. 

 

Wearily, the students went back to the Kindergarten classroom for a well earned rest. 

Thankyou Mrs Mann for welcoming us into the library and Mrs Chester, for showcasing more of God’s wonderful creatures for our students to learn about. We are so excited for term 2 adventure walks. 

 

Easter: Journey to the Cross

 

The past month, the children have been preparing for a special afternoon for their parents to come into the classroom and showcase their knowledge about how Jesus died on the cross for them, their families and everyone in the world. The children created a wooden cross ornament for their homes and gave it to their families with a photo of themselves to visually remind them that Jesus died for them. They divided up jelly beans into gift bags to present to their families how each jelly bean colour could help retell Jesus’ journey to the cross. 

The children practised a familiar song to teach their parents “Boss of the cross” and then invited their parents to go and search for some easter with their easter basket. Finding an empty egg to represent the tomb and a bouncy ball to represent the stone that rolled away from the tomb. Of course, a small amount of chocolate may have been included too.

 

The children were so excited to conclude the term, by showing their families their learning portfolios filled with some memorable moments of their first term at 4 year old Kindergarten.