CELC

 

The children and teachers at St Luke’s CELC have continued project investigations throughout term 4. As we approach the end of term, the children have had the opportunity to create a memento which will remain at the CELC as a reminder of our year together with their friends and teachers, these included painted rocks for our rock garden which were created by the children who will be starting school in 2021, as well as self portraits which will be displayed in the foyer by the children who will be returning to St Luke’s CELC next year.

Rock Painting

At the end of each year at St Luke’s CELC, the children who leave us to move into Early Stage one, paint a rock for our rock garden. This year, we linked this special experience to our discussions of story stones and Aboriginal symbols  which was part of our investigation into the Aboriginal culture. Miss Burns led discussions with the children of what the different symbols mean and what they may like to include on their own rock to represent their own story at St Luke’s CELC.

The children were encouraged to create designs, firstly drawing this on a piece of paper  and then copying this on to a stone.  Many of the designs included the meeting space to represent this space outside. Others included symbols to represent their own families.  We look forward to adding these stones to our rock garden path which is located at the fence adjacent to Early Stage one at the school where we may be able to meet the children to chat through the fence next year!

Self Portraits

The children who are returning to St Luke’s CELC next year were involved in the creation of self portraits. The children were encouraged to identify and describe their facial features while drawing these on canvas. The second step was to add colour via acrylic paint  to their portrait. These colourful creations will be on display in the foyer in 2021.

Early Stage One Teacher Visits

The children were very excited to receive visits for Miss Lapiadoro, Miss Calvert and Miss Vella this week. The Early Stage one teachers shared stories with the children who will be starting Early Stage one at St Luke’s school next year. This was a wonderful opportunity for the teachers to spend time with the children and the children used the opportunity to ask questions about starting school. Their questions included queries about why they need to wear a uniform and would they get to see their brother or sister who were at the school too? The children were reassured to hear that yes they would get to see their siblings at times in the playground and they would also have a special uniform to wear each day.

Beetles in the garden

While setting up the outdoor area early one morning, Nicholas was excited to discover beetles in the vegetable garden with Ms Braithwaite! It was thought that the beetles and caterpillars they found in the garden had been responsible for eating the strawberries! 

Discussions between the children and Ms Braithwaite prompted the formulation of a plan to make a spray (non toxic) to deter the beetles and caterpillars from eating the strawberries. The children helped to research the ingredients for the spray, then helped to make the spray. This was then used on the garden. We hope this helps the strawberries stay safe!

Shape Formation

Ms Scicluna read a story about shapes with the children for literacy group time which provoked discussions about shapes and how they are formed. To further enhance the children’s understanding of the properties of shapes, Ms Scicluna prompted the children to form their own shape with their peers’  assistance by using their own bodies. A great experiential activity!