REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL
LINDFIELD NEWSLETTER 21st October 2022
Principal’s Message
By Christine Irwin
Dear Parents, The team and children are moving into term 4 with much excitement. New interests are emerging and new learning centres are popping up in the classroom environments to scaffold the children’s play and research. There are a few new children who have started with us this term and the team is working hard to settle these children into the routine with nurturing strategies and understanding. We as a team understand how difficult it can be for both the children and the parents during this separation period. We encourage a slower transition to care at Reddam ELS Lindfield by having shorter days in the beginning and increasing this over time. All children are different and sometimes it takes individual children longer than others to settle. We ask our families to be patient and understand this a process that every child undertakes differently. As noted on the Early Childhood Australia Website
“Some children embrace this change with an enthusiasm that can leave parents feeling confident and comfortable, and perhaps even a little left out. Other children may feel afraid, upset or anxious. It may be the first time they have been in the care of adults who are not part of their family, or the environment could be noisy and crowded compared to being at home, making it all feel a bit too much. It is actually quite common for children to show some signs of discomfort when they first start in a new program. From about six months old, most children begin to show distress when they are away from their parents or carers, as they don’t yet have a separate sense of self, so can feel a part of them is missing. While this can be worrying for parents and carers, it is normal for children to find the transition to early learning upsetting and it is important to remember the distress is often short-lived.” https://www.earlychildhoodaustralia.org.au We also understand that due to the school still taking measures to protect everyone from Covid we are asking parents to say goodbye at classroom doors. Although this can be difficult for new families below you will see from Raising Children - the Australian parenting website that saying goodbye briefly and not dragging out the goodbye is a better strategy for your child, however, this can be difficult for our families and encourage you to give us a call throughout the day or you are able to email the core teacher directly throughout the day to check in on how your child is going.