REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER Principal’s Message
20th May 2022
By Mrs Simone Cooke
Dear Parents, At Reddam we offer our children a range of open-ended activities that require handson-investigation and problem solving, as we want our children to understand that there are multiple solutions to problems. Our Stage 1 children have been busy exploring cause and effect, experimenting with shadow play, creating rainbows and enjoying volcanic explosions. Our older Stage 4 children have been busy asking and answering questions, hypothesising , designing and investigating . If you watch children at play you will see they are perpetual engineers of their environment. They are fascinated by building things - towers, bridges, houses. They are forever pulling things apart and putting them back together. What we learn from observing children’s engineering is that, there is no ‘right’ way to construct or solve a problem, no one way to build a tower or design a sloping ramp to race cars down. It is all about trial and error and solving problems. As teachers our role is to extend and engage our children’s thinking, this may be through questioning “How can you make your bridge stronger?” or “How can I make my paper plane fly further? “. It is also about complicating their play by introducing ideas to encourage a different way of thinking. For instance, in the Stage 4 classroom at present the children are designing their own airports and have been introduced to geometry sets and graphing paper which has altered how the children are approaching the design task and constructing their 3D models. Providing children with opportunities to construct, experiment and solve problems provides them with a concrete understanding of important concepts such as how speed, velocity, weight and distance work. As the children brainstorm ideas, look for solutions and identify problems they learn to test and modify what they do, all of which instills important processing skills and teaches them to be critical thinkers. REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
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Principal’s Message Continued… Another area of engineering is digital engineering and in Stage 3/4 our children have been enjoying a wide range of activities with coding and robotics. This begins with learning directionality, left, right, forward, backwards, pattern making and sequencing and has extended to them programming their little bee bot beetles to complete circuits and follow a set of instructions.Exposing children to the concept of coding provides them with a “digital literacy” that allows them not only to understand how the devices and software they are using works but also allows them to be creators of their own programmes. At the heart of all engineering is “making things work and things work better”. As I walk through the school I watch as the children dig complex sand tunnels that span the length of our very long sand pit, create sophisticated castles that reach for the sky and 1st April 2022 intricate road systems that would solve our Sydney congestion problems. I see engineers at work everywhere I look!
REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER Wishing you a wonderful weekend with your little engineers!
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Stage 4R
By Ms Lauren Doughton
“Science is simply the word used to describe a method of organising our curiosity” In a world filled with the products of scientific inquiry, scientific literacy has become a necessity for everyone. Everyone needs to use scientific information to make choices that arise every day. Everyone needs to be able to engage intelligently in public discourse and debate about important issues that involve science and technology. And everyone deserves to share in the excitement and personal fulfilment that can come from understanding and learning about the natural world. The need to focus on science in the early childhood classroom is based on a number of factors currently affecting the early childhood community. First and foremost is the growing understanding and recognition of the power of children’s early thinking and learning. Research and practice suggest that children have a much greater potential to learn than previously thought, and therefore early childhood settings should provide richer and more challenging environments for learning. In these environments, guided by skillful teachers, children’s experiences in the early years can have significant impact on their later learning. In addition, science may be a particularly important domain in early childhood, serving not only to build a basis for future scientific understanding but also to build important skills and attitudes for learning. Children’s minds are like sponges and that is why they are forever asking why this, why that and so on. It is our job as adults to provide the little people of our world with the understanding and foundations to feed those curious minds. With this in mind over the week we dived into more science experiments related to colours. Together as a class we sat with the children and laid out seven plastic cups, water, food colouring and paper towel. Again the children were asked to guess what they think would happen and how they think we could make water walk after being told the experiment was called ‘ walking water’. Lauren then placed some water in every second cup. We then asked some of the children to put some food colouring in the water starting with red then blue and then yellow. Once mixed together we asked 7 children to come up and place some thick paper towel in-between the cups. Straight away the paper towel began to soak up the colours and was transferring the colours to the next cup. It was fascinating to see the colours mix together both in the cup and on the paper towel. Another activity that the children took a liking to this week was the oil and water experiment. As we all know oil and water do not mix. But when you put water into oil you are able to see the bubbles that are created by the two liquids that don’t mix. The children found this fascinating and there were many conversations around this and many questions of Why does this happen? What causes this to do this? The children were able to pick coloured water and with an eye dropper they were able to put it into the oil. Next week we will be looking at more chemical reactions and participating in science experiments that explode! Stay tuned.
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Stage 4R
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Stage 4E
By Ms Sarah Ross
“Then he nibbled a hole in the cocoon, pushed his way out and… He became a beautiful butterfly!” This week Stage Four explored the complete metamorphosis insect life cycle. First, we discussed the meaning of complete metamorphosis and the children discovered that metamorphosis means to change into something else. Next, the children viewed pictures of butterfly and silkworm life cycle stages, then practiced ordering them from beginning to end. To explore this life cycle further the children engaged in a reading of a book called ‘The Cautious Caterpillar’. The story followed a caterpillar who was reluctant to make the change into a butterfly but after talking to his friends about his worries he discovered how wonderful it would be to have wings and sip nectar from flowers. Afterwards as a class we talked about changes the children may be experiencing in their lives currently and leading up to going to school. Many of the children shared all the positive things they look forward to when those changes come along! Butterfly Art Artistic and creative play enables children to explore and make sense of their world while investigating, imagining, creating and problem solving. In turn this provides opportunity for children to make choices and achieve! This week Stage Four engaged in two art experiences where they created beautiful butterflies to represent the final stage of the butterfly life cycle. The first art consisted of squeezing coloured paints onto paper and folding the paper in half to create beautiful patterns. The second art work introduced the children to using chalks and they practiced blending the colours together as they shaded around an outline of a butterfly shape. The Stage Four children were so proud of the end results and improvements in their fine motor skills. At the end of the week the children reflected on what they had learnt about the butterfly and silk worm life cycles, some of their answers included; “The caterpillars change and it starts as a egg, cocoon, then butterfly” – Azure “Egg, caterpillar, cocoon, butterfly” – Augusten “Eggs, silk worm, cocoon, butterfly” – Winnie “Butterflies come from a caterpillar and before they die they lay eggs so they can hatch into new caterpillars” -Mihira “Caterpillars eat leaves and butterflies like flowers” - Yuno
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Stage 4E
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Stage 4D
By Ms Emily Chacon
How Does It Work? This week the children have continued their learning journey of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths). The children have really seemed to be enjoying their hands-on learning. Throughout the week we explored through two experiments, ‘Walking Rainbow’ and ‘Rainbow Rain in a Jar’, both experiments encouraged patience and discovery. Doing science projects helps develop a child's resourcefulness, particularly their skills at goal setting, planning, and problem-solving. It also nurtures intellectual curiosity, helping children acquire new ways of asking questions and understanding the world. Our ‘Walking Rainbow’ experiment consisted of several cups and water being put in every second cup. Then only primary colours were used in each cup, red, yellow, blue and then red again. Then a paper towel was connected from one cup to the other. Now we had to wait…throughout the day we came back to check and see if the colours had begun moving. It was very exciting to see the colours changing and moving between cups all on their own! The ‘Rainbow Rain in a jar’ experiment began with water in a tall jug. On the opening I pressed out shaving foam to cover the top of the water. Gradually I began to drop food colouring onto the foam. The children watched in awe as the colour slowly began to drip through the foam and then fall into the water in unusual patterns. Our table activities further engaged the children in hands-on experiments. Our Oobleck slime table was great for engaging the children in learning about science concepts, measurement and consistency. Oobleck is great for the development of fine motor skills as children work and strengthen their little hand muscles while engaged in sensory play. On our other table were several jars full of coloured water in one and baby oil in the other. As the water was dropped into the oil it formed a ball and fell to the bottom of the jar. I explained to the children that water has a different density to oil, which is why they don’t mix. Oil molecules are only attracted to other oil molecules. Just like the oil molecules, water molecules are only attracted to other water molecules. The reason the oil floats on top is because the oil is less dense than water. Allowing children to really get into science gives them the chance to make discoveries on their own. Housekeeping: -
Please ensure that you are dressing your child according to the weather (jumpers, rain jackets, beanies) Ensure that all pieces of clothing are clearly labelled. REDDAM EARLY LEARNING SCHOOL | ST LEONARDS NEWSLETTER
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Stage 3/4
By Ms Riina Andrew
Coding This week, we started to really get into the world of coding. The children have all been very excited and very receptive to the new challenges that have been presented to them. Continuing on from last week, we have revisited positional language and are still becoming familiar with left and right and other positional language words. To enhance this learning, we decided to play positional games, songs and collage experiences. Positional Language Games Making learning fun was the way we participated in our positional language game this week. Using the game ‘Twister’, the teacher gave an instruction, for instance, left foot on yellow, right hand on green, and the children placed that body part on the corresponding coloured spot. The game was played two at a time, which helped the children to focus and hypothesise which hand/foot was left and which one was right. It took most of us af ew turns to get the gist of the game but once we understood the rules we played with gusto and requested to replay the game over and over again challenging each other to play. Positional Language Songs Songs and music help to form a connection between body and mind for learning. This makes music a strong choice to practise positional words with children. Our favourite song is ‘Hokey Pokey’. The words to the song can be changed to include different body parts and use different sides of the body, all the while dancing and moving to the music. The children are learning in a fun way and being physical at the same time! Positional Language Cut and Stick We also incorporated collage into our activities using coloured arrows. Children love glue sticks and scissors, so we used that inclination for cut and stick positional language fun. The children were given positional language to guide them in where to stick their arrows, such as, stick the blue arrow above the red arrow, stick the yellow arrow on the right of the green arrow etc. It was a challenge at first remembering our left and right but when we were assisted by the teacher to think through the instruction first it became easier to complete. A great week was had by all!
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Stage 3E
By Ms Bianca Lazar
Hola Amigos and Bienvenida a España! Stage 3 children visited Spain this week. With a rich history, beautiful landscapes, fascinating culture and delicious food, Spain is a very popular destination for holiday makers. Here are Some fun facts we learnt about Spain: The capital is Madrid. The national language is Spanish. It is a country located in Europe. On the learning tables this week children had to recreate the flag of Spain using coloured counters. We also created our very own Pablo Picasso portraits and decorated our castanets made from cardboard and loose part metals. Once our castanets were dried, children showcased their best Flamenco dance moves to traditional Spanish music whilst using their handmade castanets. In addition to our table activities, children were introduced to multiple Spanish songs, thanks to our wonderful Stage 3 teacher Itziar who was born in Spain. We are very lucky to have Itziar teach the Stage 3 children some basic Spanish greetings, numbers, and colours. Our World Map! An exciting little project of ours has also kicked off this week! As part of our provocation this term, children were asked to take home and complete a worksheet about their family origin. Once returned, children presented their family destinations to their fellow peers and educators. Miss Bianca and Miss Itziar assisted the children and marked their family’s origin on our large world map with string for all children to see. It has been wonderful to witness children confidently convey clear oral presentations with purpose and determination, while building on home/family relations. With so much more to see and discover about Spain, we will be continuing our Spanish interest next week! Te veo la proxima semana!
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Stage 3E
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Stage 2/3 & 3R
By Ms Gabriela Guimaraes
Trucks and Construction This week the children have been involved in a range of trucks activities . We also focused on adding some construction words into our vocabulary and practising our fine motor skills. We started by setting up the most beautiful construction themed small world in our Tuff tray. To start with, we added some adhesive road tape and then some large rocks from our garden. Next, we added some pebbles as the base and then all of our construction loose parts and vehicles. It turned out so well! Dramatic play it’s such a fantastic way to encourage so many skills in a way that’s playful and age appropriate. The children have also loved the farm provocation this week. A special interest was the dump trucks and rocks, so I came up with a dump truck alphabet rocks activity. It was great way for the children to move and learn while playing with their favourite toys. When combined dump trucks and sand, it was lots of fun, but adding rocks sends it over the top! It was amazing how much fun the children could have finding the alphabet letter on the dump truck. In the art atelier the children were invited to paint tyres. The children were so excited to paint the real object and also gave us the opportunity to expand on our transportation unit. Literacy and Numeracy Program Literacy and numeracy skills are fundamental skills that children need to support their learning. To strengthen these skills, we introduced our literacy and numeracy program in Term 2. Both literacy and numeracy are forms of communication; ways in which we represent and share information with others about our world. Because literacy and numeracy are essential life skills, children need opportunities to use them (and to see them being used) in real life situations. Through play, we have explored numeracy by exploring spatial awareness; structure and patterns, numbers, connections and exploring the world mathematically as these are the powerful mathematical ideas children need to become numerate. Moreover, we have delved deep into the world of literacy by exploring all modes of communication, such as music, drama as well as conversing, listening, writing, mark-making, shared reading and storytelling. All these positively contribute strengthening the children’s capacity, confidence and disposition to use language in all its forms. “Positive attitudes and competencies in literacy and numeracy are essential for children’s successful learning. The foundations for these competencies are built in early childhood” (The Early Years Learning Framework).
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Stage 2/3 & 3R
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Stage 2R
By Ms Madeleine Grant
Oceans and Deserts Our exploration of the natural world has taken us out of the deep blue sea and on to the topic of deserts. We used this week as a bridge between the two worlds by focusing on the element that most defines and differentiates each region from one another - water! Our topic of oceans has mostly explored the animals and natural objects that are found in the seas. This week we explored the water itself, and introduced the children to some of the scientific processes that take place in our oceans. They created striking ocean inspired artworks that doubled as an exercise in cause and effect. Using the wet-on-wet watercolour technique, the children sprayed their page with water and used droppers of paint in blues, greens and purples, as well as shimmering gold and silver. As the drops hit the page they quickly dispersed through the water, the ink allowing the children to see the paths the paint took as it flowed over the paper. Some even picked up the trays and tilted them side to side, making a tidal wave! Once they had put down enough paint they noticed it began pooling in certain areas, with the colour becoming darker, just like how the deep blue sea looks vastly different to the shallows. To move on to the next topic we talked about water in the deserts - particularly how there wasn’t very much of it! In our group times we talked about the special plants and animals that can survive in these arid environments, such as cactuses, and how they have adapted to hold onto any water they can get. We then went outside where the children found green sponges to represent cactuses, and were encouraged to investigate how they retained water. They had a great time splashing and playing in the water, and loved squeezing the sponges to see who could get the most water out! This exercise is great for refining their fine motor skills, using a strong grip and giving their tiny hand and finger muscles a good work out! We also talked about the role of water in our lives. How we need water to stay healthy, and how we use water to keep us clean. It is so important to teach children about water conservation, so they can develop positive habits. Even though the summer months are now well truly behind us, it is still important that the children are drinking lots of water. If you would like to bring a drink bottle and are not doing so already, we welcome them to bring one along to keep in their locker during the day!
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Stage 2R
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Stage 1E
By Ms Justine Heydra
Igniting curiosity though S.T.E.M. “We cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build our youth for the future.” Franklin D. Roosevelt. This week in stage 1E we continued our fantastic S.T.E.M. provocation. Our main focus was construction, where we explored how things work and developed our building skills. The children enjoyed two great hands-on sensory activities this week. Firstly they loved playing with yellow sand and diggers. The children enjoyed scooping up the sand with their hands and their diggers. This activity promoted fine-motor skills and language development. Secondly they were given the opportunity to build something with magnetic shapes. We focused on naming the shapes and igniting their curiosity for construction and architectural design. As part of our dramatic play section, the children had the opportunity to dress up as construction workers and worked on their concentration skills by constructing and building high towers. Playing with blocks provided the children with the opportunity to learn elements of science and maths, like problem solving and counting and it helped them build both gross and fine-motor skills. Block and construction play also supported other key developmental elements such as language learning as the children were asked to count their block and talk about what they were building. This activity also enhanced their self-esteem, social and emotional growth. For our creative art activity the children enjoyed a colourful and fun construction truck artwork. Each child had the opportunity to select two bright neon coloured paints. We squeezed the paint on their paper and they then used a construction truck to spread the paint across their paper. This art activity was loved by all the children and they were fascinated that they could use their construction truck as a paint brush. Lastly, as part of our construction provocation the children thoroughly enjoyed the jumbo blocks and construction section in our outdoor play area. They worked on taking turns and helping one another stack the blocks up. The children also enjoyed watching the construction vehicles from our playground as we named them and discussed what jobs each vehicle had. Wishing you all a safe and enjoyable weekend.
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Stage 1E
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Stage 1E
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Stage 1R
By Ms Amanda Felton
The Colour Yellow We have a busy week with so many exciting activities and so much to do as we start this term with lots of fun learning experiences for our little ones. The children are loving their specialist classes, the drama classes are popular with our babies and the planned experiences build our children's self esteem and enhance children's focusing and confidence and this week the children enjoyed a lovely activity where the children enjoyed recognising themselves in the mirror. In our My Gym class the children this week were encouraged children to build their jumping and balancing skills as they continue to develop their gross motor skills which is so important at this young age. In Yoga the babies had a playful twist as they practiced rolling the balls with a parachute, oh! What fun. Of course Music is always a highlight for our children as everyone loves to dance and sing and are enjoying our new rhymes. Each day we also focus upon literacy as our babies join together in a circle and enjoy books and stories together and this week were learnt all about the different animals that live in cold climates and even on the ice. As part of our intentional teaching and Provocation focus the babies also explored the colour yellow this week and had fun with learning about the square shape.Everyone investigated and explored by looking through yellow window panes and creating an yellow square masterpiece in watercolour. Well done babies it is very rewarding to see you so engaged in learning new skills and concepts.
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Stage 1R
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Drama
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Drama
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Yoga
By Ms Nicole Mulholland
This week we met Merry Meerkat and stretched our body into some familiar yoga poses and also learnt some new ones. The children were challenged with 'dancer' pose and we used some assistance with the wall to gain our balance and then moved our hands off the wall to see if we could balance. We played a game where we used our feet to pass the ball around and it was so lovely to see the children assisting each other and work together to get the ball around the circle. We also practised our deep breathing once again with the breathing ball (hoberman sphere). Thanks for another fun week!
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Yoga
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Piano
By Mr Alan Tang
This week has been an exciting week for piano lessons at Reddam ELS. Stage 4 and 3/4 demonstrated that they have a thorough understanding at finding C, D, E, F and G on the piano. They have started learning "Ode to Joy" by Beethoven. The advanced children continued to refine their mastercraft on the keys. Stage 3 revised on finger exercises to build up their motor skills on the keys. Stage 1 and 2 enjoyed more music from different eras, such as the popular jazz piece "The entertainer" by Scott Joplin. They also started to answer questions about the piano correctly. It was great fun playing for them. Thank you and see everyone next week :)
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Piano
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My Gym
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My Gym
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