Reddam ELS Lindfield News Letter

Reddam ELS Lindfield Newsletter Friday 10th November Friday 10th November 2023

Principals Message by Lara Wilson

“A Reggio inspired classroom is a non traditional learning environment where there are no assigned seats. Children have easy access to supplies and learning material, and are consistently inspired and encouraged to direct their own learning. Because students learn directly from their learning environment, a Reggio inspired classroom is set up in a way that is meant to be a reflection of the culture that the child lives in.”

GOODWIN.EDU/ENEWS/CHARACTERISTICS-OF-A-REGGIO-INSPIRED-CLASSROOM Dear Families and caregivers,

I am often asked how we collectively as a school prepare children for Kindergarten. As Teachers, we have developed a holistic approach inspired by the philosophy and core values of Reggio Emilia. We reflect on our daily practices and utilise our sound knowledge of the following core values prominent in this approach; children are constructors of their own knowledge and training, children learn, think and express themselves in a variety of ways, learning environments are inviting, inciting an authentic spark of curiosity and documentation and observation are conducted in an unobtrusive learning space.

Through this, we work in partnership with families and our local community to provide an education that fosters the learning and development of each child in a holistic, nurturing environment. Children problem solve, develop a sense of belonging and express themselves freely through different pathways. We support children to be the drivers of their own learning. Learning is centered around communication and children are encouraged to explore the world around them, pose questions, reflect on their understanding and talk about their observations. Through the exploration of their

world and the interactions with those around them, children learn about themselves and the world they live in.

I firmly believe that here at Reddam ELS Lindfield, we prepare children and equip them with the life skills to reach their full potential as capable and confident learners. Through our guided approach, children’s voices are heard and their choices are valued. We know that learning occurs through play and we are co-researchers with the children throughout their learning journey. Through the facilitation of these strategies that support self expression, problem solving and thinking skills, we provide a holistic education for each and every child at Reddam ELS Lindfield.

Collaboratively with families, caregivers, our team of teachers and our community, we prepare children for a life filled with endless opportunities for discovery and exploration where a love of learning is instilled from the beginning of their journey of learning.

Have a lovely weekend ahead.

Lara Wilson Principal

Stage 1R "A schema is a pattern that a child loves to repeat in their play" (Harper, 2008).

Dear 1R Families,

First of all, I would like to say thank you for welcoming me into the community. I am looking forward to getting to know your children and your family.

We have been looking at the rhythm of the day for the week. After a long reflection together as a team, we are working on observing each child's interests and routines and forming some small groups based upon this. This is to minimise the waiting time for our 1R children and enhance their daily experiences with smaller groups. It has worked very well as children have progressive meals and other play based experiences throughout the day. The change also empowers children to make choices in their daily routines according to their own bodily needs. This is an important skill for children to be confident at a very young age to develop a sense of identity about themselves.

In terms of experiences, we have been observing their schematic play so educators can further leverage their natural interests. Hamish, Kobe, Louis, Rylan, and Sebastian have been showing interest in transporting. They enjoyed transporting any vehicles and trucks we set up outside.

Theodore, Grace V, Chelsea, Zachary, Nalani, and Hannah have been exploring the schematic play of emptying and filling up buckets or containers on the water tray with pipettes and spoons. Do share with us if you observed any other schematic play that your child particularly likes at home so we can include it in our planning.

We had some spontaneous experiences as well and Zachary and Ange are settling into our environment where they both love reading. We focused on reading, "The Rainbow Fish" this week.

We are gathering information on each child's favorite book. It would be great if you could complete the form we prepared for you during your drop-off next week. Kindly check the book of the week in our reading corner too for continuity of learning if you would like to read the same book at home too.

Throughout the week, we have also added mark-making for 1R to further extend their creativity. We started the week by providing them with chunky brushes. Instead of end product focus, we provided uninterrupted time for 1R children to explore their mark-making. Some were making dots, while others made circular motion lines.

Part of the program consists of care for the children, we would like to ensure we intentionally take this opportunity to empower the 1R children to develop the autonomy to be independent. Hence, you may observe we spent some time this week to encourage 1R children to learn how to wash their hands, self-serve, assist an educator to get the trolleys from the kitchen, and pack away after play.

This will continue for the next few weeks.

We're excited to see what next week holds!

Shirley, Jing, Nika and Cigdem

Stage 1E “The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery" (Mark Van Doren)

Dear Families,

This week, our young learners engaged in educational experiences that nurtured their creativity, cognitive development, and social interaction. They enthusiastically embarked on a creative art project using ladyfinger plants we found in the outdoor environment, many creating their own boats using the plant as a stamper in line with our transport learning journey this term. The children continued their learning journey, seamlessly transitioning to a water and colour-matching experience.

The children successfully matched colourful pom poms to boats of corresponding colours, showcasing their understanding of hues, with Liam leading the way in confidently naming the colours.

These two experiences provided our young learners with diverse opportunities for growth and development. Expressive arts experiences foster children's imaginative play and fine motor skills in addition to encouraging individual expression. This also promotes social and emotional development as the children shared ideas and provided positive feedback on each others projects! In the context of the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF), these experiences align with various learning outcomes, such as Outcome 4 (Confident and Involved Learners) and Outcome 1 (Strong Sense of Identity), emphasising the holistic development and learning outcomes discussed in the EYLF. As educator's, we strive to provide enriching and diversified learning experiences, to further support our children's development and curiosity. The children in 1E have expressed such a great interest in expressive arts experiences including sensory play and we will continue to provide open ended resources to inspire and encourage children to manipulate.d In turn, this encourages critical thinking and language development, enhancing their ability to express themselves through art. We're also introducing collaborative art projects to foster teamwork and negotiation skills, emphasising the importance of working together and celebrating our achievements.

Observing each child's unique interests and providing tailored guidance is at the heart of our approach. We aim to create individual learning experiences that align with the Early Years Learning Framework (EYLF) by respecting and listening to the voices of each child.

We look forward to more exciting adventures in the coming weeks as our children continue to explore, learn, and grow.

Have a lovely weekend.

1E Team

Stage 2R “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” - (Nelson Mandela)

Dear Families, Regardless of the country we're raised in, we must instill a sense of acceptance and tolerance within our children. Children begin engaging with numerous people outside their immediate family and learning more about the larger world which becomes more prominent once they have mastered a language to converse back and forth with others. We can introduce them from an early age to different world cultures, how they can expect to be treated by others, and how they should treat others. This week we celebrated the American culture.

Throughout the week, our sensory experiences included playdough, rice sensory trays, shaving foam, and fizzing flags where collaborative discussions took place in regards to the colours on the American flag. These experiences allow the children to explore freely and encourage their independence, introducing them to early mathematical and problem-solving skills.

As Neil Armstrong, an American astronaut, became the first human to step on the moon and conduct experiments there, we decided to introduce his story through a play based experience. With our moonwalking sensory trays, children used their imaginative and creative skills to be astronauts walking on the moon. Learning through sensory exploration comes naturally to young children as they simultaneously engage their senses. The children in 2R this week have been observing, forming

a hypothesis, experimenting, and drawing their own conclusions through play based experiences and interactions with one another.

The children have thoroughly immersed themselves in the cooking experiences we have facilitated in the classroom. This week, we created burgers and the feedback from the children was evident in the look of pure enjoyment on their faces! This also provided opportunities for social engagement with peers and discussions about sustainable practices.

We hope you all have a lovely weekend.

Miss Vivian, Miss Connie and Miss Fatima

Stage 2E “If the children feel safe, they can take risks, ask questions, make mistakes, learn to trust, share their feelings and grow.” (Alfie Kohn)

Dear Families, This week’s focus was, when I'm feeling blue. We explored more about the Blue Monster this week and through collaborative discussions, we asked each other what sadness feels like. The important thing about feelings, even overwhelming ones, is to teach children to recognise them, provide them with the words to express how they feel in healthy, appropriate ways. Sharing worries and sad stories with a friend/teacher/family member can help us break down our overwhelming feelings.

This week’s activities were associated with blue for the blue monster. The fizzy wavy ocean offered a nice fizzy sound that triggered all of the senses when our children dropped blue vinegar into baking soda. They observed the 'bubble' reaction and could not take their eyes off it. Excitingly, 2E children marveled as they splashed and dived various ocean animals through the tray filled with water and sand.

Miss Mia read a story, 'When I Feel Sad' by Trace Moroney. Have you ever been so sad that the world seems grey and droopy? The little rabbit knew how it felt to be sad and just what to do to feel better.

When we know we are sad, we might find that a great big hug is all you need to make the sadness go away. When do 2E children feel sad?

- Alex: "When mum is not home" - Bao: "When it's raining and I can't go to school" - Charlie: "When I can't find my Ele (elephant soft toy)" - Kirra: "When my dad goes away" - Eleanor: "When my mummy take me to the doctor" - Kylie: "Nothing" Miss Mia invited the children to engage in an experience using string and paint. The children used their fine motor skills to pick up the string and dip it in to the paint with the help of a brush. The children extended their hand eye coordination to lift the long string and moved it along the paper.

While creating the art, they chatted with Miss Mia and each other commenting about the process or sharing their artistic intentions.

- Billie: "looks like noodles!" (giggle) - Tom: "I'm doing a superman." (flying the string around) - Charlie: "I will paint a dragon."

Ms. Chloe invited the children to conjure up imaginative stories or sentences using magical story cards. Among the delightful characters were unicorns, wizards, pirates, princes, and princesses, each with their own unique charm. The children selected a role they would like to play and a prop to accompany their selected character if they wished. This activity encourages the development of expressive and reception language through storytelling. The children articulated their ideas into words and worked collaboratively with one another.

Observing the children engaged with colorful blocks and starting to build patterns with them, Miss Mia designed a game and invited a small group of friends to play the color monster block pattern game. She introduced and demonstrated how to read the patterns and how to follow them. Miss Mia explained that patterns repeat and asked her friends to guess what comes next. Each child had different approaches to completing their patterns. After each turn, Miss Mia praised the children's work and encouraged them to read the pattern out loud, such as "Yellow-green-red... Yellow-greenred... Yellow-green-red." Miss Mia observed the children focus on this experience for a length of time and played several times, indicating their interest in the creation of patterns using colours.

What a wonderful week of learning! Thank you Blue Monster for coming to visit us!

Have a fantastic weekend, 2E Team

Stage 3R "Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive that is youer than you” - (Dr. Suess)

Dear Families,

This week, we are focusing on prints. Prints can be found everywhere, whether in books, posters, cards, symbols, or words. They all serve different purposes: a book tells a story, a poster displays pictures and information, a card conveys messages, a symbol represents a word, and a word imparts meaning. The common thread is that print relays a message. Concepts of print demonstrate to children the logistics of reading and writing, which are essential for the processes of literacy. Their print knowledge is linked to later achievements in decoding, spelling, and reading comprehension.

The children discussed famous landmarks from around the world with the educators, including the 101 Tower in Taipei, the Opera House in Sydney, and the Colosseum in Italy. During reading time, educators demonstrated to the children the direction of reading words and reading pages from left to right.

To further stimulate children's interest in STEM and enhance their knowledge of print, educators have introduced various learning resources to deepen their understanding. The children enjoyed building with cups and loose parts to recreate different famous architectural structures.

Hayden: It's a circular shape. Start with a circle first.

Henson: I need more cups.

Charlotte: Don't knock it down. We're still building.

Reading picture books, such as 'Little Red Riding Hood' and 'When I Feel Scared,' provides opportunities to explore various aspects of literacy, including print awareness, vocabulary development, comprehension, and emotional understanding. Educators pointed out words, letters, and sentences and explained how we read from left to right and from top to bottom of the page. The children displayed developing comprehension skills and answered open ended questions about each story. The children then engaged in creative, hands-on activities related to the stories.

Group: I'm scared of Halloween.

Aida: I'm scared of the dark.

Felix: I feel scared when I can't get my mommy's cuddle.

As a Reggio Emilia inspired school, we consider the environment as the third teacher, helping children learn about print and literacy by immersing them in the physicality of books, postcards, symbols, and words.

Have a lovely weekend, Winnie, Jenny, Eunice & Gwen

Stage 3E "The world of pretend play is one in which children can be free to express themselves, their ideas, their emotions, and their fantastic visions of themselves, of other people, and of the world" (Sandra Russ.)

Dear Families, During Week 5, the children proceeded to learn about the structure of the spine, ribs, hands, and feet joints from the skeleton design with cotton sticks. They expressed their desire to create a scary skeleton, with some suggesting a one-legged skeleton. The children were invited into a creative art experience where they could explore how they move through their play space by making a rainbow obstacle course using cellophane as lights! Also, the children were able to meet our new class pets three fish called Goldie, Jolly and Omelet. This learning experience allowed them to share and discuss their ideas about how they can use their gentle hands, to care for and continue to look after the fishes. The children are enjoying feeding them and maintaining the fish tank!

Throughout the week, the children were able to create other visual representations of the skeletal structure of various animals. This allowed them to use paper-cutting techniques to craft skeleton shapes; which enhanced the realism of their work! The children also enjoyed listening to a picture book called, “No More Monkey” written by Joshua George & Barbara Bakos. The children were

required to think about what the animals were doing wrong and the actions they should be completing in order to maintain their house and help others.

The children continued to enjoy engaging in their specialised classes where they furthered their gross motor and physical skills, engage in yoga experiences and built upon their piano skills! The children were also able to engage in cooking experiences by using carrots which were grown from one of the children’s vegetable gardens at home. In this learning experience, the children were able to mix carrots with other vegetables and fruits to make different types of juices. This allowed the children to think about what type of food groups they were working with and why this is important for our health and nutrition. This enabled the children to further identify and label different foods while also thinking about the healthy food groups.

Have a lovely weekend.

Laura, Kai & Ona

Stage 4R "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela

Dear Parents, It's been a week filled with curiosity and exploration in the 4R class as we continue our engaging journey through 'The Changing World.' The children's newfound interest took an exciting turn

towards the question, 'How have animals changed over time?' Let's dive into the highlights of our week.

We started our week with a captivating exploration of the megalodon, a prehistoric giant that once ruled the oceans. The children were spellbound by images of megalodon fossils, revealing their massive jaws and enormous teeth. They couldn't resist drawing comparisons between these ancient creatures and their modern counterparts, the great white sharks, unravelling the intriguing transformations that occurred over time. Our thirst for knowledge led us outdoors to measure an astonishing 18 meters, the estimated length of an adult megalodon. The children, driven by their insatiable curiosity, used rulers to measure this astounding length. To their amazement, they calculated that it would take 18-19 of them, standing head to toe, to match the size of this remarkable shark.

Our journey into the world of the megalodon continued as we explored the colossal jaws of this prehistoric giant. These jaws were so enormous that they could easily swallow two adult humans side by side. To make this concept more tangible, the children were divided into teams, with each group tasked with recreating fossilised megalodon jaws. Their enthusiasm and teamwork were evident as they discussed the resemblance of the jaws to familiar characters like Bruce from 'Finding Nemo.' During this hands-on activity, the children showcased their fine and gross motor skills, enhancing their fine motor control and spatial awareness. Laughter and camaraderie filled the air as they pondered whether their group could fit inside the megalodon's jaws.

Our exploration took a closer look at animal teeth and their evolutionary adaptations. We delved into how animals have evolved over time, particularly the changes in their teeth. Equipped with whiteboards and markers, the children practised writing and identifying words related to herbivores and carnivores. Their enthusiasm and impressive handwriting skills were on full display as they actively engaged in meaningful discussions. This exercise demonstrated their cognitive development, highlighting their comprehension of terms associated with dietary habits.

Our week of discovery has fueled the children's curiosity and deepened their understanding of the world's history and their place within it. We eagerly anticipate the adventures that lie ahead.

Kind Regards Miss Sarah and Mr Callum

Stage 4E “When little people are overwhelmed by big emotions, it's our job to share our calm, not join their chaos.” - (L.R. Nost)

Dear Families, This week, our class focused social-emotional development as the children continue to attend their kindergarten orientations. We explored the emotion calm and how the green Colour Monster rests and relaxes his body. We read a story called Green by Louise Greig, which helped the children understand the feeling of calmness and its association with nature, particularly green spaces.

Inspired by green nature, the children were invited to the atelier to create their own interpretations of calm environments. Different shades of green paint, paper, cellophane, crayons and pastels were provided for the children to experiment with, as they created a green garden for their monster to rest in. Some of the children created leaves, while others made grass, green flowers, and the hammock the monster rests his body in. The transparent cellophane looked especially effective over the paint and paper. Once the collages were dry, the children revisited their artwork to add their monsters to the calm environment they created. The children have also been creating threedimensional prisms out of paper and continued with constructing pyramids this week. This experience involved the process of cutting, folding, and pasting. Some children found these tasks challenging at first when cutting every corner of the pyramid, but they continue to persist and were proud of their efforts. This experience required patience and focus, which are essential qualities for experiencing calmness.

In the middle of the week, we spent some time in the vegetable garden, observing the changes and growth to the seeds we planted in Week 1. As the children explored each part of the garden, they were excited to see their snow peas thriving and eagerly picked the green pods to take home. The children noticed that some tomato and parsley seeds had ended up in other vegetable patches and started growing in odd places. Mr Rowel discussed the concept of “seed dispersal” where seeds are transferred from one location to the another. They might get carried away on the wind, transferred on an animal’s body, or some seeds can even explode out of their pods. To extend this concept, we read Poppy and the Blooms by Fiona Woodcock, which illustrated four colourful flowers that left a trail of their petals and seeds throughout a city. By the end of the story, the grey concrete was blooming with colours everywhere.

The teachers have been promoting the children’s creativity through their Show and Tell projects, and visual art. The children were introduced to portraits and sculptures made by famous artists including Di Vinci’s Mona Lisa, Frida Kahlo’s self-portraits, geometric portraits by Spanish artist Picasso, the use of gold in Klimt’s paintings, and a self-portrait by Van Gogh. We discussed how each artist had their own style and interpreted their portraits differently. Picasso’s faces were made up of irregular shapes during the cubist movement, while Di Vinci’s painting was more traditional. Miss Rebecca showed the children square canvases they would be using to create their own self-portraits for their final and major artwork in Term 4.

We read, We’re All Works of Art by Mark Sperring, where each page featured famous artworks from various movements over the centuries. The children loved Andy Warhol’s pop art with Marilyn Monroe's face, and more of Picasso’s abstract faces. This story reminded us that we are all unique, have different features, body parts, are different shapes and sizes. This message led to a discussion about what the word “unique” means. We talked about our features that are different and similar to each other such as skin tone, eye and hair colour, and the different talents we each posse that make us special and individual.

What do I love about myself and what makes me unique?

“I like that I am tall, and I can run fast.” - Giselle “I’m a very good singer.” - Lachlan “I’m good at doing monkey bars.” - Burhanuddin “I’m a good builder.” - Lucas “I have special hairstyles.” - Eden “I’m good at my swimming class.” - Toshimitsu “I’m good at reading the words in the book.” – Avery To extend on the concept of self-portraits, the class has been busy in the atelier, creating their own self-portraits with Miss Rebecca. The children use pencils to create the lines and shapes of their faces as they studied their own photographs. They then applied acrylic paint to add colour to their portraits. Miss Lauren also invited the children to participate in an exercise where they had to draw each other’s faces. Each child received a clipboard, paper and pencil, and the name of the friend they were drawing. We discussed how to look carefully at each other’s faces to include the prominent features and ensure there was a likeness to each portrait. The children considered their friends’ hairstyles, eyes, nose, mouth, and general shape of their face. They then presented their drawings to each other at the end of the exercise, which were all well-received.

We’ve explored many famous artists already this term including Piet Mondrian. He was a Dutch artist who was prominent in the early 1900's and created paintings using geometric shapes. When we looked at his artworks, we noticed that Mondrian incorporated a lot of squares, rectangles, and lines into his pictures, as well as primary colours - blue, red and yellow. We discussed how rectangles and squares both have four sides, four corners, are two-dimensional, and make up the faces of threedimensional prisms. For a creative experience, the children were invited to the group mat with Miss Lauren to construct their own interpretations of “Mondrian Art.” Enhancing their fine-motor skills and dexterity, the children used scissors, to cut squares and rectangles out of paper and arranged them on a black piece of paper. We discussed how the black background formed the lines that separated the geometric shapes, and the white paper could be used to create layers of shapes on top of each other for an added dimension. Each artwork looked different and unique, with a mixture of small and large shapes.

What a calm and creative week in our classroom!

Lauren, Rowel and Rebecca

Monday - Yoga Dear Families,

This week’s focus for yoga was, ‘I am kind’. Incorporating the enchanting spirit of ‘kindness’ we moved and stretched our bodies through a series of kind yoga postures including the ‘heart melting pose’ and ‘happy baby’ pose.

We spent some time talking about and practicing our magic breath with the magic breathing ball. We were reminded how our breath is magic and how it can help to keep our minds and body feeling calm.

During our rest, we looked towards the sky, engaging in mindful observation of the colour and the beautiful environment around us - looking at the trees and leaves swaying while listening to soft calming music. We listened to a kindness meditation and discussed how we can be kind to ourselves and others. We felt kind, calm and relaxed and ended our class singing our special Karma Class chant.

Tuesday - Drama with Miss Chelsea Dear Families,

This week in drama, the children ventured to a magical rainforest land! The children used our imagination as a way of creating a particular landscape inside our own minds. We began by going through a tunnel which transported us from the classroom to another realm of our own imaginations.

This physical activity of crawling through a tangible tunnel really helps to set up the level of engagement expected of the students as they are in complete control of the investment into these types of exploration lessons. Then we moved on to exploring the imaginative plane - we walked through thick mud and over trees that had fallen onto the forest floor. Crossing over a river on magical steppingstones gave the children an opportunity to explore the different capacities of limitations for their own body. We played with the scale of the steps themselves as well as the distance between each stone. After this we found a large tree to practice our climbing skills, once we reached the top we sat on a branch and stretched out our arms to find some delicious fruits. After our refreshing snack it was time for us to jump down from the tree and continue our expedition. We took on the forest through a different perspective by using our bodies to become spiders or lizards crawling along the forest floor. This encouraged the children to focus on the little details of the motor skills of the creatures experiencing the biomechanics in a different way. Next, we came to find a waterfall that the children were encouraged to explore, swimming and adventuring in the fresh water as different marine animals or even a mermaid. Once they had cooled down in the waterfall it was time to spend some time admiring what was up above us in this beautiful environment. We all laid down on our backs and talked about what our imagination allowed us to see in the sky- there were birds, clouds forming beautiful pictures, butterflies and even some unicorns. We then created our own pictures by drawing in the sky, we saw some love hearts, dinosaurs and some children even draw their family. As we were drawing, we imagined that some leaves and flower petals began to softly fall all around us as we lay there. We discussed what colours they were, and each picked some of the petals out of the sky, smelling their perfume. This helped the children to engage a variety of senses into the imaginative work. We finished our lesson by crossing back over the river and found our way back to the classroom space.

Wednesday - Music with Mr Alan

Thursday - Playball with Coach Lauren

Mandarin with Miss Chloe

Thank you

1 - https://www.reddamels.com.au/our-schools/lindfield

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