At Lilian Cannam Kindergarten we celebrate and recognise parents and families that are part of our community on Mother's Day and Father's Day. Mother's Day and Father's Day is also a wonderful opportunity for recognising the diversity of family structures. Inclusive celebrations serve as an important learning experience by providing opportunities to discuss and acknowledge the many kinds of families in our communities and the many caring adults who are in children's lives.
In 2017 Katherine Lewisohn worked hard with staff, parents and children to promote responsible policies and practices at Lilian Cannam. Our 2018 Sustainability Team headed by Nicki Mete, continue this important work. Composting, worm farms, gardening and providing a natural environment successfully engages children. However, these are only one of many ways we can teach sustainable development.
This week we took delivery of our “recycle station” bins. The children have been using our recycle stations to practise their sorting skills. We have been looking at packaging labels and recycling symbols to help us to identify how different types of packaging can be recycled. Our transparent recycling bins allows us to see what goes in each bin, promoting the correct separation of waste. On Sunday Earth Day has encouraged us to “Help End Plastic Pollution” by finding out how many plastic items we consume every year and make a PLEDGE to reduce that amount. The children have been collecting all plastic that comes into the kindergarten! We hope to work together to reduce this amount in the future.
Sustainable education at Lilian Cannam Kindergarten is a part of everyday practices. It is embedded within the curriculum and part of the day to day running of the service. This responsibility is also reflected in the NQS, which asks that each service take ‘an active role in caring for its environment and contributes to a sustainable future’ (NQS Standard 3.3). More specifically, settings are asked to embed sustainable practices into their operations Element 3.3.1) and to support children to ‘become environmentally responsible and show respect for the environment’ (Element 3.3.2). This year we have partnered with the City of Port Phillip to work together towards a sustainable future. We hope to see improved results in energy, water and waste reduction and enriched education outcomes.
Incursions and excursions are an exciting way to give children a sense of the world and encourage team work and inquisitive thinking. Sports Embrace is an innovative movement-based program promoting and embracing fitness, leadership and mentoring skills. Brett who ran our session this term, is our wonderful trainer from the fabulous team at Kids in Motion. We hope that Brett will visit us next term and again later in the year.
This week we received ICT and Numeracy resources, from Modern Teaching Aids, to support our program. We had an incredible response last year with children, parents, grandparents, neighbours and friends all collecting Woolworths Earn and Learn stickers for the kindergarten. Thank you to all those who participated in the program, these resources will be put to very good use.
There were smiles for miles at kindergarten when we accepted our award from Dental Health Services Victoria (DHSV) today. We have met the requirements of the state-wide Smiles 4 Miles oral health promotion program, with children and their families learning about how to keep good oral health by eating well, drinking well and brushing well. We all learnt so much and saw a huge improvement in the nutritional value of the food being brought into kindergarten. We look forward to participating in the program again this year.!
Your child's first day of kindergarten is a truly momentous occasion that is bound to invite a whole flood of emotions. The first day of kindergarten can be a scary time for children, especially those who may have never entered a classroom before. We try to make this transition a bit easier by providing your child with a fun and memorable first day. Some adorable first day pictures!
Our 2016 Social Event, or Trivia Night, held on 17 September, was a huge success! Many thanks for to everyone who helped in some capacity, big or small. The funds raised will go towards improving our beautiful outdoor space.
Bunnings has recently donated $800 worth of storage solutions for our kindergarten. Thank you Bunnings for supporting your local community - we are very grateful!
The children from the Eucalypt and Blue Gum groups participated in an adorable concert for the parents during the last week of term 4. We had bears, snakes, birds and crocodiles dancing and singing along to a story read by Von. The detail in many of the costumes was amazing and we have to thank all of the parents for the time and energy put into them. It was evident during this small performance just how far all of our children have come this year and how ready they are for their transition to school. We owe a huge thanks to the entire teaching team for a magnificent finish to a wonderful year!
