Box Hill South Pre School Term 1 2014

1 Box Hill South Pre School Newsletter Term 1 2014 Page 1 Box Hill South Pre School Term 1 2014 A word from the President A very warm welcome to all our new families to Box Hill South Preschool for 2014, and welcome back to those of you who are returning for another year of fun and learning. It has been a busy and amazing start to the preschool year. For the first time this year BHSPS is able to offer two programmes of 5 hours each for 3 Year old kindergarten, as well as a rotational programme for the 4 Year old preschool, allowing all children attending these programmes access to 15 hours of preschool.

2 By all reports from our fantastic teaching team, they are enjoying the new format and the changes it has brought with it. They have also mentioned how well all the children have settled in to the start of the preschool year. I can safely say this is due to the wonderful environment that our teachers and assistants provide for them. The programme is excellent with lots of familiarisation and routine to get them settled. Paintings and pastings are an all time hit. Be prepared to leave a wall empty at your home that you can happily display your child s masterpieces over the As well as learning lots of new songs and dances that they bring home to share with you too.

3 I would like to say thanks to the 2013 committee for all their hard work and commitment to the running of the preschool, and also welcome to the new faces this year who are joining the committee for the first time. There are lots of things on our agenda this year, assisting with the Quality Assessment Framework the teachers annually do, updating equipment and supplies, and providing lots of social/ fundraising experiences for families to participate in. However the major project this year is updating the back playground into a sensory garden for the children to explore.

4 We are extremely fortunate to receive a generous grant from Bunnings Box Hill, who are going to provide most of the sleepers, rocks, pebbles and plants needed for the project. Very exciting!! We will keep you up to date with the progress as it occurs. So as Term 1 continues to develop, all I will say, as I watch my 3rd child begin their journey at BHSPS, is please get involved as much or as little as you can. Preschool is a wonderful time and only such a short part of our children s education, in the grand scheme of things.

5 There will be parent participation in the programmes, laundry often needs doing, or even simply collecting empty boxes etc at home that they can use during the programme. Every little bit we can do, is always greatly appreciated by the staff. All in all, I know we are all in for a great year. Not only will the preschool provide the children with lots of experiences to allow them to grow and develop, but it will offer us as parents, lots of opportunities to participate and experience a fuller life within our community.

6 Until next Cheers, Sophie (Eloise s Mum Wombats) President Diary Dates Friday 7 March : Welcome Picnic ($5 per family) Sunday 18 May : Kew Traffic School Saturday 24 May : Kinder Open Day Friday 20 June : Bogan Bingo Night Saturday 13 Sept : Miniature Railway Maintenance Working Bees: o Sunday 30 March o Saturday 17 May o Saturday 23 August o Sunday 23 November Term Dates for 2014 o Term 1: 29 Jan 4 Apr o Term 2: 22 Apr 27 Jun o Term 3: 14 Jul 19 Sep o Term 4: 6 Oct 19 Dec Box Hill South Pre School Newsletter Term 1 2014 Page 2 Box Hill South Pre School Term 1 2014 Wombat & Platypus Group News 3 year olds It has been an exciting time for all our Three Year Olds and their families as they are settling into their new kinder year.

7 Term One is a special transition time for all the children. For some, the kinder experience has been their first experience away from mum and home. The settling-in sessions in the early weeks have been a valuable time for Geraldine and I to observe and get to know the individual children as a basis for planning the initial educational program. In a very short time, the children are settling in well; choose a locker on arrival, visit our informal snack table during the session and have been excited to explore their new kinder both indoors and outdoors.

8 The painting, play-doh, drawing and open-ended pasting experiences have been most popular the children delighted to take home a collection of activities at the end of the session. In the coming weeks the children will be offered a variety of learning experiences to encourage them to explore the equipment and environment. We will be establishing our routines, enjoying some favourite picture storybooks, songs, rhymes, music and movement and getting to know our new friends. The Hat and Bumble Bee songs and our family photographs have been very popular and have helped the children to get to know their peers.

9 Parents are most welcome to speak to me at any time to discuss their child s progress or aspects of our program. Geraldine and I are looking forward to a happy term with the children and their families. Lyn & Geraldine Finley (Wombats) Kangaroo Group News 4 year olds Welcome to a new kindergarten year. We hope 2014 will be a happy and enjoyable year for everyone! Over the last few weeks we have spent many happy and relaxed sessions together. The children have settled happily and we have had many positive comments from children and parents about life in general in our groups!

10 The children have been given lots of time to get to know their kindergarten environment, routines and other group members including their educators. It has been a very enjoyable experience getting to know each other. We have used a number of experiences to help us with this such as our individual photos in frames, photo album with family members and photos from home, songs and games using the children s names etc. Box Hill South Pre School Newsletter Term 1 2014 Page 3 Box Hill South Pre School Term 1 2014 Working together the children and their educators have been busy creating our limits or Happy and Safe Ways of Play as we call them in our groups.