Nina Marni to all our beautiful and amazing families and their wonderful little learners. Welcome to another exciting year and a fresh beginning to term 1 of curiosity ,wonder, exploration and learning.
This week was a celebration of the Chinese and Vietnamese Lunar New Year, symbolising the year of the snake. We would like to extend our wishes and blessings to all our little learners and their families. Children displayed their best craft products of some beautiful rainbow serpents.
| Learning Intention: 1 To support new children and families to develop a sense of belonging in the (LDC 3years) environment and the holy Family Catholic School Learning community. Why: We believe children begin to learn about themselves and construct their own identity within the context of their families and communities. We view Alive as an important part of this community and believe we have a responsibility to create positive experiences that will support children’s deep understanding of themselves as significant and respected members and citizens of the world.In early childhood settings children develop a sense of belonging when they feel accepted, develop attachments and trust those that care for them. As children are developing their sense of identity, they explore different aspects of it (physical, social, emotional, spiritual, cognitive), through their play and their relationships |
We wish to extend a warm welcome to all our new families who have joined our Early Learning Community, and also a warm welcome back to all our exisiting families. Hope you all had a restful , relaxing and beautiful holidays.
This week children began to build new friendships and amazing connections with their fellow peers and their teachers. Existing children began having verbal conversations with their peers as well as their teacher’s about their holidays. Building connections and sustaining these friendships with each other are vital steps towards constructing their own identities as a learning community.
| Learning Intention 2: To continue working towards our goal of embedding consistent daily routines and rituals across our team and learning environment. Why Consistency in our learning environment supports children through the provision of a more predictable and secure daily rhythm, communication strategies and predictable educator responses. Some of the practices we seek to embed across (LDC 3 years) also relate specifically to the National Quality Standards. |
Providing and supporting children with consistent and predictable daily routines help children towards their growth in learning and development. Guiding and supporting them through the rhythms of the day with interactive communication gives children the opportunities to express and experience a sense of security through embedded consistent practices.
This week children came back to their classrooms full of bliss towards another year of exciting learning. The routine and rhythm of their learning space took a fresh approach as the children each took initiative and responsibility placing the picture cards on the chart of Now, Next and Then. We even managed to take responsibility over our own health by applying sunscreen to keep our skin safe from the hot sun.
| Learning Intention 3: Sacred symbols are special and important.Why? Doctrinal Insights from the Catholic Tradition that support this Enduring Understanding include:Sacred symbols remind us that God is close to us, and with us.In my Catholic learning environment, I can see many sacred symbols.Candle flames remind us that God is with us.The Bible reminds us of God’s love for us through special stories.The Cross reminds us of Jesus.Water is used for special blessingsSacred symbols are used in my school/ELC and in church celebrations, prayer and liturgy. (CCC1145)Other faith traditions also have sacred symbols The Sign of the Cross is a prayer to God. Doctrinal and Content Elaborations: Doctrinal Insights from the Catholic Tradition that support this Enduring Understanding include:The Sign of the Cross is a prayer with actions and words.The words remind us that God is called Father, Son and Holy Spirit.The actions represent the symbol of the Cross, and that prayer involves our head, heart and body. |
As we begin a new year and a new litergical calendar we thank Jesus for the many blessings showered upon us throughout the past year and pray for his guidance and blessings in the new year.
children began their mornings by offering a prayer of thanks to Jesus for the year ahead , their families , their pets and all the delicious food they received through the abundance of the lords daily provisions. The wooden cross was used this week as a symbol of interactive prayer.
Literacy Intentions (Our hopes for their learning)
- General sound discrimination and rhyme awareness.
- Matching Rhyming words orally.
- Reading picture books regularly. Children will enjoy a joyful connection to picture books.
- Continue using mark-making tools, such as crayons, texts, pencils, paint, chalk, sand (as they create texts during this process).
- Children will build symbolic functioning, sharing something about the marks they have created.
This week as children slowly and gradually transition back into routine , a quiet and welcoming space of a book corner has helped children build and feel a sense of secure belonging within their learning space. This reading nook has helped children with relaxaing their bodies and provides them with a fresh reset towards their learning.
Teachers have been building connections with children by reading stories from picture books with verbal interactions helping children communicate their thoughts and ideas. We even managed to squeeze a bit of mark making in aligning with our story time.
Community walks around the Holy Family Catholic School shared spaces have been consistent this week where the children have been able to explore, exercise and extend on their physical capabilities and curiosities with the fresh produce garden and some valuable visits to the MUDLA.
Some specs of gold for this week and some special learning moments of mark making included by the children.
Hope you all have a relaxing and restful weekend.