Hello to our Pre Prep families, term 3 is nearly upon us and we are so lucky to have our amazing ECT teacher Miss Mareeta joining us. For those families who haven’t had the opportunity to meet Mareeta, here is just a little blurb on her. For the past seven years Mareeta has been a teacher at Parramatta State school teaching year 1 students for 2 years and Prep for the past five years. Her interests are predominately soccer orientated, having played and coached the sport over a number of years.
Term two has been packed full of learning about the environment in which we live, focusing on ‘sustainability’. Over the past six weeks our Pre Prep children have been focusing on caring for our environment. On a daily basis, we have chosen four helpers to assist with weeding the garden with Mr Heath. We continued our gardening abilities watering and nurturing our own plants along with watching them grow. We have also discussed pollution in our environment, listening to our Pre Prep children’s voices on how they can describe a healthy environment (children use the thumbs up signal) opposed to recognising a polluted, yucky environment (children use the thumbs down signal).
The photo below is of the pre prep children who have made a poster displayed on the whiteboard in our room demonstrating their thumbs down signal of a yucky environment.
Pre prep children are also aware that when we leave our power on, that too is polluting our environment.
Molly is displaying the drawing she has done reminding us that we should remember to turn the light switches off if they’re not being used.
Many more discussions amongst the children were focused on how the poor turtles and fish would feel in the ocean when their environment becomes full of rubbish that doesn’t get disposed of properly. Supporting the pre prep children’s concerns, we did an experiment learning about ‘water pollution’. This was done using three different types of water, rain, bottled and tap water. In those jars we added different fluids (food colouring and cooking oil) so that the children were able to observe the difference in the breaking down of the fluid over a period of time. This experiment was a good way to encourage our children to collaborate and become more aware of their environment enabling them to have the opportunity to make connections with the real world and the environmental issues that are happening. Children engaged in conversations about pollution and shared their developing knowledge;
Molly and Ruby…..
‘Fish and the turtles will get sick if they drink this water……its’ poisonous!!’
Lester…
Some pre prep children have already spent some time with Lester the Lion. However, some of our children are still waiting their turn. Here is a brief overview for those of you who are still not sure about his purpose.
We are going to invite Lester into your homes, and hearts, for a weekend. If you could capture the moments spent with Lester and your child in a nature setting as well as with your family, as many or as few as you like, put some pictures in the special Lester scrapbook and tell us about your time together. When Lester returns your child can share their adventures with their peers. If you are unable to print off photos, email them through to Linda and we can print them off for you.
Under 8’s day Edge Hill
Our Pre Prep children had a wonderful time visiting Edge Hill State School to join in their Under 8’s morning. We really enjoyed helping them celebrate the diversity of languages within the home, culture and community! This was done with the children interacting in a variety of different activities, not to mention finishing our morning with a sausage sizzle, which was the highlight of the morning.
Possum Magic Workshop
We ventured ‘Beyond JK’ to Just Kids in Gordonvale to participate in the Possum Magic workshop, presented by Monkey Baa Theatre Company. The Pre Prep children participated in the live theatre workshop, learning how to use their bodies for movement of the animals and make different items such as a boat, a bicycle and lots more. They also learnt how to use their voice for different vocals the animals made. Pre Prep are looking forward to attending the live production, taking place at the CPAC theatre on Tuesday July 23rd
Rest Bags
By now I’m sure your children will have come home and spoke to you about our changes at rest time. Over the past six weeks we have introduced rest bags to the children; inside their rest bags are five small items that your children will be able to interact with and rest their body and brain in a quiet manner. Now that the children are settled with their rest bags, they will no longer need their sheets or comfort toys. However, if you feel your child is still in need of a sleep we will encourage your child to do so.
As term 3 approaches we will be preparing our Pre Prep children for Prep in 2020. During this term Mareeta will be taking time to speak to all families about the school your child is enrolled in, along with each child’s transition statement. As parents you and your children will be involved in this process collaboratively. This information will be passed on to the school to support your child’s enrolment. Having a child whom is commencing Prep in 2020, parents play a vital role in your child’s education. There are many things you can do to support a successful start to school for your child. The following link will give you more information: www.qld.gov.au.
