New Government measures for Supporting Families in Education and Care! 

The Government and Minister for Education announced on Thursday 2nd April that education and care will be free from the 6th of April, for a 3 month period, for families enrolled in Education and Care across Australia.  

As far as we understand, from April 6th, the Government will pay the Centre 50% of our fees (based on the enrollments we had for the period of 17/2/2020 - 28/2/2020) for the next three months, in exchange for remaining open and continuing to provide a service for essential workers.

This means FREE education and care for all families enrolled at Little Bee.

Part of the conditions are that Centre's will seek to re-enrol all families who have ceased their placement recently with us.  We will therefore be contacting these families and hopefully re-enrolling them in the coming weeks. We encourage families to continue staying home where possible as advised by the government. And your bookings will be available for your child to reconnect with us once the current government recommendations have been lifted.

The Government also seeks to calibrate this plan with the job keeper allowance for eligible staff in an attempt to balance the loss of income for Centre's.

Once we have worked through all the information and the process we will need to follow, we will let families know more.

We would like to offer a huge, huge thank-you once again to all of our families for your amazing support in keeping the community running and also to families keeping your child's spot open at Little Bee up to this point in time, when self isolating at home.   

All our families have been absolutely wonderful in their support of Little Bee and we want to acknowledge that it has not been an easy road for many.  We are so very grateful and appreciative - thank-you, thank-you, thank-you!!!

If you have any questions, please contact Emily on email at littlebee@littlebee.net.au or via phone on 62485994.

Little Bee Quality Improvement Plan goals for 2020

Little Bee's continuing improvement plan runs from April to April each year and we look forward to giving you an overview of the goals from our current QIP Cycle, and outlining our continuing ideas for the extension of these goals, beginning April 2020!

In terms of goal setting at Little Bee, families may wonder how our educator teams evaluate what is a working at the Centres and what we need to do to improve our systems.

As you will be aware, we have put many control measures in place to support us with the COVID-19 pandemic where cleaning, hand hygiene and attempts to social distance our little one's has taken a top priority, although we are also doing our utmost to keep our programs of children's work ticking along. 

Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP)

We have been working towards reconciliation for the past 12 months and we are very excited to be making lots of headway with our RAP.  We had hoped to publicly celebrate the "launch of our RAP" with a cultural festival during NAIDOC week in July of this year.  Sadly, our plans are on hold with much of our initiatives at a stand still for the duration of the COVID-19 crisis.  This has not stemmed our enthusiasm though and we will be sure to pick up again, as things get back to normal, whenever this may be!

Listed below are some of our new RAP initiatives ready to go once safe to resume!

*  We managed to squeeze in a RAP working group meeting in early March and we were so privileged to have Nerissa Waterfield join us as our guest speaker!   Nerissa is knowledgeable Aboriginal person, who has a multitude of ideas around planning for Aboriginal culture in the early years.  We had discussions around planting, Aboriginal foods and bush gardens, with information on how to implement food and gardens successfully into our programs of work! 

* Dewayne Everett Smith has been supporting Little Bee in his role as cultural awareness officer at the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre (TAC) for many months.  He is coming along to our Airport Centre to start a mentoring program with James (Queen Bees educator) to support James in learning about his Aboriginal culture.  This has been placed on hold until we can re-assess once we return to having non-essential visitors to the service.

* Leanne Goodwin is a proud Tasmanian Aboriginal Elder and we are so ecstatic that she will be joining the Little Bee team at our Airport centre. Leanne will come in (once we return to having non-essential visitors) to support our educators with our projects of work for monthly visits with the children.  Leanne is passionate about the teaching of culture to our children and she is grandmother to Mila, who is in our Bumble bee room.  Leanne is an artist and author of an Aboriginal children's book - so we cannot wait for her to start some visits in the future!

* Cassie Rowse, Oscar's mum, came and worked with the children at Little Bee Howrah and showed them a very special necklace which was created by Lola Greeno, the first Indigenous artist to receive an award of National Living Treasure: Master of Australian Art. Lola is a Tasmanian Aboriginal shell necklace maker, she collects shells from the coastlines of Tasmania and our surrounding islands.  Her necklaces depict a significant aspect of Lola's cultural heritage. Justin Febey, Oscars Dad, is a Tasmanian Aboriginal park ranger, who we hope will visit us in the future (when we return to having non-essential visitors) to share his awesome knowledge of mutton birding.   

* Allan Mansell, a recognised Aboriginal print maker from Bruny Island is booked in for a visit (of which we have postponed to a later date due to COVID -19) to discuss coming and taking the children at both centres for some artwork based around their project work!  A few of our RAP working group members met Allan at the recent 'Launch of the City of Hobart Aboriginal Commitment and Action Plan' where we created our own special screen prints!   

As always, the ideas and initiatives of our families are greatly welcomed and appreciated enormously.  Please let us know if you are interested in learning more about the reconciliation process and would like to be involved in this journey, as our RAP working group will continue to drive this project forward, once the COVID -19 pandemic is over. 

What's Been Happening at Little Bee Airport... 

Queen Bees

What an amazingly busy time we have had in the Queen Bee room over the course of the last month.  Programs are off to a flying start with Bron and James looking at ‘cultural identity and creativity’ and Mel and Maree looking at ‘How do our differences make us special?’  Some experiences the children have been involved in are self portraits, children were asked to look in a mirror and draw their faces, this led onto discussions around how we all look different and have different features, we have also been reading books around differences.  Our animal rescue centre has been a great hit with children learning about looking after native animals, we also had the opportunity to watch an Aboriginal goose dance on The Orb, which was very interesting. 

Queen Bees most recently have been focusing on personal hygiene and how to effectively wash our hands, we have been giving each child a stamp on their hands with the aim to have that stamp washed off by the end of the day!!  This has been a great way for the children to focus on washing their hands.

Busy Bees:

Throughout the month of March the children have had an absolute ball with a variety of experiences on offer to stretch all different aspects of our personal growth. We have looked at dinosaur fossils and eggs and worked with different tools to crack the eggs open and find the hidden fossil!  We have made black dinosaur slime which had a dinosaur skeleton inside it... the children loved finding this too!  We are also having a wonderful time telling stories with our felt board environment.

Oral storytelling in the sandpit has been an excellent cultural learning tool, where we have drawn pictures in the sand, as we listened to Tania tell a seasonal story. The children took a great interest in this experience, as it was different to our usual way of telling stories. We are also looking at the different seasons and investigating how a season may sound, feel and look, for example: the leaves are crunchy and bright in colour.  We have offered the children a variety of natural resourcess to explore and use for different creations.

Bumble Bees 

 In the bumble bee room we have been focusing on our projects. We have noticed through doing our small group times that new friendships have been forming as well as new skills being learnt and used throughout the day. We have been thoroughly enjoying exploring our nature corner, with lots of different native Australian plants and animals. The Bumble Bee children have also had fun learning about Australian culture through different books and our large map on the wall with the use of felt animals and landmarks.

Honey Bees

The Honey Bees have been enjoying many experiences exploring nature and the outdoors.  Amanda and Nadine have been taking the children on some bushwalks, the children have been noticing wildlife and discussing the different colours they see along the way.  Following on from this, we have been experiencing with how to use the mortar and pestle to make paint.

Anna, Adriana and Taiya have been encouraging the children to water the herbs, feel them and even taste them, which has been quite popular as we all know how the children love to place things in their mouths!   We have been visiting the larger garden more often, picking and preparing a garden patch for the children.

We have been adding some more resources to the home corner so the children can experience a range of utensils to cook and engage in role play.  We have added a reading area with soft natural cushions, where the children can have quiet moments when they need to. 

 The large cable wheel has been transformed into a fantastic loose parts area where children can experience open-ended play and use the materials in whatever way they choose.

Lots of amazing learning is happening in the Honey Bee room!

Baby Bees

Over the month of March, the baby bees have been adventuring out the gates of Little Bee exploring the bush land surroundings. We have been crawling up hills, stomping in the leaves and even feeling and touching some native pig face - which can be used for many purposes- a medicine for bites, and a food to make jams when it is fruiting!

Back here at Little Bee, we have enjoyed lots of sensory experiences and some painting to celebrate harmony day.

We are also enjoying exploring with some clay and natural materials.

What's Been Happening at Little Bee Howrah ... 

Our day at the beach was a highlight for this month. The weather put on a show for us with clear skies and the sun beaming. We were so lucky to have Cassie (Oscar's mum) come along with us.

We had discussions about caring for 'Country' on our walk. The children were so excited when they got to say “Hello!” to a Bandicoot. We found some beautiful, flowering pig face on the sand dunes and talked about the many uses the Tasmania Aboriginal peoples had for this resource; they used it for medicine, food and tea. Once at the water, we tried to float our bark boats. The currents pushed them quickly back to shore, but we had fun splashing in the waves and building a giant sandcastle with Cassie!

ANZAC DAY 2020

Saturday 25th April

Our National day of remembrance in Australia and New Zealand is to honour the members of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZACS) who fought at Gallipoli against the Ottoman Empire during World War I. On ANZAC day, we commemorate all Australians and New Zealanders "who served and died in all wars, conflicts, and peacekeeping operations" and "the contribution and suffering of all those who have served”. ANZAC Day remains one of the most important national occasions of both Australia and New Zealand. 

This ANZAC day, we sadly can't go to a local dawn service, but we can tune in via ABC radio, social media or television and pick up the phone and call our veteran friends to let them know we are thinking of them.  We can head out to the end of our driveways for an ANZAC day dawn service at 6 a.m. and have the nation line its streets everywhere and share a minutes silence, tuned in to the ABC, offering the National ceremony.  we can reflect on the service and sacrifice of our veterans and those who are still serving today. Regardless of the form this year's ANZAC Day commemorations take, we will always remember the dedication, commitment and sacrifice of our Defense forces, past and present.  

Airport Centre

A reminder to families. Where at all possible we request you keep the disabled car park at the front of the Centre free for persons accessing the Centre who have a Disability Parking Permit. Thank you for your understanding.

Bike Week 2020!

The Road Safety Visits from Officers were a huge success!  The children enjoyed learning some road rules too!  We thank Tas Police for taking the time to visit us!

Thank you to all those children who brought along their bike or scooter (and helmet) for bike week. Special thanks to those families who parked away from Little Bee and 'rode to school', we are very grateful for you taking the time to embrace this with your children.

Harmony Week was celebrated with gusto in March!

Many of our children have been very expressive as they create beautiful paintings for harmony week.  We have introduced different colours, especially the colour orange as traditionally, orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It also relates to the freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Wearing something orange during Harmony Week shows support for cultural diversity and an inclusive Australia.

A huge congratulations to Megan (from our Honey Bee room) and Brad on the safe arrival of Esme Ellen, a precious daughter.  Esme was born on Tuesday 10th March and we can't believe she is already 3 weeks old!  Sending much love to Megan and Brad!  

Little Bee will be closed during the Easter holidays on the following days (public holidays):

Good Friday 10th April 

Easter Monday 13th April

We hope everyone has a very safe and happy holiday with your families!

Thank-you.

Nature Play Week is now upon us!

 Why Nature Play?

Do you remember your favourite childhood place in nature? Where was it? How did you find it? How did you feel when you were there?

Over the past 30 years, we have moved indoors and screen spaces have replaced green places. Use of television, computers, the internet and smartphones, increased parental fear, poor urban planning and more highly structured play and supervision keep children from playing outside.

This change in the experience of and exposure to nature has led to a gradual distancing between our children and the natural world and has profound implications for the mental, physical, emotional and spiritual health of future generations – and for the health of nature itself.

A growing body of evidence suggests that, from backyards to streets, parks and gardens, from the beach to the bush, children do better outside!

'Nature play' is a term used to describe the creation of simple play opportunities in the natural environment. Nature play encourages children and parents to see the natural environment as a place to enjoy, play, imagine, relax and explore.

At Little Bee we are so passionate about 'nature play' and the positive impact it has on all aspects of children and adults health and well being. We are always thinking of new and exciting ways to include nature in all aspects of our play and learning. During Nature week, we will continue to embrace nature play in our programs and will be encourging the children to reflect on and embrace nature (even more than usual) and all it has to offer!! 

Please Label Your Child's Clothes

Please label your child’s clothes as we are getting quite a build up in our lost property. With winter on the way, we need to pack for all seasons and your child will inevitably have an increase of spare clothes.  We want to avoid these items getting lost.  Thankyou.

Information for Review

We are currently reviewing the following policies and/or procedures:

Pest Control

Bomb threat

Child protection

Emergency telephone numbers

Nappy Changing and toileting procedures

Supervision

Clothing 

If you would like to have input reviewing these documents it would be greatly appreciated, just let us know and we will forward copies to you. Please compose any suggestions you would like to make and place them, either in the suggestions box (at reception) or via email to: littlebee@littlebee.net.au. 

Information for families  

Our chosen readings for the month are:

• www.natureplayweek.org.au
• www.entertainmentbook.com.au

Other readings can be found on the internet from recognised sites, such as: kidsafe.com.au, rch.org.au, acecqa.gov.au, deewr.gov.au and kidswithasthma.com.au, healthinsite.gov.au

Opportunities for Family Involvement

Professional learning meetings are held on a bi-monthly basis. They are to reflect on our current practices, work on our Centre’s Quality Improvement Plan and continue to maintain the highest standard of, education and care possible.

In light of the current situation regarding COVID -19, face to face meetings are on hold. We are looking into online options for small group professional learning, so please stay tuned.  All

families are invited to join in with our professional learning topics, your ideas and opinions are greatly valued and appreciated.

Families are also welcome to participate daily in Workplace health and safety checks and/or compliance reviews. Please see one of the staff if you are interested.