October 2020

National Children’s Week is coming ...

Saturday 24th October – Sunday 1st November

Children's Week is an annual event celebrated in Australia held around the fourth Wednesday in October. In 1996 it was decided to adopt a permanent theme: "A Caring World Shares" as a reflection of Children's Week aims while at the same time acknowledging the designated year on national posters and other printed materials, this years 2020 THEME: “Children have the right to choose their own friends and safely connect with others.”.

A diverse range of events and activities are organised at National, State and Local levels. These focus the attention of the wider community on children, their needs and achievements.

Children's Week celebrates the right of children to enjoy childhood. It is also a time for children to demonstrate their talents, skills and abilities.

Thousands of children and their families around the country are involved in activities and events during "The Week" through the participation of schools, playgroups, childcare, kindergartens, cultural groups, libraries, departments and community groups.

Designated by the nations of the world, Universal Children's Day calls society to a greater response to the plight of many millions of children around the world who are denied the basic necessities of a happy childhood and the education to develop their capacities. It also calls us in Australia to consider those conditions in society which affect the lives and future of our own children.

The mission of the Children's Week Council of Australia is to encourage, support, guide co-ordinate and monitor the widest possible participation of all States and Territories in Children's Week, ensuring that programs and activities are open to all children regardless of race, colour, sex, ability, religion, nationality or social origin.

Playgroup Tasmania usually has a Children’s Week Calendar of Events that will be hosted on their website and promoted through various mainstream and social media avenues. Hopefully events will be promoted soon and we will be able to share the links with the Little Bee families.

Enrolment Form Update and Bookings for 2021

Thank you to all the families who have returned their 2021 booking forms, the return date is Monday the 5th of October, even if you require the same days of education and care next year (as this will assist us with allocating vacancies to current families requiring additional days and vacancies for siblings and new families).

We also require that families please return the 'enrolment update form' including risk minimisation plan (if applicable), as we are required by the National Quality Framework to update our information from families annually (even if there is no change), in particular around permission for children to undertake routine excursions, e.g. going to the park. We understand this will be time consuming for families and thank them in advance for their support in ensuring our records are as up to date as possible.  I'm sorry we will be unable to confirm 2021 places until they are completed.

We are aware that lots of families are yet to have their child's kindergarten days confirmed, please talk to Emily at Little Bee Airport and Alice at Little Bee Howrah if this is the case. If you haven’t returned your form yet, please do so by the 5th to ensure you are able to secure a place for your child/children in 2021. We have had an overwhelming response from families requesting additional days, unfortunately we may not be able to cater for everyone’s needs. Emily and Alice will talk to families if we are unable to meet your request, otherwise there will be a ‘confirmation of days slip’ placed in your family communication tray in the coming weeks.

We thank you for your understanding.

It was wonderful to see so many families embracing footy colours week last week and raising awareness and money for children with cancer.

I think we had every team represented across the week!!!

An update on The Sorell Child and Family Learning Centre  

A Child and Family Learning Centre (CFLC) provides a one-stop shop of community support services for children and families/carers in the early years of a child’s life (pregnancy -5yrs). The purpose of a CFLC is to improve health, wellbeing, and educational outcomes for Tasmanian children by providing families with greater access to support and services in the early years of a child’s life.

The planning process of the Sorell CFLC is well underway! The Local Enabling Group (LEG), made up of a group of community members (including Kathy and Emily from Little Bee) and service providers, is responsible for establishing a culture for the CFLC that is welcoming, safe, and helpful to families in the Sorell area. The LEG provides the valuable community consultation necessary to ensure that the centre meets the specific needs of the local area.

In addition to the LEG group, a Design sub-group is meeting fortnightly to work with the architect on the design and fitting out of the building. Options and recommendations from the sub-group are then presented to the LEG for the decision process.

Although the building of the CFLC is not scheduled to happen until 2023, the whole Sorell school upgrade will go to a tender process in March 2021, and the CFLC will be included in this plan. So there is a lot to be decided upon in the next 5 months!

There are definitely challenges in designing a building for the future, but the group are guided by a Functional Design Brief which has been developed with extensive consultation with existing Child and Family Centres. Every current CFC, and future Child and Family Learning Centres will be unique, and responsive to the specific needs of its community and environment.

The LEG group have already visited two Child and Family Centres to see how each differs in its design and ‘feel’. The next CFC visit to the CPCFC is planned for November 5th. This visit will give the group a taste of a ‘typical day’ of programs and service provision as well as another unique indoor and outdoor environment.

If anyone would like to join us in visiting CP CFC on Nov 5th, please call me to reserve a place on the bus for you (and your children!) Also, if you are interested in knowing more about the LEG, we'd be happy to chat to you. We would welcome your involvement in this very exciting project!

Kim Overgaauw, Project Officer, Sorell Child and Family Learning Centre

Mobile: 0427 678 837, Email: kim.overgaauw@education.tas.gov.au

Little Bee Airport has Flag Poles!

At Little Bee Airport we are so proud to have finally installed our flag poles, which will very soon provide a place for us to fly the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and Australian flags.

Flying the three flags in unison is a highly visible symbol of respect that we hope continues to create a welcoming environment at Little Bee, promote a deeper sense of community, and demonstrate our commitment towards reconciliation. 

We cannot wait to have them displayed and look forward to the children supporting us to raise them every day and the ongoing learning opportunities this will provide.

Little Bee Howrah's flag poles will be installed during October - how exciting!!!

Parent/Educator Conferences

We will be holding parent/educator conferences with the purpose of ‘walking you through’ your child’s learning journey (through our project work) during 2020.    

Conferences will be held via zoom early December across two evenings (date to be confirmed), interviews are 15 minutes per child with the educator team who has worked on your child's project. 

All families will be emailed an invitation, inviting you to participate in the 'zoom session' on the evening and how to sign up to a time for your parent/educator conference.  This will provide specific instructions on how to book your appointment online.  Every family will be able to select the educator team who has worked directly with their child(ren) on their action research project and chose a time preferable for their own family. This is the third year we have offered conferences (although the first time online) and last year was a huge success, with many families feeding back their enjoyment in sharing their child's learning journey.  We look forward to another successful year of conferences in December!

For those families who are unable to attend a zoom conference we could provide a phone call on the same evening, we look forward to you joining us.

“Walktober”

October is Australia’s walking month! With the winter months behind us, it is a great time to get outside, join up with family and friends, and go for a walk. October is beautiful in Australia; not too hot or wet yet in the north and in the south the weather is breaking out of winter’s bleakness and we can see new leaves on the trees and feel the sunlight on our skin.

We learn to walk when we are young. To feel the ground, earth, grass or sand beneath our feet. And we continue this throughout life. Walking is ideal as a way to be active. It is available for all ages and abilities, whether you are young or old, or walk fast or slow.

It is easy to incorporate Walktober into more of our daily activities. Walk to the shops instead of driving the car, walk your children to school and enjoy some quality time together or join friends for a stroll around a local park or along the beach. At Little Bee, our educators are undertaking a ‘Walktober’ challenge as part of our health and well being strategy!  Walking ticks the boxes on so many levels. We get fresh air, sunshine, we move our bodies and we can socialise with others when we are walking. We are also helping the environment by using our bodies instead of driving cars. So get you’re walking feet happening and enjoy all ‘Walktober’ has to offer.

At Little Bee we will be doing more ‘walking’ with the children this October (wearing our fabulous bright orange safety vests), whether it be more ‘walks’ around the playground or to the local park.  Please note; only children whose families have signed the excursion permission upon enrolment, will be participating in walks beyond our playground!

At Little Bee Howrah .......

Natural progression within our current project drew us to put on our detective hats for a deep dive into cooking around the world. Our explorers discovered how we use food and it's purpose culturally. We detected how the different forms of heat - for example: fire, steam, the oven and microwave all interact with food. We strove to examine a range of kitchen devices and their purpose. As we inspected fire, we worked to integrate ‘fire pit yarning’ into daily routines.

“The yarning circle is a speaking and listening practice that can be used for reflecting on new experiences or for rehearsing ideas in preparation for writing or drama activities. Oral language is a foundation for children’s reading and writing” (Mills, 2009). Little Bee yarning circles became embedded into the daily routine by incorporating them into daily practice. Our newly acquired cooking skills were stretched by experiencing complex recipes and gadgets.

At Little Bee Airport .......

We are super excited to officially welcome 'Bluey' the Blue Tongue Lizard to our team. We are very grateful one of our Little Bee families gifted him to us, we have an Educational Facility permit to be able to keep Bluey here and look forward to him helping us support many learning opportunities for the children. He has already shed his skin twice and grown several centimetres. In the coming weeks we will be establishing a safe outdoor environment for him to visit for periods of time during the day.

Baby Bees

The month of September has seen us enjoying many sensory experiences, encouraging the children to use all of their sense to explore. We have made and tasted many different breads, using different foods, such as: beetroot, pumpkin and herbs from our garden which gave the breads different tastes and colours. The children seemed to be most interested in the sounds made by the different kitchen utensils and appliances.

We have enjoyed playing with a special 'herb infused' playdough created by our educators.  Mint was a definite favourite, which the children ground with a mortar and pestle to extract the smell.

We have introduced 2 new interactive boards for the children to explore and engage with different textures and sounds. The children seem to really enjoy the wooden spoon to make music and touching the hard, soft and rough objects. We also now have a fabulous wooden kitchen, the Baby and Honey Bee children have spent long periods of time manipulating the pots, spoons and spatulas, turning the knobs for the oven and playing with the toy food. 

Honey Bees

In the Honey Bee room this month we have been learning about the sea by reading books and learning some new song’s about fish.  The children challenged their sensory skills to explore the blue kinetic sand and a variety of different 'slimes', to which we added some sea animals. The children investigated and used their imagination while playing at our sea display with sand, shells, fish and applied a variety of thinking strategies while engaging in this learning experience.

The children also enjoyed our interactive cooking wall where they have opportunity to play with 'moveable food pictures'  and explore recipes from different cultures.  All the children began to express themselves verbally as we talked together about what we might eat at home. In our cooking corner, the children engaged in enjoyable interactions as they used  wool to represent spaghetti!  We observed each child use their negotiation and turn taking skills as they mixed and placed their spaghetti on a plate;“yum yum”.

Bumble Bees

The Bumble Bee children have enjoyed the beautiful weather we have been having lately, playing on the bikes outside, digging and building sandcastles with each other as well as making a variety of cakes with wet sand.

Please ensure to pack a wide brimmed hat and appropriate clothing/ footwear to continue enjoying all of our fun activities outside. Thanks.

We have also been enjoying a variety of paintings; including brush, nature and hand painting whilst listening to different cultural music.

The Bumble Bee children loved Footy Colour Week, proudly wearing their favourite team tops and outfits throughout the week. 

Through our programming this month we have explored different styles of dancing to cultural music, as well as various nursery rhymes and fairy tale stories.

The children have also thoroughly enjoyed learning about celebrations, discussing Birthday celebrations and various cultural festivals.

Busy Bees

During the month of September, we have been exploring different aspects if mathematics and the related vocabulary. The children have been broadening their knowledge and understanding around; length, empty, full, shapes, puzzles and numbers. Some of the experiences we have been engaging in are:

- our new interactive board, which has a measuring tape, ruler, calculator, a clock, number magnets and an abacus. 

- a box corner where the children have been building with the boxes and also exploring if they are empty or full. 

- plastic cups/lids and plastic cups and rocks, giving the children an opportunity to investigate the full and empty concept.

-using the measuring tape to measure different objects in the children's environment to see which object is bigger or longer. 

We have also been investigating different 'occupations' with the children; such as builders and doctors. We have been exploring a new interactive game where we match different items to the correct 'occupation'. We also have a 'dress up area' for the children to access and explore as they wish.  They are thoroughly enjoying learning about different occupations as they participate in role play and wear the various costumes. 

The Busy Bees have been creating some wonderful and colourful pieces of artwork, using fine brushes and our primary colours; as well as a large variety of materials to create collages. 

Queen Bees

This month in the Queen Bee room one of the areas we have been looking at is food.   We have begun to look at food and how it means something different to each of us.  The Children have been talking with us about special foods they like to cook at home with their families, which has provided a sense of belonging to all.  We cooked damper with the children on a campfire and in the oven to compare the different texture and taste from two cooking methods.  Pizza has been a popular food that children like to cook with their families, so here at Little Bee we have been focusing on toppings we enjoy the taste of and how we can make some dough.  Our next step is to make real pizzas from scratch.

We have also been exploring different eggs, birds and nests and the life cycles of animals.  The children have participated in making their very own birds nests and clay eggs to place in these.  We have also realised that not only birds lay eggs, but crocodiles do too!!  Over the next couple of weeks we are planning to get some fertile chicken eggs and place them in an incubator in the Queen Bee room.  Hopefully they hatch and we have some baby chickens to look after!!

Transition to School Document

Providing a smooth transition into Kindergarten is of vital importance to every child’s health and well being.

As many of you are will be aware, the document is designed so that the child, family and educators at Little Bee can provide some background information to the kindergarten teacher about the child, which will hopefully assist in making the child’s transition to kindergarten a positive one.

We would like to offer a huge thank-you to those families who filled your 'Transition document' and returned to us.  We have now sent the documents off to your child's Kindergarten teacher and are waiting for teachers to confirm their interest in chatting to our educators.  We have already met with teachers at Cambridge Primary school which was hugely successful.  Other meetings may be 'face to face' or over the phone in some instances.

Time for hats (as mentioned in the September newsletter)

Thanks to families for supporting us with providing sun protection for your children. Please remember to pack a broad brimmed or legionnaire style hat every day for your child. Even on cold, over cast days, the UV will still be above 3. Also, we ask families to provide tops that cover the children’s shoulders (no shoe string straps please) and shoes with enclosed heel and toes (no thongs, strappy sandals etc.), to ensure our feet are safe from any high risk hazards (such as playing on the bikes). We have ordered more Little Bee children’s hats – size 54 cm, they should be arriving within the next week and will be available for purchase for $15.

A choice to go barefoot

We will again be undertaking our ‘bare foot’ choice for children, as it has been so successful over the past 3 years and the feedback from families overwhelmingly positive!  The children will be offered the choice to wear shoes or go barefoot and can decide how they feel on the day…

It has always been our philosophy and intention to offer our children here at Little Bee as many choices as we can – to continue to fully support their growing needs and development in all areas.  We want our children to be able to regulate their own emotions, feelings and physical needs and to give them choices about their own bodies, whether they feel comfortable, are they hot or cold and how can we support them to remove items of clothing or layer up, depending on the weather and learning experiences we may be undertaking…

There is much research supporting children “going barefoot” and we want to be able to continue to offer the best practise possible for our children. 

If you have any further thoughts on this topic, please see us and we can ensure your views are taken into consideration. 

Please follow the link listed below to find an interesting article; Why Barefoot is best for children by Sam Murphy - theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2010/aug/09/barefoot-best-for-children

Information for Review

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

• Equal Employment Opportunity
• Staff Health, Immunisation and Exclusion
• Alcohol, Drugs and Smoking
• Conflict of Interest
• Email and Internet
• Social Media
• Intellectual Property

 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

These are the links we are promoting this month:

www.childrensweek.org.au/

www.worksafe.tas.gov.au/

www.worksafetasconference.com.au/program/

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 Development sessions 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.

Our next Professional Development meetings will be spread over two evenings date TBC with a qualified Occupational Therapist, focusing mostly on sensory processing and self regulation. If you are interested in attending, please let us know.

All families are invited to join our 'Family and Friends' Committee, 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.