Concord West Rhodes Preschool | Nursery

Concord West Rhodes Preschool

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23.01.2022 There was a mass migration of the dinosaurs today. Recently theyve been hanging in the sand pit, however some renovations were happening there this week and it took a Team Of Friends working industriously together to move the mob to the top of the fort (up through the slide, across the platform, through the tunnel and across the rickety bridge to the larger platform). But what about their food. A bit of hunter gatherer action resulted in a collection of rocks, seed pods and sticks and a dinosaur feast resulted. Play is childrens favourite way of learning.

23.01.2022 Hiding in amongst our bush tucker trees! A cosy nest made of the creeper leaves.

22.01.2022 Donna and Dave from Just Dream Productions visited again, this time with a Rock Pool Adventure! The children were introduced to a number of Rock Pool and Sea creatures - sea cucumbers, sea stars, a variety of crabs, sponges, snails, an eel, sea urchin, fire worm, barnacles and limpets. Some creatures they got to touch, while others they just looked at. There were lots of interesting facts about ocean creatures and they delighted in painting a plaster pot ocean creature to tak...e home. This link to community and Country provides some very ‘real’ experience which is supporting our investigation of the changing of season in the Indigenous Dharawal calendar. We are moving from the time of the bat, where the bottle brush were flowering , to the time of eel, when the tea tree is flowering and it is a safe time to eat shellfish (Time of Parra’dowee - Goray'murraiWarm and wet). This term, our preschoolers will be walking further along the river to the river beach area where they can view rock pools and river life close to the mangroves and shoreline. See more

22.01.2022 During the last week of term 3, Donna & Dave from ‘Just Dream Productions’ visited with their pet dinosaurs Rosa & Alex (large animatronic dinosaurs). Donna shared posters of various dinosaurs discussing dinosaur facts and comparing sizes - as big as a ..... or as small as a ..... Dave showed fossils of dinosaur teeth, claws, horns and even some pyrite (a rock which is fossilised dinosaur poo!) The children took turns to come out and hold the fossils for others to look a...t. Some teeth were as big as their arms and legs! They then went outside to take part in their very own dinosaur fossil dig. Next they painted their own plaster pot dinosaur. Finally, they met the pet dinosaurs, giving them a pat and marvelling at their real-ness. Dinosaurs have been a big part of our outdoor play lately. Community links is one part of our learning practices. Learning through playful experiences is a core part of our philosophy. See more

21.01.2022 Our native bees were buzzing about today!!!

21.01.2022 A little bit proud! A pleasure to share a little piece of us to the wider community! Thankyou to ECEEN and to Community Early Learning Australia for the opportunity. https://www.cela.org.au//inspiring-environmental-sustaina/

20.01.2022 This weeks fundamental movement ball skill was underarm rolling... Munch & Move is a NSW Government initiative for healthy living for 0-5 years focusing on healthy moving and eating. https://healthykids.nsw.gov.au/... We include many of its objectives, activities and resources into our program. We have a monthly rotation of fundamental movements in our curriculum- focusing on one locomotive movement and one ball skill every 4 weeks.

20.01.2022 From Monday 7.9.20- 2 Day Blue room in the 5 Senses Garden, using the flower poster made by their peers in the Red room. They are seeing if they can find all the flowers!

20.01.2022 Some stories inspired by road safety picture books this week...

20.01.2022 We just love seeing a sense of enquiry and wonder at play. Filling containers has taken a new form of expression today. What a sculpture!

19.01.2022 Those that know us, know just how much we love discovering remnants of play!!!!!!

19.01.2022 When a T- Rex visits your classroom!

19.01.2022 On Tuesday and Thursday this week, our preschoolers got up close and respectfully personal with some Australian wildlife. Some of these creatures dwell in our local trees and river landscape and it was fabulous to get a close up view of their feathers, fur and scales not to mention learn about what they eat and how they benefit our local spaces. Leigh from WildLife Displays was amazed at how much knowledge our special nature lovers and wildlife noticers had. In a time where... many of the community experiences that our preschool offers and prides itself in, have had to be cancelled, it was so wonderful to share in this experience and keep all involved safe. By developing a relationship with these creatures, through curiosity and inquiry, our preschoolers learn to respect these creatures and their importance to the balance of the living system in which they belong. A sense of Belonging requires a connection to Place. See more

19.01.2022 We trust children and their ability to understand and be empathic towards social justice issues.... Having taken part in a variety of Reconciliation week stories this interaction was observed- N. approached his Educator with his Gordon train. He said Gordon wants to talk to Mr Wangal man. ... He got Mr Wangal Man (Aboriginal puppet) from the classroom and asked to sing the Acknowledgement to Country song- so they did. He said, Sing it again! They did. He then held Mr Wangal Man to his ear, listening solemnly and said, Mr Wangal Man said he wants his family back. See more

18.01.2022 Some of us went in search of Wattle today- as September 1st marks the First day of Spring in the familiar 4 seasoned calendar. However, we follow the local Indigenous calendar too, the Dharawal Calendar, which has 6 seasons and we know the Wattles have been out for a while (Time of Wiritjiribin - Tugarah Gunya'marricold and windy) and the Bottle brush are starting to flower and the Bats swooping in to feed (Time of Ngoonungi - Murrai'yunggorycool, getting warmer) these are our big macro bats who are very important pollinators along with the bees, birds and butterflies! Being in sync with nature is a wonderful thing- the animals and plants are fabulous indicators of what is happening with the weather and seasons. We are becoming fabulous noticers!

18.01.2022 Our 3 Day group were treated to a special Acknowledgement to Country prior to their Bikeathon event this week, by their peer Shanice and mum Justine. Shanice also introduced herself in Wiradjiri language and shared the names of herself and 5 brothers and sisters and the meaning of their names - this was in recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Childrens day. The poster made to acknowledge this important day has an image of Shanices cousin Jedda on it and is painted on a large building in Melbourne! We are strong advocates for the voices of our children and look for any opportunity for them to contribute to their community. Thank you Shanice and Justine for your generosity in sharing - keeping your Culture strong!

17.01.2022 We always look forward to this time of year when we venture further along our river past the mangroves to the beach area. It’s a much longer walk, along the foreshore walk, past the mangroves, past the grassy fields (now filled with dandelions!), through the bamboo forest and through the woodlands to the Rivendell School Boathouse. There was some great ‘eye spying’ on Tuesday, as the children recalled the different trees that they have been exploring - finding bottlebrush tre...es, tea tree trees and jacaranda trees! There was so much excitement to be venturing to a new space!!! What would we see? The tide was high, which stopped us from exploring too widely on the foreshore. We did find two safe places to wade and clamber though. We also found a jelly fish, oysters and seashells, along with some sea birds. The river was busy with rivercats and boats that made waves in the water as they motored past. The children made waves of their own, collecting rocks to throw into the river to make big splashing waves! They also discovered that the wet rocks are slippery and not very good to walk on if you don’t want to get wet! Shells of different sizes and shapes were explored, discussing what might live inside them. This was the segway to a decision on leaving all shells at the beach. They are Wangal shells it was announced as the returned the shells to the river. Real Custodianship is always at play with our preschoolers. True to form, they pointed out rubbish to collect and take back with us - We need to put it in the bin and We don’t want the fish to die were some of the many respectful and empathic connections to this Place. (Our 3 day group will venture out next!)

16.01.2022 A message we live by...

16.01.2022 Our 2 Day group continue to explore spring, noticing the changes in our local environment. They are noticing the bottle brush beginning to bloom. As they look closely to search for the pollen, they noticed the tiny ball like structure that holds the red flower length. They also noticed that the sunny side of the tree is getting the blooms first and the shady side is still all tucked up in the ball. The Bottle brush is one of the Dharawal seasonal indicators (Indigenous seasonal calendar)- it marks time for the big bats to fly out in the early evening sky searching for food. Our 2 day Blue room read the story Stellaluna and then created their own stories. Bats are now being added to our pollinator list!

16.01.2022 Our 2 day group ventured further along the river walk today... They explored different landscapes along the way - muddy pathways, grassy fields, bamboo forest, river bank rocks, and woodland forests. This experience followed on from recent World Environment Day and World Ocean Day. Bronwyn Bancroft, Patterns of Australia is one of the story books exploring landscapes. Children have been exploring this from our Reconciliation week play experiences.

16.01.2022 A fabulous discovery alongside our native beehive today- an exoskeleton of a spider! There was lots of discussion and many questions that will lead to further investigation. For now, the small group of enquirers wanted to post it on the noticeboard for parents to see. We love their connection to Place- ...we think it is a Wangal Land spider We are so fortunate to have such diversity of creatures in our learning spaces. It is through curiosity that a positive relationship with the creature begins to emerge. It is only through this relationship that respect can develop. Once we have respect, there is usually a willingness and urge to care for.

15.01.2022 Its that time of year again- Bikeathon!!! Even Covid19 didnt stop us! We made sure we had a Covid plan in place and updated our risk and benefit assessment... and we were off! This is part of our safety program, focused on road and pedestrian safety. A track along the preschool is set up and the children ride through the course practicing safe riding and walking, responding to the messages of sign symbols and colours. We even managed a few parent participants with physical distancing, good hand hygiene and a sign up sheet to ensure our outside group size was not compromised! What a team!!!!! Thank you to all that make these days possible. The children had an absolute blast!!!! Our 3 day group have their turn Thursday.

15.01.2022 Science in action this afternoon with the trains!

13.01.2022 As we continue to explore our environment and the landscapes within it, this fabulous creation with loose parts was worked in this afternoon by two friends. Art does not always need to be paper and paint. Look at the purposefilled placement of individual pieces... a fabulous expression of landscape.

13.01.2022 Expression of landscape using blocks! - work inspired by Bronwyn Bancrofts PATTERNS OF AUSTRALIA

12.01.2022 The community event had to be cancelled due to The pandemic, however that doesnt stop us at Concord West Rhodes Preschool. This week we have been planting natives, seasonal indicator plants and bushtucker within our playground, as well as weeding our previous Plant a Tree day sites. #custodianship

11.01.2022 ...and the fit out is complete! Thank you Gary and Wes from Bellwood Kitchens! Now to get the stuff back in!

11.01.2022 Welcome back- to term 4!!! As part of our parent information session last term focused on School Readiness vs Transition to School we received feedback that families would like some practical examples of playful learning experiences. Trish, one of our Early Childhood Teachers participated in some ‘Let’s Count’ Training. She reflected that we, as a centre, were doing much of what was being shared! Here’s some great information on the ‘Let’s Count Bot’- a new tool through Facebook messenger that sends you ideas for at home, out and about etc.

11.01.2022 That feeling you get when The Department of Education visits on a bright sunny morning, bringing gifts of cleaning products and delights in your learning environments and congratulates you on exceeding practices that are so obviously embedded... and just wants to sit down and play! The Department is listening to us! - a visit that is now called support visit and a consistent contact that we can now form a relationship with! Congratulations to the fabulous team of educators at our Preschool for their efforts at maintaining high quality education for preschoolers! ...And to the amazing Preschoolers that showcase it for us. We live and breathe this stuff Be proud team!

10.01.2022 We welcome all for term 3, with our 2 Day group starting back today. It was heartening seeing all the reconnections of friendships and favourite play spaces today. Weve also got our beautiful Tawny Frogmouth pair back in the environment... and if you look to the left theres a gorgeous possum nest too! We are so lucky!!! That makes 3 possums in our yard and hopefully a nesting pair of Tawnys ( theyve bred 4 years in a row now close to our fence line)

10.01.2022 It was our 3 day groups turn at riding their bikes, trikes and scooters fit our annual Bikeathon. As mentioned from Tuesdays post, this is an opportunity for our preschoolers to put their knowings and learnings into practice as they read signs, respond to the meanings of colours, shapes, symbols and words and practice pedestrian, bike and road safety. There was so much excitement and so much fun. The weather was warm and all were very safe. A big thank you to staff for creating the learning opportunities and skilll building Snd family members for joining in, helping and supervising in a Covid safe way! We are very fortunate inn having a supportive community.

09.01.2022 We are exploring the world in a different way today...

08.01.2022 Connecting with Country- our gorgeous Tawny Frogmouths have once again chosen to nest in a gum tree right beside our fence line. Two white downy heads have emerged. Our Preschoolers enjoy getting a closer look at the chicks...

07.01.2022 A special way to end 2nd term this week, with both our 2 Day and 3 Day groups toasting jumbo marshmallows around the campfire, using sticks collected from Wangal ground as we went for our walks along with banksia pods, a traditional way of using fire. Some children approached the risk of fire with a balanced sense of confidence and reserve. Others were supported in their approach. All took part in their own way. The children have been noticing the changes in the environment,... particularly the cold foggy mornings. The Illawarra Plums are finishing their fruit as are the Lilli pilli. Wattle is beginning to flower. Bush turkey and Ibis have been foraging in the dirt snd garden beds for bugs, the soil wet/ moist from overnight dew. What better way to warm up - a campfire. Our preschoolers were involved in identifying some benefits or great things about fire as well as some risks or dangers of fire. Their collective knowledge is strong and our risk/ benefits of having a campfire at preschool reflects this. Upon returning to preschool they plan to cook a wombat stew with vegetables! Maybe some from our garden or the community garden next door!

06.01.2022 We are finally completing our last stage of The Department of Educations Learning Environments Grant that we were successful in receiving- our Library refurbishment! (Stage 1- water saving tape are in bathroom Stage 2- Sandpit Cover) Big books, posters and literacy props have all come out do that custom built storage can be fitted and our library can be used as another learning space for children to access! We cant wait until its finished.... hope everything fits back in! Thankyou to Bellwood kitchens for the cabinetry and install

06.01.2022 While out looking for Wattle last week, our 2 day Red room took photos of all the flowers that they could find! Today, our 2 Day blue room took this poster guide to see which ones they could find! We are critically reflecting on flower picking... maybe we should just leave them there for the pollinators!

06.01.2022 As part of our Plant a Tree Day efforts we spent time weeding two of our past Plant a Tree sites. Not only were children engaged in caring for Country, they were also able to express their interest and autonomy in this experience, engaging in a way that was meaningful and motivating for them. One child spent the whole time relocating snails and making them a house. Others enjoyed the process of carrying armfuls of weeds and grass and depositing them In the organic waste pile.... Some enjoyed the weeding, focusing on pulling out from the base, just right, while a few focused intently in shaking the dirt off the roots of the bigger weeds that were pulled. Eventually someone had the idea of pulling from the organic waste pile and using the bits as loose parts in their dramatic play with dinosaurs in the sandpit. Its been a fabulous experience for all groups to be a part of.

05.01.2022 We are so fortunate to have an abundance of wildlife in and around our preschool. There is always room for more as the children today added the giant rainbow serpent (that they have been weaving since last term) to the Illawarra Plum tree ( bush tucker) in our mud garden. Since the fruit has now all been harvested, the serpent should be safe! Children have been inspired by the Tjanpi Desert Weavers work from central Australia, learning how to wrap as a weaving skill. This area is a very different landscape to the one that we are familiar with... children noticing the difference in colour and ground coverings. They are now using paper and raffia to build volume to their weaving works. We thank our colleagues at Explore & Develop Annandale for their centre made resource - Our Gadigal Land for lots of ideas too!

05.01.2022 The floor is lava!

05.01.2022 When practices are embedded within our everyday... Instruments are often displayed in a variety of ways for children to choose. At the moment, we welcome Julie, a student educator from Charles Sturt University. She requested our centre for her practicum, having been a past parent here, her daughter attending previously for the year before school. She was familiar with our philosophy and practices and wanted to develop some professional and personal goals within sustainable p...ractices and including Indigenous perspectives. Her display of instruments showcases how re-using old toys collected from home and the local community opportunity shop at the church adds value to childrens learning and supports the recycling of old toys. Not to Mention the recycling of memories- many children and adults shared stories of similar toys/ instruments. Adding the natural clap sticks to the collection added an Indigenous perspective. The musical choices for children to play to can als express the diverse cultures within the preschool. Julies follow up experience where children made their own instrument, shakers, clap sticks, drums etc in things collected from the environment as well as our Re-use station was well received by all! We value our responsibility in supporting the new early childhood educators into the education field and take our role very seriously in providing strong models of quality early childhood education. We feel extra privileged when we can support a community member, one of our own families in their professional goals. See more

04.01.2022 When the earth and the moon are friends and they go for a walk together...

04.01.2022 That moment your heart sings when you hear a preschooler independently being an active member of their community, advocating for their safety and well-being as well as respect for living creatures. Such a superpower! Child- Guys guys come quickly, we have a situation! Educator- Whats the situation? Child-Its a serious situation! Its a spider. Its stopped, but when you go near it, it slides down the slide... What followed was a well practiced attempt at relocating the spider safely to the garden ( it was a safe spider to have within the preschool surrounds) with children and educator.

03.01.2022 Oops! We forgot to mention that the Preschool is closed now for term break. We return Monday 20th July. Stay safe and healthy! And a big shout out to our fabulous educators who, although finishing off summative reports and documentation, deserve a chance to rest and revive. We thank you for all your hard work and continued support for each other, children and families!