Thornton Child Care and Preschool Centre in Thornton, New South Wales, Australia | Nursery

Thornton Child Care and Preschool Centre

Locality: Thornton, New South Wales, Australia

Phone: +61 2 4966 5975

Address: 2 Welwin Cr 2322 Thornton, NSW, Australia

Website: http://cscommunity.org.au

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24.01.2022 Thank you very much to the Simpson family for the very kind gift, we will miss you all and wish you all the best with your move.

24.01.2022 ENTERTAINMENT BOOKS are now available!!! Digital copies are now available at www.entbook.com.au/3435o3... We appreciate your support in purchasing from us to support our centre fundraising efforts

22.01.2022 NO MORE ICE-CREAM ... NO BIRTHDAY CAKES!! To support children's sense of identity and belonging to the Pre school community we enjoy celebrating special milestones including birthdays. We also recognise that celebrating these special moments are important teaching opportunities to encourage and model kindness to others. As educators we are continuously reflecting on our practices to ensure we are meeting the needs of our families and children. We make changes ...when necessary after group discussions, and gathering of any relevant information including family feedback. This reflective feedback has led to the change in the way we celebrate birthdays here at Thornton Childcare and Preschool. Previously celebration has occurred through sharing of an icecream cone (icecream and cones provided by families) with friends after lunch. 2021 will see the introduction of our "Birthday Box" (as pictured) for birthday celebrations as we move away from celebrating with food. Several things have influenced the decision including: Moving away from celebrating with food, to align with our healthy eating guidelines and practices Increase in allergies and food tolerances in children creating a challenge to provide a safe and inclusive alternative. Feedback from families regarding the extra pressure and cost during an already busy time around birthdays. Educators observing children becoming more focused on receiving an ice-cream cone rather than the opportunity to celebrate their peer's milestone and express kindness. Our new celebration routine will involve the Birthday child having the opportunity to choose items from the Birthday Box to use throughout the day in the Joey and Kangaroo rooms to highlight their special day. Some of the items in the Birthday Box include balloons, bubbles, badges, funny hats, headbands, capes and cards. There is also a plate, bowl, cup and cutlery set with patterns and colours for the birthday child to use at mealtimes if they choose. We are looking forward to implementing this change to our birthday celebration practice and hope the children enjoy accessing the items in the box to highlight their special day. If you have any questions, please talk with the room educators. See more

22.01.2022 We have a new staffing update to share with you. We are sad to let you know that Kayla is leaving Thornton Child Care and Preschool to pursue a new career in the Hunter Valley. Kayla's last day will be Monday 12th October 2020. We wish Kayla the very best in her new endeavours.... A message from Kayla below Our casual educator Kylie, (whom you may have already met) will be filling Kayla’s position until the end of the year (or until a permanent educator is appointed). This will alleviate further changes for the children.

20.01.2022 Sometimes a change of scenery is all that’s needed. Our art easel hasn’t been engaging much creativity lately indoors so today we placed it in our outdoor environment. Often a change of scenery is all that’s needed to provoke new interest and engagement in an experience. Our outdoor environment is an extension of our inside environment as well as being a space in its own right. The provocations and experiences in our outdoor environment are considered and purposeful. Being creative amongst nature inspired our little artists to create and communicate stories and convey messages through their artwork whilst exploring the natural light and shadows only nature can provide.

18.01.2022 Please ensure you don’t leave your children in the car unattended outside the centre, or anywhere. It only takes a few minutes. Please read this this article from Kids and Traffic

15.01.2022 Greeting card sales You may remember at the beginning of this year the Kangaroo Children were creating gift cards to raise funds for the koalas and other Australian animals effected by the 2019 bush fires. Crazy Camel Fundraising kindly donated the printed cards of the Kangaroo children’s art works! Although we had big plans to be out and about in our local community and sell even more of these cards COVID-19 happened and unfortunately we were not able to follow through with... some of these plans. HOWEVER thanks to all the amazing families and educators at our service we have still raised $265!!!! ALL of which has been donated to WWF! Part of this donation is adopting a koala! We look forward to receiving the pack and discussing with the children how their hard work will benefit a koala and make a difference within an Australian habitat which koalas need to flourish. Thank you for all your support helping our Kangaroo children met their original goal of helping our native animals! And another huge thank you to Crazy Camel Fundraising for their generosity and donation. What an amazing effort and a wonderful learning opportunity for the Kangaroo children to explore kindness, consideration and their ability to advocate for those in need. Our Early Years Learning Framework guides us as educators to consider the importance of human’s interdependence on our natural environment in our planning and programming. As Children become socially responsible and show respect for the environment they begin to show growing appreciation and care for natural and constructed environments and develop an awareness of the impact of human activity on environments and the interdependence of living things (EYLF, 2009).

15.01.2022 Bandanna Day!! We can help you get ready!! Lots of beautiful designs! Supporting canteen

14.01.2022 Next week is National Child Protection week. The Kangaroo Room will be starting the SAFE book series. This set of four books contain age appropriate protective behaviour messages for children 2-6 years old. The books support the rights of children and promote them having a voice. Help children identify the parts of their body that are private Help them understand their feelings Encourage them to think about five people who they trust to help them if they feel scared, sad or upset If you have any questions or concerns or would like to view the books, please speak to a Kangaroo educator.

12.01.2022 Today saw us introducing our newest Educator and member of our Joey team, Brittany! She has taken the day as a grand opportunity to introduce herself to the children at their own pace and engage them in play and conversations. Her kind and caring approach has won over many of our Joeys already and we feel that she will be a wonderful addition into our room. ... Please feel free to introduce yourself and say hi to Brittany (Brittany has accepted our maternity leave position. She will be working with our Joeys until end of year. We will be looking at what rooms our lovely educators will be working in for 2021 shortly).

12.01.2022 DON’T FORGET IT’S PHOTO WEEK!! Ashlee from Dusk and Vine Photography is taking photos this week!! Please make sure you have placed your order online and bring your order slip in for us!

11.01.2022 CAN YOU HELP US WITH CREATING OUR NEW OUTDOOR AREA? Loose parts are a theory, not just a collection of objects. It is the way we see potential for materials. We are looking for objects that can be used as props in our play.....open ended materials that have many ways to be used, or tools we need in our exploration. ... Loose parts support children's agency as they can use materials in their own way and they can access these materials themselves. It also connects children to sustainability as we re-purpose many materials and find new uses for them. Do you have any materials at home that we can make use of? Here's some ideas..... crates electrical reels (plastic or timber) flexible tube bike tyres (small) with rims Steering wheels seats (small) with no legs wood car tyres rope plumbing tubes and joiners scales, levels

10.01.2022 WELCOME TO JOEYS GROCERY STORE Maria Montessori, a developmental theorist, believes children’s interests take the lead. Educators respond to children’s ideas and play, and extend on their learning through open-ended questions, interactions and feedback (QA1 - Educational program and practice).... Educators noticed one of the children adding the home corner food into the coloured baskets, pretending to go shopping. Kayla attempted to replicate our current COVID circumstances that are a part of everyday life when we go grocery shopping. She added 1.5m signs to ensure social distancing between each customer. One of the dads shared a laugh with the educators as the children weren’t social distancing and the limit of food items wasn’t quite working out. One of the mums commented about the panic buying, as baskets were overflowing from all the food taken from the shelves, leaving them bare. The Kangaroo room embraced the grocery store during the morning family grouping. One of the children welcomed everyone into her store, very particular about where everything goes and providing exceptional customer service. She offered Dayna a fly buys card to pay for her groceries as she had no money. With the enthusiasm and interest this child displayed, Kayla gave her the important task of writing items with prices, on our blackboard. It was wonderful to make the grocery store a space for both rooms to enjoy and give the children in the Kangaroo room an opportunity to contribute. Guidance and role-modelling was required by educators, to enable the children to play and appreciate the set up. Educators reminded the children, that there is a 5 item limit per customer, thus encouraging numeracy skills (counting) and language skills to communicate thinking about quantities of objects and collections. As this area was a very busy place, sharing and turn-taking was practiced with the help of educators.

10.01.2022 We have a new staffing update to share with you. We are sad to let you know that Kayla is leaving Thornton Child Care and Preschool to pursue a new career in the Hunter Valley. Kayla's last day will be Monday 12th October 2020. We wish Kayla the very best in her new endeavours.... A message from Kayla below Our casual educator Kylie, (whom you may have already met) will be filling Kayla’s position until the end of the year (or until a permanent educator is appointed). This will alleviate further changes for the children.

09.01.2022 We have some staffing news to share with you all. We are sad to let you know that Alyssa is leaving Thornton Child Care and Preschool as she has been offered a hairdressing apprenticeship, which is something she greatly enjoys and would like to study further. Alyssa's last day will be Friday 25th September 2020. We wish Alyssa the very best in her new endeavours.... A message from Alyssa below

09.01.2022 "Children see magic because they look for it!" ~Christopher Moore~ Over the past week the Kangaroo Room has seen an interest in 'magic' emerging. After performing a few of our own magic shows in the room we began creating our own magic wands! Engaging with our natural environment we found the perfect stick for this task and engaged our hand eye coordination to repeatedly wrap wool onto our sticks and secure feathers. Our Kangaroo Room was quickly filled with magicians as th...e children engaged their imaginations to create their own magic using their wands! They expressed wonder and engagement in their environment and were enthusiastic participants in their own learning as they followed and extended their interest with enthusiasm! (EYLF 2009). We are hoping our magician incursion next Wednesday will further extend and engage the children's current interest in magic! See more

08.01.2022 THE POWER OF PARENTING This is tonight! It looks like spots are still available if you would like to book in for the zoom call.

08.01.2022 We have some staffing news to share with you all. We are sad to let you know that Alyssa is leaving Thornton Child Care and Preschool as she has been offered a hairdressing apprenticeship, which is something she greatly enjoys and would like to study further. Alyssa's last day will be Friday 25th September 2020. We wish Alyssa the very best in her new endeavours.... A message from Alyssa below

07.01.2022 STEPS VISION SCREENING is on today and next week on Thursday 27th August. This screening is for all 4-5 year olds. If your child is starting school in 2021 please ensure you have returned your permission note to us. Children not attending on either of these days can come in with a parent at 9.30am Thursday 27th. Vision screening will only take a few minutes and a parent must stay with their child if it is not their normal day of attendance.

07.01.2022 STEPS VISION SCREENING is on today and next week on Thursday 27th August. This screening is for all 4-5 year olds. If your child is starting school in 2021 please ensure you have returned your permission note to us. Children not attending on either of these days can come in with a parent at 9.30am Thursday 27th. Vision screening will only take a few minutes and a parent must stay with their child if it is not their normal day of attendance.

06.01.2022 IMPORTANT Please note our CONDITIONS OF ENTRY YOU OR YOUR CHILD MUST NOT ATTEND THIS CENTRE IF:... 1. You have been in Victoria in the past 14 days 2. You have symptoms such as fever, cough, sore throat, fatigue, shortness of breath, aches and pains, headache, stuffy or runny nose 3. You have had contact with anyone diagnosed with COVID-19 4. You are waiting for COVID-19 test results 5. If you have been directed to self isolate Of course we also ask that you be tested immediately regardless of symptoms if you have visited a place of concern that has been closed for cleaning, and that you take in consideration exposure to hot spots in SYDNEY. Further to this, we ask that you ensure you are social distancing from staff when you are dropping off and picking up and recommend a mask for further protection.

05.01.2022 THE POWER OF PARENTING This is tonight! It looks like spots are still available if you would like to book in for the zoom call.

03.01.2022 Dear families, Due to there being some new cases of COVID 19 having been identified in surrounding community areas (East Maitland and Port Stephens) our staff have discussed options to continue to minimise risk for all children, staff and families within our centre. We have made a decision to revert back to meeting parents at the front door for drop off and pick up times for the present time, as well as taking temperatures of everyone entering the premises. As the COVID cases... are current, we have decided to revert back to this process as of tomorrow, Thursday 23rd July 2020. We will put a copy of the weekly menu near the front door so you can see what the children have been eating and we will put the day book on display out the front as we had previously done. We will also place the communication files out the front for families to be able to collect notes. We thank you for your understanding with the changes we need in order to try and continue to keep everyone safe. Hopefully we can soon return to having parents come into the building once again. Please speak to any of us if you have any questions. See more

03.01.2022 We are currently filling positions for 2021. We ask that you please return any outstanding re-enrolment forms, this week, to ensure that our current families are offered their selected days, before we look at our Waiting List. All families who have returned their form will be receiving their 2021 Placement Confirmation in parent communication files today. Please check your form to make sure the allocation is correct.

03.01.2022 Dear families, We are fundraising with Cadbury chocolate fundraising boxes. Any funds raised goes to purchase things for the centre such as books for the children at Christmas, or equipment. We would appreciate it if families could take a box of chocolates to sell at their workplace, or at home to family and friends. If you can help with this please see the educators who can assist you to pick up a box from the office. You can choose from an easter eggs box or a fun pack box.... Easter egg items sell for $4 each and Fun pack items sell for $1 each. All money and any unsold chocolate must be returned to the centre by 26th March 2021. Thank you for your support. See more

01.01.2022 As you know, when we last underwent Assessment and Rating our centre was rated as exceeding the National Quality Standards. We were invited to be an early adopter of the new NSW Quality Rating initiative and have been sent out an updated Care and Rating Certificate that is hopefully easier for families to read. Please have a look at the updated certificate and offer any feedback- is this easy to read and understand?