...where children are happy to learn
Taking
Enrolments Now for 2023!
28 Julie Street Blacktown NSW 2148
Ph: (02) 9622 6990 Mob: 0456204695
blacktown@happydayskindy.com
Welcome to November!
Hello Families
We are getting so close to the end of the year, and preparations are running rampant!
We have many events happening over the next few months, so please ensure you're checking your emails and kinderM8 regularly, and respond if needed to ensure you're not missing out on important information.
November and December are the final months for educators to finish summative letters and, for graduating children, transition to school letters. We will send them out to families at the end of November and you are welcome to contact Miss Ashleigh if you wish to discuss.
During the Christmas and New year period, please advise Miss Ashleigh on whether your child will be attending to help us plan for staffing.
Last but not the least, let's welcome the families from our new Happy Days Kindergarten at Kurrajong!
What's On!
2023 Enrolments
If you haven't already, please contact Miss Ashleigh to lock in your days for 2023. Spots are filling fast.
Children's Christmas Party
Thursday 15 December
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Santa and his elves are just around the corner and will soon visit Happy Days bearing gifts for children who have been good this year - all of them!
Where: Crocs Playcentre Prospect
When: Thursday 15 December 5:30pm
Cost: $0 for Happy Days children
Attendees: Please let Miss Ashleigh know how many adults and children are coming to the party of the year
Food: Food will be provided to Happy Days children.
A cafe is available for other family members to purchase their food.
Please check your emails for further information.
Did you know:
Christmas is an annual sacred Christian holiday that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, the spiritual leader and founder of Christianity. While many people celebrate Christmas to honor Jesus’s birth, it’s also celebrated as a cultural holiday across the globe.
Santa Claus, legendary figure who is the traditional patron of Christmas many countries, bringing gifts to children. His popular image is based on traditions associated with Saint Nicholas, a 4th-century Christian saint. The current depiction of Santa Claus is based on images drawn by cartoonist Thomas Nast for Harper’s Weeklybeginning in 1863 as inspired by the description given in the poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (also known as “’Twas the Night Before Christmas”), first published in 1823. The image was further defined by a Coca-Cola ad from 1931 by illustrator Haddon Sundblum who was a portly white-bearded gentleman dressed in a red suit with a black belt and white fur trim, black boots, and a soft red cap.
Remembrance Day
Friday 11 November
Remembrance Day is the day to remember those who died or suffered for Australia's cause in all wars and armed conflicts.
All Australians are urged to observe
One minute of silence
at 11am on 1 November
in remembrance of our fallen heroes who made the ultimate sacrifice for our nation.
The children will be participating in a minute silence, craft and discussions about Remembrance Day.
November Birthdays
Happy Birthday Cohen!
Wishing you lots of fun and love on your special day!
Preschool Graduation
Wednesday 7 December
Let's give our graduating preschoolers a Happy Days send-off and officially congratulate them on reaching the first milestone of their formal education!
You would have already received our invitation for this special event. Please RSVP to Miss Ashleigh by 30 November.
Centre Operations and Public Holidays
Our centre operates throughout the year except for public holidays. However, we will be
Closing early on Friday 23 December at 3pm
It would be appreciated if you collect your child by 3pm at the latest.
We will be
Closed on the following public holidays:
Monday 26 Dec 2022
Tuesday 27 Dec 2022
Monday 2 Jan 2023
Thursday 26 Jan 2023
During late December and January, please note that the centre will be running on limited staff. Please inform Miss Ashleigh whether your children will be attending during that period to ensure the correct staffing is available.
If you have any questions please feel free to contact Miss Ashleigh.
Don't Forget!
Child sign in/Out
On drop off and pick up, all parents/carer MUST sign their child in and out of care.
You will be at risk of losing your CCS if this is not done. If you have forgotten your phone, you can sign in using your email and password on our iPad.
Healthy Lunchboxes Only
We have noticed many lunch boxes filled with treats that do not align with our healthy eating policy. Please ensure that you are sending your child with a healthy lunch box. Foods such as chips & chocolate will be sent home. If you require suggestions, please click this link: https://healthylunchbox.com.au/.
Especially for children off to big school next year, we encourage for them to have a sandwich rather than heated food for lunch. Snacks should have cuts in the tops or sides for easy opening.
At Happy Days, we provide as much opportunity as possible in developing self-help skills in the children. Please extend this learning at home by letting your child open packets at home, packing a all your children’s containers and snacks in the one regular sized lunch box (the size that your child would bring to big school).
Please do not pack food containing nuts in your child's lunchbox.
Open and closing Hours
Please be reminded that Happy Days opens at 7am. Educators will not allow any child to enter the centre before 7am.
We close at 6pm. Parents must collect their child before 5:55pm as this time will allow staff to close the centre and go home to their own families on time. A late fee of $2 per minute will be applied to your account for any late pick-ups. To ensure this doesn't occur please have an emergency contact on standby to pick up your child.
Enter the Kindy using your Fob Key
Please ensure that you use your fob key to enter the kindy particularly in the afternoon. We cannot leave the children unattended to answer the door for you.
If you require a second key please order one from Miss Ashleigh.
Policy Review
Every month we review a set of policies to ensure that they are relevant and up to date according to regulations.
You are invited to provide feedback on our policy of the month below (send your feedback to blacktown@happydayskindy.com):
2023 Enrolments
Please ensure that you have let Miss Ashleigh know of what days you require for your child next year if you haven’t done so already.
What we've been up to
Cerebral Palsy Awareness Day
On this day we encouraged all children and staff to wear GREEN.
The children were involved in some activities to which we added our GREEN touch.
The children were involved in a discussion during group time about providing support to those suffering from Cerebral Palsy which included wearing Green.
It was wonderful to see so many children and staff supporting and joining in on this day!
Mental health day- Odd Socks
We first attempted to have our ODD SOCK day on the Monday the 10th however not many children participated, so we tried again on the Tuesday and we had a great response. The children were really excited to show off their different socks to their educators and their peers.
We discussed with the children that this year's World Mental Health Day campaign is encouraging everyone to make a promise to “Look after your mental health, Australia.” In 2022, the focus of the campaign is awareness, belonging and connection.
Here at Happy Days, we believe in strong connections with each other and our community.
DIWALI Morning Tea
There was so much fun to be had at our Diwali Morning tea and celebrations!
The Educators all dressed up in traditional clothing and wore bindis on their foreheads. We had some of our children come in dressed in the cultural dress also.
During our morning tea, the children had the opportunity to taste some Indian sweets and savoury foods. The children joined together and listened to a story on the iPad about Diwali and why it is celebrated. Miss Tina encouraged the children to come and help her place our beautiful and brightly coloured Rangoli at the front door. Miss Harinder, Miss Ashleigh and our student Miss Masumi used their creative skills and did some henna art on the children and staff.
It was a magical day and we look forward to what next year holds for us for Diwali!
Movie Night Under The Stars
WOW!!!!!! Movie night went off with a BANG!!
Dark sky, stars a-plenty, perfect weather, HUGE screen, good movie, bean bags and picnic rugs, popcorns, sausage rolls, lollies, hot chocolate - we had a PERFECT MOVIE NIGHT!
THANKS to everyone who attended on the evening. It ran so smoothly and we could see the children and parents (and educators too) had such a fun night. Take a look at the pictures to see what a great night it was. We cannot wait to do this again in 2023.
Funds raised from the night will go towards our end of year celebrations.
Halloween Dress Up Day
Happy Halloween!
The children (and educators!) were very excited for Halloween this year, mostly came to the kindy in their spooky dress ups and costumes. The children took part in some learning experiences surrounding the day including Halloween crafts which were super fun.
When all our Happy Days friends arrived, we turned off the lights and turned up the music for our Halloween Disco! The children danced with their friends to some fun spooky music!
It was a great time for all!!!
Focus Learning Programs
Playing And Learning to Socialise (PALS)
Happy Days Social Skills Program
This month Miss Priya had discussed the topic of Sharing Toys with each other.
Miss Priya distributed pictures of sharing toys, playing together and pictures of children who weren't sharing. Miss Priya asked the children what the photos are depicting and discussed why sharing is important and posed questions to children. The children shared their ideas and displayed their understanding of the concept and importance of sharing.
Miss Priya also read a book called "Sharing is Caring". Miss Harinder and Miss Priya got the children to role-play the act of sharing when we are playing with each other.
Eco-Warriors
Happy Days Sustainability Program
Last month we harvested lettuce and peas from our mini veggie patch. The children enjoyed the harvest and, best of all, eating the freshly picked vegetables!!
Our peas crop is almost finished, so we left some peas to dry so we can use them as the seeds for next time instead of buying them. While it does not cost much to buy, if you add up little things it would make a significant difference in the budget, plus freshness is guaranteed with our own crops.
We had a beautiful succulent plant close to the cubby house, but some of the curious children broke a large stem from the plant. Miss Nargis explained that we must take care of our plants and the importance of having plants in our lives. Later, Miss Nargis put the plant’s broken part in the water to grow roots, regenerate into a brand new plant! The children were amazed!
We extended children’s interest and curiosity by propagating the spider plants in mini pots.
We also sowed bean seeds, which the children are quite used to now. They love to help and be a part of a sustainable community and practices which is one of the goals of our centre philosophy.
The children have been recycling some materials for art and learning purposes and created beautiful crafts for Diwali and Halloween.
Munch and Move
Happy Days Health & Fitness Program
October, our Munch and Movers learned about Balancing!
The children learned to balance their bodies on various surfaces. Happy Days has lots of resources to support their balancing. We arranged our climbing/balancing equipments in different combinations throughout the month to provide the children with different challenges in developing their sense of balance. Our courses included a rock climbing mini wall and a set of coloured buckets to step on which we used in our games.
A favourite games was a block balancing activity in which the children followed a little maze of blocks and balanced along them while their peers observed. This activity was full of laughs and encouraging words from their friends!
To end our month of balancing, the children played a fun game involving the children doing a flamingo pose while balancing a book on their heads placed by Miss Dakoda! The children where in hysterics!
An imaginative game was also set in which the children had to try not to "fall in the water” by balancing along some stepping buckets. The children turned it into a race and showed their sporty skills off with this game.
Moving into November, our key Munch and Move message is now Turning Off Screens and Getting Active! To start, Miss Dakoda will introduce a new system to encourage spontaneous play and promote children's choices when it comes to outdoor play. As all of our resources are in the shed and not easily accessible, visual aids were created in which the children could choose what they wanted to use without going through the shed. The children loved calling the teachers over to choose a toy from the shed to play with!
Classroom Updates
Happy Days Preschool/School Readiness Program
Mighty Mangoes
In October the Mighty Mangoes practiced their letters M, N, O, P and Q, upper-case and lower-case. They practiced phonics in group time each day.The letter activities the children were involved included nest making, monkey masks and decorating the letter P with salt and sparkle.
To refine the children's fine motor skills, we provided straws, pipe cleaners, lolly wrap activity, and cardboard to develop their confidence in cutting materials that are a bit harder than paper.
In numeracy, children showed an interest in counting dominoes, measuring heights on the chart, measuring crayons, and learning the concept of capacity and patterns of two and three.
In the show and tell, our most frequently asked question was, “What is it made of?”. To provide information and knowledge about materials, we offered lots of play-based activities where the children obtained information about their surroundings and what they are made of. These activities and open-ended experiences helped the children to identify what is wood, plastic, glass, rubber, paper, and fibre look like.
We are very much looking forward to our Preschool Graduation on 7 December and have been practicing a little surprise for our parents. We look forward to celebrating our graduates' achievements!