...where children are happy to learn

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140 Old Bells Line of Rd, Kurrajong NSW 2758

ph: (02) 4588 8497 mob: 0434 088 448

Welcome to April!

This is a busy month with Easter and Anzac Day happening. A reminder that we are closed Good Friday and Easter Monday, 18th and 21st of April and ANZAC Day, Friday 25th of April.

We wish all our families a happy and safe holiday and look forward to hearing what everybody did over their break.

What's on this Month

Nature Play week

2nd – 13th April

Nature play week reminds us that kids do it better outdoors!

Families are encouraged to explore the great outdoors, fostering connections with the natural environment.

This in turn promotes wellbeing, creativity and curiosity. We will be focusing on including as much natural play resources into our day-to-day activities as we can, spending lots of time outside in the garden, exploring the world around us and learning from the world around us.

We will do this through nature scavenger hunts, kitchen play with natural materials, and just taking time out to observe and listen to our environment

World Auslan Day

Saturday 13th April – celebrated on

Friday 12th April

Auslan Day is an annual event that celebrates the rich history, culture and language of the Australian deaf community, specifically the Australian Sign Language- Auslan

April 13th marks the publication of the first Auslan dictionary in 1989.

We will endeavor to learn basic sign language and help promote the importance of Auslan and how we can support the deaf community

World Autism Day

Wednesday 2nd April

World Autism Day is celebrated to raise awareness of autism and recognise and celebrate the contributions of Autistic people.

We will be building awareness and understanding in our classroom culture about autism and how to be aware and understanding of it. We will be exploring some famous and well-known individuals who have shared their autism diagnosis with the world, looking at their achievements and lives.

Together as a class, we will be creating some sensory toys to add to our calm down corner for anyone in our classroom family to use and implement in the classroom.

Easter

Friday 18th – Monday 21st April

A time of year when many of us spend time with families, Easter is a Christian festival and cultural holiday, commemorating the resurrection of Jesus.

Each day of the week leading up to Easter we will be celebrating with a picnic lunch, weather permitting.

On Tuesday we will celebrate Easter with a morning tea for all to join us.

Morning tea will commence at 10am and we hope to have as many friends as possible help us celebrate Easter.

On Wednesday we will have a visit from a friendly fairy.

ANZAC day

Friday 25th April

ANZAC day is a National Day of Remembrance that commemorates all Australians and New Zealanders who served and died in all wars, conflicts and peacekeeping operations.

We will mark this important day with a visit to Kurrajong Memorial Park, where we will visit the memorial their and enjoy a picnic lunch.

Earth Day

Tuesday 22nd April

The theme for Earth Day is ‘Our Power, Our Planet’, which encourages mass support for renewable energy. In Australia we will be raising awareness of global climate change as people come together to act to save Mother Earth.

Let’s wear the colours blue, green or brown which represent the earth and it’s natural elements.

We will participate in activities that teach the children to take responsibility for the environment to support climate change.

The children will be able to understand what climate change means and what actions to take to save our planet.

Important Reminders

Reminder to Parents

A reminder to all parents that our contract hours are from 7:30am to 5:30pm.

This means that our insurance and licensing only allows children and families on site during these allotted times for everyone’s safety.

Please ensure you are arriving to drop off and pick up to within those time

Label Belongings

Please remember to label everything. lunchboxes, drink bottles, bags and spare clothes.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to our March celebrants:

Arlen

Miss Marie

Footwear

Please ensure child are wearing appropriate footwear kindy, this includes closed in toes, solid supportive soles, correct sizing and appropriate accessibility to the children.

Please avoid thongs/flipflops, slides, slippers, and shoes the children cannot learn to use independently (difficult laces, buckles or zippers)

A reminder to please sign your child in and out every day using the iPad at the door.

If you have any issues with signing in/out, please let a staff member know so we can assist.

Lunchbox Food

We also ask children have a healthy lunch each day. Some examples of this may include a sandwich, a piece of fruit or vegetable and a yogurt or some crackers.

Please do not pack lollies, chocolate, chips, Nutella, juice, popcorn, rollups etc.

While these are fun sometimes food to enjoy at home, At Happy Days we have a nutrition policy that we are required to follow and appreciate your understanding in this regard.

Clothing

ALL children must bring spare clothing every day; even if completely toilet trained.

This to ensure that in the event of an accident, split food or messy play they have clothing to change into.

Driveway Etiquette

A friendly reminder that we share our driveway with our neighbours. This means we can use the left side of the driveway only.

Also, only one car can park at any one time, and limited to 5 minutes only.

Policy of the Month

This month, we will be taking a closer look at our clothing policy and understanding the importance of clothing for children.

Where staff will take a closer look at the importance of clothing on children, understanding what type of clothing is appropriate for children during play. As staff will also dress in appropriate uniform to be presentable and in a respectful manner to be positive role models for children.

Classroom News

Age-based Intentional Learning Groups

Big Kangaroo (Preschoolers)

Learning Group for 3-5 years olds/School Readiness Program

March recap: Ambulances

In our group time we have been looking at ambulances and the importances of them. We
have read books about them and watched videos of what’s inside an ambulance and how they

look with their lights and sirens on.

We have discussed a range of things about ambulances:

What phone number you call if you need an ambulance
When would need an ambulance
What they do
Who works in an ambulance
What their sirens mean

Some of the children heard about a truck accident that happened while they were at school
and some children identified that “they would need an ambulance!”.

April plan: Other emergency Vehicles

Considering we have been discussing ambulances and that we need to call 000 it would be just as important to discuss what other emergency services you would be able to get a hold of if they called and needed help.

Little Platypuses

Learning Group for 2-3 year olds

March Recap
Texture and sense of touch – extension on sensory trays
As an expansion on the children interest and fascination with sensory play games such as play dough
and slime, we decided to continue fostering this curiosity with some different and more unique
sensory experiences to encourage the children to explore their sense of touch and their ability to
use descriptive language.

Some of the activities included,
A sensory walk: allowing the children to feel a range of different textures, consistency’s, and
temperatures using their feet as they walk through the different materials. The materials included
cotton balls, sand, shredded paper, smooth pebbles, slime and warm water.
Animals – Children’s interest

The children have been demonstrating a big interest in animals, their patterns and the sounds that
they make. They have been enjoying exploring different animal species through different activities
and learning all about each one. The children have especially been excited about looking into bugs,
reptiles and amphibians, asking for them regularly during play time.
This has come at a perfect time as the older class, the kangaroos, have been caring for a butterfly
cocoon and watching it emerge into a beautiful butterfly.

April Plan:
Sundae, our Kindy Bunny
We have recently gotten a Happy Days Bunny, named Sundae. The children absolutely adore him
and have displayed a strong interest in looking after and caring for him. For the month of April, we
will be working with the Platypuses, encouraging the children to get more involved with the care
and maintance of our class pet.

This includes cooking some healthy treats for him, using recycled boxes to create toys and treat
holders for him, and learning about what veggies are best for growing bunnies to eat.
Music and Movement group times – learning new songs and dances

Throughout our recent group times together, the children have been displaying a particular interest

in music and movement songs; music that includes actions or dance moves. As a group, we will be
researching and learning some new songs together, building our knowledge of music and nursery
rhythms.

Group Projects

Floor Book Classroom Rules

Together, the class brainstormed to come up with some group rules to follow when we are playing in the classroom. After a week of brainstorming, we came up with a set list of classroom play rules to help keep our classroom clean and inviting to play with.

Little Platypus and Big Kangaroo Weekend Book!

Our new group mascots Little Platypus and Big Kangaroo will be travelling to different homes every week to foster the children’s sense of belonging and support relationships with families.

What we got up to last month...

Holi Festival
Friday 14th 2025

Our kindy class celebrated the Holi festival with a colour run. We gave the children white shirts and lots of coloured powder to throw at each other and their teachers.

Some of the kids were a little shy at first, unsure about throwing the powder. But with a little encouragement from their friends, they joined in. It was a great moment to teach them that trying something new can be exciting and fun!

At the end of the event, everyone was covered in bright colors. We took a group photo, and you could see the joy in their faces.

St Patricks Day

Monday 17th 2025

The children enjoyed celebrating St Patrick’s day with a colorful green themed day! They started with a green themed morning tea, enjoying green fruit and jelly together while we spoke about what St Patrick’s day means and why people celebrate it!

For craft today the children made four leaf clovers where they painted them green and used green Crete paper or other green materials to decorate it.

Harmony Week

17th-21st March 2025

Our Kindy celebrated Harmony Week with a variety of learning enriched experiences as well as recognizing this event by wearing the colour orange. Beginning with morning tea where the children were introduced to a range of cultural foods where they tried new foods each day at morning tea.

These meals included naan bread, nachos and Scottish biscuits. This sparked conversations about different cultures and places around the world as well as history on other countries.

The classroom experiences and activities allowed the children to learn more about other cultures. For example, a sushi restaurant was set up where the children interacted with each other engaging in role play.

Focus Learning Programs

Playing And Learning to Socialise (PALS)

Happy Days Social Skills Program

This month for PALS, the children have been focusing on practices such as sharing and turn
taking. The children have been practicing these aspects through activities such as group table
games (e.g. games requiring dice) as well as through physical memory games such as “bug in a
rug” which requires the children to look around the circle to see which children are their and
then close their eyes as one of the other children hides under the rug.

The child must then open their eyes and guess (by name) who is missing from the circle and hiding under the rug. Each child gets a turn at being the guesser and hiding under the rug. The children have done really well with this activity and absolutely love it! They displayed excellent turn taking skills.

We have also been focusing on sharing and the children have been picking this up well to
when being encouraged to share, they are responding well to giving up a resource or toy when
they have had it for a long time. Next month (April) we will continue working on this skill but
move on to a new focus of including friends in play.

Eco-Warriors

Happy Days Sustainability Program
...when Fun and Responsibility meet

March recap
Planting Seeds
This month we focused on planting seeds and plants in our veggie garden. It was wonderful to see their excitement as they learned the importance of watering and how it helps nourish and sustain the plants growth.

Throughout the process, the children were engaged and curious, asking insightful questions about plant care.

We emphasised the significance of checking on the plants regularly, ensuring they receive enough sunlight, and being proactive about addressing any potential pests or issues. Their hands-on involvement allowed them to connect with the natural world in a meaningful way, reinforcing the idea of responsibility and patience as they care for their plants.

April Plan
Scrap Paper Usages

In April, we’ll focus on finding creative ways to reuse scrap paper from our recycling pile, turning it into fun and useful projects. This will help prevent waste and teach the children the importance of reusing materials. We’ll create plans and activities.

That allow them to use the scrap paper for crafts, art projects, and other hands-on experiences, showing them how small actions can make a big difference in reducing waste. The goal is to spark creativity while also raising awareness about the value of recycling and reusing everyday materials.

Munch and Move

Happy Days Health & Fitness Program

March recap:

We have had some on again and off again rain, but we have been out as much as possible! While outside we have been looking at the fundamental skill jumping. We have explored this through imaginative play, obstacle courses and games. We have also incorporated jumping into our transitions when moving from one activity to another.

April plan:

in April we will be looking at hopping. We will be playing games like
hopscotch and hopping relay to try and build on this skill. We have also been making a range of fruit and vegetables during our craft times, to explore fruits we may have not seen before and to educator ourselves on what is a fruit and what is a vegetable.