...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 August!
Welcome to August!
We would like to share some important news with you Happy Days will be having some maintanance and small changes ti the service. 1 being the delivery of an office POD for Miss Ashleigh. Although this POD will be at the back of the service please do not hesitate to come and speak with me. We do ask that you ensure that the children are not climbing on any of the materials outside. we will maintain a clean walkway into the service.
We will also be making some little changes to the inside of Happy Days, some new tables and lockers and creation of some awesome spaces.
We will be revamping our program and will have many different display walls for you all to take a look at and see what we have been up to.
We value your feedback, so please do not hesitate to email, or talk directly to myself or the team for any ideas or feedback.
What's on this Month
7th August
Jeans for Genes
Jeans for Genes is an annual fundraising campaign that supports research into genetic diseases at the Children's Medical Research Institute. We encourage you all to participate by wearing jeans and making a donation.
4-8 August
Dental Week
Dental Health Week in Australia is an annual campaign organized by the Australian Dental Association (ADA) to promote oral health awareness.
At Happy Days we will be participating in many different activities and discussions regarding oral hygiene.
11-15 August
Science Week
National Science Week is Australia's annual celebration of science and technology, held in August. It's a chance to acknowledge the contributions of Australian scientists, encourage public interest in science, and inspire young people to pursue science-related fields. At Happy Days the children will be involved in Science experiments, looking at life cycles and other science related topics.
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. A late fee will be charged for any child picked up after 5:30pm.
Label Belongings
Please remember to label everything. lunchboxes, drink bottles, bags and spare clothes.
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.
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)
Sign in /out
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.
Policy of the month
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 you may send your feedback via the email (Kurrajong@happydayskindy.com)
Incident, accident and Illness policy
Clothing
ALL children must bring spare clothing every day, these include, pants, shirts, sorts, socks and underwear. Now that the weather is colder please ensure your child has a jumper on.
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.
Classroom News
Age-based Intentional Learning Groups
Big Kangaroo (Preschoolers)
Learning Group for 3-5 years olds/School Readiness Program
With some big changes, Big Kangaroos introduced a new school readiness teacher this month! We welcome Miss Dakoda who has 3 years experience being in the school readiness room at our Blacktown service.
The Big Kangaroos have started revising the alphabet, looking more into phonics and brushing up on our writing skills. This was done through a weekly letter, allowing the children to explore it for the week, and come up with all the words they knew started with the certain letter. We also began a small sticker chart, where the children were encouraged to choose something they were excited to know more about. Cooking was wildly popular!. So, next month we will focus on recipes, safety around the kitchen and of course, making delicious food.
For the last few weeks of July, we have began observing kitchen safety swell as how to handle utensils, having the Big Kangaroos even cut up fruit to contribute to afternoon tea!
Little Platypuses
Learning Group for 2-3 year olds
This month the Little Platypus's engaged in numerous block construction experiences, parachute play construction games, Aboriginal symbol writing using a variety of textures and sensory tuff tray experiences including diggers/ natural resources and paint/ craft materials. These experiences and set ups were welcoming to children giving them the opportunity to explore textures, smells, sounds, sights and movement. Through hands on activities, children discovered the world around them. This improved language, cognitive and social skills as they explored play through the above activities.
What we got up to last month...
DISCO!
This day was all about lights, music, movement and lots of glowing fun!
On Friday the 4th July we held a disco in the classroom where there was disco lights, fun music and glow sticks to light up the room. The children showcased some of their best dance moves and sang along to the songs being played.
The children were involved in craft activities where they used bright colours to create artworks, the children used gold balls to roll in a tray spreading paint across paper making bright unique patterns. They also experimented with bright water colours making new colours as they mixed them on cardboard.
Crazy Hair Day
Crazy hair day was a blast, children arrived at the centre with amazing, wacky hair.
A Photo Booth was set up with some props for the children to continue the fun with their peers, as well as a hairdressing station to make their hair even crazier! Children had the opportunity to also create a collage of their crazy hair at the tables. These experiences went down well with all children getting involved.
Take a look at some of the photos from the day.
PJ WEEK!!!
Pyjama Week went well this year for Happy Days. Through the week, we decorated a wall with craft, played relaxing games such as sleeping bunnies and incorporated “sleepy” symbols into play, such as stars and clouds. Extending on our favourite song of the children’s, sleeping bunnies, we created our own bunny through sponge painting, before placing him up on the wall, with some Z’s and clouds to really set the relaxing vibe!. Some of the older children used collage material, and decorated their own pyjamas, which are now displayed along the room. A lot of star themed experiences were out aswell, having a small tray with a star hunt in it, as children built upon fine motor using small tweezers to retrieve them as well as some pink play dough decorated with golden star sequins. Pyjama day is not only a children favourite, but an educator favourite too!!!
World Friendship Day
To celebrate World Friendship Day, the children were encouraged to participate in some Friendship experiences. This consisted of bracelet making, card decorating and friendship drawings. The experiences when off with a hoot, especially with all the girls.
The children were involved in listening to a story about friendship and also doing some dancing.
Focus Learning Programs
Playing And Learning to Socialise (PALS)
Happy Days Social Skills Program
Talking and listening
This month we focused on the topic, “Talking and listening” We encouraged the children to express themselves through ideas and discussions during group time. This also became an opportunity to teach the children about waiting for their turn while their friend talks. Where they will then get a turn to talk during group time. This helped encourage the children to work on their waiting skills as well as improving their confidence whilst speaking.
For August were going to focus on taking turns and sharing. The children will be involved in many different experiences and discussions on how we can take turns and share.
Eco-Warriors
Happy Days Sustainability Program
...when Fun and Responsibility meet
This month the children have been exploring sustainability through learning about composting,the children focus has been learning about composting through playful matching games.The children learnt how to tell the difference between compostable items and general rubbish,we explored a sorting activity game where the children sorted toy grocery items into two different bins one recycling bin and the other a composting bin,chatting about where items belong-is it for compost or recycling bin.
Extending on our composting experience our little Eco Warriors took part in a fun and a hands-on composting activity, the children loved identifying fruit scraps, leaves and paper for composting with excitement we headed outside with our compost bin with scraps each child had a turn placing real leaves and fruit scraps into our large compost bin, with big smiles and little hands the children helped each other roll the compost bin to mix up everything up, what great teamwork. Our little Eco Warriors will be continuing to help daily to create our very own compost for our garden bed.
Munch and Move
Happy Days Health & Fitness Program
This month we focused on healthy cooking and healthy eating habits where we encouraged the children to eat well. We planned a variety of cooking experiences where we made banana muffins, fruit skewers, mini pizzas and berry smoothies. The children actively participated and were introduced to new foods and learnt the impact of healthy eating on their bodies.
Our fundamental Movement skill this month was, balance, The children used their Concentration and balancing skills to stay on the obstacle. we will continue to work on this skills through our outdoor play.
Next month we will focus on group games where the children will be encouraged to improve physical skills and fitness levels where they will be able to build strength. These games include fruit salad dash, Go Grow Glow Freeze, Veggie Garden Hunt, Animal Movement Circuits.
Community Engagement
UPDATE:
Community Library and Pantry
This system now allows families to sign books in and out for their children to read at their own pace and preference and will be replacing our weekly library. This will be accessible via the cupboard seen as you walk into the service.
Additionally, we have also began a community pantry! Here, families can donate any items they are no longer in need of and take items they would like for their household. Any feedback, questions and suggestions are encouraged to be shared with staff. 😇
