

...where children are happy to learn
Taking Enrolments
Now for 2024!
1 Watts Place West Hoxton NSW 2171
ph: (02) 9825 8822 mob: 0426 972 893
Welcome to November!
Dear Parents/Families,
How is it November already?!
Happy Days Kindergarten has begun to wrap up our end of year formalities by locking in and planning our Graduation and End of Year Christmas Party (see below for details and don’t forget to RSVP!). It’s going to be a great afternoon/night, so make sure to save the date as we can’t wait to celebrate with you and reflect on what a year it has been. Our end of year Christmas raffle will soon be on display, if you have any toys or items you would like to donate to the raffle, your donations would be very much appreciated.
Please note donations cannot be used items.
2024 enrolments are filling up fast so please let an educator know if you are looking at booking in extra days and what availabilities we have left. If your child is a graduate and you have notified us before October 1st that your child will be returning for the month of January, your spots are secured. Unfortunately, if we still have not heard from you, we no longer have any available places for graduates in January.
Our annual end of year clean-up will begin shortly so please feel free to help yourself to the toys left at the front of the centre. A friendly reminder Happy Days last day will be Friday 22nd December, we will return on Tuesday 9th January 2024.
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What's On?

Happy Days Emergency Drills
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We will be holding the following emergency drills at the kindy:
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7th November – Bush Fire
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22nd November – Fire
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We have prepared the children for these drills, however, please continue the discussions at home so they can be better prepared.

Grandparents Day
24th of November
Come join us for our annual grandparent’s day event, an opportunity for your child to showcase what they do at childcare, artwork they have created and what their room set up looks like. This event will take place from 2pm till 4:30pm, with parents welcome to bring along the grandparents.
There will be activities set up outdoors and indoors as well as a jumping castle, some educators will also be attempting basic face painting styles. There will be a free coffee and tea station along with a few sweet treats for sale. Don’t miss out on this awesome event and a great opportunity for HDK to showcase our new outdoor renovations.

Community Engagement
Check out what is happening in our community for the month of November!
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Stay and Play – whole month of November – Casula Library, 10:30am-11am, Wednesdays during school terms
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Hammondville Neighbourhood Family Fun Day – 4th November – 10am-3pm – Lieutenant Cantello Reserve
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Carnival at Festival of Fisher’s Ghost – 2nd November – 6pm – Commuter Car Park, Plough Inn Road, Leumeah 2560
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Dogs in the Park at Fisher’s Ghost – 5th November – 3pm – Milton Park, Railway Parade, Macquarie Fields

Remembrance Day
10th of November
On the 11th November 1918, the guns of the Western Front fell silent after four years of continuous warfare. With their armies retreating and close to collapse, German leaders signed an Armistice, bringing to an end the First World War.
As a mark of respect to those who have died and suffered, Australians are encouraged to pause at 11am to observe one minute’s silence and remember those who died or suffered for Australia cause in all wars and armed conflicts. On this day Happy Days will learn about the meaning of Remembrance Day, learn how to make poppies and participate in one minute of silence.

We're Going Off The Grid
8th and 28th November
The team at HDK often follow many early childhood social media pages to ensure they keep up to date within the industry and a term that has often been brought up is “off the grid”. I’m sure no matter what time you have walked in during morning drop off you have seen all educators with either an iPad or laptop in hand ready to capture as many moments as they can so that they can then upload them to our program Xplor so that you can stay up to date with what your children are doing whilst in our care. As you know technology has taken over a huge chunk of our lives, it’s how we communicate and complete our work and when we get some spare time it's what we use to wind down. Being that technology is such a big part of our lives it is only expected that our children are introduced to it at such a young age. Here at HDK and in many childcare centre’s technology is how we communicate with you regarding your children, which means technology is eating up a big part of the educator's time instead of spending it one on one with your children. Many centres are now going off the grid once or twice a month so that they can maximise their time with your children, forming relationships and just playing. It’s a spontaneous day where the decisions are left up to the children and what they feel like doing for the whole day whether it be painting with their feet, cooking, building castles and forts using furniture, the ideas are endless and completely up to the children. When “off the grid” takes place educators are to put away all technology iPads and laptops and no photos will be taken, no updates will be uploaded to Xplor except for mealtimes, sleep, and nappy change. “Off-the-grid” days will change every month so that every child gets to experience such a fun day and if you would like to know what we got up to feel free to speak to an educator or simply just ask your children. “Off the grid” will take place on Wednesday 8th & Tuesday 28th November. We would love to hear your feedback on what you think about being “off the grid” twice a month.

Outdoor Classroom Day
15th of November
Spending time outdoors is as important for children’s development as learning to read and write. We want to show how learning outside of the classroom engages and excited children in spectacular ways. When teachers take learning outdoors, they report some powerful impacts:
Children’s behaviour improves, whole classes are excited to learn and individuals who feel inhibited by the curriculum often thrive in an outdoor environment. When adults think back to their own happiest memories of childhood, they frequently recall the joy of playing outdoors. For outdoor classroom day we will be bringing the indoors, outdoors, and what perfect timing to celebrate outdoor classroom day with our outdoor renovations hopefully finished by this date. Depending on the weather we are also hoping to have our rest time outdoors.

Graduation Pack Photos
Our Graduation Photo Packs include:
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2024 personalised calendar
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5x7 individual image
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Graduating class photo
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Keyring
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4x passport sized photos
Valued at $30 per pack
Please email or speak to Miss Stefanie to order a pack, payment can be made via cash or added to your Xplor account. We ask if you are paying cash that you have the exact amount as we do not have change. If you would like to order add ons please make sure to state this to Miss Stefanie.
Add ons:
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2024 calendar - $2.00
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5x7 individual photo - $1.50
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Keyring - $3.50
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4x passport sized photos - $2.50
Graduation pack orders will need to be made ASAP, the last day to order your child’s graduation pack is Friday 24th November to ensure it will be ready by graduation.
Important Reminders
Control of Infectious Illnesses
Please HELP us contain infectious illnesses by keeping your child at home when they are sick. If your child is absent from school due to an illness, please make sure to bring in a clearance form from the doctors on their next booked day.
If your child has been sent home from school on their booked day, in correspondence to our SICK CHILDREN'S Policy, your child must stay home for 24 hours before bringing them back, to reduce the spread of illnesses.
Staff have the right to turn down your child’s attendance if they are experiencing any flu-like symptoms or have had Panadol or Nurofen prior to attending the centre. Please do not “Dose and Dump”.
LABEL LABEL LABEL
A BIG reminder to please label your children’s belongings. If a "loss" item isn’t collected within 2 weeks, they will go towards our MS fundraising bin.
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Happy Days is not responsible for any lost item.
Safe sleep
Safe sleep practices you can implement in your home
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Always place baby on back for sleep, not on their tummy or side
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Keep your baby’s head and face uncovered. Covering baby’s face or head with clothing such as a hat increases the risk of sudden infant death.
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Keep your baby smoke-free before and after birth.
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Have a safe sleeping environment night and day. Make sure the mattress is firm, clean and flat, in a safe cot that meets industry standards. Make sure there are no blankets, soft bedding, toys, pillows or bumpers in the cot.
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Sleep your baby in your room for the first 6 months
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Breastfeed your baby if possible.
Absences
If your child is going to be absent from the centre, please call our centre landline on (02) 9825 8822 or our centre mobile on 0426 972 893 to inform the staff. Notifying us of your child’s absence allows us to open that spot to a family that might need it as a casual day.
Signing-in/out
It is a government requirement for every parent or carer to sign your child in & out of Happy Days for your correct attendance.
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Your Centrelink entitlements will be affected for non-compliance.
Covid 19 Guidance for Early Childhood
NSW Health recommends that all children and staff get a COVID-19 test if they have even mild symptoms. Those who test positive must isolate and should not attend the service for 7 days. They can leave isolation after 7 days only if they haven't had any symptom of sore throat, runny nose, cough or shortness of breath for the last 24 hours. They do not need to test before returning to the service.
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For more information, please refer to the NSW Government's Information for families: COVID-19 and early childhood education.
What to Pack
This is just a friendly reminder on what to pack for your child when attending Happy Days.
In your child's bag they must have the following (ALL LABELLED with your child's name):
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Spare clothes suited for the season and weather, including short sleeve/long sleeve t-shirt, shorts and pants, underwear, socks, jumpers or jackets.
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Bedding including a fitted sheet and blanket
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A water bottle
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Nappies or pull ups if required
Policy Reviews
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 westhoxton@happydayskindy.com):
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The below policies are in the process of being reviewed and updated for 2023. Members of our parent committee and families are encouraged to access our policies (they are in a binder in our foyer), review them and provide feedback.
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Celebrations Policy
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Child Safe Environment Policy
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Termination of Enrolment Policy
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Recruitment Policy
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Probation and Induction Orientation Policy
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Open Door Policy
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Orientation of Families Policy
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Governance Policy
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Withdrawal of a Child Policy


What we've been Up To

World Space Week
What a Blast! The children participated in a wide range of activities to celebrate Space week. Through a variety of arts and craft activities such as planet painting, star stamps, making galaxies and the moon, the children developed their knowledge on Space. We also made some delicious star cookies to celebrate space week.











Dance Magic Show
On the 5th of October, the children sat down very excitedly for dance magic show! Our lovely host greeted our eager friends and engaged them in a thrilling show! The host conducted multiple magic tricks that amazed both educators and the children! These tricks included sticking a pencil through his hand and through a balloon, a stick stuck in a bottle and a magical colouring book! Throughout the show, the children had the opportunity to get up and dance to the music through the speakers as well as a special song on his guitar. Some lucky children also got the opportunity to put their hand up and volunteer to come up on stage. They participated in a special rope magic trick where they were able to magically stick two pieces of rope together!








National Nutrition Week
During October celebrated National Nutrition week. The children really enjoyed working together as they made vegetable platter, we also made a Lebanese breakfast which the children got to try new food. The children were able to identify their vegetables and fruits. The children also had variety of crafts which the children really enjoy.