...where children are happy to learn
Taking Enrolments
Now for 2025!
1 Watts Place West Hoxton NSW 2171
ph: (02) 9825 8822 mob: 0426 972 893
Welcome to the month of July
Dear Parents/Families,
Welcome to July! Winter is creeping in, and the weather is starting to cool down.
We ask that now with the colder weather, your dress your children accordingly and pack appropriate clothes. We are so excited for all the festivities coming up this month. All events are found on OWNA or our events board. Participating in these events helps educators plan for future events and shows great partnerships with families when it comes to assessment and rating. Make sure you RSVP to events on time so that we can include you in all the fun and engaging events.
What's On this month?
Happy Days Emergency Drills
We will be holding the following emergency drills at the kindy:
-
Thursday 31st – Bushfire Evacuation
-
Monday 14th July – Bomb Threat Evacuation
We have prepared the children for these drills, however, please continue the discussions at home so they can be better prepared.
NAIDOC Week –
Monday 7th to Friday 11th of July
At Happy Days Kindy, we celebrate NAIDOC Week by exploring the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The children will take part in meaningful activities such as storytelling, music, art, and learning about connection to Country, helping them develop respect and appreciation for First Nations cultures.
Teddy Bear Picnic -
Friday, 18th of July
The children are invited to bring along their favourite teddy for a special Teddy Bear Picnic at Happy Days Kindy! Together, we will enjoy songs, stories, games, and shared snacks outdoors, creating a fun and memorable day filled with friendship, imagination, and cuddly companions.
Glow Disco -
Friday, 4th of July
Join us for our annual Glowtastic Disco! Our entry fee will cover food, drinks, face painting, games and much more. There will be glow in the dark sunglasses, glow sticks and heaps of fun glow in the dark items. Siblings and friends are able to attend although the $15 entry fee will apply. Parents/guardians will need to stay on premises for supervision purposes, the baby’s room will be set up as a hangout for families. Throughout the night there will be fun games played also, all money raised will go to new resources and activities. Don’t forget to RSVP on the OWNA app!
.jpg)
100 Days of School Dress Up
Wednesday, 16th of July
We are so excited to celebrate 100 Days of Preschool at Happy Days Kindy! The children will take part in fun, engaging activities that highlight all the learning, friendships, and growth they’ve experienced so far. It’s a joyful milestone that recognises how far they’ve come on their early learning journey. Make sure you come to school dressed up to celebrate 100 days of school.
Living Safely with Dogs visit – Thursday 24th of July
The "Living Safely with Dogs" program is an educational initiative designed to teach children how to interact safely with dogs, promoting responsible pet ownership and preventing dog-related incidents. The program is typically delivered to preschool and primary school students and involves interactive sessions with trained dogs and educators. The visit will take place on Thursday the 24th of July at 10am and is free of charge.
We're Going Off The Grid
Tuesday,15th and Thursday the 28th of July
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. We would love to hear your feedback on what you think about being “off the grid” twice a month.
Crazy Hair Day –
Tuesday, 29th of July
Get ready for Crazy Hair Day at Happy Days Kindy! Children are invited to come in with their wildest, most creative hairstyles. It’s a fun-filled day that celebrates individuality, creativity, and plenty of laughs! We will be participating in a variety of fun and wacky activities and learning experiences. We will also have a gold coin donation to raise money for children with cystic fibrosis.
Community Engagement
Check out what is happening in our community for the month of July!
Transition To School: 29th April to 3rd July @ 9:30am to 1pm | $10 | Carnes Hill, Casula & Moorebank: Liverpool council runs a transition to school program for children. This supports a smooth transition to school.
To view their days and times and further information, visit this link: https://mylibrary.liverpool.nsw.gov.au/events/whats-on/transition-to-school.
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 letter 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”.
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.
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.
Happy Days is not responsible for any lost item.
Safe sleep
Safe sleep practices you can implement in your home
-
Always place baby on back for sleep, not on their tummy or side
-
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.
-
Keep your baby smoke-free before and after birth.
-
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.
-
Sleep your baby in your room for the first 6 months
-
Breastfeed your baby if possible.
Risk Assessments
Risk assessments are continuously being updated and reviewed, feel free to access some risk assessments via OWNA and others in our risk assessment folder located in the office.
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.
Your Centrelink entitlements will be affected for non-compliance.
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):
-
Spare clothes suited for the season and weather, including short sleeve/long sleeve t-shirt, shorts and pants, underwear, socks, jumpers or jackets.
-
Bedding including a fitted sheet and blanket
-
A water bottle
-
Nappies or pull ups if required
FOB keys
We would also like to remind parents to please use their FOB key when entering the centre and refrain from using the doorbell, quite often educators are busy attending to your children and do not have the time to keep letting parents in, so please expect wait times at the door if this is so. If you have misplaced your FOB key or need to grab another one, we will happily replace it please just let an educator know.
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):
“Respect for Children's Policy”
The below policies are in the process of being reviewed and updated for 2025. Members of our parent committee and extended families are encouraged to access and review our policies and provide feedback. Policies are also available on OWNA.
-
Anaphylaxis Management Policy
-
Asthma Management Policy
-
Cystic Fibrosis Management Policy
-
Diabetes Management Policy
-
Epilepsy Management Policy
-
Head Lice Policy
-
Health and Safety Policy
-
Mobile Device Usage Policy
-
Safe Transportation Policy
OWNA
Please ensure to regularly check the posts on OWNA as this is currently one of our main sources of communication.
Posts are sent regularly about attendances, events and general reminders.
What we've been Up To
Dinosaur Day
🦕 Dino-mite Fun at Happy Days Kindergarten! 🌿
To celebrate Dinosaur Day, our little explorers enjoyed a whole range of exciting prehistoric-themed activities! The children expressed their creativity through dinosaur colouring in, painting, and creating colourful collages full of dino shapes and textures. The room was full of laughter and imagination as everyone got involved. Many children even came dressed as dinosaurs, adding an extra layer of excitement to the day. From scaly tails to roars of joy, the celebration sparked curiosity, creativity, and plenty of fun!
Thank a First Responder Day
Thank a First Responder Day is a meaningful opportunity to recognise and appreciate the incredible work of our everyday heroes. This includes police officers, firefighters, paramedics, nurses, and all those who dedicate themselves to helping others during emergencies. Their courage, commitment, and care save lives every single day, and this is our chance to give back and say thank you.
To celebrate, on Wednesday the 11th, the children participated in creative craft activities. They painted their hands to create artwork representing police officers and firefighters. In the Babies Room, the little ones created their own firefighter-themed paintings using their handprints and imagined putting out fires with spray bottles, fostering both creativity and learning through play.
The Big Explorers took part by designing a heartfelt poster to thank our first responders, which they later gifted to some very special visitors.
On Thursday the 12th, the centre was buzzing with excitement as we welcomed firefighters from our local fire station. They arrived in their big red fire truck, much to the delight of the children! The firefighters led an engaging fire safety demonstration, talked about their roles, and showed off their uniforms and equipment. To conclude this special visit, the children proudly presented their thank-you poster and were given the thrilling opportunity to explore the inside of the fire truck.
It was a memorable week filled with gratitude, learning, and admiration for our community heroes!
Pyjama Day
On the 16th and 19th of June happy days celebrated Pyjama Day! Across the centre both children and educators wore their favourite pyjama’s. In the Little Learners room, the children participated in craft where they got to design their very own pj’s using a range of colours and joined together for a cosy dance party. In the Big Explorers room, they made sleepy moons and enjoyed showing off their warm and cosy pj’s.
Ghana have some fun incursion
At Happy Days West Hoxton, our children had the incredible opportunity to experience the magic of music through a lively and interactive African drumming show. Led by the talented Jonas Tandoh, the performance introduced the children to a variety of traditional African instruments, including the shekere, made from natural materials and producing joyful, rhythmic sounds. The energy in the outdoor environment was electric as Jonas taught the children words from Ghanaian languages and led them in engaging call-and-response songs. A few lucky children even had the chance to hop up and join Jonas on stage, participating in the drumming and dancing, making it an unforgettable and uplifting experience for all.
Cancer council morning tea
A massive thank you to all the families that donated to the Cancer Council Foundation. We smashed our goal by raising $352. We would also like to thank the families who joined us for our special morning tea. They enjoyed a spread of yummy desserts and treats and also participated in a fun HDKWH trivia. The children completed special colourings where they decorated a cancer ribbon.
National Sunnies Day
National Sunnies Day is all about celebrating the fun and flair of wearing sunglasses and at Big Explorers, our little ones joined in with plenty of style! It’s a playful day that encourages everyone to pop on their favourite pair of sunnies and enjoy the sunshine safely. Our babies looked extra adorable in their tiny, glossy sunglasses, ready for a day filled with laughter and light. The children had a blast making their own sunglasses during craft time. They proudly showed off their craft sunnies to their peers, sparking lots of excitement and sharing. It was a joyful day full of fun, creativity, and sunny smiles.
Educator of the Month
This year we have implemented a new program for our educators; An “Educator of the Month”. Each month, Miss Ashley, as our educational leader and ECT, will observe the educators in all aspects of the day, collecting evidence of their work, their practice and involvement with their daily responsibilities. At the end of the month, the educator who has achieved the most, shown imitative, gone above and beyond in their role will be rewarded with “Educator of the month’ along with a small prize. This isn’t just for the benefit of staff development and prizes, this motivates the educators to excel in all areas, including Quality Area 5- Relationships with Children.
We are proud to announce that Miss Josephine is our Educator of the Month for June! Miss Josephine has demonstrated outstanding initiative and a deep commitment to supporting mental health and wellbeing within our centre. Her genuine care for the emotional wellness of those around her shines through in everything she does. Whether it's offering a listening ear, lending a helping hand, or simply checking in, Miss Josephine consistently goes above and beyond for both families and fellow educators. Her passion, kindness, and dedication make a meaningful difference every day, and we are so grateful to have her as part of our team.
Congratulations, Miss Josephine – and thank you for all that you do!
Focus Learning programs
Eco-Warriors
Happy Days Sustainability Program
This month, the children have been exploring a variety of exciting topics as part of our Eco Warriors program! In the Big Explorers room, the focus has been on learning about the life cycle of a seed and how plants grow. Miss Hannah introduced this topic after noticing that some of our indoor plants were struggling to thrive. In response, we’ll be replanting fresh seeds in the coming weeks as part of a hands-on learning experience. To support this learning, the children watched an informative YouTube video about the seed life cycle and took part in a beautiful watercolour painting activity. During the painting, Miss Hannah explained each stage of the plant’s growth, sparking lots of curiosity and conversation. Meanwhile, in the Babies Room, the children have been learning about sustainability. The babies created sustainable tiles by painting on recycled cardboard, which are now displayed in their play space for continued exploration and reflection. They also had fun decorating recycled CDs with paint, encouraging creativity while reinforcing the importance of reusing materials.
We are so proud of how engaged the children have been and look forward to continuing our sustainability journey together!
Miss Hannah, Miss Josephine and Miss Shania
Munch and Move
Happy days health and fitness program
This month, our focus for the Munch & Move program was on promoting physical activity through fun and engaging movement experiences. The children participated in a variety of gross motor activities that encouraged climbing, jumping, and running ect. These activities supported their physical development, coordination, and confidence while helping them build healthy habits through active play.
Miss Zara and Miss Shipra
Playing and Learning to Socialise (PALS)
Happy Days Social Skills Program
This month in Big Explorers, we have been focusing on talking and listening. We noticed that many children are still developing their listening skills, especially during group times and transitions, so we planned a range of engaging activities to support this. These included physical and verbal games like “Simon Says” and turn-taking discussions during circle time, encouraging the children to use their voices confidently while also learning to listen respectfully to others. Throughout the day, we continued to model and reinforce these skills, helping the children understand the importance of listening when someone is speaking.
Miss Halima
Projects
Happy Days In-Depth Learning Program
This month, we’ve followed the children’s interests and started a new project topic all about Dinosaurs! The children explored different types of dinosaurs, talked about fossils and watching fun and educational videos together. The children have been busy doing dinosaur paintings, digging for pretend fossils in the tuff tray under neath the sand, building dinosaur homes made from play doh and acting like little palaeontologists in our play spaces.
Miss Feyza and Miss Maddison
Classroom News
The Big Explorers Room
The Discoverers (3-4 yrs old)
& The Inventors (4-6 yrs old)
The Big Explorers have had a joyful month diving into the fascinating world of insects! Throughout the month, the children engaged in captivating storybooks during group time with their educators, sparking lively discussions about the different types of insects and their unique features. Each day was filled with exciting hands-on arts and craft activities that brought the insect theme to life—painting with dirt and gluing down paper worms, crafting a bee house using pasta, creating spiders with their handprints, fingerpainting colourful paper plate bugs, and so much more. It’s been a month full of creativity, curiosity, and lots of fun as the children explored the wonderful world of creepy crawlies!
The Discoverers
(3-4yrs old)
This month our Discoverers have been focusing numbers 1 to 5 through a range of fun, hands-on activities designed to build early numeracy skills. From counting songs and number hunts to sensory play, matching games, and creative crafts, each experience has helped the children recognise, identify, and use numbers in meaningful ways. Along the way, they've also been developing confidence, fine motor skills, language, and social interaction. It’s been a joy to see their excitement grow as they explore and connect with numbers in their everyday environment.
The Inventors
(4-6 yrs old)
Happy Days School Readiness Program
During our Inventors small group activities, the children have been enthusiastically extending their understanding of numbers from 10 to 20. They have engaged in a variety of hands-on and creative learning experiences, including completing number recognition worksheets that reinforced their counting and number sequencing skills. Through collaborative block play, the children worked together to build towers and structures using a set number of blocks, helping them visualise quantities and practice one-to-one correspondence. They also explored numbers through watercolour painting, where they expressed their creativity while forming numerals and representing quantities in vibrant, imaginative ways. These activities have supported both their cognitive development and fine motor skills, while making learning numbers a fun and engaging experience.
The Little Learners Room
6 weeks to 3 years old
Throughout the month of June, the Little Learners have completed their learning topic on “Sensory”. The children have made moon sand using oil and flour, made bubble paintings, painted with ice, decorated with coloured salt and used it to make sensory bottles. This learning topic encourages the children to explore their environment and engaged their senses. The Little Learners have now started a new learning topic on “Food”. This helps children to explore different types of delicious food and explore the process on how it is made. They have participated in many cooking experiences such as making delicious spinach and feta gozleme and yummy cob loaf, while also making food themed craft such as fruit loop and rice bubble collages.
Recipe of the Month
COCONUT CURRY CHICKEN WITH RICE
What you need:
-
Vegetables
-
olive oil (or other cooking oil)
step by step instructions
Step 1
-
Rinse rice in a sieve then transfer to a large pot.
Step 2
-
Add water, 3/4 cup coconut milk, curry powder, salt, and pepper to the pot with the rice. Stir, then bring to a boil over high heat.
Step 3
-
Once the liquid starts to boil, cover and reduce to low heat. Allow to simmer for about 40 minutes. NOTE: all rice brands are a bit different, so please check the packaging of the rice you're using to see the exact amount of liquid to rice ratio and cooking time.
Step 4
Add all the chopped vegetables to the pan and cook until they're tender and lightly browned (about 10-12 minutes), stirring frequently.
Step 5
Once the rice is cooked, stir in all the cooked vegetables and the remainder of the coconut milk. Adjust seasonings to taste.
Families & Community Partnership
POISON SAFETY: Unfortunately, our little ones have a bad habit of getting sick quite frequently. When they are ill, we often administer different medicines to aid in fighting against the sickness.
Parents and carers must ensure that they appropriately store and handle different medications, ensuring that their children are not at risk of any serious accidents such as ingesting medication.
Some ways that we can prevent an incident from occurring is:
-
Store all medicines in a locked and high cupboard that is out of reach to all children. Children are great climbers so make sure cupboards are locked with a safety latch for further prevention.
-
Make sure all bags and purses that may have medications are placed up high and out of reach of children
-
Keep all medications in original containers
-
Be aware of what medications you have in the household and the quantity of each.
-
Don’t underestimate your child’s ability to open up packages. Some child resistant packages are still not child proof.
-
Never tell a child that medicine tastes like candy
In the event of an accident occurring, you are to call the Poisons Information Hotline (13 11 26) to provide you with the necessary information. If your child has stopped breathing or collapsed call 000. First aid is to be administered immediately in any circumstance.
SUSTAINABILITY AT HOME: At Happy Days we encourage all to be environmentally sustainable and be conscientious of the way we treat our world. Through our educational programs we are providing children with lots of ecological experiences. In doing this we are moulding their mind and teaching them about how we can care for the environment and help it flourish.
One way that we can not only be cost efficient but also sustainable is by reducing our water usage whilst at home.
Some ways we can limit out water waste is by:
-
Using a low flow shower head and taking shorter showers
-
Instal a duel flush toilet and educate children on the correct way to flush the toilet
-
Repair all leaky taps
-
Use a front load washing machine
-
Collect rainwater to reuse on plants and lawn
-
Do not run the tap unnecessarily
CHILD SAFETY:
It is very important that we are always keeping our children safe whilst in vehicles. By using the correct car seats that are properly fitted can reduce the risk of injury by 71%.
According to the NSW centre for road safety:
- for children up to 6 months they need to be seated in an approved rear facing car seat
- from 6 months – 4 years they can sit in either a rear or forward-facing car seat
- from 4 years + children can sit in either a front facing car seat or booster seat
- for children who are 145 cm or taller they can use the adult lap sash seatbelt
SAFE SLEEP PRACTICES:
Safe sleep practices you can implement in your home
-
Always place baby on back for sleep, not on their tummy or side
-
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.
-
Keep your baby smoke-free before and after birth.
-
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.
-
Sleep your baby in your room for the first 6 months
-
Breastfeed your baby if possible.
INCLUSIVE PROGRAM: At Happy Days our educators work together to ensure that we are an inclusive centre.
To be inclusive means to embrace all people irrespective of race, gender, disability, medical or other need. It is about giving equal access and opportunities and getting rid of discrimination.
As part of Inclusive Program, we offer resources to all families in different languages to ensure everyone is receiving the support and information they need. This month's topic is:
"Encouraging Positive Behaviour"
Arabic
كجزء من البرنامج الشامل ، نقدم موارد لجميع العائلات بلغات مختلفة لضمان حصول الجميع على الدعم والمعلومات التي يحتاجون إليها. موضوع هذا الشهر هو:
نصائح حول تشجيع السلوك اإليجابي
Vietnamese
Là một phần của Chương trình Hòa nhập, chúng tôi cung cấp tài nguyên cho tất cả các gia đình bằng các ngôn ngữ khác nhau để đảm bảo mọi người đều nhận được sự hỗ trợ và thông tin họ cần. Chủ đề của tháng này là