Pinjarra Kindergarten will open its doors tomorrow morning (Monday 6th February) to our new Kangaroos and Koalas for 2012.  We welcome parents, children and committee members for the year.

First week of Kinder can be overwhelming for us all!  Pick up and drop off is likened to a whirlwind some days as we all ‘fly’ in and ‘fly’ out and meet and greet the children.

We hope you will all have an opportunity to attend a social gathering this year, kindly organised by our new fundraisers, Michele, Jacinta and Aileen.  Trivia Night has always been a great night for everyone - getting out of the house - socialising with adults without the children can be just as rewarding as all the activities currently being prepared this year for the children!  A list of Fundraising items have been set out in the Kinder foyer or you can click here to see an outline of the functions for the year:  www.pinjarra.org.au/fundraising .

Our first working bee took place on Saturday 4th February with the Committee attending to assist with gardening, maintenance and removal of the old fort and old window blinds (and general maintenance).  We thank you for your hard work and assistance in readying the Kinder for first term.

We are delighted to report, after the fort fire before Christmas, we were able to replace the damaged side of the fort and the area is safe for the Kinder’s use.  A new shade dome (old dome was unfortunately ripped over the holidays) was also replaced to ensure the children are protected from the sun.

Ongoing improvements could not have been achieved without the previous participation of the parents, children and wider community in providing the children of Pinjarra Kindergarten with a happy and safe premises for the children to play and learn.

We hope you have a great year and look forward to meeting you all very soon.

Just a quick end of term update:

Professional Kinder photos for 3yo and 4yo children will take place on Monday 17th & Tuesday 18th October.

4yo Kangaroos: Yearly portfolios are currently on display in the Kindergarten foyer for parents to review.  Take a look at the progress your child has made this year.  Please return them to the table once you have had a chance to look at them.  The portfolios will be given to you at the end of the year.

As we head into the warmer months it’s time we all need to be aware of the sun’s harmful rays.  If you could please pack your child’s hat and apply sunscreen.

We look forward to sending out some more news in Term 4.  There are some more fundraisers next term with summer pyjamas on sale, Christmas end of year celebrations and Christmas raffle.

Don’t forget we have a ’suggestion box’ in the Kindergarten foyer.  If you would like to reflect on the year and offer some feedback we are always happy to hear from you.

As the cooler months have brought a fair amount of wet weather (and colds), we’ve all been a bit caught up indoors hoping the rain will stop so we can all go outside and play!  It’s quite exciting to see the sun out, warming up the wet soil and enabling some outdoor play.

THE KOALAS

With Winter limiting outdoors, the 3yo Koalas have been learning about cooking and different foods.  With allergies taken into consideration, Kerri and Di organised for the children to make chicken noodle soup.  Under the guidance of Kerri, Di and Kinder parents on duty, the children learnt about different foods, were involved in group activity and the cooking process.

The children are currently undertaking an activity where they lay on a piece of paper and the teacher’s draw around their bodies.  This activity has a mirror positioned nearby allowing the children to reflect and look at the differences and similarities of their body types.  For example “one child has brown eyes and another has blue eyes”.  “One child has blonde hair and another has black hair”.  This has been a good activity for the children to become aware of their peers and has assisted the children in collaborating.

THE KANGAROOS

The Kangaroos are ‘off and racing’ (safely) this term with a visit to CASEY SAFETY VILLAGE to learn about Fire and Road Safety.  Some components the children learnt were to ’stop, drop and roll’ slowly whilst covering their eyes if their clothes catch on file; to ’stop, drop and ‘go, go go” (crawl) to the nearest exit if there is a fire; and to check if it is safe on the other side of the door before we open that door.

The Road Safety component covered helmet safety, riding bikes and keeping to the left side of the track.  The children also learnt about using pedestrian crossings, crossing the road while holding onto a grown up’s hand, sitting safely in the car wearing our seat belt and sitting in the correct safety seat for our age.  Everyone had a great time!

Since our visit to the Safety Village, the children have been applying their new skills at the Kinder whilst riding around outside; taking note of the traffic signs and listening to Sue and Louise as they undertake Emergency drills.

Our most recent highlight has been the children’s idea to set up a cafe corner, “The Everyday Kinder Cafe”.  We have spent time role playing ‘cafe play’ with Louise our waitress/owner and two children as customers.

With our close guidance, this has been a very heart-warming dramatic play corner to watch.  We even noticed two of our customers reminding a waiter that they wanted fruit served on a plate, not by hand!

EXTENDED CARE PROGRAM

On Thursday and Friday, children have an opportunity to stay a further two hours (as arranged at the start of the Kinder year) for the Afternoon Extended Program (further information in session times).  Children have had opportunities to act out stories “The 3 Billy Goats Gruff” and a ‘Scooby Doo’ play which was organised and cast by one of the children.  In the extended program, children are currently playing a version of musical chairs and playing dress ups - putting as many dress up clothes on before the music stops!

As you can see from our ‘Highlights’, a lot of planning is involved in the preparations for both 3 year old and 4 year old kinder groups.  We would like to thank the Pinjarra Teachers, Sue, Louise, Kerri and Di for their hard work, and we would also like to thank the parents of the Pinjarra children for their contribution of time to attend the Kinder for excursions, attending meetings and Kinder duty and also contributing to fundraisers.  Especially throughout this cold and very wet weather!

The Trivia Night this Friday 26th August is a great opportunity to celebrate everyone’s contribution to Pinjarra Kindergarten.  Come along and enjoy a night out!  Have a laugh, play some games and win some prizes!  We hope to see you there!