Volume 31 Issue 34 04 Nov 2022 10 Heshvan 5783

Kornmehl

Terry Aizen – Director of Kornmehl

Transition to school

Starting school is a significant event in the life of children and their families. We know that strong relationships and information sharing between families, early childhood settings and schools help support a child’s successful transition to school. It is a period of change that can be both challenging and exciting.

At this time of the year, we focus on the children’s transition to school. We believe the more we discuss ‘going to school’ and the feelings and emotions associated with starting school, the better prepared and equipped the children are. For this reason, a lot of focus is being given to the children’s transition to school this term. We spend time talking about what to expect, how we are feeling as well as go on walks with the children through the campus and visits to the Year K classrooms.

The transition from Pre-school to school offer opportunities and challenges. We acknowledge that different places and spaces have their own purposes, expectations and ways of doing things. For this reason, we aim to build on the children’s prior and current experiences to help them feel secure, confident, and connected to familiar people, places, events and understandings. We are all important contributors (the children, families and early childhood educators) to a successful transition to school (EYLF, 2009). 

We need to think about giving children a positive understanding and experience of school as a safe, enjoyable place. We need to acknowledge that children have individual needs, interests and skills and allow and encourage positive communication between children, families, Pre-school professionals and school educators.  

This week, the first two orientation visits began for the children going up to Year K at Emanuel School. These took place on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon. The children were both nervous and excited. We hope that all the preparation and discussions we have had will alleviate some of the anxiety the children may have as they start to prepare and move into this next phase of their educational journey.

Calmsley Farm Excursions

All three groups visited Calmsley Farm over the past week on an excursion.

The build-up to the excursions consisted of discussions, sharing of ideas and thoughts about what we might see and do as well as involvement in making beautiful creative art works based around farm life.

We travelled on the Emanuel School bus, which was a huge highlight of the trip.

Our excursion began with a tour of the farm nursery, where the children got to pet and look at lots of different baby farm animals. We had a go at milking a cow. We learnt about different kinds of cows, such as Brahman, Jersey and Highland. We visited the sleepy pigs and went on a very bumpy tractor ride around the farm. What can compare to boarding a giant tractor and bumping along, seeing the gorgeous countryside. Other animals we saw were a camel, donkey, lama’s, koala’s, wallaby, wombat, turkey’s, ducks and chickens. After a morning of fresh air and excitement everyone was very hungry. We all ate lunch before watching the farm shows. We enjoyed a stockwhip demonstration, followed by a working dog show, that herded all the sheep into an area and a sheep shearing show. Wow – so much in one day! The children were engaged, enthusiastic and involved.

Many thanks to all our wonderful parent and grandparent helpers. We really appreciated you joining us on these excursions.

Teya: I liked milking a cow.
Raphael: I was very gentle with the animals and didn’t hurt them.
Joseph: I liked patting some of the animals.
Gigi: I liked being with mummy at the farm.
Allec: I was gentle with the animals, and I liked seeing cows and pigs and going on the bus.
Luc: I liked going on the tractor ride and seeing the cows.
Aimee: I liked the tractor ride. It was very bumpy.
Asher: The tractor went really fast.
Joshua: I liked the tractor and the moose.
Freddy: My favourite part was seeing the tractor and going to the shows. The sheepdog ran to get the sheep and he was really fast.
Winnie: I loved patting the animals.
Lexi: I liked the horses.

National Recycling Week

National Recycling Week is coming up from Sunday 6 November 20222- Saturday 12 November 2022. During this week our aim will be to create further awareness for the children and families on the importance of recycling. We have invited all Kornmehl families to be a part of this process by joining us during Recycling Week and the week after in the Pre-school, to work together with your child to make and create a Chanukiah using recycled materials. We hope you enjoy the time to construct something creative together. We are looking forward to displaying all the amazing Chanukiot during our concert weeks.

Playball

Playball this term has continued to provide the children with many different gross-motor activities and ball skills. The coaches, Al and Cara, are able to challenge the children physically and extend their skills. The children look forward to Playball on a Monday and enjoy their time very much.

This term parents are invited to an open session of Playball; to observe what their children have been learning:

Monday 14 November – Starfish – Open Session for Playball – 8.50 am
Monday 21 November – Seashells– Open Session for Playball – 9.30 am
Monday 28 November – Dolphins – Open Session for Playball – 8.50 am

Shabbat Project at Kornmehl

The Pre-school will be celebrating the start of the Shabbat project on Friday 11 November 2022. We have invited parents to join us on Friday morning to bake a challah with their child. 

We will also be involved in a project looking at special Shabbat Judaica objects that the children bring in from home. The children will be discussing, sharing and drawing their special family Shabbat object at Pre-school. We are looking forward to connecting with families through the Shabbat project.