Kornmehl
Terry Aizen – Director Kornmehl
Care Pack project thank you
In Term 1, the Pre-school, Emanuel School, other pre-schools and Long Day Care Centres in the community participated in the Care Pack project, to support Aboriginal pre-schools in outback Australia by providing them with a Care Pack filled with health care necessities. This initiative was done in collaboration with Gunawirra, a not-for-profit organisation in Redfern.
Below please find a beautiful email from Gunawirra thanking us for the Care Packs.
I am sure you will all agree that this is heart-warming and makes the project worthwhile, knowing that we have made a difference in the lives of these little children and that our involvement in this project has come to fruition.
Thank you to everyone for their support of this worthwhile project.
Dear Terry,
Thank you for your recent generous donation of care packs to Gunawirra. Your willingness to help the development of Aboriginal children in our community, provides a much-valued contribution to the well-being of these kids. Thanks to your contribution, this year we have provided 21 schools comprising 951 children with care packs. This greatly helps the children understand how they can take care of themselves.
Again, thank you for all you do for our kids. You are a part of their lives too.
Sincerely appreciated. Thanks and regards,
Neha
Logistics Volunteer – Gunawirra
Rosh HaShanah
We have immersed ourselves in the beautiful festival of Rosh HaShanah. Adam Carpenter has been coming down to the Pre-school most mornings to blow the Shofar for us in the month of Elul. Adam has been explaining that the Shofar is like an alarm clock to wake up our minds and bodies and to think and reflect on our behaviour, doing good deeds and being kind to others.
The children have been learning about the different types of apples and drawing them from close observation. We have done a mindfulness exercise tasting different kinds of honey. We have been learning about bees and looking at them very closely and learning about the important work that bees do. On Thursday we were lucky enough to have a visit from Gavin Smith, a well-known bee keeper, who came to tell the children about what he does and how to look after bees. The talk was informative and interactive and helped the children to really understand the process involved in making honey.
The Dolphins discussed what they would like to get better at for the new year:
Artist in Residence
On Wednesday we received a visit from James Guppy (grandfather of Elijah Vines) and well-known Australian artist.
Since his early life in England, James Guppy has never been far from a brush or drawing pen. Fifteen years as a mural artist taught him how to paint and the importance of engaging and speaking to the viewer. James emigrated to Australia in 1982 and lives in Byron Bay. In 1989 he began exhibiting his own work as a fine artist. He was awarded the Fisher’s Ghost Prize in 2004 and was a finalist in the Blake Prize in 1989 and the Archibald Prize in 1987. He has had regular solo exhibitions in Sydney since 1991.
James delighted his appreciative audience by sharing his knowledge of portrait drawing using different mediums. James drew a self -portrait of his grandson Elijah in front of the Starfish group. The children enjoyed the lesson with James and had a go at drawing a portrait of each other using charcoal, pastels and pencils.
Thank you, James, for joining us this week and for sharing your talents and expertise with our aspiring budding artists. It was a pleasure to meet you.
Parent involvement
Involving parents and grandparents in the life of our Pre-school adds enormous benefits and value to our program. We work hard to establish collaborative partnerships with families, recognising how important this is for each child to thrive, gain confidence and develop their emotional, social and spiritual well-being.
We invite parents to be a part of this journey through many different and varied avenues.
These include: Parent Club, Parent Partnership forms, Parent surveys, baking and cooking, gardening, Bush School, reading books, sharing a talent or hobby as well as inviting them to have input into our program through suggestions and ideas shared with educators.
Educators recognise that families are children’s first and most influential teachers. Partnerships are based on the foundations of understanding each other’s expectations and attitudes and build on the strength of each other’s knowledge.
It is very clear and evident to see as we approach the end of the third term of the year, how happy and settled the children are, how familiar they are with routines and expectations, how friendships have been established, how much trust each child shares with their educators and how much wonderful learning is taking place through the creative arts, through music and movement, through imaginative play and outdoor explorations. The list is endless…the possibilities endless…the fun and learning endless!
We are thrilled to have parents accompany us on this exciting journey with their children!
Shabbat
This term parents have been joining us for Shabbat each Friday morning when their child is sitting at the Shabbat table. It’s always very special to share Shabbat with parents and extended families. We value this time together. The children always feel so proud and happy to have their mishpacha join us and participate with enthusiasm and joy. This is another way to connect to families and to deepen relationships with them.
Buddy Reading
Each week our Year Two buddies come down to Kornmehl to connect with our children in the Pre-school and to share with them the gift of stories and reading. Many of the Year Two buddies previously attended Kornmehl and it is very exciting for them to be coming back and for us to see how much they have grown and how well they can read. Many of our buddies have siblings at Kornmehl, and this too is another special connection. All in all, our Buddy Reading program has enormous benefits for both parties and is something that we all look forward to each year.
Hebrew
This year we have had the most beautiful interactive and detailed Hebrew lessons with Morah Martine. Morah Martine has made our Hebrew lessons fun, visual with lots of props and extremely interactive. The children have all looked forward to their Hebrew lessons each week and have gained lots of confidence with their Hebrew knowledge and vocabulary.
