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Hello to all our wonderful Riversdale Early Learning families, we hope you are all having a great week.

It has been so nice to welcome some more of our families back into our centre this last week. Each fortnight I would like to put out a newsletter to let you all know what has been happening in the centre and any other important information/messages.

This last week we have seen the centre returning a little closer to ‘normal’, well as normal as it can be for now with all our rooms opening back up in a limited capacity.  As many of you are aware we have seen some changes to our Toddler 1 & 2 rooms, In Toddler 1 we have Miss Steph, Miss Gabi and Miss Danna and In Toddler 2 we have Miss Thais. We have also had Miss Leesa move down to our bottom building to take the lead role in Senior Kindy and Miss TJ moving into the lead position in Pre Kindy. It has been lovely seeing how confident and comfortable the children have been with the changes, showing a real sense of belonging through the relationships they have built with the educators.

A big shout out  goes to the wonderful Educators here at Riversdale, I am so proud of all of them, they have shown such strength, pride and devotion towards creating wonderful, welcoming, safe learning environments for all of your children. They truly are super heroes.

Let’s see what has been happening in your children’s rooms this last week.

Babies 1

Have been busy getting creative as they work on their special projects for Mother’s Day. They have loved getting out in the outdoor environment particularly in the sandpit, exploring with their senses. Miss Kate has been incorporating the abecedarian approach through conversational reading, and enriched caregiving.

Babies 2

The children have been showing a keen interest in exploring with their physical skills, in particular climbing. Miss Hansani and the team will be looking at extending this interest providing new climbing and physical challenges for the children. And they thoroughly enjoyed exploring the bouncy castle which we bought it for a treat for all children.

Babies 3

This room has saw seen some new (but familiar faces) join us from Babies 1 & 2 ,Ruby, Bella and Rosie have made their exciting transition into our Babies 3 room with Miss Jena. It has been great to see their transition into their new room going so smoothly, with all three girls taking this in their stride, adapting well to their big girl beds, which can often be a challenge when moving from a cot. We are so proud of all of you. The children have been busy exploring their new environment and have loved exploring a variety of creative experiences.

Toddlers 1

In Toddlers one we have had Poppy transition from our Babies 3 room, she has made herself at home in this space and is enjoying exploring her new environment. Luca and Everlea have moved up from our Toddler 2 room which is very exciting, they have loved exploring the wonders of their new big room.  The children have been showing an interest in bugs, this has come about through the children noticing and trying to catch all the beautiful butterflies they see floating around. Watch this space, as they explore bugs further.

Toddler 2

In Toddlers 2 Miss Thais has revamped the room it is looking so inviting and engaging, the children have loved exploring their new space. Although Miss Thais informs me this is a work in progress. The children have been exploring colours this last week through their interest in the book “Brown bear, brown bear.”, the children have loved identifying and shouting out what they can see as Miss Thais reads with them.

Senior Kindy

This last week we saw some of our older toddler children transition down to Senior Kindy with Miss Leesa. Conall, Harper and Lachlan have made themselves at home transitioning with ease to their new space. It has been lovely to see old friendships reconnecting with their old toddler friends. The children have been exploring their new environments testing out their physical skills on the new obstacles.

Pre Kindy

With Miss TJ and Miss Livia the children have been exploring nature as an extension of Earth day.  The children have been reading stories, watching videos, having group discussions about the ocean and what happens if we do not put our rubbish in the bin and the effects of fishing nets in the ocean. What wonderful learning opportunities for the children. I look forward to seeing what path this interest takes.

Kindergarten

This week in the Kindergarten the children have been getting physical as they explore the Olympics. Here the children have had the opportunity to explore a variety of different athletic events such a long jump, shot put, running races. Mr Andrew has been incorporating numeracy through using a tape measure to measure how far they have thrown and jumped. The children have also created their own medals, and engaged in their own ceremony,

Birthdays

With COVID-19 we are now unable to accept children’s birthday cakes/cupcakes being brought into the centre. Of course we still want to celebrate your child’s special day with them, especially during this tough time where children are unable to have birthday parties. In light of this we would like to offer you the opportunity if you would like to bring something in for your child’s birthday, you are more than welcome to bring in a box cake mix which the children could make together with their friends and educators. Alternatively we can supply sugar free icy poles as mentioned in our handbook 😊 Please just let us know in advance if you would like to do either of these options.

For those children still isolating at home who happen to have a Birthday – we are happy to have their Educators and friends from their room do a ‘Birthday Shout-out’ for them on Facebook. Please just email us in advance of their birthday to confirm that you are happy for this to occur.

Labelling items

Just a gentle reminder can you please ensure that you are labelling all of your child’s clothing, bottles, sheets, shoes and comforters. This helps educators ensure they are putting items back in the right bags at the end of the day. Thank you for your support with this 😊

Daily programs

As families are no longer able to come into the rooms, due to COVID-19 we have brought our daily programs out for you to see what wonderful experiences are being provided in the rooms. Alongside each of the rooms programs there is a green sheet, we would love for you to put down any areas of interest from home, goals you are working on or suggestions of ideas for the room.

Returning to Riversdale

For any families wishing to return to Riversdale after isolation at home we just remind you to; ensure all accounts are up to date, provide 8 working days notice (so we can adjust staffing), complete & return your ‘COVID-19 Priority Form’. And to be aware of the many changes in our practices and policies since the COVID-19 pandemic commenced – a fact sheet on these changes & new ways of operating will be made available shortly.

We hope you had a wonderful long weekend and we look forward to another amazing full week with our beautiful Riversdale children.

Miss Emma and the Riversdale team