St. Emilie's Catholic Primary School — Archive

Literacy Fun in Kindy

From the moment your child was born, they have been developing fundamental skills and understandings that will one day enable them to become literate. Oral language, phonological and phonemic awareness (the awareness of sounds), as well as alphabetic knowledge and an understanding of common print concepts (an understanding that print goes from left to right and from up to down on a page etc) are important foundational building blocks for future literacy development and success.

In Kindy this year, the children have been building on their current knowledge and understandings and have been developing many fundamental pre-literacy skills that will help them to one day become little readers and writers.

This term, the children have begun a ‘Sounds from Home’ program where students are invited to search for items beginning with a particular sound and bring along to school to share their findings with the class. This enables the children to further develop their oral language and communication skills as well as deepen their understandings and ability to isolate and hear the initial sounds in words.

Each week the children have also been doing some fun, hands on learning experiences which focus on and further develop their initial sound awareness and their ability to identify and name these letters. We have taken a multi-sensory approach to learning the letters of the alphabet each week. Multi-sensory learning gives learners more than one way to make connections, learn new concepts and retain information. This learning style invites and encourages children to use their visual (sight), auditory (hearing), kinaesthetic (body movement) and tactile (touch) senses when gaining new knowledge and developing their current understandings.

So far we have enjoyed making and eating apple slinkies for Aa is for apple.

We ventured into the bush to play with bubbles for the letter Bb.

We followed Mrs Reed’s cookie recipe for the letter Cc.

Lucy the dog visited and we loved patting and watching her do her tricks on Dd is for Dog day.

We concentrated very hard balancing our egg on the spoon for the letter Ee.

We enjoyed cutting up all the fruit for our fruit salad for Ff day.

And we made slimy goop for the letter Gg.

Learning the alphabet is so much fun!

Exploring New Spaces!

August 26, 2022
reed.jane
· Kindy · Kindy Blue · Kindy Gold · Uncategorized

let's play outside! - GoMomGo... Lane County

Time spent in the outdoor environment is an important and integral part of our Kindy program at St Emilie’s. This term the Kindy children have been exploring the Pre-Primary play spaces.

Outdoor experiences provide children with the opportunity to be active, strengthen their fine and gross motor movement skills and explore their physical capabilities in new ways.

The children have loved the big open spaces to run, kick balls and engage in active play and exploration.

The Pre-Primary play equipment provides more challenges in climbing, balancing, coordination and motor planning.

Spending time outside playing has many positive effects on young children’s emotional development and builds their confidence too!

Japanese news

August 16, 2022
Tracy Aroozoo
· Classroom News · Front Page · Japanese · Japanese News · Kindy · Kindy Blue · Kindy Gold · Pre-Primary · Pre-Primary Blue · Pre-Primary Gold · Year 1 · Year 1 Blue · Year 1 Gold

Download (PDF, 753KB)

Kindy Meets Harold The Giraffe

August 4, 2022
Ashlee Bolding
· Kindy · Kindy Blue · Kindy Gold · Uncategorized

Life Ed Australia visited St Emile’s this week and the Kindy children got to meet Harold the Giraffe. The children thoroughly enjoyed meeting Harold and helping him to choose healthy food items for his lunch box. Harold also discussed with the children the importance of exercising and taking good care of our bodies.

Food for thought for our parents (pun intended) ….

There is a connection between ‘what’ we eat and drink and our long-term health outcomes, not to mention how well we perform at school (and in life).
Developing brains need healthy, low fat, low sugar, low salt foods.
Lunchboxes should be full of plenty of fruit and vegetables, eggs, sandwiches, cheese, yoghurt, tuna, etc as opposed to expensive and nutrient poor snack foods.
While treats are acceptable every now and then, please find creative ways for developing good eating habits while children are still young – this is a gift you give for life!
Remember the healthy diet your child enjoys today, paves the way for lasting health into adulthood.

Wild Encounters in Kindy!

August 1, 2022
reed.jane
· Kindy · Kindy Blue · Kindy Gold · Uncategorized

As an introduction to our learning about the bush and Australian native animals, on Friday the Kindy children had an incursion with West Oz Wildlife.

The up close and personal experience with the native animals raised the children’s awareness and enthusiasm for our bush environment, conservation, and our precious endangered species.

We discovered interesting facts about the animal’s features, diets, habitats, and behaviours. We learnt how to keep safe if we see a snake in the bush.

It was a fun and amazing learning experience and has inspired us to learn more!

NAIDOC Week in Kindy

Welcome back to Term Three! We hope you all enjoyed having a little extra family time over the school break and that you are ready for another fun filled Kindy term! During the school holidays, Australia celebrated NAIDOC Week (3 – 10 July). “NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth”. https://www.naidoc.org.au/about/naidoc-week

This week in Kindy, we have dedicated a few sessions to learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture. To foster our early understandings of Aboriginal culture we read, ‘How the Birds got their Colours’ by Mary Albert and Pamela Lofts. This story is based on the Aboriginal Dreaming story from the Bardi people of Broome, Western Australia. Sharing this text led to a class discussion about different animal colours and then to the uniqueness of our own skin colours.

We looked at pictures of the Aboriginal flag and discussed what each colour symbolises. We then made our own Aboriginal handprints using black to represent the Aboriginal people, yellow for the sun and red to depict the colour of the earth.

We also read the story, “My Family Likes Bush Tucker” by Mike Ingram. The children were amazed by the variety of food you can find growing/living in the Australian bush. After reading this text, the children planted a few edible native plants in our Kindy Bush Tucker Garden.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle!

June 26, 2022
reed.jane
· Kindy · Kindy Blue · Kindy Gold · Uncategorized

In Kindy, we have been learning about sustainability. The children have been looking at ways they can reduce, reuse and recycle. We have been learning about the types of everyday household/classroom items we can recycle and items we can reuse and turn into something new.

After reading “Not a Box” by Antoinette Portis the children brainstormed different ideas on how we could reuse some large boxes. The children all had the opportunity to vote on what they would like to transform these boxes into. We collected and recorded this data using a picture graph.

Soon after we voted we set to work making our wonderful ideas come to life. This was lots of fun… almost as much fun as playing in the boxes once we had finished constructing, painting and putting on the last final touches.

We have been discussing ways that we can care and look after our world. The children have been exploring the impact of land and water pollution and have been empowered to develop a responsibility to care for our environment.

Reconciliation Week in Kindy

June 3, 2022
Ashlee Bolding
· Kindy · Kindy Blue · Kindy Gold · Uncategorized

Each year Australia acknowledges National Reconciliation Week from 27 May to 3 June. It is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories and cultures, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. In Kindy, we have been deepening our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. As a class we discussed how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders are Australia’s First People. We talked about the Whadjuk people, the traditional owners of the land we learn and play on each day when we come to school.

The Kindy children explored different cultural aspects of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, such as storytelling through song and dance. We watched Hunter from Playschool dance like an eagle as Matthew played his didgeridoo.

We read the text, “Welcome to Country” by Aunty Joy Murphy and Lisa Kennedy and admired all the beautiful Indigenous artwork throughout this story.

We ventured outside to play an Indigenous game called, ‘Gorri’. Before playing our game, we came together to share an Acknowledgement of Country. We thanked the Whadjuk people for the land we learn and play on.

Here is the land,

Here is the sky.

Here are my friends,

And here am I.

We thank the Whadjuk people for the land on which we play and learn.

Hands up, hands down. We’re on Noongar ground.

Following all these learning experiences, we made a footprint display, Kindy Mob Walking Together. It symbolises our unity and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Together we walk on Country.

Our Kindy Garden

May 29, 2022
reed.jane
· Kindy · Kindy Blue · Kindy Gold · Uncategorized

On Friday the Kindy children had a school incursion. Bunnings supported us with our sustainability project and helped us to develop our Kindy vegetable patch and sensory garden.

We recycled milk bottles to plant our seedlings

Learning how to pot our seedlings

Hands on experiences help children to better understand the lifecycle of plants, the process of gardening and where their food comes from.

Undertaking a gardening project teaches responsibility to children, as they learn that it is their job to take care of their seeds and plants each day in order for them to be healthy.

Watering our plants

Thank you Bunnings for educating, assisting and donating to our sustainability project.

We would love you to come and visit our sensory garden and pop into the front office to view our Kindy Garden display.

Exploring God’s Wonderful World in Kindy

May 20, 2022
Ashlee Bolding
· Kindy · Kindy Blue · Kindy Gold · Uncategorized

Over the past four weeks we have been learning all about God’s wonderful creations. We have been on a ‘wonder walk’ through the Pre-Primary bushland to observe and wonder about our world. We found feathers, sticks, leaves, insects, birds, trees, puddles and many more wonderful creations. We wondered why God made some things soft/spiky/colourful. We wondered about God and how He knew what to make. We wondered what God was like to make such a wonderful world and talked about our favourite creations.

Nicholas- God made snakes and trees and the sun and the moon and apples and food. I like the grass God made.

Theodore- God made lightning and people. God made the moon next to my house. I see it at bedtime.

God made a man that can go underwater and reach the moon.

Mia C- God made butterflies, the world and rainbows. I love God and I love the flowers and trees He made. God is the best.

God made the whales, they eat the fish.

Kiana- God made the trees and flowers. He made people, butterflies and the water. God made the sun and the water and the land. He made people. God made the whole world.

Through play-based learning, the children have been encouraged to wonder and grow in their understanding and love of God. We have been singing creation rhymes/songs, thanking God for all His wonderful creations through prayer, and sharing stories from the Bible, such as the Creation story (Genesis 1) and Casting Nets (Luke 5:1–11). The children have been reflecting on how Jesus teaches people to love and care for God’s creation.

Thank you God for such a wonderful world!