salisbury child care

ISSUE 2, 3 & 4 | SUMMER 2012SUMMER SNIPPETS

inside this issue

bumblebeesdragonflieslady bugs

inc recent eventsbusy beewine & cheese night

lisachevonemma

upcoming events

meet our team

room news

what’s cooking with monica

update on asokastaff news

centre happeningsoffice newstoys and fundraising catalgoguenational child carers appreciation daychristmas closureoutstanding child care feestaff allocations for 2013s

news from the kitchen

general news

Welcome to the final edition of our Salisbury Snippets for 2012. Another year nearly over and it has been a very successful one. Who can believe that Christmas is upon us once again? It is a busy and expensive time of year, but what a wonderful time of year for the children!! All the Educators have worked ex-tremely hard in the rooms and I am very proud of the team and all that they have achieved not only each day but throughout the whole year. I am sure you will all agree with me when talking about the lovely transforma-tion we have seen in all the rooms throughout the year. Lots of time and effort go into making the rooms warm and inviting for all. We would like to take this opportunity to thank all the Educators who always do fantastic job in caring for your most prized possessions. If it wasn’t for their hard work and dedication, the centre would not be operating at full capac-ity. I am very lucky to have a wonder-ful team who work above and beyond to create our wonderful environment not only for the children but to work in also.

office newsWe would also like to take this op-portunity to thank all the parents from our Parent Advisory Com-mittee for all their hard work and dedication. We are extremely lucky to have such enthusiastic parents who are always looking for ways to improve our centre.We look forward to a happy and suc-cessful 2013.Finally we would like to extend a very merry Christmas and a Happy New Year all our parents, children and staff. We hope you all have a safe time over the holiday period.See you all in January 2013.

Warm regards

Lisa and Ewa

A BIG thank you to everyone who

placed toy orders through the

annual fundraising catalogue.

With all your orders we received a

voucher to the value of $263.82.

We will spend this voucher on new

educational equipment for your

children to enjoy.

On Thursday the 25th October

the centre celebrated National

Child Carers Appreciation Day. We

recognised the hard and dedicated

work all the Educators do on a daily

basis. Our staffs work very hard

to provide high quality care to all

the children. They work above and

beyond the call of duty to ensure

that the children are in a happy,

safe and secure environment at

all times. The centre provided a

special morning tea for all Educators

to enjoy and they also received a

certificate, chocolates and a $40

Coles/Myer gift card from our Parent

Advisory Committee. We would

like to thank each and every staff

member for all their hard work and

commitment towards the children,

parents and our organisation.

toys and more fundraising catalogue

national child carers appreciation day

A friendly reminder

for all parents that the

centre will be closed

from 6pm on Friday

the 21st December

2012 and we will re-

open at 7.30am on

Monday the 7th Janu-

ary 2013. No fees will

be charged during this

closure period.

the centre will

be CLOSED

6pm Friday 21st

December to

Monday 7th January

2013

christmas closure

We have been in contact with Asoka

and her family and unfortunately

the cancer has spread further

throughout her body. At this stage

she is undergoing some treatment

to try and shrink the tumours and

she is resting at home in-between

her treatment. We pass on all your

well wishes and thoughts to Asoka

when we do speak to her and she

is very grateful that you are all

thinking of her. Our thoughts and

prayers are always with Asoka and

her family especially over this festive

season.

The end of year is fast approaching;

therefore, we would like to have all

outstanding child care fees paid up

to date prior to Monday the 17th

December 2012. This will assist us

in preparing accurate end of year

reports for accounting purposes for

the City of Bayswater Child Care As-

sociation.

If your child/ren is leaving the centre

please ensure all fees are paid up

in full prior to your final day at the

centre. If you are unsure of your final

payments please see Lisa in the of-

fice and she can help you with your

enquiry.

update on Asoka

outstanding child care fees

educational relationshipsCurrently at the service our Educators create learning environments

that create a positive impact on enhancing children’s learning on a

daily basis. Each Child’s learning is assessed and documented in a

series of different recordings which is available for parents to com-

ment, contribute and give further insight in what their children’s

interests currently are.

Each learning journey that the children experience is kept in in-

dividual portfolios that are in each room, located in the red filing

cabinets. You may look at these at any time and ask questions

about your child’s development and contribute to their learning by

adding ideas so the Educators can further extend your child’s inter-

est and learning.

Please look out for the ‘Parent’s and Children’s Contribution to the

Curriculum’ section in our curriculum journals for family input so

please do not hesitate to write any suggestions and ideas down as

your input is extremely valuable to us.

extra days available chartI am sure most of you have seen the ‘Extra Days Available’chart on

my office window. Ithought I would give you a quick rundown on

how this works.

When families are going to be away from the centre we have a

system where you are able to advertise your days for sale to other

families in your child’s room. these days are advertised on my of-

fice window for other faileis to buy as a one off extra day’s for that

week. I fyour day’s sells to anothe rfamily I will credit your account

and the other family will pay for the extra day they have bought.

The extra day’s available chart is updated weekly and is displayed

for the current week we are in. If you have any further queries just

let me know.

staff allocations for 2013Here are the educators that will be in

each of the rooms for 2013:

Bumblebees

Qualified Room Leader Silvana

Qualified Senior Assistant Brooke

Senior Assistant Rachel

Senior Assistant Sheila

Silvana will be having Monday’s off

and Sheila will be covering her on the

Monday’s

Ladybugs

Qualified Room Leader Emma

Qualified Senior Assistant Lisa.K.

Senior Assistant DIsa

Lisa.K. will be having Friday’s off and

Sheila will be covering her on the Friday’s

Dragonflies

Qualified Room Leader Chevon

Qualified Assistant Diana

Senior Assistant Marie

Inclusion Support Blair

Floating Staff Amy and Marilyn

Kitchen Monica

Office - Lisa

staff newsWe would like to say BIG congratulations to

Brooke from the Ladybugs room that has success-

fully completed her Diploma in Children’s Services

and is now a fully qualified member of our Salis-

bury team.

Well done Brooke As some of you already know Lisa.K. From the

Bumblebees room and her husband are expect-

ing a little bundle of joy in April 2013. Lisa will be

finishing at the centre around the middle to end

of February. When Lisa finishes up Loretta will be tak-

ing over from her. Lisa was initially employed to cover

Heather’s maternity leave position so Loretta will

continue on at the centre until Heather returns from

maternity leave to the centre.

We would like to extend a nice warm welcome Disa

who is now a permanent Salisbury employee. Disa

completed her certificate III traineeship with us in

2011 and has been working on Monday and Friday’s

this year in the Bumblebees room to cover Silvana and

Lisa’s days off. From the 7th January 2013 Disa will be

here fulltime in the Ladybugs room. Welcome to the

team Disa

Amy will also be returning to fulltime work from Janu-

ary 2013. She will be working from 10am – 3pm daily

and will float between the Ladybugs and Bumblebees

rooms.

kitchen newsI would like to say a big thank you to all the families for making me feel so welcome since I started here.

It’s lovely to see all your smiling faces every morning when you drop your children off. It has made my

transition into the centre very smooth and I’ve had a great year cooking for your all. I hope you all have

a very merry Christmas and a safe new year. I look forward to seeing you all in the New Year and cooking

up some new foods for all your children to try.

I wanted to share a recipe with you so you can enjoy a special holiday treat… Enjoy

Monica

TRIPLE CHOCOLATE BROWNIES150g Dark chocolate

125g Butter at room temperature

75g white chocolate

75g Milk chocolate

3 Eggs

200g Caster sugar

150g self raising flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1. Set oven to 180c. Cut a piece of non stick baking paper a little larger than the tin,

then snip it into the corners the corners and press the paper into the tin

2. Half fill the saucepan with water, bring it just to the boil then turn off the heat and

place the large bowl

on top.

3. Break dark chocolate into pieces and cut the butter into pieces on the plate, then

add both to the large bowl. Leave for 5 minutes or until melted

4. Put the white chocolate in the plastic bag and hit it with a rolling pin until broken

into small pieces. Whisk the eggs and sugar in the second bowl for 5 minutes using

the electric whisk until thick and very frothy.

5. Pour the melted chocolate and butter over the mixture and mix in very gently using

the metal spoon. Sift the flour and baking powder over the top then carefully fold in.

6. Pour the mixture into the lined tin. Sprinkle the white and milk chocolate pieces

over the top. Bake the cake for 20 – 25 minutes until the top is crusty and centre still

wobbles slightly. Leave to cool and harden in the tin.

recent events 25th October Child Carer’s Appreciation Day

23rd October Children’s Week Excursion to Keith Maine centre

at Whiteman’s Park

22nd October Radical Reptiles Incursion

19th October Annual Family Evening

28th September Rock N Toddle Incursion

25th September Kindy Excursion to the Inglewood Library

14th September Dress up day for our little Charlie-Bear

5th September Kindy excursion to Scitech

28th & 29th August Centre’s Photo Days

10th July Farm Yard on Wheels Incursion

6th July Parents Wine and Cheese, Meet and Greet Night

26th June Pyjama Day

20th May Centre’s Busy Bee Morning

11th May Mother’s Day Afternoon Tea

pac corner We would like to extend a big thank you to our 2011/2012 Parent Advisory Committee members:

Chair Person Lisa Bevan

Vice Chair Person Tim Priest (Outgoing)

Treasurer Tanya Dobbie (Outgoing)

Secretary Liz Perkins

Newsletter Kelly Matusik

General Members Lisa Foote (Outgoing) Danielle Darragh (Outgoing)

Anne Appel Virginia Prescott

Neshka Turner (Outgoing) Damian Lailey (outgoing)

Carmen Maughan Caroline Seubert

Nicola Messervy

Thanks to this PAC we have achieved lots of great things for our centre. We will be sad to see our outgo-

ing parents leave, but thanks for all your years of contributing.

nominations for our 2012/2013 parent advisory committee are:Chair Person Lisa Bevan

Vice Chair Person Rachel Masters

Treasurer Jody Smith

Secretary Liz Perkins

Newsletter Kelly Matusik

Social Coordinators Shana O’Shea and Renae Flegg

General Members Caroline Seubert Kylie & John Caporn

Asha Clucas Kylie Burath

Nicola Messervy Christina Chan-Byrne

Ros Green Betti Radford

Carmen Maughan Lynnette Askin

Anne Appel

Congratulations to you all on being a part of our PAC. We are very excited for our year ahead especially

after our first meeting that was held in November and hearing all the great ideas of possible events for

2013!!

pac corner continuedThe centre’s annual Busy Bee was held on Sunday 20th May. We had lots ofjobs for the parents to do that

included distributing new sand to the sandpits, painting the bike track and wooden poles in the Todds/

Kinds play area, a general garden tidy up and a clear out of two garden beds. As wwe had such a great

turn out of parents, the morning was over and done with quite quickly!

We would like to send out a BIG thank you to all the parents who turned up on the day and to also thank

the parents who donated materials and provided mornign tea for all the tropps to ge through the morn-

ing.

On Friday the 6th July we held our first ever Wine and Cheese, Meet and Greet Night for the parents.

Thanks to all the parents who attended the evening and were able to enjoy all the lovely wine, cham-

pagne and beer supplied by De Vine cellars along with the yummy cheeses and warm food. It was great

to see all the parents getting along so well and chatting to each other. Thanks again to everyone who

attended.

annual family christmas picnic 2012On Sunday the 25th of November we celebrated our annual family Christmas picnic at Macaulay Park in

Inglewood. We had lots of families attend with a lovely park, bouncy castles and fire engine rides to keep

the kiddies entertained a great time was had by all. Santa made a grand arrival as always on the fire truck

and gave out lots of lovely gifts to all the children. The only downside to the day was when Mr Whippy

arrived at 9am to inform us that he had double booked us and that he would be back at 4pm with ice-

cream for the kiddies unfortunately our day was over by 12pm so we all missed out! On the upside, the

weather was very kind to us considering there was a storm on the night before and we managed to enjoy

the gorgeous sunshine with a cool breeze in the background.

Thanks to everyone who came along

annual family eveningOur Annual Family Evening and AGM to put it simply was

a HUGE SUCCESS! We had another great turnout with

nearly 200 parents and children in attendance. This

event seems to just keep getting bigger and better

each year. As always the face painters were a huge

hit with the children and there were lots of different

faces running around. The lovely weather allowed

families to mingle around outdoors and catch up

with familiar faces while the children played. The

highlight of the night was the children’s concert

and they all performed so well. All in all a great night was had by all.

A BIG thank you for everyone who helped out on the night, if it wasn’t for you it

wouldn’t have been such a great evening. We had lots of raffle prizes to give away which were all donat-

ed to the centre from individual families. Congratulations to all the prize winners

With your generosity we managed to raise over $900 on the night from the selling of the raffle tickets

and the gold coin donation for the sausage sizzle and drinks. This money will put towards providing your

children with some exciting new equipment!

fundraising levyDue to the professionalism and dedication that staff put into programming and supporting the needs of

our children that $500 has been allocated to each room for new resources.

A BIG thank you goes out to all parents who have paid their voluntary contribution to the centre. Being

a part of the PAC we feel it is our role to provide representation so that staff have the resources and tools

they require to ensure these quality practices can continue long into the future.

Each room has been given $500 twice this year in February and september to purchase resources and

furniture for the rooms.m

others day afternoon tea

mothers day afternoon tea

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Staff Appreciation Day

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FARM yard on wheels

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busy bee

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PYJAMA DAY

Wine & Cheese Night

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family christmas picnic

annual family evening

annual family evening

or holiday photo’s to display with

our map.

This display will be on the large

pin board on the other side of the

room Please take time to have a

look at it.

If there is anything you would like

to see included in the programme

please let us know.

The programme is on the large pin

board as you come into the room

please take a look at what we do in

a day.

There is a book about what we are

up to also on the signing in and

out table please feel to have a look.

While we are on the subject of

signing in and out PLEASE PLEASE

take the time to sign in and out

each day as This document is im-

portant for your childcare fees.

Now that winter is here please

make sure your child has warm

clothing in case we go outside to

play.We would like to say a big

thank you to all the parents that

helped in our

Working bee and made our play-

ground look great.

dragonflies

I can’t believe that we are half way

through another year.

We have been very busy in the drag-

onfly’s room we had a really nice

display about ANZAC day and we

endeavoured to explain a little about

the Digger’s in the war and why they

fought and why we celebrate ANZAC

day. We had photos and made poppy

wreaths and we stood near the dis-

play and listened to The Last Post on

an I phone.

Then we had mother’s day and we

had the children making cards and

decorating calico bags.

We hope every “Mum” enjoyed their

Day and will continue to use their

“Gift” for many years to come.

The weather has been very kind to

us until June and we were able to go

outside to play most days.

Now the winter is upon us we will be

spending more time inside and so we

will be doing lots of inside activities.

We do have a T.V in our room but we

try very hard not to use it very often.

In the room we have created a dis-

play with a map of the world and we

would like you to bring postcards and

The children loved The new sand pit

and are treating it like a “Swimming

pool” so if you find heaps of sand in

pockets and shoes that’s the reason

why.

Thanks again everyone.

Diana and Chevon

A big HELLO to all our families

of the Bumblebee Room.

Over the last couple of months

we have welcomed some new

friends and families to the room

and have farewelled our friends

who have recently graduated to

the Toddlers Room. We miss you

all very much but we really en-

joy your visits when you come

in to say Hello.

As winter has come, we have

been limited on our outdoor

play, so we have been making

most of our undercover veranda

spaces and bringing equipment

indoors. The children have been

very busy actively exploring the

environment using their senses,

a big favourite this month has

been the tactile basket, the chil-

dren spend a lot of time investi-

gating and experimenting with

all the different textures.

Your creative children have also

been very artistic and expres-

sive, they have designed some

wonderful masterpieces using

paints, glue and collage materi-

als. I think we have some Picas-

sos in the making!

A big Thankyou to our families

who have contributed a fam-

ily photo for our family tree, it

is looking great! And a friendly

reminder goes out to those who

have yet to bring one in. The

children really enjoy looking at

the photos and identifying their

favourite family members.

We would like to extend an

invitation to all our families to

come in and view our learning

curriculum and welcome your

valuable input and feedback.

That’s all for now Love Lisa,

Rachel, Silvana and Disa

bumblebees

those who supported this very im-

portant cause and encourage every-

one to please donate.

We would like to thank all the par-

ents and families who helped on

the busy bee. We were very excited

to see the new, bright and colourful

playground. While we haven’t been

able to enjoy it so much lately, with

the bad weather, we have enjoyed

and were very interested in watch-

ing our new sandpit being built.

Unfortunately with the cold weather

comes a lot of colds and runny nos-

es. Whilst we keep warm and cosy

inside, we also like to get some fresh

air outside, when the weather allows

us. So we ask that the children have

some extra clothing for outdoors, a

nice warm jumper/jacket and shoes

and socks. Please ensure all items are

labelled with their name as it some-

times gets hard to remember what

item belongs to who, at this age the

ladybugschildren don’t always remember

either. We also require each child

to still wear a hat outside and do

request that they have one that is

left at the centre.

We have had some great success

with toilet training and congratu-

late the children who have just

recently mastered it. With a lot of

family’s jet setting lately, we have

been looking at countries togeth-

er and discussing their cultures.

Monika our lovely cook has also

been kind enough to introduce

some wonderful traditional meals

into the menus for the weeks to

come. If any of our families would

also like to be involved, we would

love you to share your skills in

cooking some multicultural dishes

or playing some traditional music.

We also love hearing about your

wonderful experiences away.

To encourage more discussion

The ladybugs room have enjoyed

some wonderful events this term.

We discovered some exciting insects

when we had a Spineless creatures

incursion. We thoroughly enjoyed

putting our cooking skills to prac-

tice, being hard at work to make

cupcakes for our very special mums.

We were all very excited when we

saw the wonderful turnout for our

mother’s day high tea. We were all

so happy to see you and celebrate

your special day. The afternoon was

a great success and we loved seeing

the children’s pride when presenting

their creations to their loved ones.

We had a pyjama day and would like

to thank all the children who partici-

pated. We all had so much fun and

thought it quite funny and strange

seeing all our teachers in their

pyjamas too. We also celebrated red

nose day, and enjoyed painting our

noses red like Rudolf. We thank all

with the children and to develop empa-

thy and memory recognition, we have

introduced a new class pet- Lottie the

lamb. (Please don’t be alarmed she’s a

toy) The children will take turns to take

her home for a sleepover and are encour-

aged to look after her. When they bring

her back they can share all of the things

they got up to together.

Our curriculums are all about the chil-

dren’s interest and families sharing

experiences, bringing the children home

experiences and routines, into daycare

experiences and routines. We love and

need your feedback on our curriculums

in order for us to make improvements

and ensure we are of a high quality.

Please feel free to write comments in the

curriculum journal (large book).

Love Emma, Brooke, Sheila & Marie

staff profilesRecently we asked our staff to partake in the giving forth of information .. possibly with items that you don’t know about the carers who take loving care of your prescious ones.

• How long have you worked at the centre for?

• What’s your favourite meal that Asoka & Monica make?

• What’s the most rewarding part of your job?

• What hobbies do you enjoy?

• What’s your favourite TV show?

• What’s your favourite movie?

• What’s the funniest thing a child has said to you?

Turn over to view their answers.

???

?

Introducing emma• 5 years• pumpkin scones & Monika’s pizza• Watching the children grow & experience new

things. And all the cuddles!• Dancing, shopping, going to movies, catching up

with friends.• Revenge, Packed to the Rafters• Harry Potter• “Do you have a horse at home” ... “In mummy’s

tummy!” child responds

Introducing Lisa• 6 years• Asoka’s chicken & sweet corn soup & Monica’s

home made pizza’s• Watching the children grow and develop over

time and seeing their smiling faces every morning.• Playing hockey, boxing and spending time with

friends and family• Packed to the Rafters, Winners & Losers, Teh Real

housweives of Beverley Hills & OC, Keeping up with the Kardashians.

• Dirty Dancing & Ghost

Introducing Chevon• 4 years• chicken and sweetcorn soup, blueberry & blue-

berry cupcakes• Being able to support children to reach devel-

opmental milestones & the sound of children’s laughter

• Reading, travelling going to concerts• Winners & Losers, My Kitchen Rules ,Packed to the

Rafters, Revenge• Recently a child told me that her newborn sister

looked like a roast chicken• Saw series