Preschool News: Term 2 Week 3

Hi all,
This week in preschool, there has been a strong focus on preparing for Mother’s Day, with children engaging in a range of creative experiences to make gifts and cards for the important people in their lives. As always, we approached this through the lens of agency and choice, recognising that children engage in different ways and at different times.

While these experiences were offered across the week, not every child chose to complete a gift, and that is absolutely okay. Children have the right to be immersed in their play, follow their interests and be present in the moment. If your child hasn’t finished, or even started, a Mother’s Day gift yet, it simply means they were deeply engaged in something that felt important to them at the time. There is no meaning in that beyond the important work of childhood.

We will continue offering these opportunities next week for any children who would still like to create something special. Some children were very enthusiastic and created multiple gifts for different family members, which reflected their own interests and choices.

Alongside this, we have been intentionally embedding more fine motor opportunities into the daily program. Cutting, drawing, threading, painting and crafting all support the small muscle development needed for later writing and everyday independence. It has been lovely to see children building confidence, persistence and concentration through these experiences.

This week we also ventured up to the library space at school, where some children showed growing interest in early literacy, exploring sounds, letters and the relationship between spoken and written language through books and shared reading. These moments of curiosity are important foundations for literacy and continue to emerge naturally through play and conversation.

For craft this week, children explored action painting inspired by Jackson Pollock, using movement, splatter and experimentation to express themselves creatively.

We are hoping to attend our first visit to Lane Cove Library this coming Wednesday as part of strengthening our connection with the wider community and supporting children’s growing engagement with books and storytelling. A reminder that all routine excursion permission forms need to be returned before we can attend. I will be following up with families where needed.

A big thank you to everyone who completed the recent family survey. Your feedback is valuable and helps shape our reflection, continuous improvement and partnership with families.

As part of our ongoing commitment to child safety and wellbeing, we continue to embed the principle of paramountcy into our daily practice, ensuring that children’s rights, safety and best interests remain at the centre of our decisions, planning and program. With the colder weather arriving, please remember to pack warm layers and a spare set of clothes each day so children can stay comfortable and continue engaging fully in the program.

We’re really looking forward to seeing families at our Mother’s Day breakfast on Monday morning. It will be a lovely chance to spend some relaxed time together in preschool before the day begins.

Wishing all the mums and special people in our community a lovely Mother’s Day.

Warmly,
Katrina, Lisa, Meeta and Lida