The True Meaning of Easter

In the last week children at Kindergarten have listened to the story of the first Easter. We have learned about how Jesus died on the cross and then rose again. Every year we find that this provokes tricky questions from some children about the subject of death. This can be a little unnerving for some parents. Whilst we only touch briefly on the Easter story we do make an effort to answer any of the children's questions as honestly and positively as we can. We would like to share with you some of the things we say in the hope that it may assist you if your child chooses o speak about it at home.
We teach children about the permanency of death and how Jesus is the only person "who got to come back". This helps children understand that, after hearing about the story of Jesus, they can't expect others to be alive again after dying. It also reminds children that we have to look after our own bodies and make choices that keep us safe.
Children will often ask why people die and at Kindergarten we reinforce that people only die when they are very very very very very very very sick, very very very very very very very old, or their body is very very very very very very very broken (specialists in the field recommend the seven "very"'s so that children understand that you don't die from a cold, turning 40 or a broken arm!) We are very matter-of-fact in response to queries at Kindergarten and answer children's questions honestly without going into long detail (most children don't want this anyway). If your child is asking questions that you find difficult please feel free to have a chat with your child's teacher about how to respond to the subject.

Let the Water Flow!

Dear Pirie Room Parents,
Students have enjoyed the water wise bag immensely this term and particularly enjoyed sharing their findings with their friends. It has taken us longer to rotate the bag through the children than expected and so we would like to continue this project next term to allow all students to have a turn. If your child has not yet taken the water wise bag home for a visit they will be invited to do so next term
Thanks
Pirie Room Staff

Library Books in the Pirie Room

Dear Pirie Room Parents,
As we close on Thursday this week there will not be an opportunity to return Library books during our normal weekly Library lesson. We would be most appreciative if you would drop your child's library book into the library basket below the information pockets in the Pirie room and staff will return them to the Library on Thursday afternoon.
Thank you
Pirie Room Staff

Thankyou

Dear Parents,
Thankyou for the feedback and support we have received in the last few weeks in regard to hats. Many parents have chosen to leave hats at school in their child's locker and this has solved a lot of the ongoing issues so we would like to again, thankyou for your support
Regards
Mel Bishop

Student Hats

Dear Parents,
We currently employ a "no hat, no play" policy in the first and last term of the year to help protect children's skin and to assist them in learning about the dangers of too much exposure to the sun. The children are wonderfully responsive to this policy and try to be very vigilant about caring for their hat. However we do have ongoing issues with hats. Whilst staff are constantly reminding children about where to store them and assisting them to place hats in the correct locker our first priority must be the educational program, not hat storage. We do not check all hats before the end of the day and do rely on help from both students and parents to help us with misplaced hats. Although hats are currently regularly going missing, rarely do they actually disappear. More often than not the children put them in the wrong bag and the hat goes home with the wrong family for a few days before they realise and bring it back. With all maroon hats and mostly maroon bags it is a very easy mistake to make. Because of flexible attendance patterns, hats that have accidentally gone to the wrong home can take a week to be discovered.
We thank everyone for their understanding to date but recognise this problem is becoming very frustrating for parents. To help with this problem we would remind parents that school hats are expected to stay at school on the hook inside the child's locker overnight. This makes it easier to identify hats that really are missing and means that it is unlikely for wrong hats to go to someone else's house. We will continue to encourage your children to use the hooks and will have an in class focus in both rooms on improving this routine.
In the mean time, because of our "no hat no play" policy we have spare kindergarten hats that are regularly washed through our laundry service for children who have a missing hat to use.
Thank you for your understanding
Regards
Mel Bishop

Puppy Positivity

Dear Pirie Room Parents,
as we are sure you'll already be aware, we have been experiencing lots of dog role play on the playground this week. Students have enjoyed running around on all fours, looking for bones and creating puppy house. We have had visits from vets, police men rescue dogs stuck in the creek and many objects buried and dug up again.
Some parents have commented about the strange four legged behaviour they have observed at home, wondering if it something that should be encouraged.... and the short answer is YES!!
As teachers we have loved observing the children getting deeply involved in their dramatic play. It has encouraged children to communicate clearly to one another, negotiate, share and wait. It has encouraged children to work together, make group decisions and plan play scenarios. Students have recognised the emotions of others, experienced a sense of belonging and explored different perspectives.
Not a bad days work for a three or four year old! So to canine chaos we say yes!!

End of Term Arrangments

Dear Parents,
we have only three weeks left of term and so it is timely for a reminder about end of term arrangements. Kindergarten will finish for all students on Thursday the 9th of April at 12.30 pm(please note, the rest of the school finishes at 1.00pm) If you require care for your child for this half day and are already enrolled in After School Care please e-mail your booking directly to Cheryl on cbuck@pac.edu.au. If you already have a booking in place for that day we would appreciate it if you could e-mail Cheryl to confirm that you will be using your space. If you require care and are not already enrolled in After School Care please see Julie Porter in the front office to collect an enrollment form as soon as possible as spaces fill fast for this type of day.
Thank you
Mel Bishop

Chocolate lovley Chocolate!

Dear Parents,
Around Easter time we often have many requests from parents for children to share Easter eggs with their friends. We feel this is a lovely idea but do have a few guidelines to help keep everyone safe.
Children create Easter baskets or bags and leave them in their classroom. If others would like to leave an egg or treat they may put on the Easter Bunny ears and make some deposits. Children are reminded that no Easter eggs may be eaten until Easter time and so on their last day of Kindergarten in week eleven they take their whole basket or bag home. We would then recommend that parents of children with allergies assess whether the eggs may be eaten... yum!
If you would like further clarification please see your child's teacher.
Thank you
Mel Bishop

Our Next Unit

Dear Parents,
as the term draws to a close staff have begun to prepare for our next unit. Next term we will be investigating a unit titled "My Family Tree - Out on a Limb". We will be exploring the ideas of families, family roles and how children fit into their particular family. Unfortunately this can be very tricky for staff as young children do often have a limited understanding of how their family is inter connected to each other. It can also be difficult for staff to recognise unfamiliar names. So to assist us we have formulated a homework sheet for parents. It is a basic family tree that staff will use to help the project. It will be in pigeon holes this week but does not need to be returned until the last day of term. We would love it if you could bring it with you to the Parent Teacher interviews.
Thankyou
Good Luck
Mel Bishop

Week Eight in the Pirie Room

We had a very busy week in week eight with lots of trips, noise and excitement! We watched as the Clipsal track was prepared beside our classroom and listened to the cars screech around infamous turn eight on the corner of our playground. To escape some of the noise we visited the river Torrens on Wednesday and marvelled at the floating "paper" boats.
"Paper can float, that's why" said Harrison
Not everybody agreed so that will be a focus of investigation next week
We also headed to Henley to visit the Marine Discovery Centre. We were assisted by the wonderful year six students of Star of the Sea School and got to see lots of different marine life.

Closely observing a Port Jackson Shark We also continued to enjoy exploring water and after our visit to the River Torrens looked at how we can move and manipulate water

We also enjoyed dancing our water cycle. Above you can see us as we are evaporating. You should have seen us crash as waves!!We also particularly enjoyed the carpentry table this week. We made lots of planes and guitars!

Week Eight in the Flinders Room

Dear Parents and Friends,
We can’t believe that week eight has passed already! We have all been having such a wonderful time in the Flinders Room. We are working well together and some lovely friendships have been made. All the boys have been producing detailed and imaginative drawings, paintings and buildings. Don’t forget to come and view some of our amazing work that is now in our portfolios. They are looking great. The performances that we have seen at school recently have stimulated some great dramatic play. We have loved working with the Australian animal puppets to replay the story of Tiddalick and have even made some of our own!

Braheem helped get things going in Friday’s performance!!

We survived Clipsal this week and kept our cool in the traffic troubles. We visited the Marine Discovery Centre on Wednesday, and on Thursday, ventured to the River Torrens.
Thank you to the parents who to accompanied us on these excursions.

What a fun but very busy week!
From the Flinders Room

Pirie Library on Friday

Dear Parents of Pirie Room Students,
we are asking for your help to get us to Library on time. Please assist us by placing your child's library bag in the library basket just inside our front door before you leave on Friday mornings. It is a very time consuming task to check 25 individual bags and is stopping us from getting to Library on time.
Thank you for your understanding and assistance
The Pirie Room Staff