What do you class as SUSTAINABILITY ?

 IDEAS TAKEN FROM MANY PLACES ON THE WEB

So what are some ideas for being sustainable? 

 
·         Use recycled paper for drawings: get families to donate paper that’s been used once, to re-use again at your service one more time!
 
·         Use recycled gift wrap for collage – encourage families, staff, community members to donate wrapping paper from festivities or special occasions! Perfect for collage.
 
·         Use old children’s books, that aren’t good enough to read any more – run through a shredder and use them in collage. Or cut them up into bits – make sure that the children just don’t use their scissors on books that are still good! That’s why the shredder is great.
 
·         Use old magazines for collage – images that aren’t entirely appropriate for the children – such as advertisements that might have a bit too much leg or cleavage – are also amazing through a shredder.
 
·         Recycle all used paper.
 
·         Recycle in EVERY area of the centre – from the children’s rooms to the staff room and kitchen! If you proclaim that you’re sustainable and you don’t get your team to recycle in the staff room, well, that just looks lazy and superficial.
 
·         Avoid products with excess packaging.
 
·         Use food boxes in your home corner as resources
 
·         Use old food that is out of date, in plastic (yeah I know, not sustainable perse BUT safe for children of all ages to use).
 
·         Use recycled furniture from the Salvos, St. Vinnies and other opportunity shops.
 
·         Get families to donate old clothes for dress-ups or buy them from the op-shops.
 
·         Grow vegetables!
 
·         Grow veggies in raised garden beds (search for No-dig-gardens)
 
·         Grow veggies and herbs in containers! Recycled containers even! I’ve used old water troughs, plastic tubs, buckets,
 
·         Have a worm farm
 
·         Use fans rather than air-conditioning.
 
    Compost your scraps
 
 
·         Keep your aircon at 24-27°C for summer cooling and 18-20°C for winter warming. It will save electricity and money and for every degree above or below you are using up to 10% more energy.
 
·         Grow plants in your outdoor spaces! Make sure you’re not growing any that might be toxic to children!
 
·         Buy local where you can.
 
·         Re-use items such as glass jars for paint pots! Other trays and containers for playdough, home corner, water play, sand play, mud play etc. Then when its served its purpose, recycle it!

Newsletter

December 2013

 

Dear Parents/Carers,

As we head into the final days of 2013 we reflect on what The Lakes Early Learning Centre has achieved throughout the year.

We have seen the Centre grow from a 76 place Centre to a 160 place. Our staff has gone from 12 to 32 and we have gone from 1 Director to 2 Directors working together to provide a quality service for all.

In reflection we have had some hard times and seen some staff and families move on. We have also seen many new families join us.

This has given us a fresh perspective with many new faces and ideas.

We thank you all for standing by us and putting your faith in our ability to continue to provide the high standard of care you and your families have come to expect from us, while we expanded and refurbished our playgrounds.

 

During the last few weeks we have wound down the end of the year with many celebrations, from our very first Kindergarten class of 53 children graduating in a night time event combining their Christmas celebrations with loved ones and staff.

 

Our owners flew up from Sydney and arrived with their Queensland based partners to provide a Christmas BBQ and end of year concert for all families. We thank all the families for donating to our hamper drawer we had a total of 30 prizes to give to families throughout the day.

 

We were blessed with wonderful weather, it was great to see the children show you around their world.

It is here we say good bye to some of our families who are for many reasons leaving the Centre, we wish them all the best as some head to ‘big school’ and others leaving due to deployment elsewhere in our great big land of Australia.

 

During the owners visit, we took the opportunity as a team to set some goals for the New Year.

 

We look forward with determination and pride as we have set the bar high for ourselves as Directors and feel confident our staff are ready to begin the New Year with very clear goals and expectations.

 

We are looking at starting a Parent Committee to help us achieve our goals, some of which include looking at our Philosophy, to encompass a more holistic view of providing care and education.

We have started recycling our paper with bins in each room, we have a vegetable garden and worm farm our Schoolie children with the help of Miss Kiaya are going to plant and maintain.

We will have a Meet and Greet night early in 2014 so parents, carersand grandparents can meet each other in a social setting and put names to faces as we begin another year.

 

As a staff we are looking at building a positive environment, by supporting and embracing each other’s strengths and acknowledging everyone’s individual input into the Centre

 

Before we get there we as a whole would like to wish you and your love ones well for the holidays, stay safe and be kind to yourselves.

 

Kind regards

Adele, Elvira and all at The Lakes                                                                                                                                                                              

November Newsletter

November 2013

We would like to welcome our new families to the Centre, we hope you are all settling in nicely.

Thank you to all parents who have returned their reenrollment for 2014.

All those that haven’t we need them back ASAP as  we are currently looking at staffing and room configuration for 2014 and it is important that all families return these forms even if sadly you are leaving us.

At this stage no definite staffing arrangements have been made, it will depend upon the needs of the families within the Centre.

DATE CLAIMERS

27 November 2013: Kindergarten Graduation and Christmas concert 6pm START

14 December 2013: Children’s Christmas party 10am -2pm

CENTRE IS CLOSED 25TH, 26TH December and 1st January 2014.

OCTOBER HIGHLIGHTS

During October the Centre celebrated Day for Daniel, a national day of educating children of all ages in child safety and how best to look after themselves when they find themselves in an unsafe situation.

We also had the fire engine from the Camira Station visit the Kindergarten children during our annual Centre safety audit.

Some staff and children got involved in the Halloween spirit while it was not a Centre wide day due to differences in beliefs, we as administration decided to let the room Leaders chose if they wanted to join in. Again it is great to see some parents and some staff get into the spirit they children certainly had a smile.

REENROLLMENTS

 We are currently working through the reenrollments for 2014, at this stage there is no firm plans with regards to staffing or rooms, we will look at all factors in the best interest of the children, staff growth and the needs of our families both existing and new families.

SIGN IN SHEETS

ABSENCES AND YOUR CHILD CARE BENEFIT (CCB)

Under the Child Care Management System (CCMS), CCB is paid for up to 42 days absences for each child per financial year without the need to provide documentation such as medical certificates. For more information, view Information for families using child care (PDF 176KB).

The 2011 CCMS Reference Manual, Department of Education, Employment & Workplace Relations (DEEWR), states that CCB cannot be claimed after a child’s last day of actual attendance.

For example: if a family provides the Centre with two weeks’ notice terminating their child’s place (as required), and consequently do not use this child care, they will be charged full fee.

The Centre has been advised by DEEWR that it is best practice for parents to continue to:

sign or initial attendance records for absences; continue to provide documentary evidence in the form of medical certificates, court orders or work related documentation to assist in the monitoring of absences throughout the year. You can also access your child’s absence record on your online statement along with your child care attendance, CCB and CCR amounts paid statements. To access your online statement, go to the Department of Human Services website.

The following families need to see Adele or Elvira regarding signing for absent days

.

Danga

Goodard

Scott

Guarino

Quigley (Emiliy)

Condon

Merchant

Davis (Taj)

Morehu

Young

Sarmah

Delaware

McDougall

Haufano

Muguntharaj

Thomas

Burns

Fattoretto

Smyth

Fisher

Gullick

Rerekura

Fowler

Roberts

Tischler

Walsh

Egwu

Coates

McManus

Grego

Mautofu

Smith Matthew

Smith Sienna

Mahammadi

Harker

Swyny

Houston

Dillon

Jones

Trenar

Bernard

Horie

Murphy

Cooksey

Conaghan

Onciul

CHRISTMAS HAMPER

This year the Centre is asking families to donate something for our lucky door hamper to be drawn at the Family Christmas Party Saturday 14 December. It can be some Christmas food items, decorations or a small surprise.

At the Christmas Party each adult will be given a raffle ticket as they enter and sometime during the afternoon we will draw the hampers

GOODBYE

Finally we would all like to thank all our families moving on to PREP or other areas we have loved having each one of you, please know a little piece of them will be in our hearts

Many thanks

Adele and Elvira

                      

DAY FOR DANIEL

Friday October 25th we asked the staff and families to wear RED in support of the Daniel Morcombe Foundation we were so humbled by the response....

The day is not a day to raise funds (this can be done any day of the year) it is a day to raise awareness of Child Safety we were even more humbled to find our name on the list of supporters most rooms joined in the theme the following are some pictures of our Centre

Playing its kids WORK

 one of the most common questions I hear from parents is, “How does play help my child?” The truth is that there are so many ways children learn through play that it would be difficult to list them all! Here are the top 4 ways children learn through play:

1. Using all Senses to Explore: 
When a child engages in play, they eagerly explore their world in a multifaceted way. If you’ve seen a child with a new toy, you’ve seen this discovery process. Typically, the child visually inspects a toy while using their hands to feel the object. In younger children, the toy commonly enters the mouth for a taste as well. The toy may be hit to hear what sound it can make. All of these experiments provide information for the child to take in about the toy and its potential for different uses. 

2. Accessing Imagination: 
When children play pretend, they learn what it is like to take on a different persona and imagine how it might feel to be someone else.  This is key for building empathy. They may explore what it might be like to be a chef, a doctor, a teacher, a parent, or another role. These experiences give them the opportunity to develop their own self-concept.  In addition, it allows them to see alternate paths for themselves.

3. Problem-Solving on their own Terms: 
During play, a child will likely encounter problems within the activity or around the logistics of play. For example, how do you build a bridge out of blocks that will connect the couch with the coffee table that will also support the people that need to cross? Allowing space for a child to solve his or her own problems provides tools for doing so in other situations and promotes self-esteem and independence. 

4. Experiencing Social Cues to Build Skills: 
Children playing together will inevitably create times of harmony and times of chaos. As children navigate the play, they learn how to share toys, take turns, experience disputes, and resolve the conflict. Each action will have a reaction, and when a child is motivated to continue playing with their friend they learn that their decisions and behaviors will impact how long they are able to play. Although children sometimes benefit from adult input (especially guiding questions that help them resolve the situation rather than telling them what to do), children are generally able to create their own resolutions, learning important social skills in the process.

The next time your child is stuck, consider what elements of play could be infused to improve their learning. Would a multi-sensory approach allow for better understanding of the problem? Would playing pretend improve their understanding of the assignment? Find regular times to include play in your routine and see how your child responds.

Student Free Day 21 October

We are open Monday 21 October for Schoolies!!

Fundraising

Don't forget to collect a catolouge full of  quality gifts delivered just in time for Christmas. The centre receives 20% of all sales towards the purchase if new resources for the children 

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Spring has Sprung

October 2013

From the Directors Desk

Welcome to SPRING,

Hasn’t the year just flown by? As we are nearing the end of year it is important to let us know of your intentions with your child/rens care next year, we will be sending out letters of intent in the next two weeks for you to fill in and return.

As we have very limited vacancies we are looking at reconfiguring the rooms to meet our families need next year. This will be in place before the end of the year ready for a smooth start to the New Year.

Please remember if your child starts Prep in 2014 we sadly need to know an approximant date they will finish with us. Of course they are more than welcome to stay on with us right up until they start Prep, they will be in the Kindergarten room as the Kindergarten program runs term time only. All new Kindergarten enrollments starting prior to the start of term will also be catered for in this room.

Fees

Most parent’s and families have either set up Direct Debit or pay weekly or fortnightly via our EFTPOS, we thank you for this as it provides the Centre with ongoing income to purchase items for the Centre, pay staff wages and additionally allows us a seamless payment and reporting measures.

Those families who have outstanding fees will be sent reminders, please do not overlook these as it makes it hard for all when we need to ‘chase’ people for unpaid fees. Please do not hesitate to come and speak to us if you are finding it difficult to pay, we can arrange a payment plan for you.

 For families with outstanding fees and no payment plan in order your name will go to the bottom of next year’s waiting list.

Sustainability

 Sustainability at the Centre has become a priority as we head towards NQF with this in mind we have set up a Blog, it is only accessible to families and staff of The Lakes Early Learning Centre, all parents have been sent an email with permission to view the blog. It is a great way to display pictures and day to day happens of the Centre without excess photocopying and printing. If for any reason you would not like your child’s photo on our Blog please let Miss Elvira know as she is the authorized person to add content.

The Centre as a whole is looking at ways to become more sustainable, it would be wonderful if parents could provide any spare plastic shopping bags for us to reuse, if you no longer need them at home, also any magazines you have finished with would be greatly appreciated

Centre Opening and Closing Times

Our Centre is opened from 6.30am, while the staff are on the premises prior to this it is to open up and set up for the day, no children are to be left with staff until 6.30am. If the staff open the door beforehand please be aware you are required to stay with your child.

As in the evening the Centre closes at 6.00pm so please ensure you are here prior to this to collect your child/ren. Ensure you arrive a little earlier if you would like a chat the doors need to be locked at 6.00pm please do not stand in the grounds chatting as the staff cannot leave until everyone is off the premises, it is unfair to staff who have families, appointments and other commitments after their shift. We thank you for your cooperation in this matter.

We understand that emergencies arise and the Centre and staff are able to cater on those unfortunate occasions, as an ongoing concern our Insurance does not cover after these hours. Fees for after 6.00pm are charged at $1 per minute.

Staff

We welcome Miss Kerri, as Lead Educator in the Purple Room, she comes to us with a Associate Diploma of Children’s Service and many years’ experience.  Miss Jo has chosen to step back to Assistant Educator in the Purple Room to concentrate on furthering her studies, Miss Cody will become the lunch / programming/ study float in rooms 6 and 7.  

Thank you

Miss Adele and Miss Elvira