Turner Preschool Term 3 Letter
Dear Parents/Carers,
Welcome back to Term 3!
PRESCHOOL PROGRAM
Early Years Learning Framework
At Turner Preschool we continue to provide a play-based program. This means that children have the opportunity to engage in unhurried and sustained investigations and learning experiences, interacting with each other and staff to enhance learning. Being, Belonging and Becoming: Early Years Learning Framework for Australia (EYLF) focuses on developing children’s learning under five broad outcomes:
- Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity
- Outcome 2: Children are connected and contribute to their world
- Outcome 3: Children have a strong sense of wellbeing
- Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
- Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators
Dates for your Diary:
Please make sure you are receiving our fortnightly school newsletter for all the information you need regarding school events, processes and changes. If you are not receiving the newsletter, please speak to your teacher or the front office team.
- 9th August: 8:30- 9:30 – Parent Literacy Workshop Session in the hall. Please come along if you would like to learn more about our approach to teaching literacy at Turner School.
- 16th August: Opening Ceremony for our STEAM festival
- 22nd August: P&C Trivia Night fundraiser for parents
- 26th August: Excursion to Questacon
- 27th August: Kenny Koala Visit
Term 2 Big Question: ‘How do Tinkerers Tink and Thinkers Think?’
Our STEAM Festival is on this term and will focus on the big question ‘How do Tinkerers Tink and Thinkers think’. Our opening ceremony will be on Friday in Week 4, preparing us for the main Festival in Week 5. This term we introduce the learner assets of ‘I am a Thinker’ and ‘I am a Collaborator’. These life-long learning skills are part of our ‘Turner Learner’ profile and is part of the globally essential skills our young people need to help them thrive in the big, wide world. On Monday in Week 6, preschoolers will be visiting Questacon to extend their learning in this area. We will be searching for volunteers closer to the date.
Our ‘big ideas’ continue this term, in order to develop deep understanding of key concepts. The preschool unit of planned inquiry this term is Who Am I with Country? This builds on the previous questions of Who am I and Who am I in my relationships? We are encouraging children to deepen their wonderings about nature through group time investigations and discussions as well as exploration of the outdoor area and garden. We will start the term with our buddies learning more about Australia’s role in the Olympic games. It’s lovely to see how far our preschoolers have come now we enter the second half of the year, and how smoothly they now engage with our daily preschool routines and set up and pack up for themselves. Our group times continue to offer opportunities for reflective thinking and ‘wonderings’, as well as supporting children to think and explore how their actions affect others.
Literacy
Every day children have many opportunities to recognise and write their own names and develop their representations of ideas through pictures, paintings and writing symbols. We also encourage rich conversations – listening to others and building on ideas. Through imaginative and problem-solving play, children develop their vocabulary and stretch their thinking. Rhyme and alliteration tune children into sounds within words. These are all wonderful foundational skills as our preschoolers move towards formal schooling. Every day we read quality literature to expand students’ vocabulary and their love for books and reading.
Small World Project
We are excited to launch the Small World Project in Preschool this term. The project links to Turner’s whole school approach to balanced literacy through inquiry and is a collaborative initiate run by Allison, Kayla and the preschool staff. The Small World Project is about taking even the smallest opportunity to build strong foundations for literacy learning. The project’s intended outcomes are linked the National Early Year’s Learning Framework (EYLF) and develops knowledge and skills related to engaging with and building meaning from great texts; expressing ideas through oracy, storytelling, and music and exploring how symbols and patterns work- leading to increasing understanding of print. We will be having time for parents to join us later in the term over a few weeks, more information will be coming home soon.
Numeracy
Group time and interactions with educators provide purposeful opportunities to count and talk about numbers for different purposes. While children are playing outside, they often count – for example, counting the number of jumps they are doing, counting down seconds as a way of timing turns on the swing or counting how many pieces of equipment they are packing up. Both reciting the number sequence and pointing and counting (one-to-one correspondence) build early concepts of number.
As with last term, we would like to refer you to our preschool philosophy, which underpins everything we do. We welcome feedback on these statements and you are always welcome to make suggestions to your child’s teacher.
Preschool Philosophy
Because we believe in the value of play and that children learn best when engaged in meaningful play-based experiences, every day in our preschool you will see children engaged in unhurried, uninterrupted play experiences that support their ideas, interests, learning needs and culture in authentic, open ended environments.
Because we believe that all children are capable learners and come with a sense of agency, every day in our preschool you will see children co-constructing learning with educators and peers with opportunities to inquire, experiment, take risks, have a voice and celebrate their culture and achievements.
Because we believe that families are the first and most important educators of children and that children learn best when strong partnerships are formed between families and educators, every day in our preschool you will see open, regular and two way communication about children and their learning needs with opportunities for family involvement and input.
Because we believe that children learn best when they have a deep connection with educators who encourage children to inquire and take ownership of their learning, every day in our preschool you will see educators modelling just enough to show them how and why; listening, questioning and encouraging children to take risks.
Because we believe that children learn best when actively participating as part of a community, every day in our classroom you will see educators supporting children from diverse cultures, backgrounds and abilities to practise acceptance, tolerance, understanding and resourcefulness.
We are looking forward to another exciting term of learning, and value working with you to support your children. Please contact us at any time throughout the year to discuss any issues of concern or simply to ‘touch base’.
Liga Ailte, Kerri Hayes, Anna Sofios, Sonia Nair, Kayla Gifford