Little Investigators Foundation Learning at Ruskin Park 

As per our newsletter, we will be conducting a working bee on Monday the 27th October from 2:30-3:30. The fire brigade will be conducting a follow up session between 2:30-3:30, so we will be holding our working bee from 12:30-1:30 in the Prep building to decorate and fill the lucky jars for the fete.  If you have any ribbons or small items to decorate we would love it if you could bring them along.
We are sorry if this timetable change is an inconvenience to anyone, but we know the children will not want to miss the joy of seeing the fire engine and holding the fire hose.

Thank you

Alaine and Julie

TODAY we were very fortunate to have three wonderful members of The Metropolitan Fire Brigade conduct the first of two Fire Education sessions. The aim was to develop your child’s understanding of the importance of fire safety issues at home and the emergency procedures to follow in the event of a fire.

The children were taught if they smell smoke, they are to “GET DOWN LOW AND GO GO GO!” to the nearest exit and meet at the safety point that you have designated. If their clothing catching on fire, the children have been taught to “STOP, DROP, COVER (their face) ROLL” to extinguish the flames.

It was wonderful to see that the children were very aware of the emergency number 000 and how to request a particular emergency service.

This week  your child will been sent home with two pieces of homework. The first is to draw a safe meeting place for the family to meet in the case of a fire. The second is to discuss a Home Escape Plan in the case of a fire. We would like you to discuss the escape plan with your child and complete it and return it to school before next Monday 27^th October. We will then be able to share what the children have learnt with the members of the fire brigade.

Each child participating in the program will receive a certificate.

Get Down Low and GO GO GO! Video file 

Over the past few weeks we have been trialing a new approach to writing after a fantastic professional development session last term. The children have been given an opportunity to select the topics they want to write about. Once they have finished the children work in a one to one situation to edit their work. Below are some samples of the amazing writing our students produced today we hope you enjoy reading them.

I hope you enjoy reading the children’s first attempts to write a short story.

The Little Kitten by Hayley

Once there was a girl called Lucy she lived all be herself . One day she heard a strange noise coming from the bushes, it was a kitten and she was lost. So Lucy took her inside the house and she gave the little kitten food everyday. But the little kitten got sick so Lucy took her to the vet so the vet people could fix her all up. Lucy took the little kitten home.

Lucy looked in the letter box to see if there was a letter. There was a letter and it was about a pet competition for the cutest pet ever. Lucy’s pet won .

Every time Lucy got sausages the little kitten would bounce up on her and get the sausages. They became best friends forever.

The Train Station by Liam

Once upon a time a kid called Jack went to a train station. He saw the train coming but he fell on to the track. The Metro train driver turned on his emergency brakes and he stopped just in time.

The ambulance came and people came to see if Jack was OK.  Luckily he didn’t break any of his bones. Jack was always careful near trains and he lived happily ever after.

Creeper the Dwarf by Max

Once upon a time there was a dwarf named Creeper. He lived in a cave.

He liked to hunt, but one day he lost his axe. He looked everywhere in his cave. But when we looked under his bed, there was his axe!

He lived happily ever after.

Poor Dopey! by Harper

Once upon a time there was a dwarf named Dopey. He had a purple hat and a squeaky clown nose. He lived in a cave in the woods. He loves to hunt for treasure. He is cute and he is clumsy.

But one sunny day all of the dwarves were at work. Dopey bumped into the door. He fell sideways and fell into a hole! He called for help but nobody came. He stayed there all night.

The next morning Dopey was sad. He could not do anything except call. One day, one of Dopey’s friends saw him and fetched the others. They all helped him out.

What a wonderful way to end Term 3! The Preps were very excited about their first swimming experienced at school. It was difficult to hear yourself think on the bus due to all of the chatter. Our two Prep classes were separated, and Prep A began the session with swimming, and Prep B attended a basketball clinic. I am happy to report that we lost no bathers, we lost no underwear, socks or shoes. The children loved the adventure playground and slide in the pool, and for those who lacked confidence a life jacket made it possible for them to enjoy the experience fully. The basketball clinic was also a huge hit, as they practised simple drill exercises up and down the gymnasium. The children obviously used a lot of energy and enjoyed their picnic snack in the playground. I would like to thank all of the parents for allowing their children to attend the session and we hope they continue to develop their swimming skills in future years.

I carried away with the photos as you can see below.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the Prep families for their kindness in making my surprise wedding shower a huge success. The children were very excited and were overwhelmed with the pink and white deco ratios so thoughtfully provided by Mrs Beare. The highlight or course, were the plastic champagne glasses filled with lemonade. The room was a sea of pink and white with camellia petals and flower arrangements on the tables. The children squealed with delight as I walked down the aisle created by the children, dressed in my bridal headpiece ad veil. Although it wasn’t the real day, it was a good practice for what  lay ahead. Thank you for the beautiful platters of food and for keeping the secret. It was a wonderful surprise that I will cherish for many years to come. Hopefully nobody slept with their lolly bag under their pillow, as this means that I will be blessed with a family of six children!

On a personal note, I would like to thank you all for your generosity in the gift, which both Aaron and I will put to good use in setting up our house. I was overwhelmed and quite emotional by everyone’s kindness, and it is very humbling to know that all of the families enjoyed sharing in my special event.

Please see the photos of the bridal shower and the real wedding below.

In the Foundation level during library time, the children are eagerly exploring stories written by Mem Fox, a world renowned children’s author. The children have delighted in exploring the story of Possum Magic in their reading sessions, and were introduced to the concepts of setting, characters and story problems when they created their own story map related to Koala Lou. This was a wonderful story that shows the beautiful relationship between a mother and her child. You could have dropped a pin in the room as the story was read, because the children drew on their own experiences and the bond they have with each of their own mothers. We overheard the children talking as they worked at their tables and we heard comments such as “Even if your Mum is too busy to say ‘I love you’ it doesn’t mean that she doesn’t feel it in her heart.” and “It doesn’t matter what happens, your Mum will always love you the whole world.”

The beautiful story maps are on display in the corridor, and please visit to have a closer look at your child’s work. Below are some examples of the wonderful story maps the children created.

There was great excitement when dinosaurs were discovered roaming through the block construction area. The children flocked into the construction area to take up the challenge of creating a shelter for the dinosaurs. They worked co-operatively in small groups to create a stable shelter for their group of dinosaurs. Their creative ideas can be seen below.

Last semester we explored the concept of persevering. This a very important skill that everyone needs to become an active, successful learner. It is only when you take risks and have a go that your skills will improve. To highlight thisimportant skill, the children had an opportunity to make mud pies. They were given very little instruction and were sent off to ‘have a go’ using water and soil. It was obvious that some children used their prior knowledge or their experiences in the kitchen to make gorgeous little cakes, while others struggled to combine the two ingredients and were more concerned that their hands were dirty and covered in mud. After students shared their secrets to success, everyone had a second go and the results were very impressive and reinforced that practice makes perfect. We know the children are now applying this skill to their learning, particularly in the area of writing. We hope you enjoy these gorgeous photos.

It’s been a while between posts but we are sure that you understand that we had a very busy term last term. The children have enjoyed sharing their portfolios with you and they were very proud to show you the improvement they have made in their skills during the first five months of school. We also enjoyed catching up with each of the families and we appreciate the positive feedback that we received during the 3 way conferences.

Please check your child’s communication book because it includes a detailed 4 page update of coming events which will ensure that you will have advanced warning and time to prepare for.

Term 2 has started off with a bang and it’s all system go as we explore the wonderful world of plants and animals. As mini scientists, we have observed, explored and recorded our observations using our senses on a Y-chart thinking tool. We used these observations to formulate questions based on what we wanted to find out about plants. We used our observational skills to sketch plants in detail. These will be available for viewing on our open night during Education Week.

We’ve created our first investigation into seeds, which was prompted through Molly’s donation of seed pods from Croydon. Noah, Caleb, Hunter and Joshua have set up an investigation to see how plants grow most effectively. One investigation has seeds planted in soil, water and light. The second investigation, the seeds only have water and light to help them grow. A third investigation looks at seeds planted in soil and water in the dark. Finally, the children have left the seeds on a plate to see if they will germinate without assistance. Scarlett spent over 15 mins counting the number of seeds in a pod and she found a total of 7 seeds in one pod. Each seed pod varies as to the number of seeds inside.

We have also begun looking closely at insects using information books and creating clay models based on our observations. We have been detectives, and each day we have been looking at the features of animals in close-up photos to try and guess what animal they are.

Look at these photos. Which animals do they show? Leave your guesses as a comment!