Wow, it has been a wonderful year watching the children in the Arctic room grow and learn as independent individuals. We celebrated their achievement through a Graduation Ceremony.

You are a very special person and you should know,

How I loved to have you in my care

How fast the year did go!

Please come back to visit me

As through the grades you go

Try hard to learn all that you can

There's so much to know

One thing I tried to teach you

To last your whole life through,

Is to know that you are special Just because, you are you!

Farewell children from the Arctic room !

As the children in the Arctic Room begin their transition to kindergarten through participating in the school orientation process, we have been preparing the children by offering school lunchbox sessions. For the past 2 weeks, the children practice unwrapping their afternoon tea snacks that have been wrapped in cling-wrap and placed in their lunchbox.

To encourage healthy eating, the children are encouraged to drink water from their drink bottles and also snack on a piece of fruit once they have finished their sandwich prepared by our cook Miss Maritza.

The children were very excited to participate in the school lunchbox session, showing off their lunchboxes and learning to unwrap their sandwiches.

This week, the children celebrated Halloween by dressing up in their favorite costumes to show off to their class peers and educators. The educators programmed various learning experiences reflecting the Halloween theme and the children were very lucky to participate in a Trick or Treat visiting the rooms around the service.

The children also showcased their awesome dance moves during the Halloween Disco and the children were very excited to see the colourful disco flashing lights.

Take a look at our wonderful Halloween photos ....

Walk alongside me, Daddy and hold my little hand

I have so many things to learn that I don't yet understand.

Teach me things to keep me safe from dangers everyday,

Show me how to do my best at home, at school, at play.

Every child needs a gentle hand to guide them as they grow.

So walk alongside me, Daddy we have a long way to go.

What a great afternoon the children have had spending time with their daddies being involved in various activities within the education and care service.

Thank you to all our wonderful fathers and grandfathers who took time out of their busy afternoons to spend time with your children at the Centre.

We hope you had an amazing day!

Literacy builds the foundation for all areas of learning during a child’s life. Little Bees Child Care centre promoted the importance of literacy and reading to young children at the education and care service throughout book week.

This year’s Book Week theme is ‘Escape to Everywhere’. Throughout the week children had the opportunity to explore various forms of literature such as picture books, poems, felt stories and storytelling. Children and educators came come dressed as their favourite book character from various children’s story book.

Thank you to all our wonderful families for participating in this wonderful event.

The KindiFarm experience was an exciting way to learn about, investigate and explore Farm animals. As the children ventured into the Arctic Room, their faces brightened as they saw the various farm animals, including, a piglet, chicks, rabbits, and guinea pigs. The farmer introduced the children to all the animals that she brought along with her, and asked the children if they could tell her what the baby version of each animals was called.

The Farmer then guided the children to feed the animals, explaining that they would need to create a bowl like shape with their hands, and the would feel a tickle as the animals ate the food. The sound of laughter, and joy filled the air as the children ran to collect the food with enthusiasm and proceeded the feed the animals. A hands on experience followed along as the farmer and the educators brought several of the smaller animals including the guinea pigs, rabbits and piglet, for each child to pat and hold.

The Kindifarm experience was enjoyed by all the children involoved on the day.

This week we all wore our pyjamas to school. The children and staff had a great week doing various activities and having a 'movie session' where we watched Shrek in the Jungle Room while eating popcorn and lollies. The children thought it was so funny seeing all the teachers come to school in their pyjamas!

Little Bees Childcare Centre celebrated NAIDOC Week from Monday 3 July till Friday 7 July 2017.

NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements and is an opportunity to recognise the contributions that Indigenous Australians make to our country and our society.

This year’s theme ‘Our Language Matters’ - aims to emphasis and celebrate the unique and essential role that Indigenous languages play in cultural identity, linking people to their land and water and in the transmission of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, spirituality and rites, through story and song.

What a great experience our Little Bees students had today with a visit from our local Firefighters. They discussed the importance of fire safety with the kids, what to do in an emergency and they even showed us their fire truck, uniforms...

This experience not only helped the children to develop a better understanding of fire safety, it also helped to reinforce our efforts to achieve Outcome 2 from the Early Years Learning Framework with the children which states children should be connected with and contribute to their world.

The importance of educating and protecting children from the dangers and trauma that can be caused by fire, especially fires in and around the home, is widely recognised. Accordingly, Fire & Rescue NSW's firefighters have been visiting local preschools and teaching fire safety to children through the Pre ED program for many years.

Home Activity - Get Down Low and Go, Go, Go

Inform the children that fire gives off smoke

Ask your child if they know what smoke alarms are. Show them where they are situated in your house and discuss where they might be found in at pre school or other places.

If you can, sound your smoke alarm

Ask your child what they would do if they heard a smoke alarm at home or at school.Explain to the child that the safest place for them to be when a room is smoky is under the smoke level.To get under the smoke level they will need to Get Down Low and Go, Go, Go.

Demonstrate to your child how to crawl on all fours

Get your child to demonstrate crawling on all fours and saying to themselves, Get Down Low and Go, Go, Go.Use a large piece of red fabric as an imaginary smoke level. Direct your child to crawl underneath it.Combine all the previous points by getting your child to hear the smoke alarm, crawl to the door and then follow the escape plan.

The children had a very special visit from a Police Officer who came to the service to talk to the children about police officers and being safe. The police officer described to the children how they can identity Police Officer's by their special blue uniform and some children were given the opportunity to dress up in the police uniform and pretend to be a police officer. The police officer also introduced a mascot penguin known as Constable Charlie who helps keep the children safe. The police officer also discussed with the children which number they can ring when there is an emergency and most of the children were able to identify the number as '000', he also explained to the children that there are 3 phrases that children can say when someone approaches them that they don't know. The children learn about the following phrases;

- '"No!"

- "Go Away!"

- "Stop!"

The children also learn about people in the local community who are adults that are safe and the children were able to identify (doctors, teachers, police, firefighter, nurse) according to the poster the children were presented with. (outcome 1.2, 1.4, 2.1, 3.1, 5.1)

"Mother's hold their children's hand for a short while, but their hearts forever."

What a great morning we have had celebrating our wonderful mothers and Grandmothers of the service.

Our Mothers and Children had the opportunity to engage in a variety of experiences on offer in each room as well as interact with other mothers throughout the morning.

Thank you for taking the time out of your busy schedule to enjoy some morning tea with your child!

We hope you all had an amazing Mother's Day!

We saw some amazing creations created by our wonderful families for our Easter hat parade.

Children had the opportunity to showcase their wonderful creations to their peers and families for the morning for our Easter hat parade. Followed by this we wore our hats to go on an egg hunt.

Thank you to our wonderful families for coming in the service to participate in the parade with your children.

Chinese New Year is more than just firecrackers, 'lucky money' and dancing dragons - it honours Heaven, Earth and ancestors, and is a celebration of family and thanksgiving.

Children participated in various activities throughout the week learning about traditional Chinese customs through songs, art/ craft activities and participating in some special cooking experiences.

Australia Day, A day we come together as a nation to celebrate what's great about Australia and being Australian. It's the day to reflect on what we have achieved and what we can be proud of in our great nation. It's the day for us to re-commit to making Australia an even better place for the future.

Arctic Room Graduation went really well; with the children all happy and excited for the day! They all walked down the red carpet to meet Miss Jenny at the end to receive their certificate. They participated in performances that they had been practising and had a cake and took group photos before they started going home. It was a great way to end the childrens time at Little Bees. We wish all the children the very best going off to Kindy and for the future.

Christmas party 2016

May the festival of lights...

fill your life with...

the glow of happiness...

and the sparkle of joy...

HAPPY DIWALI!

What a fantastic afternoon we had celebrating our special fathers and grandfathers of our service. Our fathers, grandfathers and children enjoyed the variety of sandwiches, fruit platters, cupcakes, variety of cakes and muffins and tea and coffee, all while actively enjoying the indoor and outdoor environment and learning experiences on offer. It was great to see all our Dads working with their children actively engaged in different activities across all the rooms. Thank you to all our wonderful Dads who came and made the afternoon a great success. More photos from the event are also on display in our rooms. On behalf of all educators at Little Bees Childcare Centre we wish you a very HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Literacy is an important aspect within child development as literacy builds the foundation for all areas of learning during a child’s life.