Term 1 has flown by and it is hard to believe

that the Easter holidays are fast approaching. It has

been a busy term at Eastmont and I would like to

pass on a huge thank you to the staff and committee

members for a very productive term.

You will have noticed some changes at the Pre-School with our long day 4 year old

children now having mats for rest time and individual boxes to hold them in. Thank you to

the committee and their families who spent time flat packing to get these completed.

Thank you to Deborah Vukic and her wonderful Social and Fundraising team for a

fantastic Welcome BBQ. The sun was shining, the sausages were delicious and it was so

great to see so many families enjoying the event. Keep your eyes out for our Term 2 events

– you don’t want to miss out!

Our working bee for Term 2 will be held on Sunday 2nd April at 9am. We are planning

on topping up the sand pit and pruning some trees. We would appreciate any help from the

Pre-School community on this day. If you are able to come along a sign-up sheet is located

in the kinder foyer.

Please note that Term Two commences on Tuesday the 18th of April.

Melissa Crozier

President

On behalf of Eastmont Pre-School Association Inc.

March 2017 Newsletter

President’s

Report

2

3-Year Old Report

Attendance:

There are now 30 children enrolled in the 3 Year old group. The last vacant spot was taken

and the children who had not yet turned 3 have all had their birthdays and taken their places in

their respective groups. We have had quite a number of children absent with colds, croup and

fevers.

Program:

Most of the children have settled into kindergarten, with just a few of the children still

having some issues separating from their parent at the beginning of the session. These children

have a few tears and then eventually settle down and have a lovely session, Thank you to these

parents and grandparents for being strong and walking away, quite often the longer you stay the

harder it gets for everyone!

The children have embraced very quickly all the rules and routines that are involved in

being part of a group, and we have spoken about some of these at our group time. These rules

where compiled quite a few years ago in consultation with the children in the 4 year old groups

and they include;

*Walking feet inside, Play nicely, Play safely, Be Kind and Use your manners.

The children have really enjoyed exploring their new environment and finding all the

different activities that are on offer. Easel painting and pasting have been very popular so far this

term and also the train set and the cars and the dinosaur duplo, also printing with sea shapes and

foam brushes, next week we will be doing hand prints and then finger painting!!

The children are beginning to learn where they need to place their work when they have

finished, as it is their responsibility to do this, and we are helping them with putting smocks on

and off, and then it is their job to hang their smock back on the hook. Giving children even a little

bit of independence goes a long way towards looking after their own self help skills. 3 year old

children can be very capable when given the time and opportunity. It would be helpful to us and

the children if you could get their sun hat out of their bag at the beginning of the session and place

it in their locker, then later they will not need to search through their backpacks. In accordance

with our sun smart policy the children must wear sunhats until the end of APRIL.

The children are doing very well at mat time where we sit on the mat and have songs and

poems. Some of the songs we have been singing are Open Shut Them, Swimming at the Bottom of

the Sea, The Caterpillar song, Five Little Ducks, Wiggerly Woo and The Dingle Dangle Scarecrow.

It is hard to believe that we are nearly at the end of Term 1, which concludes on Friday 31st

March.

Thank you everyone for your support during this first Term enjoy the Term and Easter break

and we look forward to working with you in Term 2.

- Marie O’Brien

3

4-Year Old Report

The children have voted on names for their groups; Possums and

Koalas were the winners! There are currently 28 children in the long day

group (Possums) and 20 in the 5 hour program (Koalas).

The children are all settled into the kinder routine and are becoming

familiar with our names and the names of the other children.

The children have been enjoying lots of painting experiences, with

brushes, stamping and finger painting. Making “Butterfly” pictures

(creating shapes by squeezing paint between folded paper) has been a

favourite. The Duplo Toolo and the Brio train set have been very popular

inside.

We have been making the most of the warm weather and adding

water to the sand pit as well as having water in the trough with plastic sea

creatures.

We have been singing songs about dinosaurs, dancing to the Hokey

Pokey and If You’re Happy and You Know it. The children have also been

engaging in movement to music and whole group drama play with Helen,

acting out Goldilocks the Three Bears and Three Billy Goats Gruff.

Roo Keepers reptile incursions will be coming to kinder on Tuesday

28th and 29th Wednesday.

Term 1 will end on Friday 31st March and Term 2 commences

Tuesday 18th April.

Wishing everyone a happy and safe Easter break.

- Sonya Skok

4

At Eastmont Pre-School we offer a play-based, child centred-curriculum

that is guided by the Victorian Early Years Learning and Development

Framework and the Early Years Learning Framework. We aim to create a

warm, caring, inclusive environment where children of all abilities feel

relaxed, supported and happy and are able to explore, discover, imagine and

create.

We promote respect and care for other children, adults and all living

creatures as well as an appreciation of nature and respect for the

environment.

We respect individual differences and foster an environment in which

each child and educator is supported and valued for the unique

strengths and interests that they bring to the group.

We provide opportunities that encourage and develop, self-esteem, a

positive self-image and communication and independence skills.

We recognise that families are a child’s first and most important

educators and seek to work in collaborative partnerships with them to

ensure the best outcome for all children. We welcome and encourage

family involvement in all aspects of our service.

We value cultural diversity and acknowledge that Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people are the traditional owners of the land and

the original inhabitants of Australia.

We recognise that Eastmont Pre-School is part of our local community

and value opportunities to contribute to that community.

We continually strive to improve the quality of our service.

5

2017 Management Committee

Director Sonya Skok eastmont.kin@kindergarten.vic.gov.au

President Melissa Crozier president@eastmont.org.au

Vice President Lisa Chen vicepresident@eastmont.org.au

Treasurer Ellen Zhu treasurer@eastmont.org.au

Secretary Michelle Holmes secretary@eastmont.org.au

Minutes Secretary Natalie Bryant minutessecretary@eastmont.org.au

Enrolment Officer –

3 Year Olds Penny O’Donnell enrolment3yo@eastmont.org.au

Enrolment Officer –

4 Year Olds Cassie Morris enrolment4yo@eastmont.org.au

Grants/Policy/OH&S Amanda Hunt grantspolicyohs@eastmont.org.au

Projects/Maintenance Ash Holmes projects@eastmont.org.au

Communications Officer Flora Luo communications@eastmont.org.au

Administrative Officer Lynette Ellis admin@eastmont.org.au

Social Fundraising

Coordinator Deborah Vukic fundraising@eastmont.org.au

Our Teachers

Sonya Skok Teacher, 4 year old

Helen Butcher Assistant, 4 year old & Teacher, Toddler Pre school

Moira Doolan Assistant, 4 year old

Marie O’Brien Teacher, 3 year old

Sue Eddy Assistant, 3 year old

6

31st March

Term 1

Ends

Term 2

Working

Bee 2nd April

Allergy Alert There are children attending Eastmont Pre-School this year, in the 3 and

4 year old groups, that suffer from life threatening allergies to peanuts and

cashew nuts. Even trace amounts of these can cause a reaction.

Regulations require that we bring this to the attention of the kindergarten community

and ask that all children in all groups;

Do not bring

PEANUT BUTTER or any food containing

PEANUTS or CASHEW NUTS to kinder.

Chocolate and other food that states “may contain traces of nuts” is acceptable.

To minimise the transfer of allergens from home please ensure your child

washes their hands at home before they come to kinder.

Term 2

Commences

18th April

Open Day

20th May

If any of our Eastmont families have somebody employed in an organisation that offers

community grants through staff members, you could help us secure valuable funding

for the kinder! We know of the following companies that offer grants for staff with an

interest in community organisations:

- Telstra - RACV - NAB - ANZ

- CommBank - Suncorp - Bendigo Bank

If you work for one of these companies, or any other with a corporate grants and

sponsorships program, please let us know at grantspolicyohs@eastmont.org.au

7

2017 Kinder Vacancies

We have a few more vacancies in toddler pre-school program for 2017.

Please pass on the message to your friends and neighbours.

For Toddler Pre-School enrolment enquiries please contact: enquiries@eastmont.org.au

For 3 Year Old enrolment enquiries please contact: enrolment3yo@eastmont.org.au

For 4 Year Old enrolment enquiries please contact: enrolment4yo@eastmont.org.au

Aqualink

Attune

Beauty In 7th Heaven

Bounce Inc

Brakes Plus

Bunnings

Captains Choice Fish n

Chips

Caribbean Gardens

Chic Little Shed

Coach & Horses

Dance Fitness

Dan Murphys

Eclipse Fitness

Fernwood Fitness

Fitness Worx

Flake Haven

Fruition Tuition

Fudge

Genesis

Good Scents

Howards Storage

J.D Portrait

Just swimming

Nunawading

Leaping Lizards

Light Space Yoga

Lollipops

Lou- Na Dance school

Maroondah Leisure

Melbourne Museum

Michael Sukkar MP

Mondelez

Morack Golf Course

Neil Angus MP

Pancake Parlour

Payom Thai

PharmaSave

PJs Mexican Kitchen

Puffing Billy

Rise N Grind

Shelly's Hairworks

Skin Face Body

The Enchanted Maze

Top Taps Dance School

Two Brothers

Vermont Thai

Vermont Florist