Welcome to Evesham Road Kindergarten!
‘Kindergarten’ means a child’s garden, a place for children to explore, experiment and play in a safe and nurturing environment. Here at Evesham Road Kindergarten, we aim to provide all children with a high quality educational program that values the importance of play and how play influences children’s development. Our kindergarten welcomes and respects children and their families, in a warm, caring and nurturing environment that promotes children’s wellbeing and sense of security, encourages individualism and celebrates children’s achievements.
Latest News & Events
July 17, 2023Please refer to Programs -> Session Times to view all available timetables. [...]
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July 4, 2023Applications for Term 3 Now & Next Sponsored groups are open for non-NDIS families.
The free program empowers parents with developmental concerns for their children to better support the whole family’s wellbeing, now and into the future. Term 3 enrolments are open until 21 July. Learn more about Now & Next and register below.
Now & Next is an award-winning online program for parents and carers to achieve positive learning and relationship outcomes for their child and the entire family.During this innovative eight-session evidence-based program, participants learn to:
Achieve more positive outcomes with less effort
Identify and build on their strengths and their child’s to make a big impact
Increase child and family wellbeing and resilience
Use strategies that have worked for other families, and more
Now & Next is facilitated by parent peer workers with lived experience in raising a child with disability or delay, who are trained and employed to support families. Over 900 families in Australia, New Zealand, Canada , Finland and Singapore have completed the program.
“Now & Next was everything I hoped for and more. I feel supported and empowered with the tools to break things down and work more easily towards outcomes for my son, my family and for me.”– Mother, VIC
Term 3 Now & Next groups start in July 2023. There are weekend and weekday groups held during the day or in the evening. Click on the Learn more & register button below for more details.
Learn life-changing skills for your child, your family and yourselfRSVP by Friday 21 July 2023
Learn more & register [...]
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April 17, 2023This newsletter is to keep the Parents and Carers of children attending Evesham Kindergarten up to date with activities and information with regards to the kindergarten.
Welcome to the Term 1 Newsletter
Important Upcoming Dates
Easter holidaysFriday 7th April to Tuesday 25th AprilWednesday 26th April back to Kinder!
Anzac Day Tuesday 25th April
Kinder Open DaySaturday 29th April 9am to 11am
Welcome PicnicSunday 30th April, 3pm
Mothers’ Day StallTBC
Bunnings Sausage SizzleMentone Bunnings – Saturday 13th May
THANK YOU WORKING BEE VOLUNTEERS!
A huge thank you to all those who came to help at our Working Bee on Sunday 26th March. We had a wonderful show of support with a full team turning up to lend a hand. It was a beautiful, sunny morning and such a great way for our parents to meet a few other members of the kinder community.Thank you to our Maintenance Officer Peter Schmidt for organising the morning. The kinder looks fantastic!
FUNDRAISING COMMITTEE SUPPORT
We are still on the hunt for some volunteers to support Trevor, our Fundraising Coordinator! There are several fundraising events throughout the year which are both fun and rewarding to be part of. If you have enthusiasm and/or skills to support in any, many or all of these events, we want to hear from you!
Some upcoming fundraising events to be part of:
Term 2Bunnings BBQ – Saturday 13th MayRegister here https://volunteersignup.org/8WYCW
Mother’s Day stall: subcommittee filledPicture Plates: 1 – 2 people required
Term 3Father’s Day stall: 2 people from each group and 1 person to coordinate
Term 4 End of year raffle: 1- 2 people to coordinate and 4 people to put hampers together
Other fundraising throughout the year that can be arranged (feel free to create something new!):-
Crazy sock drive
Tea towels with our children’s picture
Kinder fete? (this could be incorporated with info/AGM night)
Parents’ night – eg Trivia night/Bogan Bingo
Please email through your interest or any questions to Tamara at evesham.rd.kin@kindergarten.vic.gov.au
VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION TO KINDER
At Evesham Road Kindergarten, we are supportive of the government initiative of “free kinder”. This initiative has made it possible for all children to have access to a kindergarten program at a further subsidised rate, meaning no children will miss out on an early education.While this policy is a welcome relief for many families, it will mean an income shortfall for the kinder, compared to previous years.Here at ERK, we provide a high quality program with inclusions such as incursions, excursions and a sports program, all facilitated by highly qualified and experienced staff. Our unique curriculum caters for the individual needs, learning levels and differences of each child.To be able to maintain our high standards of education, we are asking for a voluntary contribution from families. This will bring our income in line with our expected expenditure per child, while still keeping costs low for families.An email with payment instructions will be sent through to families to make this contribution as they choose. We thank you in advance for your contribution and support of our not for profit kindergarten.
WELCOME PICNIC
Please save the date for the Evesham Road Picnic on Sunday 30th April at 3pm. The picnic will be held at Le Page Park Playground, Cheltenham (corner of Argus and Herald Streets).
Please bring a plate for everyone to enjoy. Please bear in mind that this is a nut free event.
This will be a lovely way for parents to mingle and kids to catch up. Any queries contact Sarah on 0401 102 380.
EASTER RAFFLE AND HOT CROSS BUN DRIVE
Thank you to Megan for organising our Kinder Easter Raffle and hot cross bun drive! We were able to raise $673 for the Kinder which will go towards renovating an Art and Creative Studio in the outdoor undercover area.
UNIFORMS
Thank you Kirby for arranging the second hand uniform stall last week. The kinder raised $152! Although they are not compulsory, if you are still wishing to purchase new uniforms you can order these at https://eduthreads.com.au.
ILLNESS
As we gear up for the colder months, a reminder to all families to please keep your child home if they are unwell to avoid the spread of illness to their peers and our staff.
KINDER ROOM REPORTS
Banksia Group
Welcome to Banksia Group
Dates for the Diary KidsROAR 4th April 11.15 – 12.15Teddy Bears Picnic and Maybe Easter Bunny Visit 6th April
Every session we start off singing our welcome song and sharing our thoughts with our friends. Thank you to all our families who stay and listen. It is a very brave thing for our friends to share their thoughts and ideas in front of an audience.
Banksia Group have settled in fantastically and have been so busy exploring and experiencing all that our program has to offer. Maggie and I are very proud at how settled everyone is and how well they are all enjoying the program.
Big Congratulations to Kristy and Matt on the beautiful arrival of little Neive, and also to Hannah and Ben, our newlyweds.
Here is a visual sneak peek at all the wonderful things we have been doing.
Learning a new Game with Miss MaggieGames are great for helping us to work together, take turns and follow instructions.
Music and movement is always fun and creative as we dance around and burn off some energy
And every day we practice our smiling mind. Learning to stop, take a breath and check in. Starfish breathing is always everyone’s favourite and can be done any where and anytime
As you can see we have had a marvelous start to our yearCan you just imagine what we have in store for the rest of the year!
Super Ange and Maggie
Waratah Group
Waratah’s first term has been very busy. This term we focus on building positive relationships with each other and developing a sense of belonging to the group through enjoyable interactions with others.
As a big group, we explored the natural environment and living things through various experiences such as exploring recycling materials, treasure hunt and bee incursion. Our children investigated nature and showed growing care for the natural environment. We also made some agreements through discussions at group time. As a group, we agreed on several rules to make the room a fair, safe and happy place for all of us. Through the interactions with others, some of us noticed that we are different in terms of languages, appearance and food. Celebrating the differences between people through reading and making art crafts allows us to develop motor skills and a sense of connectedness to our group.
In small groups, we had the opportunities to do various experiences including puzzles, building with blocks, and riding bikes. It is great to see some of our children make new friends and become more willing to invite or join others’ play. We engaged in enjoyable interactions with each other to practise using tools, develop our thinking skills and take on roles of literacy and numeracy users in the play.
For the last couple of weeks, we are going to have more incursions and continue to engage in learning experiences to support the holistic development of our children.
Bottlebrush Group
Emotional wellbeing: For the first few weeks, we read stories and had discussions about different feelings. We also have emotion cards available on the felt board so that children can talk about how they are feeling throughout the day.Sense of identity: To celebrate the diverse cultural backgrounds of families in Bottlebrush Group. We read a few stories about differences and similarities. We might have different skin colours, hair types, and languages, but everyone is welcome at Kinder and everyone is amazing! On 15th March, we celebrated St. Patrick’s Day with Olive and her parents, Laura and Paul. We danced to Irish music, read Irish tales, and learned about St. Patrick’s Day from Paul. Children also made yummy green biscuits and wore green accessories shared by Olive. To support children’s development of identity, we completed our self-portraits, which have been displayed in the room.
Easter bilbies: In preparation for Easter, we started making Easter baskets and other craft activities related to Easter. In Bottlebrush Group, the Easter bunny is not coming this year. Instead, Easter bilbies will be delivering Easter eggs for us. We’ve been reading stories, watching educational videos and having imaginary play about this endangered Australian animal, bilbies. We learned so much about bilbies and children have shown affection towards this cute little Australian species.
Fern Group
What a wonderful start we have had in Fern Group this term. The children have settled so beautifully into our Kinder routine and have loved exploring our indoor and outdoor environments.
This term, the children in Fern Group focused on our social connections with each other and worked on some mindful activities that we can do to help us if we are feeling a little nervous about our Kinder drop offs. Focusing on our breathing, some quiet colouring, sensory play and puzzles have worked so well in helping the children feel a little less overwhelmed at drop off times.
Fern Group have loved exploring our Art experiences, including easel painting, golf ball painting, printing and play dough. Clouie and I loved seeing all of the children give these activities a go and become more confident and they explore their creative side.
Outdoors, children have worked on their Gross Motor Development, climbing, balancing, jumping and pedalling a bike just to name a few. Our outdoor activities have aimed to work on children’s self and spatial awareness whilst also encouraging their social skills through cooperation, turn taking and communication.
Thank you Fern Families for a lovely first term.
Wattle Group
Over the month we have been very busy as we began our first project on bees. We had Hollie’s Backyard Bees come to visit our centre and talk to the children about the importance of bees and how they make honey. The children got the opportunity to explore their sensors and taste two different types of honey – raw honey and creamy honey. We learned about the body parts of a Bee and made our very own beehives using paint.
We had Black Snake Productions come to teach the children about how we can care for our reptiles and animals. We were able to pat a turtle, blue-tongued lizard, a frilled-neck lizard, snake, python, small crocodile, betong and a possum. All children actively participated and showed such great bravery.
We also had KidsROAR Personal Safety 4 Kids program come in to teach the children about body safety and the correct terminology for our body parts. The children learnt that it is Ok to say no and to use our words to express this.
To extend upon our interest in dinosaurs as a group we engaged in a volcanic eruption science experiment. The children then created their own mini volcanic eruptions using pipettes, food colouring, vinegar, and bicarb soda.
Other science experiences that we have participated in over the month include The Water Cycle and Germs (hygiene and hand washing).
As Easter is fast approaching the children have been participating in a range of Easter experiences such as Easter egg colour matching, Easter egg hunts and a range of art and craft experiences. The children have also made their very own shortbreads to take home and share with their families. They helped bake, wrap and ribbon these. They also engaged in a weaving easter egg activity where they used their fine motor, concentration and problem-solving skills to make a creative colourful Easter card to also take home to their families.
We hope you have a lovely break and we look forward to more learning in term 2!
CONTACTING THE KINDER OR YOUR TEACHER
If you need to speak to your child’s teacher you are most welcome to do so, teachers are generally available after a session for a brief discussion. You can also phone the kinder to organise an appointment. If you would prefer to contact the kinder via email please use the following email addresses.
Gerry president@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Terri director@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Tamara evesham.rd.kin@kindergarten.com.auAnge angela@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Maggie maggie@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Niki niki@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Clouie clouie@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Anthia anthia@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Flora flora@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Doris doris@eveshamroadkinder.com.au Bec bec@eveshamroadkinder.com.au
Please note, if your matter is urgent, please phone the kinder or speak to your teacher in person.
Child Safety Statement
At Evesham Road Kindergarten, we are committed to the rights of all children to feel safe. We work hard to meet child safe standards, and this includes promoting
The cultural safety of Aboriginal children
The cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and
The safety of children with a disability.
We always act in the best interests of every child, and regularly engage in professional discussions around children’s health and wellbeing, our legal obligations to protect children, supporting families, and improving upon our practices, to ensure the safety of all children, at all times. [...]
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Our Child Safety Commitment Statement
At Evesham Road Kindergarten, the Staff, Committee and Parents are committed to the rights of all children to feel safe, and be safe, while in our care. We work hard to meet child safe standards, providing a safe environment for all children including Aboriginal children and their families, which ensures their safety, health, and wellbeing, and to promote
- The cultural safety of Aboriginal children
- The cultural safety of children from culturally and/or linguistically diverse backgrounds, and
- The safety of children with additional needs
We will always act in the best interests of every child and take responsibility for creating safe and inclusive environments for all children and their families, through policies and procedures, education, professional learning, reflective practice, and positive action. The Staff, Committee and parents are committed to best practice, and we have a zero-tolerance approach to child abuse, harm, racism, and discrimination.
Kindergarten Tours
For a tour of our kindergarten, please visit us during our session times. We would love to show you around our centre. Alternatively, you are welcome to make an appointment, phone 9583 6158 to arrange a time.
