...where children are happy to learn
Taking
Enrolments Now for 2025!
28 Julie Street Blacktown NSW 2148
Ph: (02) 9622 6990 Mob: 0421920096
blacktown@happydayskindy.com
Welcome to May!
I would like to acknowledge the Dharug people, the Traditional custodians of the lands on which I live and work today. I pay my respects to elders past, present and future for they hold the memories, traditions, culture and hope of Aboriginal Australians.
We are now on Facebook, please like our facebook page below.
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61572418169801&sk=about
What's on in May!
Mothers Day Afternoon Tea
Friday 9 May
Please Join us for an afternoon tea filled with cute activities for all to participate. We open our invitation to mums, nans, aunts and special females in our lives.
2pm- 4pm All Welcome
Australia's Biggest Morning Tea
Thursday 22nd May
Take away breaky on 22nd May, please donate $5 and receive a take away coffee of choice and a snack of choice for the drive to work.
Help in donating to the amazing cause to help raise essential funds for people impacted by cancer.
Nation Sorry Day & Reconcilation week.
Monday 26th May
National Sorry Day, observed annually on May 26th, is a day to acknowledge and remember the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities, known as the Stolen Generations. This day is also a time to reflect on the intergenerational trauma and the ongoing journey toward healing and reconciliation.
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
Children will be involved in some Aboriginal inspired activities such as, dance, craft, yarning circles and discussions.
Important Reminders
Fob (DOOR) Key
Please speak with Miss Ashleigh or the other Educators if you have not received a key. There us a charge of $25 per key, refunded at the end of your child's enrolment, once returned.
Car Park Etiquette
Onsite parking is something for all of us to share. Please follow these simple car park rules for everyone's safety:
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PARK AS CLOSE AS POSSIBLE TO THE COLOURBOND FENCE to allow another vehicle to park behind you. We can safely fit 4 vehicles at any time during drop off and pick up times if everyone is parked appropriately.
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DO NOT PARK IN THE DRIVEWAY IN FRONT OF THE CENTRE, this is the thoroughfare to allow vehicles to enter and exit safely at Happy Days.
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MAKE YOUR DROP-OFF/PICK UP AS QUICKLY AS POSSIBLE if you have parked someone in. If you’re planning on talking with an educator, we advise you to park on the curb side instead.
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DO NOT PARK IN THE STAFF CAR PARK.
Collection of Children by Others
You must call the Centre or inform educators if somebody else is collecting your children from Happy Days.
Children under the age of 18 are no permitted to drop off or pick up your child. An adult must always be present.
A valid ID from the person picking up your child is required to be presented to one of our educators for photocopying.
Policy Review
Every month we review a set of policies to ensure that they are relevant and up to date according to regulations.
You are invited to provide feedback on our policy of the month below (send your feedback to blacktown@happydayskindy.com):
Arrival and departure of children Policy
Incident, injury and Illness Policy
Communication
OWNA is our main source of communication. If you have yet to set up your notification's please do.
All events, announcements and and reminders will be posted and sent in OWNA.
Clothing & Sunscreen
Please ensure your child has a bag which contains SPARE CLOTHES which includes shorts ,pants, shirts, jumpers, socks and underwear. We understand that your child may not have accidents however spare clothes are required for those times your child may have an accident or gets wet or dirty.
As the weather is beginning to change, please bring Warmer clothes in your child's bag for weather changes such as a long/short sleeve shirt, a pair of shorts and pants/tights, spare socks and a jumper.
SUNSCREEN MUST BE APPLIED BEFORE OR UPON ARRIVAL AT THE CENTRE. You will find our sunscreen on the sunscreen table in the classroom just outside the foyer.
Sleep Sheets
SLEEP SHEETS ARE REQUIRED for all children 2-4yrs who are not in the Mighty Mangoes room.
These must be CLEARLY LABELLED with your child’s name and placed in a labeled pillow case. Your child may not have a sleep however it is our duty of care to allow your child to have a rest for 10min listening to soothing music while the room is cleaned after lunch. Your child will then be invited to participate in quiet activities with the educators.
Open and closing Hours
Please be reminded that Happy Days opens at 7am. Educators will not allow any child to enter the centre before 7am.
We close at 6pm. Parents must collect their child before 5:55pm as this time will allow staff to close the centre and go home to their own families on time. A late fee of $15 per 15 minute Block (eg if you are 5 minutes late you will be charged the $15) will be applied to your account for any late pick-ups. To ensure this doesn't occur please have an emergency contact on standby to pick up your child.
What we got up to last month...
Autism Awareness Day
The United Nations General Assembly unanimously declared 2 April as World Autism Awareness Day to highlight the need to help improve the quality of life of those with autism so they can lead full and meaningful lives as an integral part of society. We all wore blue shirts as blue represents autism and researchers have found that blue brings calmness in people with autism . The children participated in painting blue trees with cotton bud.The preschoolers participated in a puzzle project where they drew themselves and families on the puzzle pieces . Later they all worked together under their teacher’s guidance to assemble the pieces.
CHEEKY LITTLE EMUS SHOW
This was one the most popular show among children. The performer was very interactive during the show as she engaged all the children in range of activities. The children had? the opportunity to learn to say hello and bye in Dharug language. The performer also brought numerous aboriginal musical instruments with her. She also divided children into groups for them to use the instruments . Last but not the least the children got their face painted with the special clay called Ochre.
Chicken hatching program
The children (and parents) have all been very excited with the experience of watching chicks hatch from their eggs. The children showed their curiosity, learning about what the incubator is and how the chicks are able to hatch from their eggs. Through this program the children are developing care and respect for all living things and being responsible pet owners. They showed how they are able to carefully handle the chicks, and were able to see their development as they grow (noticing changes in their feathers and their size over the two weeks).
Anzac Day
ANZAC day is the national day of commemoration of Australia and New Zealand for victims of war and for recognition of the role of their armed forces. It marks the first major military action fought by Australian and New Zealand forces during the First World War. At Happy Days, we showed our respect through the learning experiences with the children, expanding their understanding of this day. Of course, we looked at the poppy in multiple ways, the symbolic appearance of the flower being easy for the children to replicate through craft, collage and painting. We enjoyed ANZAC biscuits by cooking them ourselves, each of the children having input before tasting them in afternoon tea. We also added some rosemary into our veggie garden! We observed the significance the rosemary into a soldiers jacket represented before some of us joined together to plant and water it.
Reptile Encounter show
Happy Days had the pleasure of having a Reptile encounter show here.
Presenter Bailey had lots of different Reptiles that we were able to look, hold and touch. even get kisses from.
There was a blue tongue lizard, a green tree frog, a carpet Python, and a shingleback lizard, lace monitor, bearded dragon and a few more.
The children then were able to paint their own wooden lizard or snake. The children learnt about what to do if they got bitten and safe and unsafe reptiles.
The children and educators thoroughly enjoyed themselves at the reptile encounter.
Focus Learning Programs
Happy Days Social Skills Program
We focused on emotions this month . Learning about emotions is one of the most important in children’s learning which help them understand different kinds of emotions . The children learning to identify different emotions trough discussion and mindmap as well as matching emotion faces . The children also extended their learning through creating different kinds of emotion with face template and playdough.
Playing And Learning to Socialise (PALS)
Happy Days Sustainability Program
Eco-Warriors
The educators are always looking at ways to remain sustainable and reduce waste at the centre, as well as incorporate natural elements into our program. We have been lucky to have several plants, including Australian natives, that we have been able to add to our yard, thanks to our local council and from Asher T’s family. For World Gardening Day, the children were involved in gardening and helping to care for the plants. We have also looked to add sensory elements to our gardens, with a variety of scented plants and herbs, which we can add to our learning experiences.
Miss Harinder used our old textas to create coloured water paints for the children to enjoy during art experiences.
We thank several of our families for donating items that we can use in our loose parts area, where the children are able to use their imaginations in using these resources in multiple ways.
Munch and Move
Happy Days Health & Fitness Program
This month the key message has been Drink More Water which we encouraged when doing our Drinking Water Challenge where we provided the children with cups of water and marked their water level and monitored how much they drank as we were being active outside. This was super fun for the kids to watch their own water intake and see just how much their water was going down. The fundamental movement skills this month is Hopping so the children had a blast getting the hopscotch out a few times throughout the month and using their hopping skills to get balance and hop from number to number.
Community Engagement
Happy Days Community Initiatives.
We have been in contact with the local council and have been given 20 free plants for the service. Our Backyard has recently been renovated and the addition of the native plants has been a great contribution.
Happy Days Culture Program
Culture & Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander topic
Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander-
This month children focused on dream time stories called ‘ Rainbow Serpent’ and ‘Mimi - the Mother Earths’. Miss Harinder read the stories and then discussed with children about what the stories were about to help them develop the understanding of the story. The children’s knowledge and interest in these stories were extended through painting, collage making and loose parts play. The main highlight was when children had the opportunity to make their own rainbow serpent with colourful yarn and ribbons which they weaved around a sponge roll .
The children learned about the Mother Earth and how we it take cares about it . In return it’s our responsibility to look after Mother Earth. The children liked to participate in Aboriginal art and painting and sensory play .
Culture:This month, we observed two different cultural events and a language week! Hana Matsuri is a Japanese flower festival celebrating the birthday of a Buddha. Happy Days observed Hana Matsuri through multiple experiences reflecting the culture. The Bug Bugs had made some tea and had a tea party whilst discussing the festival. Cherry Blossoms were painted one afternoon, as it is Cherry Blossom season in Japan, enhancing their ongoing flower festival. We also attempted to make our own buddhas using playdough. One week, we chose to do a language experiment week, focusing on some words of the Hindi language. The bug bugs chose to do colours and we observed Red, Blue, Green and Yellow, or in Hindi, Laal, Neela, Hara and Peela!
Classroom Updates
Happy Days Preschool/School Readiness Program
BRIGHT BUG BUGS
Bright Bug bugs school readiness:
We had another successful walk this month, and thank our parent helpers for co,ing along. The children continue to show they are responsible community members, keeping safe while walking on the footpath as well as crossing the roads. The children showed a lot of determination as they manoeuvred themselves on the climbing equipment at the park.
During this month, we continue to follow the interests of the children, including practicing writing, and numeracy skills- the children were able to copy various words onto the whiteboards, learning how to sequence numbers and one to one counting. The children have been asking questions about words and letters, and we have begun to brainstorm different words that begin with certain letters of the alphabet.
After our interest topic of community helpers, including health workers and doctors, the children became fascinated with learning about their bodies- we focused on how to keep our bodies healthy, parts of the body including the skeleton and internal organs. The children were able to create their own skeletons and also learned about ways of keeping our body healthy, such as healthy food and exercise.
Bright Bug bugs project:
Bug bugs have launched into their community helpers topic by now and have covered the big three- Police, Firefighters and Doctors. We’ve since moved onto Dentists, Vets and Farmers. Some of these topics correlated, such as all the health ones and made it easier to link and transition from them all with the children. A lot of discussions were included, as this gives us an opportunity to come together and listen to everyone’s opinions. Physical roleplays were a hit once more and having visual games after discussing allowed the topic to move further and engage the children more. A big one being discussing animals with fleas, and then moving onto an activity where they picked Pom poms off puppets! These sorts of activities were a hit the topic, utilising their engagement into intentional teaching. Crafts were still quite popular, a big one being designing our own toothbrush. These crafts allow children to talk to one another about their ideas and personal thoughts.
Magical Malya's
Learning Group for 3 to 4 year olds
This month the Magical Malya’s have focused on NUMBERS. This has included counting pom poms to create a caterpillar body, matching numbered spiders with numbered spiderwebs, hopping on the hopscotch and counting while doing so, jumping while counting, using number cards and counting out blocks to match and of course our counting 1-20 while clapping which the children have been loving! The crafts we have engaged in have been tracing numbers in paint, counting out leaves to glue on carrots, numbered handprints and ice cream building which have been super fun and the Magical Malya’s have really enjoyed developing their sensory and creative skills with these experiences. Finally we have also danced to some number themed songs which has encouraged the children to move their bodies as well as some videos such as a rocket ship countdown where everyone used their big voices to call out the numbers and watch the sheep blast off! It has definitely been a fun filled month and we cannot wait for next month!
Learning Program for 2 to 3 year olds
BOUNCING BOO ROO'S
This month the bouncing Boo Roos did lots of craft and sensory experiences, the children really enjoyed getting messy and being hands on in the activities they got to participate in. In April we focused on all animals, the children learnt about animals through listening to animals sounds and guessing what animal it was, role playing the different animals, we did this experience a few times this month as the children showed lots of energy and enjoyment during this. We also really enjoyed doing the animal craft, painting the different animals to help develop our imagination and creativity!