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6 tips to support your child with the transition to school

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6 tips to support your child with the transition to school

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Find contacts throughout the NSW Department of Education. For head office, call 1300 679 332.

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Introducing Joey and Kanga!

Each year, our new Kindy students are welcomed by Joey through the charming story of "Joey Goes to OOSH." Joey's journey highlights the transition from preschool to school, helping our little ones feel more comfortable and excited about this big step.

But the adventure doesn't stop there! After many wonderful conversations with our children, we're thrilled to announce that Joey will continue his journey at OOSH, accompanied by his loving mother, Kanga.

Joey and Kanga’s Community Adventure Book

We're excited to launch our new community initiative: The Community Adventure Book! This special project is designed to strengthen the connection between our families and our service. Each weekend, one of our families will take Joey and Kanga home, creating a unique opportunity to share your weekend adventures.

Here's how it works:

1. Take Joey and Kanga Home: Each weekend, a different family will host Joey and Kanga.

2. Share Your Moments: Use the Xplor app to share special moments and activities.

3. Community Adventure Book: Our staff will compile these stories and photos into our Community Adventure Book, which will be available for all the children to enjoy and read about.

This initiative allows us to see what our families do over the weekend and introduces traditional activities and values into our service, fostering a strong sense of community and belonging.

Thank you for being part of this wonderful journey! We can't wait to see the adventures Joey and Kanga will embark on with each of your families.

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Sydney Children's Hospitals Network acknowledges that our facilities are built on the lands of the Bidjigal, the Cammeraygal, the Burramattagal, Cabrogal, Wangal, and the Woddi Woddi. Our services extend across the lands now known as New South Wales.

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This link provides information about the Child Care Rebate (CCR), Child Care Benefits (CCB) and Jet funding. Follow the link to apply or find out more.

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Most viewed payments for Growing up - Services Australia

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The payments and services most viewed by other website visitors.

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Raising Children is a parenting website that offers up to date, research based material on more than 800 topics spanning child development, behaviour, health, nutrition and fitness, play and learning, connecting and communicating, school and education, entertainment and technology, sleep and safety.

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Government website to keep you up to date with what’s going on in our Australian schools.

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The Department of Education works to ensure Australians can experience the wellbeing and economic benefits that quality education provides.

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National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn more about the shared histories, cultures, and achievements of our wonderful country. It is a chance for us to find out how we can contribute towards the goal of achieving reconciliation in Australia as we build connections and learn to truly value the histories, cultures and futures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

To begin National Reconciliation week we discussed our service Acknowledgement of Country and explored the NSW AEGG languages App.

Did you know our service Reconciliation Action Plan can be found on the parent information shelf located near the OOSH office on our website and of course on our community padlet.

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GreenMoney

You can be rewarded for recycling and so much more!

We have teamed up with GreenMoney to reward people for taking every day green actions such as recycling more, reducing household waste to landfill, growing your own food, composting and volunteering to help preserve and keep bushland, waterways and open spaces litter free and thriving.

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You can be rewarded for recycling and so much more! We have teamed up with GreenMoney to reward people for taking every day green actions such as recycling more, reducing household waste to landfill, growing your own food, composting and volunteering to help preserve and keep bushland, waterways and open spaces litter free and thriving.

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Our children’s philosophy is centred around curiosity, creativity, joy, kindness, and resilience. These principles guide them as they explore their world, express themselves, and develop into compassionate and confident individuals.

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Our Photo Philosophy- Our service philosophy in action!

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Our Photo Philosophy- Our service philosophy in action!

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Moka Bandi is a guessing game that was observed being played at Cape Bedford in north Queensland. Moka Bandi means 'to think' or 'remember' in the Kaurna language of South Australia. No local word for the game was found for the people of north Queensland and the name selected recognises that this type of activity was played in various parts of Australia. This game was a mixture of I spy and 20 Questions, as we were inside the children would decide in their mind an animal, plant or place and the other players would ask closed questions to work out what they were thinking of. Next time, we will play this outside and the children will chose one of these topics as something they can see.

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Today were notified that we were successful in our application for $28 000 through the Department of Educations Development Grant. 'The Development Grant Program aims to encourage and support projects, initiatives and programs that are designed to increase the viability of an approved service. This sustainability may be achieved through such things as increased utilisation and enrolments, more accessible and attractive programming, administrative efficiencies, staff training, marketing and more'.

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Development Grant 22-23 Application Form (1)

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This week a few of the girls have been watching and learning a YouTube dance choreographed by Chantel Kerr. This dance is a contemporary take on first nations dance and was posed on the Blacktown Arts YouTube channel.
The girls practiced this dance throughout the week and performed it for all 3-6 children in the Hall. We even had parents come and watch!
Click here for the youtube dance workshop.

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Advice about the amount and kinds of food that we need to eat for health and wellbeing

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Advice about the amount and kinds of food that we need to eat for health and wellbeing

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Grab a cuppa and some damper and have a yarn with local First Nations Elders on Friday mornings at Elders in Residence.

Acknowledging our place on Darug land, connect with stories of the deep past and First Nations culture.

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Grab a cuppa and some damper and have a yarn with local First Nations Elders on Friday mornings at Elders in Residence.

Acknowledging our place on Darug land, connect with stories of the deep past and First Nations culture.

Please note that sometimes our Elders have other commitments and, as such, who is present each week may change.

All ages welcome.
Damper and beverages provided.

When

Location

The Leo Kelly Blacktown Arts Centre, 78 Flushcombe Rd, Blacktown, 2148, View Map

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Grab a cuppa and have a yarn with local First Nations Elders on Friday mornings at Elders in Residence.

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We are excited to be showcased in the Department of Education's webinar on grant's - Fast foraward to the 5min mark! 

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We are excited to be showcased in the Department of Education's webinar on grant's - Fast foraward to the 5min mark! 

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Warrigal Greens Salad - Reconciliation Week

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Warrigal Greens Salad - Reconciliation Week

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In respect of Reconciliation week, our busy bees gardening club did some healthy cooking with native plants. We went to the school garden and picked some Warrigal greens. This is a type of spinach native to Australia. After teaching the kids about the native flora and its importance to First Nations people, we took them down to our kitchen and got to work cooking! The kids helped peel the carrots, fry the spinach and mix the salad all together. With a dash of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and sunflower seeds, our delicious salad was made! The children devoured their creation and had happy tummies.

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You are invited to attend an ONLINE Language of Friendship parent-child workshop on Tuesday 17 October at 6:30pm.

Tyson Greenwood (Director of URSTRONG) will teach you and your children skills + language to foster healthy, feel-good friendships.

Registration Required: CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
*You will receive an email immediately after registering with the zoom details. If an email doesn’t land in your inbox, be sure to check your junk folder.

We believe that empowering our students with these skills will create a culture of kindness at our service and we hope you can attend.

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Changes to Child Care Subsidy

From July 2023 the Australian Government will be increasing its Child Care Subsidy (CCS) rates for families.

Some of the key changes that make this such positive news for Metella Road OOSH families include:

Lifting the maximum CCS rate to 90% for families earning $80,000 or less

Increasing CCS rates for around 96% of families with a child in care earning under $530,000

Investing $33.7 million to increase subsidised ECEC to a minimum of 36 hours per fortnight for families with First Nations children.

Avoid losing your child care benefits or incuring a debt– families must confirm what they earned in 2020-21 and 2021-22 financial year's by 30 June.

Families can check or update their income estimate at any time using:

Your Centrelink online account through my.gov.au

The Express Plus Centrelink mobile app

The MyGov app

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Access government services from one place.

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https://www.aboriginalchildrensday.com.au/

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National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day |

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Little Voices, Loud Futures

#LittleVoices #LoudFutures

SNAICC is the National Voice for our Children. As the national peak body, we have a responsibility to make our children's voices as powerful as possible, now and into the future. A First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution will amplify the work being done to ensure our children can flourish, with power over their destinies.

This year's National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day theme 'Little Voices, Loud Futures' fires that ambition. We are raising awareness for the bright futures of our children and the potential for their voices to pave a new path for our nation. As always, we support the voices of our children in calling for a future where they are proud and empowered by their culture to speak their truth and be listened to by all Australians.

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National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Children's Day

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National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day (Children's Day) is dedicated to celebrating our children on 4 August across Australia.

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2022-2023 Innovation Grant- Project 'OOSH Resilience Project, Creating a 'Fun Factory'. IN22/230054R1

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2022-2023 Innovation Grant- Project 'OOSH Resilience Project, Creating a 'Fun Factory'. IN22/230054R1

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Family feedback from our Language of Friendship Workshop

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Family feedback from our Language of Friendship Workshop

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Capture.JPG U are strong workshop facebook.JPG

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2021-2022 Vacation Care Grant- Project 'Seed to Stove' VACA210102

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2021-2022 Vacation Care Grant- Project 'Seed to Stove' VACA210102

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Snap of our service feature on the Department of Education 'How to improve your OSHC grant application. 

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Snap of our service feature on the Department of Education 'How to improve your OSHC grant application. 

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Our service showcase on the Department of Education 'How to write a successful grant application' webinar.JPG

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Showcase of our service successful grant in the Department of Education presentation on 'How to improve your OSHC grant application'- May 2023 (5min 11 sec)

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Showcase of our service successful grant in the Department of Education presentation on 'How to improve your OSHC grant application'- May 2023 (5min 11 sec)

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2020 Vacation Care Transition Grant- Project 'Inclusion' VACAPIL2000020

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2020 Vacation Care Transition Grant- Project 'Inclusion' VACAPIL2000020

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On Thursday the 1st of June we hosted a Tri Games Tournament! The students participated in three different games from the Yulunga Curriculum.
The children rotated between Wingara (a drawing game), Garumba (arm wrestling) and Kabi Kabi Buroinjon (a ball game).
Wingara:
Wingara is a guessing game played by aboriginal children in the areas around Newcastle. Using the kernel of a wild plum the children drew a picture of a fish or animal. This was concealed in a closed hand and the group sat around and attempted to guess what was represented on it. Wingara translates "to think" in thelanguage spoken by the people in the Sydney & surrounding areas.
Garumba :
Teams from far and wide gathered at a 'place of wrestling' in Kabi Kabi territory in south QUeensland each year. Pairs would competed in wrestling. Gurumba means 'wrestlers' in the Kabi Kabi language.
Kabi Kabi Buroinjon:
This game was played with a ball made of kangaroo skin, which was called buroinjon. The ball was sewn with tendons and stuffed with grass. It involves running and passing a ball in an attempt to score a touchdown. This was done by running across a line at the other end of the playing area without being touched by an opponent.

The children loved Kabi Kabi Burounjon the best and have requested to play it again.

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Please find attached our 2023 Reconciliation Action Plan Working Document. This document is used to develop ideas, make notes about RAP details and to inform internal reflection & planning processes relation to the RAP.

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Get Up & Grow- Food ideas for busy parents 

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Get Up & Grow- Food ideas for busy parents 

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https://www.health.gov.au/resources/translated/get-up-grow-food-ideas-for-busy-parents-other-languages

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https://www.health.gov.au/resources/translated/get-up-grow-getting-out-and-about-outdoor-active-play-other-languages

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https://www.health.gov.au/initiatives-and-programs/get-up-grow

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Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care

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About the program

The program produced 16 publications for parents and 3 for educators. They covered topics such as breastfeeding and returning to work, positive eating practices, the importance of active play and many more.

The program is now complete, but you can still download the publications for use.

English resources

Resources for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Translated resources

We also translated publications for parents into several community languages:

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The Get Up & Grow program developed resources that help parents and educators to make sure children eat healthy foods and are physically active, so they grow up healthy and strong. The resources are available in multiple languages.

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Thank you to Blacktown Fire Department for paying us a visit. 

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Thank you to Blacktown Fire Department for paying us a visit. 

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Hear what the kids think about our Team!!

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Our donation from Toongabbie Tigers for Breakfast Club

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Our donation from Toongabbie Tigers for Breakfast Club

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It looks like the kids are being replaced by some unusual creatures!!

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It is paramount that our health and hygiene practices are followed. This simple experiment gave our children a visual demonstration on the importance of using hand wash when washing our hands.

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Check out our lockdown 'Brain Break' ideas from 2020

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Check out the video we found in our OOSH archives!!

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Show and Tell with Jess- Seaweed Baskets

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Show and Tell with Jess- Seaweed Baskets

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Show and Tell with Jess- Tjanpi Desert Weavers

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Show and Tell with Jess- Tjanpi Desert Weavers

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Jess Show N Tell | Tjanpi Desert Weavers

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Show and Tell with Jess - Boab Tree Seeds

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Show and Tell with Jess - Boab Tree Seeds

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Show And Tell with Jess - Boab Tree Seeds

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Always was, always will be Aboriginal land

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Always was, always will be Aboriginal land

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Wheelchair sports experience- 2020 Vacation Care Grant

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Wheelchair sports experience- 2020 Vacation Care Grant

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outcomes in practice- A Metella Road OOSH visual 

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Tok is a ‘secret’ play-language game which was reported on Waiben (Thursday) Island in the early 1970s. It was spoken by girls in Torres Strait Creole and was introduced to Dauan Island, where it was spoken in the local language. The language was spoken fluently in unprepared talk.

The children were challenged to insert after each normal syllable an additional one starting with a ‘k’, followed by a vowel used in the preceding syllable. This was challenging and had the children trying to say their names, good morning and goodbye.

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This week children have watched 'Around the Campfire', a docuseries that looks at different stories of First Nations people and the work they are doing around Australia.

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Elders and leaders from Aboriginal communities around the country share their stories, hopes and history.

Chef and prominent indigenous personality Damon Leftwich shows us his favourite spots in his hometown of Cairns.

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Elders and leaders from Aboriginal communities around the country share their stories, hopes and history. Chef and prominent indigenous personality Damon Leftwich shows us his favourite spots in his hometown of Cairns.