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Kindergarten Transitions - Breakfast Club

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Kindergarten Transitions - Breakfast Club

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Check your child's bag for a second copy of the transition Padlet QR code to check out more pictures from our kindergarten transitions program.

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There were lots of opportunities to help with classroom packup today!

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The Bluebells were building their hand and finger strength across many playful learning experiences today, including making playdough gardens, rolling and squeezing magic-clay sculptures, and helping Sarah take blue-tac displays off the walls. All great for building strength and stamina for writing!

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Preschool and Year 1 were visited by Liz, a dental hygienist and educator, who led a fun and interactive lesson to explore teeth brushing, healthy eating, and other dental hygiene habits. The Bluebells were delighted to be gifted a dental showbag to share with families at home.

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Today we had our last library visit for the year and worked with our teachers to return and reshelve the books. Looking forward to returning to these Good Fit Books next year in kindergarten!

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Finishing touches on our concert preparations included creating this poster. We were practising our negotiating and turn taking skills when collaborating on the design. Aubrey and Daniel illustrated the gum tree background, Mason and Leighton decided on the title and text, and Jasper and Benny added the birds. We can't wait to share it with you on Wednesday! 🌳🐦

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The Bluebells met the local postie when he was delivering letters for Gilmore Primary School.

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Benny and Leighton worked on their learning goals today; identifying and searching for B and L in the magnetic letters. Want to know more about what your child is working on in their learning? Book a Student Learning Discussion!

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The Bluebells were searching the various nature spaces around the school (a great opportunity for another kindergarten transition visit!); sorting and classifying objects to gather for our concert prop making project today.

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Any ideas what we might be making today?

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Leighton asked how hail is made so we did some research to find out.

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Negotiating, Turn Taking and Cooperating

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Negotiating, Turn Taking and Cooperating

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There were searches for stick insects, butterflies, bees, spiders, ants and lady bugs today. Aria searched for "anything suspicious" as well.

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Aubrey and Sophia made a nest for birds today. Though they thought they might need Dave's help with the tall ladder to get the nest up into a tree.

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The Bluebells did a great job presenting their rhyming baskets at assembly today.

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Using the big magnifying glasses helped us continue to sort and classify the various bugs found at preschool.

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Testing out the new soccer balls in a child-led game of Red Light Green Light.

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Huxten, Millie, Aubrey and Sophia have been playing a simple maths game that works on subitising (quickly recognising collections of objects and comparing quantities without the need to count from 1). Want to know why this is an important skill? Ask Sarah!

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Benny, Jasper and Aavas were playing cooperatively in the sandpit today; using the pipe as a "seesaw" to balance and tip items from one end to the other. Lots of giggly fun!

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Please check back later for description of learning.

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After spotting some snails sheltering on our window ledge, many Bluebells tested their investigation skills to search for bugs, compare their features, and record their findings. Aria and Millie learned the term 'leaf litter' to describe the layer of broken leaves that lie above the soil where many bugs could be spotted, Mason and Huxten learned to use 'fragile' to describe a snail shell not being very strong, Leighton and Holly were slater bug finding experts, and Bug Sophia and Bug Aubrey imagined in a role-play game in the trees.

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Fun Day was a blast! The Bluebells had so much fun playing with the Year 6 Leaders, making iced biscuits to snack on, visiting the salon, going for a billy cart ride, and testing their skills in lots of games.

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Gross motor this week included a new focus skill: skipping. This is a tricky one which requires control of both arms and legs in an alternating pattern of movement. Today some children worked on jumping over a rope laid flat on the ground, some worked on a jump then flip pattern, and some children were combining these two movements to skip forwards. Looking forward to sharing more with you as your child develops this skill.

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Elephant and Piggie Social Emotional Learning

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Elephant and Piggie Social Emotional Learning

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The Bluebells were treated to some more readers theatre by their Buddy Class Teachers today. After reading The Thank You Book (another in the Elephant and Piggie series) they participated in a turn and talk to consider who they are grateful and why. The buddies stayed to support them in drawing and writing their responses ready to share with families in the Week 4 assembly. Looking forward to showing you our finished works then!

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Our Belonging inquiry continues this week, with the Bluebells investigating why people receive letters. They know that letters and cards sometimes are delivered by posties who might drive vans or ride bikes. They know that sometimes letters are exciting to receive like Gilmore Good News Postcards, and sometimes are not good to receive like bills or fines from the library. They were also very excited to receive some letters from adults and students at school, including a very prized letter from Gillian who has returned and was working in Year 4 today. Check out this week's Gazette article for more information about how we are using writing with purpose this term.

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Today the Bluebells had our buddies from Jeannie Baker visit to help us explore our understanding of gratitude. Everyone was so impressed with Benny and Huxten's writing that they went and showed Vicki and Lili their Quality Work. They both received a Principals award sticker.

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The warm weather is finally here. Today we have been discussing how the hot sun can make us feel, and ways to stay hydrated and protect our skin from sunburn. Thank you for sending your child in layered clothing that they can easily remove as the weather heats up, in addition to their sunsmart clothing, hats and bottles filled with water only.

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Problem solving, cooperation, balancing, using imagination and estimating! Wow! Who knew how much learning could be tied up in one little game of "The floor is Lava!"

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Our buddies in years 2/3 visited us this morning and read to us from a variety of Elephant and Piggie books written by Mo Willems.

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Holly read her new Good Fit Book aloud to her friends using the repeating pattern in the text.

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Continuing our investigation of popular picture book authors, this week we have been reading many Julia Donaldson books. After reading and borrowing A Squash and a Squeeze during yesterday's library visit, some children demonstrated their knowledge of reading good fit books using repeating patterns, while others were inspired to use the book to retell the story using the dollhouse toys.

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We had lots of fun making domino constructions today. It was so tricky to make them without accidentally making the dominos fall. When we play games together we are learning to use self-talk scripts when things don't go the way we'd hoped, how to wait while others think about their turn, how to speak safely when we think something isn't fair, and how to show kindness by making sure others have a fair turn too. When Benny's construction was knocked over by accident he used a script by saying, "argh oh no!" When Leighton knocked his construction Daniel said, "keep trying again." When Holly didn't want anyone to knock her dominos she spoke safely and said, "not yet." When Leighton wanted to negotiate he spoke safely and said, "what about here Daniel? In a line?" When Huxten joined in Holly said, "you can sit here. There's lots of room." We are looking forward to showing you how we do this at our Learning Journey next week.

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Following our excursion, the Bluebells have continued to be interested in using Google Maps to look at satellite photos of familiar places. Today we explored a range of maps of the school and discussed their purpose and features. Next we expanding on our usual visit to 'big school' to include observing and recording features of the familiar places we visit around the school.

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The Bluebells have been increasingly interested in finding out more about our bin system at Gilmore. Annabelle, have visiting the compost system to see the different steps for processing food waste Over the last fortnight we have been playing with Binion, a recycling bin puppet, borrowed from No Waste ACT. We have been observing and comparing materials and properties of various items to determine if the item can be reused or recycled before sorting into into the appropriate bin. Eli shared his expertise and demonstrated how to test if the item was 'crinkly'. The children are very interested in finding out more about repurposing items so keep an eye out for a letter from them asking for your help with a special project over the holidays!

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The Bluebells have been visiting Alison Lester where the kindergarten children learn and play for over a term now (which is part of our structured and gradual transition program) and were very interested to find out that our preschool building is also named after a famous Australian author, Pamela Allen. During their library visit they worked together to find the tubs of books by both authors and look for letters to match the names on the tubs to the names on the book covers. Each child selected a new or favourite book from the tubs to add to our classroom library so we can continue to read and compare books by these two amazing authors. On their walk back to the classroom they bumped into buddy class teachers Maddie and Jess and Annabelle asked, "do you have a building name?" After hearing that it's Jeannie Baker Mason excitedly looked at Sarah and exclaimed, "I know that! We've read those books!"

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Huxten invented a new move on the chain bridge today. Sarah helped him learn that it is called a tuck hang. Soon many more Bluebells and kinders joined the game, excitedly counting to measure how long each player could hang on.

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Jasper went searching for every letter in the alphabet, named them and placed each letter in order. P.S. He found x, y, z after the photo was taken.

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Waiting for our return bus was not difficult with these lovely new library bags containing lots of interesting treasures from the library. What an awesome day!

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After group time we visited all the parts of the library, learned about the shelving and borrowing systems, found the Erindale Library collection of Hot Reads (they call them Hot Picks), contributed to the completion of some very tricky puzzles, and some children got to test out their brand new library cards on the very big scanner.

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Mikaela the librarian read us two stories from her favourite author Mem Fox and we sang some familiar songs.

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We saw Huxten's house, Mason's early learning school and Aubrey's brother's early learning school. We drove past the shops, the park, the pond before arriving at the shops.

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We are so excited!

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What a great way to kick off the first day of spring! Today we estimated, counted and recorded how many buckets of water would be needed to fill the water tray.

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For this week's STEAM learning the children constructed paddlepop stick catapults. We were counting sticks, building finger strength when fastening with rubber bands, and getting creative with cotton bud painting. We are looking forward to testing our constructions tomorrow when they're dry.

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Lots of fun playing in the box construction bus and bus shelter today. Bus driver Mason was heading to Queensland when passenger Leighton noticed the engine was broken. Luckily tow truck driver Aavas arrived on the scene with his tools to fix the bus! 💖

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We have had so much fun sharing and telling stories. We enjoyed sitting in the book corner reading each others' books from home, putting on plays and puppet shows, and Mason shared a trick for making Hungry Caterpillar puppets you can move using air from a straw!

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The preschool and playgroup worked together to read and then vote for their favourite Book Week. It was a tight race, but The Boy and the Elephant was our gold medal winner!

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With the help of some Year 6 Leaders, children co-constructed the risk assessment for our upcoming excursion. The children had some awesome suggestions, including using head counts and maps to make sure we don't get lost, taking the playground duty bag that contains bandaids incase anyone falls over and bleeds, and using road safety rules when crossing or walking near the road.

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As we continue to build our soccer skills, the Bluebells are now working on controlling the ball, or dribbling. In a game of Red Light Green Light they are working moving around a designated space quickly, then slowly, before stopping the ball with their dominant foot.

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Stacey read this book during our library visit. She was so impressed with all of the children's wonderings and inferences as we read that she just had to share a few!

Holly was very interested that this book had no writing. As Stacey demonstrated how to read the pictures Holly shared her understanding as the boy's facial expressions changed to show he was sad.

Sophia comprehended that time was passing in the book by observing the seasonal changes in the leaves of the forest.

Jasper shared his connection after noticed the crossed painting on the trees, "oh no! The trees will get chopped down."

At the end of the story Aria shared her inference, "the boy doesn't need the elephant tree anymore. He's not lonely because he has a friend now."

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Bluebells had fun acting out the roles in the story ‘Dear Zoo’ today

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Aubrey’s mum gets to open some mail this afternoon. Aubrey addressed the envelope, folded the paper, and drew the picture inside, all by herself.

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Refraction, reflection, light, colour, and properties of glass; we covered it all over these last two weeks! Glass helps us see the world in new ways. Ask your Bluebell what they learned this week!

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Today Jasper drew a diagram inspired by the non-fiction book that he borrowed from the library, 'Coral Reef'. Jasper exclaimed "Clown fish like water" as he showed us his creation on the white board. Keep up the good work Jasper!

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Yesterday the preschool children found many fallen flowers from the wattle tree which inspired some playdough sculptures. Today we moved the play into an Outdoor Art Studio under the shade of the wattle tree with children sculpting and painting their observations of the changes to the outdoor environment.

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Continuing from our Dame Mary Gilmore Writing Project learning, the children were experimenting with punctuation to create flap book style messages with half the message on a post-it note flap with three dots (an ellipsis) showing the reader there was more writing under the flap. We had lots of fun writing 'BOO!', scary faces, our names, and love hearts for the recipients of our messages to find.

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Continuing on our learning about glass for Science Week today we investigated reflection. We built kaleidoscopes using pieces of acrylic mirrors, conducted a science experiment using shiny spoons, and here we made our own mirrors using paper, alfoil and light.

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On Thursdays we go to the Alison Lester playground. We had a bakery in the sandpit, played on the playground, and learned some new skipping games.

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As part of our Sleep and Rest procedure, a requirement under Education and Care Services National Law, the Bluebells have a reading and quiet time routine every day after lunch. During this time children can relax on the couch or rocking chairs, read books to themselves and others, and some children read from their Good Fit Book Boxes, where they are working on building their repertoire of known stories that they can read off by heart. On Thursdays Nanatine, our Family Engagement Coordinator, visits to read with us too.

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Huxten, Benny, and Aavas worked together to fill the capacity of the long pipe with a variety of objects. It was tricky to keep one end blocked so that the objects didn't just slide out, while still keeping the pipe low enough for everyone to reach.

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In group time today the Bluebells worked on their numeral identification skills. Taking turn, we rolled the big numeral dice and worked together to identify and match the numerals on the board, taking them away each time we rolled the number. Soon there was only a few numerals left and it took such a long time to roll the matching numeral on the dice. Eventually we got them all! Before we went away for play the children worked together to put them back in order to make a numberline on the big computer.

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Today some children worked with Kylie to make watercolour artworks inspired by Peggy, a picturebook about a chicken who catches a train into a town. Mason says, "we really loved it!"

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Leighton, Benny and Huxten set a challenge to see who could slide down the slide in the craziest but safest way.

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Boats and boating--Equipment and supplies

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Jasper wondered if paper would float. He predicted that it would and made this item to test it out in a puddle found at preschool... Ask Jasper what he discovered!

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Today the Bluebells worked with mentor text Love Makes a Family by Sophie Beer for inspiration in publishing their writing for the DMG writing competition. They are so proud and wanted to share their co-constructed book with Sophie herself so after a quick search of her website they found her email address and have sent her a message. Sarah wondered if Erindale Library might have her full collection of books available for borrowing.

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We love a movement break at Assembly! 🕺

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Benny went fishing today and practised counting the dots on each fish, using 1:1 correspondence.

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Some Bluebells worked with Kylie today on a light refraction experiment. They watched a Cool Science video to see how to use a glass of water to bend (refract) light and change the way a picture appears. Sophia, Benny, Millie, Aavas and Annabelle even experimented with making their own simple pictures to change with refracted light.

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This morning we were looking at the weather forecast and talking about the thunderstorm. We looked up the rain radar map and read the scale along the bottom to help us know when we could play outside, and when the rain was too heavy. Leighton, Huxten, Jasper, Aubrey and Millie also made their own rain radar maps using the colour scale to show if the rain was light, moderate or heavy.

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The Bluebells listed possible risks and ways of staying safe on our upcoming excursion to the local library. Your child has brought their co-constructed list home today with a question to ask you, "what rules do we have in our family that keep us safe when we go out?" The staff team would love to see what contributions you may have.

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What fantastic day! Make sure you check out the Gilmore Primary Facebook page for the highlights video.

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Some of our year six leadership class joined us at preschool today, the Bluebells enjoyed having some special helpers.

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Some of our year six leadership class joined us at preschool today, the Bluebells enjoyed having some special helpers.

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The Bluebells had so much fun at the disco today. Thanks Holly for bringing glowsticks to share with us!

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Parcels were wrapped and addressed. Streets were named and numbered. Mail was delivered and opened. The "Post Office" experience was child initiated and included maths, art, literacy, dramatic play, fine and gross motor movement, social skills and FUN.

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Leighton, Aavas and Huxten played a structured game together; rolling the die and then building towers using the corresponding quantity to make the tallest tower. It was tricky to keep the tower balanced as we had more turns.

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The Bluebells were practising Crossing the Midline, a skill which helps us complete a range of tasks including writing, reaching towards and putting on shoes, and hitting a ball with a bat. Today we drew lazy eights, a horizontal shape which helps us build the fluency patterns used for letter formation as well as using our dominant hand to trace and draw. We are looking forward to sharing more about your child's gross motor skills at the Student Learning Discussions next week. Call the front office to book a time!

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Yesterday the Bluebells had a great time exploring their gross motor capabilities by climbing and balancing using the new preschool equipment. This type of exploration and play is great for children to develop independence and satisfaction of their own achievements, problem solving, spacial and directional awareness, while also improving on balance, and hand and foot coordination!

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Produced by The Bluebells Production Studio

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When Isaac and Sarah observing how the fog was hiding our beautiful view of the mountains, Isaac noticed sparkly "crystals" on the preschool fence. Upon closer inspection they discovered the crystals were in fact tiny droplets of water clinging to spiderwebs. Soon Aria, Aavas and Huxten had joined the hunt for dewy spiderwebs. Sarah suggested they continue the search Out The Back and soon the excitement had rippled through you group as we headed out in search of beautiful webs to find. After taking lots and lots of photos the children put together a short movie and they enjoyed watching it over and over. Leighton and Jasper had the great idea of inviting Vicki and Nanatine to watch it too. Next preschool knew they would have to build a movie theatre and make tickets. Benny wanted to know if there would be popcorn. The Bluebells arranged the chairs in groups of 3 so that everyone would be able to see, and they saved the comfy couch for the special guests. The popcorn chefs served the snacks and the projectionist pressed play on the screen. What a big project that all started from a little observation of the weather. Great work today Bluebells!

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Take a look at our progress! We have been learning to recognise letters and we have been practising their formation when we sign-in during the morning.

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Bluebells used pictures to follow a recipe and counted how many pieces of equipment they needed. Ask your child what they made in their cooking experience this morning?

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Bluebells used pictures to follow a recipe and counted how many pieces of equipment they needed. Ask your child what they made in their cooking experience this morning?

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Mason, Millie and Aria were playing an awesome role-play game in the dry creek today. They were garden fairies trying to escape the baddie, Gargamel. "He's invisible. We are getting away. We'll fly away!" said Mason. "We are taking his lollies," added Millie who was resourcing the game with natural objects she had collected in a wheelbarrow.

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We used cornflour and babylotion to try and make some fluffy playdough. We will need to try again as it didnt quite work the way we wanted it to, but it still felt soft, fluffy, cold and sugary!

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We used cornflour and babylotion to try and make some fluffy playdough. We will need to try again as it didnt quite work the way we wanted it to, but it still felt soft, fluffy, cold and sugary!

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Leighton was drawing with whiteboards today. "I drew my baby, and my grown ups is names is Mummy and Daddy. My daddy is black hair."

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After the recent change in weather Out The Back was again transformed, providing new provocations for play today. Sophia, Aubrey, Leighton, Jasper, Daniel, Holly, and some children from kindergarten discovered "sneaky puddles" that had formed in the grass. We worked together to listen for the squelching sound as we stomped around.

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Bluebells have been enjoying the new vet area today, this cooperative play encourages social skills attending to others and develops skills to be able to work cooperatively in a group situation.

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Bluebells have been enjoying the new vet area today, this cooperative play encourages social skills attending to others and develops skills to be able to work cooperatively in a group situation.

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The Kinetic Sand was a popular choice today. Cupcakes were made, castles were decorated, and shapes were moulded. Sophia and Millie also created the ocean which led to a conversation with other children about what creatures we have seen or might find at the beach.

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The Bluebells Landscape Co. was back today! We joined the K1 classes in helping our principal Vicki who was tasked with preparing the school for Election Day. Many Bluebells children contributed by removing the leaves, sweeping the paths, and tidying the gardens at. the front of the school