September 23rd

Hi all!

We’ve had another great week at OSHC, and due to the dry weather we have been lucky enough to have plenty of time outdoors. However, it wouldn’t have matter too much if it had rained, as our new veranda has been built! Check it out when you come in to OSHC next – we are so excited to make use of it.

As always, the pool and Foosball tables have been very popular, with many friendly tournaments being played. Uno has risen in popularity this week, with games of 10 or more children (…and adults!) being played regularly. We had also had lots of cubby building happening in the long room.

On Monday, a map of Australia was constructed with magnets on the whiteboard, which has prompted lots of conversations about our location on the map, as well as all of the places we have visited around the country. There was also a gymnastics show performed on the monkey bars on Monday, which gave us all a chance to support our budding gymnasts and cheer them on while they show us their skills.

Tuesday was a very special day, as it was Sarah’s birthday! She heard lots of “happy birthday!” from the children, and spending time with them brightened her day. Wednesday saw us cooking cupcakes with Sarah (yum!), as well as a basketball game in the SAC with Damian, where we practiced being team players and supporting each other at all times. We had lots more outside play on Thursday and Friday, which included treasure hunts and big group games of the Wall Game and 40-40 Home. The children have been working really hard at keeping a growth mindset during these team games – they have been supporting and cheering on all who are participating, as well as remembering that there is always room to improve and grow our skills.

School holidays are right around the corner – only one more week left of term. Have you booked in for vacation care yet? If not, please do this as soon as possible to ensure a place. A copy of the program is attached below. Please pay attention to the clothing and footwear advice listed in the program. There are some activities that require particular attire, and children who are not dressed appropriately may not be able to participate fully as a result. Also, please ensure that your child/children’s footwear is comfortable and worn in! We do not have any spare shoes for when their shoes are rubbing, and it is inappropriate for staff to carry children whose feet are sore.

Next week, we will have a very special person visiting OSHC. He is tall, has red hair, is very friendly and well known to many at OSHC. Can you guess who he is? All will be spectacularly revealed on Monday afternoon – the staff have been trying very hard not to give it away, and can’t wait for the children to find out who this person is!

Have a fabulous weekend,

Maya

 WEEK ONE

Monday 3/10/16– Friday 17/10/16

Monday 3rd October Public Holiday

Tuesday 4th October Excursion day – Migration museum We will leave OSHC at 9am and travel by train to the Migration Museum on Kintore Ave. We will take part in a program that introduces the children to the history of migration to South Australia. We will then spend some time playing near the Parade grounds (rolling down the big grass hill) and eat our lunch. We will be back at OSHC by 2pm Please wear appropriate shoes for walking, please provide snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Wednesday 5th October Home Day – cubbies and tents We will provide cubby/tent making materials (sheets, poles, rope etc) and assist the children to make cubbies and tents. If the weather is nice this will be outside and we will also put up the hammocks. Lunch will be provided. Please provide lots of snacks

Thursday 6th October Excursion Day – The old Adelaide Goal (tbc) We will leave OSHC at 9am and travel by train and tram to the old Adelaide Goal. We will take part in an educational program about the history of the goal. We will also get time to look around by ourselves. We will then spend some time talking to the police greys and playing in the playground. We will be back at OSHC by 3pm. Please wear appropriate shoes and clothes for walking and playing in the playground. Please provide snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Friday 7th October Home Day – ‘Stay Active’ program (am) The people from ‘Stay Active’ will involve us in a program of fun, fitness, skills and activity. Please wear appropriate shoes and clothes for physical activity. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch

wEEK TWO

Monday 10/10/16– Friday 14/10/16

Monday 10th October Home Day – Spray Art Using spray bottles filled with paint we will produce several group art works. After the paint is dry we will embellish and highlight with sharpies and glitter. Please wear old clothes, we will endeavor to keep the paint on the canvas but can’t promise! Please provide lots of snacks and lunch.

Tuesday 11th October Excursion day – ‘the adventures of broer & Zus’ at the star theatre We will leave OSHC at 10am and travel by bus to the Star Theatre at Thebarton. We will see a live performance that in ‘an adventure for anyone with a sense of humour and imagination, a concoction of circus, music and comedy’. We will be back at OSHC by 1pm. Please provide lunch and snacks.

Wednesday 12th October Home Day – Cooking We will bake a variety of cupcakes (vanilla, chocolate, lemon) and everyone will get a chance to decorate there’s in their own way. One cake will be eaten for afternoon tea and the others taken home. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch

Thursday 13th October At Home Day - Clay Using clay and das (air dry clay) we will sculpture … ‘anything’! Pots, beads, tiles, figurines … the options are only limited by imagination. Lunch will be provided. Please provide lots of snacks.

Friday 14th October Excursion Day – Adventure playground, Belair National Park We will leave OSHC at 9.45am and travel by bus to Belair National Park. At the adventure playground it will be free play. We will return to OSHC by 1.30pm Please wear appropriate clothes and shoes for climbing, running and being active. Please provide lots of snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Maya's Blog September 16th

Hi all :) My name is Maya, and welcome to my first blog post! As a final year primary education student, I must demonstrate ways to communicate with parents and carers, as well as use ICT effectively. I hope I can do Sarah's posts justice!

We have had a lot of wet weather this week , so we spent lots of time inside and in the SAC. The foosball and pool tables have been extra popular this week, and we have been learning the rules of the games and all of the ways that we can play them. We have also been practicing how to be a gracious winner or loser, and that what matters most is that we have fun and get along with one another.

Our first rainy day began on Monday, so we had lots of activities happening indoors, including foosball and pool games, and making mandalas. We also played some episodes of Pokémon in the long room, which has been very popular. These Pokémon episodes had our staff feeling rather nostalgic, and took us back to our primary school day when we used to watch them on TV before school! It has been great to share these memories with the children.

On Tuesday we got to use the SAC, where groups of children were making lip syncing music videos! They got a glimpse into what it is like to be a music video star or producer, and worked very well as a team to create a video that they are proud of. There was also some gymnastics practice happening in the SAC, where we watched some instructional videos to improve our skills, while thinking about each of our body parts and the role that they play in gymnastics. We also practiced basketball, and continued playing foosball and pool.

The weather on Wednesday was especially rainy and windy, but luckily we got to use the SAC after basketball practice! In there, we played some basketball and volleyball games, as well as practicing gymnastics using the mats. We remembered to always keep a growth mindset if we miss that goal or drop that ball – practice helps you grow! We watched some more episodes of Pokémon, continued playing foosball and pool, played Uno, and baked some chocolate chip biscuits with Sarah. Yum!

The rain eased up on Thursday, which gave us some much needed outdoor time! We had a game of marks up, as well as use of the playground and sports equipment. We also used the SAC for basketball and gymnastics practice with Tom and Damian, as well as the ever-popular foosball and pool tables. We continued with these activities on Friday, when we were lucky enough to have some sunshine!

School holidays are just around the corner. Have you collected your Vacation Care program yet? Have a look at the picture at the end of this post, come and collect one at OSHC, and see Dianne to make your bookings. But hurry, places are filling quickly!

Pokémon has become extremely popular within the last few weeks, with children quickly building up their collection of Pokémon cards. This has been wonderful to see and a great talking point for all, but after having some issues with unfair trading of cards, we have decided to have a no trading policy at OSHC. Most children should be aware of this, but please remind your child/children about this new policy.

As always, the Wii and computers have been getting lots of use, especially with this week’s weather! We have a policy at OSHC that each child gets to play one turn, and watch one turn. After that, they must spend the rest of their time away from screens. We have this policy to teach children about sharing and taking turns, being considerate of others, and to ensure that they are spending lots of time socializing and interacting with their peers. Our ICT devices are for entertainment only and do not have much educational value, which is another reason why we limit the time each child spends on them.

On an exciting note, OSHC will soon be getting a brand new veranda! It is being built above the door that leads into the craft and kitchen area – have a look out for its progress when you visit us next! We are really looking forward to when our veranda is built, as it will give us an outdoor area to use even when it’s raining or very hot.

Check this video out if you get the chance - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzjuQoNM534

We have been talking about the Paralympics and all of the amazing things humans of all shapes and sizes can achieve when we have a 'yes I can' attitude'. This video was recommended by numerous children who have watched it in class.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Maya

 WEEK ONE

Monday 3/10/16– Friday 17/10/16

Monday 3rd October Public Holiday

Tuesday 4th October Excursion day – Migration museum We will leave OSHC at 9am and travel by train to the Migration Museum on Kintore Ave. We will take part in a program that introduces the children to the history of migration to South Australia. We will then spend some time playing near the Parade grounds (rolling down the big grass hill) and eat our lunch. We will be back at OSHC by 2pm Please wear appropriate shoes for walking, please provide snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Wednesday 5th October Home Day – cubbies and tents We will provide cubby/tent making materials (sheets, poles, rope etc) and assist the children to make cubbies and tents. If the weather is nice this will be outside and we will also put up the hammocks. Lunch will be provided. Please provide lots of snacks

Thursday 6th October Excursion Day – The old Adelaide Goal (tbc) We will leave OSHC at 9am and travel by train and tram to the old Adelaide Goal. We will take part in an educational program about the history of the goal. We will also get time to look around by ourselves. We will then spend some time talking to the police greys and playing in the playground. We will be back at OSHC by 3pm. Please wear appropriate shoes and clothes for walking and playing in the playground. Please provide snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Friday 7th October Home Day – ‘Stay Active’ program (am) The people from ‘Stay Active’ will involve us in a program of fun, fitness, skills and activity. Please wear appropriate shoes and clothes for physical activity. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch

wEEK TWO

Monday 10/10/16– Friday 14/10/16

Monday 10th October Home Day – Spray Art Using spray bottles filled with paint we will produce several group art works. After the paint is dry we will embellish and highlight with sharpies and glitter. Please wear old clothes, we will endeavour to keep the paint on the canvas but can’t promise! Please provide lots of snacks and lunch.

Tuesday 11th October Excursion day – ‘the adventures of broer & Zus’ at the star theatre We will leave OSHC at 10am and travel by bus to the Star Theatre at Thebarton. We will see a live performance that in ‘an adventure for anyone with a sense of humour and imagination, a concoction of circus, music and comedy’. We will be back at OSHC by 1pm. Please provide lunch and snacks.

Wednesday 12th October Home Day – Cooking We will bake a variety of cupcakes (vanilla, chocolate, lemon) and everyone will get a chance to decorate there’s in their own way. One cake will be eaten for afternoon tea and the others taken home. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch

Thursday 13Th October At Home Day - Clay Using clay and das (air dry clay) we will sculpture … ‘anything’! Pots, beads, tiles, figurines … the options are only limited by imagination. Lunch will be provided. Please provide lots of snacks.

Friday 14th October Excursion Day – Adventure playground, Belair National Park We will leave OSHC at 9.45am and travel by bus to Belair National Park. At the adventure playground it will be free play. We will return to OSCH by 1.30pm Please wear appropriate clothes and shoes for climbing, running and being active. Please provide lots of snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

September 12th

Sept 9

This week has been all about socialising and spending time in groups it seems! Because we still had the use of the foosball and the pool table, we had great big groups, with mixes of boys and girls, young and old, all playing together. Lots of the children have seen pool played but many hadn’t learnt the rules yet. So there were lots of discussions about how which ball was meant to be hit, and who got extra goes!

On Monday we got in the garden and trimmed back the herbs. We love to give the herbs to parents when they go home and hear all the yummy meals that are going to be made. We have been trying to help children learn the names of herbs, by identifying them by smell and sight.

Outdoors we were lucky with the weather and were playing lots of badminton, soccer and make believe games on the playground. While indoors we were constructing with boxes.

On Tuesday we spent more time at the long jump pit. It was been really pleasing to see many children having a growth mindset when thinking about their performance. Lots of them could pick apart what went wrong. Some asked questions about how they looked as they jumped. But everyone kept trying and trying different techniques to achieve their best. As some of our older children are now jumping well over three metres they are reaching the other end of the pit!

We also kicked everyone outdoors on Tuesday, taking advantage of the good weather is really important for us at OSHC. Outdoors we had big groups of chasey, big mixed age group playing soccer together and the giant bouncy ball in the SAC.

On Wednesday a group of girls and an educator put their bodies to work and dug an extra metre and a half of the long-jump pit. We were rewarded with a new OSHC record!!! 4.1 m!!!

While some were working hard, another group were off designing a relaxing room. It was complete with comfortable chairs, books to read and a massage parlour.

On Thursday we had a focus on physical play. In the SAC we had a group play a half-court basketball game, marks up and the kids ran their own basketball skills workshop where they traded tips and tricks.

Indoors we built cubby houses, did homework and relaxed in front of the Wii.

Have the kids ever come home with homework, but then had a busy night and not had time? Why not encourage them to do it at OSHC? As many of our staff are teachers in training, they are really happy to help out and assist the kids with their work. We are happy to listen to kids read, problem solve inquiry projects, double check maths homework and more.

By the end of the week when everyone was exhausted, we put on a movie to unwind. We watched Mr. Peabody & Sherman in the long room and chilled out on bean bags, pillows and rocking chairs. Mr. Peabody is a highly intelligent dog and with his adopted son Sherman, they travel through time and have ludicrous adventures.

 In the SAC we brought out the blue mats and practised some gymnastics while others played a more primitive version by flopping, tumbling and splatting themselves on the mat.

Watch this space for the up and coming Vacation Care Program.

Over the last couple of weeks we have been hearing lots of reports about the Royal Adelaide Show. Here is one of our young people's thoughts. 

Luke’s thoughts of the show

I rate the show 8/10. Bad reasons, there are hardly any fish, there are corn dogs and corn dogs are gross, there’s no good tacos/burritos and finally WHERES THE SPORT???

Good things about the show the rides, show bags, animals and the people. The best animals were pigs because their babies are very cute and their noses are squishy. Best show bag was Zappomungus.

  

 City 

September 5th

As the writer of this blog was away for the end of last week, the post has been delayed. So we are combining two weeks into one! Sorry for the wait!

Last week we once again recorded long jump scores. With such a focus on scores, children have noticed that after training and practice they went from improving in leaps and bounds (pun intended) to only slightly improving or plateauing.

Something that you may not know is on Tuesdays we have a technology free day. This means we have an evening that we encourage more physical activity, imaginative play and interactive games, board/card games, table top sports and building and creating with recycled materials.

Last Wednesday we had a fake Friday and watched The Incredibles, because the weather was wretched. Others played lots of games, noses were buried in books and we started a new survey. The staff has been discussing adding an education TV night. We would choose to watch documentaries and shows that talk about particular topics like history or different cultures around the world. If parents have any suggestions for suitable shows, please let staff know. As for the kids, they can come have their say on our survey!

This week we have had really great displays of creative thinking. Whenever the weather is horrible, we get stuck inside. When we don’t have the SAC at our disposal this can sometimes mean we have 45 students and 4 adults all inside OSHC. When this happens, it is great to see some creative thinking, people trying to solve the issue of cramped space, having too much energy to spend or just wanting some great entertainment. This week we saw a lot of tabletop games developed, like shooting hoops with plastic pots. Others decided to study photos and improve their realistic drawing skills. While some just played with ordinary items to try make something beautiful.

On Friday we had a pupil-free day. After the Olympics, lots of children continued to discuss different sports and were really interested in being competitive. So we organised races, practised long-jump, built obstacle courses and played lots of sports. We even shared some of our favourite videos on youtube. Damian was also kind enough to bring in his foosball and hockey tabletop game for the kids to use. Thank Damian!

We were also very lucky with the warm weather to find a scaly friend enjoying the warm stones around OSHC’s front door. This sparked so much interest with the kids, who followed its movements and fed it banana. Also the mother bird in the tree next to OSHC was having worms collected for it to feed to its chicks.

We realise this pupil-free day has snuck up on people. So get your calendars out! The next one is on October 31^st after vacation care.

Lately we have had higher numbers booked into week nights. With Monday and Wednesday being booked out we are unable to take casual bookings. Unfortunately though, we have had increasing numbers of people not informing us of cancellations. This means that other families are missing out because we cannot inform them early enough that we have a place for their children. Please help us to help others. If your child is absent, without us being informed, full fees apply.

August 19th

Aug 19

We started the week by timing children’s best running score on the tiger turf up and back. Through the next couple of weeks we will record a few more times and see who can improve their score. We have liked seeing people focussed on improving their score instead of just trying to beat other people.

On Monday, a small group set up an obstacle course using cones and hula hoops. Competitors were asked to zig-zag through the cones, leap from hoop to hoop, climb up the spider, drop down, fly across the flying fox, negotiate their way down the hill then sprint to the finish line. Our best time was an amazing 44 seconds.

On the oval we continued to have people trying their best in the long jump. An interesting fact is that the long jump world record is still held by Bob Beamon from 1968 with a whopping 8.9 metres. See the video here. Our best was an impressive 3.1 metres.

For parts of the week we have kept the long-room shut off as we wanted to encourage some physical activity while the weather has been warm enough.

Tuesday was a success! It didn’t manage to rain until 6pm when we were all going home. We celebrated the weather by spending all our time outside. The long-room was closed again and had no wii or computers. We recorded our best running times on the tiger turf again with some new best times.

In the SAC we brought out the blue mats. Some used them to relax, others used them to do gymnastics and some just used them to squash each other. We also had painting and making inside, with some houses being made, complete with furniture, separate rooms and designer kitchen.

Wednesday we were at the long-jump pit again. This time our best distance was from our OSHC educator Damian who got a 3.3m score, almost jumping clear across the pit. The best young person’s score was a whopping 3.2m.

Thursday was spent in the SAC and indoors while it rained. Indoors we constructed vehicles and building out of recycled boxes, while others drew and coloured. Fluxx was brought out again with lots of new players trying it out. This game gets very exciting at times and demands players use their problem solving skills. This means it gets noisy with lots of heated debates about the meaning of rules. But we see this as another learning experience, where players must critically analyse rules, argue fairly with reasoning and remain polite all the while.

Friday we had a small amount of time in the SAC, stole little moments in between wet weather and spent a lot of time indoors. We watched Pokémon on the TV (because Pokemon is very in right now if you hadn’t noticed!). We also drew Pokémon, we traced Pokémon, we coloured Pokémon, we traded Pokémon, we talked about Pokémon, argued about Pokémon and even pretended to be Pokémon!

Some children at school were involved with raising money for World Vision with the eight hour famine. Here is some reflections from two girls on their experience today.

What is the eight hour famine?

Aurelia: A fund raiser to raise money for people that don’t have enough money to buy food clothes and get medical care.   

Milla: It is where you eat barely any food to raise money for World Vision that helps people in need. We didn’t eat food because so we knew how it was to be a person who was starving.

What did you have to do?

Aurelia: We had to collect money. Then we started not eating and doing whatever else we gave up at 8am and then stop at 4pm. At 10am we got a barley sugar, at 1pm we got a cup of rice and at 2pm we got another barley sugar.

Milla: I had to eat barely any food, not talk and collect money. We did this for poor people in countries who were starving to death and didn’t have enough money for medical care and clothes.

How did you feel about it?

Aurelia: It was hard and felt good about it because I was helping people that didn’t have food. I now feel sorry for people without food.

Milla: I felt good, because I was doing something to help the world, it will change lives. The money will go to World Vision who will go over to poor countries and build schools, makes sustainable food supplies and give people health care and medicine.

What do you think now?

Aurelia: I think I will be more thoughtful to people that don’t have as much food and I will try not to be wasteful.

Milla: It is not as easy as it seems. Talking is something you do every day, so not replying automatically is really hard.