Vacation Care July 2017

We have had a terrific vacation care period! We have played sports, explored museums, discovered creatures in the schools grounds and created and collaborated!!!

We started the holidays by switching on our scientific minds and learning about weird creatures from the lovely nerds at Mobile Science (Don't worry, they love being called a nerd). They had all the students engaged by comparing them to different creatures big and small, fast and slow. The students had a race and found their fastest runner who could run from one end of the SAC to the other in a quick fifteen seconds. The group were then shocked to find that a cheetah could cross that distance in only two! Our From this they had a go at drawing diagrams of different creatures. We also learnt about the star nosed mole that had an amazing ability to sense the smallest vibrations with its snout.

For the first week we had arcade games delivered to us to be spread out between the OSHC building and the SAC. We hire these every year, because with the cold wet weather we are driven indoors more often. We also encourage more arts and crafts, board games, reading and role playing games. But some students are here from seven thirty in the morning until six at night. It is nice to unwind and have a play with a mate. After some parents heard about the Daytona machine, they visited and compete against their kids. Confident that their experience with driving real cards was sufficient led to many being defeated by the kids who had had lots of practice!

Mid-week we took a lengthy bus ride to the Motor Museum at Birdwood. We had a ‘spot’ list of different things to look at on the way including unique road signs and livestock. While this was an absolute treat for the adults, Dianne and Tom being especially interested in their motor sports, it was also a great day for the kids. Over the years the Museum has developed to become a really engaging place for children. They spent time exploring the show rooms, racing Skalextric cars and building vehicles with lego. We were delighted to find a cut out of a young family that just happened to be the grandfather of one of our students.

On Thursday we put on our creative hats and made a range of puppets, from sock puppets to paper bags and finger puppets. The kids had fun creating and then making up games with them. Some people started to communicate only with their characters.

At the end of the week Animals Anonymous visited us with a group of their friends. We had the furry sugar glider, the scaly pythons, a stern looking tawny frog mouth and many more. The ladies introduced us to many creatures and taught us lots about them. They also worked as advocates for certain species who were becoming increasingly endangered. The bettong was a particular favourite of the kids. It seemed that many had never heard of them before. 

Although many may not be aware, OSHC is guided by ACECQA (Australian Children's Education and Care Quality Authority). They are currently conducting a survey of families to better understand the factors that you consider when choosing a service. This helped them focus their organisation on what matters to you, the family! Follow the link.

In the second week we braved the wild weather and headed to Victor Harbor. Here we were lucky enough that the rain stopped every time we needed to move between the bus and the building. We spent time exploring the Whale Centre, looking at animals and ships and all things nautical. The kids got to compare themselves with different penguins and find out who was taller. We then got to learn about penguins from our guides and made some paper plate penguins and snow globes.

Tuesday was our craft day and we focused on Clay! Our children got creative and made a whole range of objects. Some decided to make something practical like a plate or trinket box with lid, while others made images of their favourite things. We also had some children make tom boys and try to learn how to knit.

Mid-week we cooked up a storm in the kitchen. With everyone getting involved to chop or tear vegetables and prepare two soups. At lunch time we sat down together to enjoy minestrone soup and pumpkin soup with some handmade damper. We are always impressed with how many veggies the kids are willing to eat when they have had a hand in making the dish themselves.

At the end of the holidays we made mini succulent gardens. Check them out below.



On our final day we had Dwayne Nelson come to teacher us some basketball skills. He focused on the five basic skills of passing, dribbling, rebounding, shooting and defending. After learning some skills we got to verse each other and have a small game of 1 v 1.

While we have activities planned for each day, we always like to let children initiate their own activities from their interests. We had one group that went witchetty grub hunting, they spent close to an hour turning over rocks, digging with sticks and searching around the vegetable garden. We also had one student looking for a challenging craft project, she ended up constructing a bird cage and filling it with tissue paper birds.

We look forward to seeing you all back next week at school!