Vacation Care January 2017

Welcome back to OSHC for 2017!

Because we had such a busy end to 2016 unfortunately we didn’t get a blog out for the end of term.

We are glad to have Dianne back with us after extended leave from last year. Welcome back Dianne!!!

We are expecting that 2017 will be an interesting year at Eden Hills OSHC. Both Maya and Damian have graduated their Bachelor of Education degrees at the end of 2016 with Sarah expected to finish mid this year. This will mean there are potentially some changes to staff coming.

We have had lots of fun over vacation care with a few excursions and some really cool activities at home. We started the week with a cooking and food day, with fresh juice from apple and carrot, berry and banana smoothies and customised pizzas.

We further expanded our knowledge of food and produce with a trip to the Central Markets. There we ate wallaby salami, pickled octopus, dragon-eye fruit and lychee. It was amazing how brave everyone was when trying something new. Everyone got to spend a bit of money and buy some small things of interest; we even went to Haighs’ for a taste test.

Mid-weed Damian changed roles and became our soccer coach. Damian has played for years and loves his soccer (football). He taught individual skills, like dribbling, passing and shooting goals. After so much interest from the children we were able to run a friendly game to try out our newly acquired skills.

Thursday was our creative day. Matt visited us and taught us about animation, its history, purpose and how it evolved over the years. We then got to create our own animations using a stop-go animation app on ipads. If you want to see the end result, click here. The password is edhja11013.

We also inked our skin with henna, which is a temporary tattoo. These are some of our results.

In the second week of Vacation Care we added even more variety to our activities.

We started off by having a basketball clinic with Dwayne Nelson, who taught us the basic skills. This was a great chance for inexperienced children to learn something new and for seasoned players to help others and develop more confidence.

We got our hands dirty on Tuesday when we re-potted some herbs and flowers to take home. We love this cruisy activity as it is a great opportunity to sit and talk with kids and get to know more about them. As we toil away we get to hear stories of home, what their gardens are like and what chores they have to do.

Wednesday we had an excursion to Gorge Wildlife Park where we fed animals, had a tour and got to pet a koala and a snake. The park has an amazing collection of animals including Australian animals (Dingos, Tasmanian Devils, Fruit Bats etc) and others from around the world (Gibbons, Capuchin Monkeys, Tamarins, Marmosets, lemurs and spider monkeys). The Park also has a reptile house full of scaly slithering bodies!

For our final day of holidays we were so lucky to have one of our favourite nerds, David, join us for a program called ‘In your guts’. David used some clever ways to explain how things worked in the digestive system. They used a stocking with a ball in it to explain how the muscles in our oesophagus contract to push down food. David also had some hands on activities, and performed some chemical reactions to explain how food is dissolved and processed in the body.

We are so excited to start another wonderful year in term 1. Sad, that some of our children will not be returning, either moving away or starting high school. But eager to meet some new faces too!

Bookings from last year will be carried over to this year unless we are otherwise notified.

December 9th 2016

This week we have had a big focus on nature. The children have been collecting different artefacts, including plants, insects and rocks and looking at the closely. Some have been using crushed rocks to make paints, others have been collecting bugs to see what they will eat.  There has also been a creative element, where students have made images and mandalas out of leaves, petals and twigs. 

Cricket is back in full swing now (pun intended). We are being very mindful about the increasing heat outside and encouraging sunscreen and games later in the evening when there is less chance of sun burn.

OSHC is slowly getting in the Christmas spirit with our decorations. This week we have been working on stars and snow flakes to hang around the dining room. 

SuperFight has been a massive success at OSHC. We have even had a few parents ask where we got it. If you are thinking this is a great gift for Christmas, it certainly is. BUT you will need to filter through the cards and remove any before you let the kids play. This is because there are some adult cards, which we ourselves removed. 

This week we experimented in the kitchen. We wanted to make brownies but didn't have the right ingredients. This was a great opportunity for some problem solving. Eventually we ended up with Milo and Nesquick brownies instead of using cocoa. 
We also made a delicious batch of choc chip biscuits Wednesday night. 

It seems that many of our young people are in a dreaming mood. We have seen lots of people make the ideal home, bedroom or car out of recycled boxes and craft items. 


Thursday before the End-Of-Year concert, we took the opportunity to relax. Because we understand that the night was going to be long and exhausting we chucked on a couple episodes of Pokémon, did some baking and got prepared for the night ahead. 

Friday night was a lot of fun, with some new Wii games, cubby house building and our usual movie night. 

Note from Staff

Please inform staff of your bookings for next year! If we don't hear from you we will just continue your bookings from 2016.

Unfortunately we have had many children lose Pokémon cards lately. While we do our best to find things when they go missing we won't always be able to recover them. If children are particularly worried about losing them, consider not bringing them to school. As this is becoming an increasing issue, we are considering changing our stance on displaying them around OSHC. 

December 2nd 2016

This week has been pretty varied in what we have been doing; the kids have spent a lot of time coming up with their own games and activities. This included super hero battles with blanket capes, water fights with our misting spray bottles, creating their own boomerangs and attempting to rescue a $1 coin from down the drain pipe.

A new game called ‘SuperFight’ has grabbed the attention of the younger boys which involves a mix of humour and creativity. This game uses ‘character’ and ‘attribute’ cards to create a personality for the individual and then they argue about whose combination would win in a fight, you have to be increasingly innovative to win, making it very challenging. Some of the outcomes have been both hilarious and well thought out.

As per usual the older girls spent their time talking or reading books in comfy nooks about the place and also helping out our staff with various tasks that were sufficiently interesting.

As the hotter weather has come back, so too has the reptilian wildlife in the area meaning many of the fellas have gone out skink and gecko hunting, with a surprisingly large amount of success! We had 4 scaly little friends living quite contently inside one of our OSHC hats for the majority of an afternoon. We have also been like the rest of the world, obsessed by the iguana and chaser snake video on Youtube. 

The waffle blocks have also received a work out this week being turned into both musical instruments (drums) and a titanic cubby house spanning most of the long room. The same thing was taking place in the SAC as children built massive bases and attempted to pillage items from one another.

Recently an interest has sparked up again in Plasticine and Clay; there is now an army of tiny plasticine men out in the world somewhere, and a few malformed creatures that even the kids weren’t certain about! Yet their creativity and imagination has come through.

One of our wonderful staff members, Damian, will be getting married this Saturday! I’m sure you all will join us in wishing him and Shelley congratulations from Eden Hills Primary School! We wish them all the happiness in the world.

DECEMBER VACATION CARE – bookings for the Christmas lunch excursion on Wednesday are now full. Make sure you hand in your bookings as soon as possible before other days fill up! Our January vacation care information is now available at OSHC. Have a look below, but please remember to bring in a signed form for your booking to be finalised.

Enjoy the Christmas Pageant on Friday night; if you look closely you will see lots of familiar faces in the acts that go by. 

 WEEK ONE

Monday 16/1/17– Friday 20/1/17

Monday 16th January Home Day  –  Summer cooking using seasonal fruits & vegetables (with Sarah) Using fruits and vegetables in season and with input and ideas from the children we will make – smoothies, icecream and juices. We will be enjoying our treats as we make them.                  Please bring lots of snacks and lunch.

Tuesday 17th January Excursion Day – Central Market (9-2) We will leave OSHC at 9am and travel by train and tram to the Central Market. At the market we will divide into smaller groups to explore. Each group will be tasked to find a food that no-one has tried before (last time we bought samphire, kangaroo fritz and lychees). We will return to OSHC by 2pm Please wear appropriate shoes for walking, bring some money ($10 max, no junk food/soft drink will be bought) and a bag to carry your belongings and purchases. Please provide snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Wednesday 18th January Home Day – Soccer Clinic with Damian (9-3) Damian will lead a clinic that teaches basic ball handling skills, soccer rules, the role of each position and end with a match. Lunch will be provided, please provide lots of snacks.

Thursday 19th January Home day – Stop go Animation (am) We will taking part in a computer animation workshop we will be using ipads and a stop-go animation program. The children will be using photos of themselves and placing them in a scenario (circus/jungle. The individual animation will be joined together to make a story that we will all watch on a big screen. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch.

Friday 20th January Home Day – Circus Elements (am) Scott from Circus Elements will be her to teach some basic circus skills – plate spinning, stilt walking and juggling. Please wear appropriate shoes and clothes for physical activity. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch.

wEEK TWO

Monday 23/1/17– Friday 27/1/17

Monday 23rd January Home Day – Basketball with Dwayne (pm) Our favourite ex 36’s basketball player Dwayne will involve the children in a clinic that introduces and teaches – ball skills, hand-eye coordination, accuracy, communication, team building and having fun. Please wear appropriate clothes and shoes for sport. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch.

Tuesday 24th January Home day – Pot plants Each child will get a pot to decorate and plant with a selection of herbs and flowers (parsley, chives, thyme, violas, coriander). We will talk about the different flowers and herbs. The children will take their miniature gardens home. Lunch will be provided, please provide lots of snacks.

Wednesday 25th January Excursion Day – Gorge Wildlife Park We will leave OSHC at 9am and travel by bus to Gorge Wildlife Park at Cudlee Creek. We will take part in a Koala patting and snake touching session. We will also explore the park – looking at dingoes, monkeys, eagles, camels, kangaroos and much more. We will be at OSHC by 3pm. Please wear clothes appropriate for the weather and walking. Please provide lots of snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Thursday 26th January Public Holiday No Vacation Care

Friday 27th jANUARY Home Day – Mobile Science ‘In your guts!’ (am) Our favourite nerds are back with a new show about the digestive system, expect some gross smells!! Please provide lots of snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

November 25th 2016

Please see the bottom of this post for a personal message from Dianne. 

Spring has finally arrived!  

With such beautiful weather we have spent most of our time outside.

Monday was a really interesting night. We started by challenging people to be blind folded and find their way around. But this soon evolved into a big discussion about being blind and other impairments. Many of the kids had lots of fun trying to navigate by feeling their way, but others soon became disgruntled and understood that blindness can be life long and would be very frustrating at different times.

In the SAC this week we have had a variety of sports plus lots of hula hoop practise. Each day someone brings a new trick to try out and teaches others. It is really cool to see their repertoire being added to.  

If you want to learn some new hula hoop tricks check this video out!

We had two baking nights this week. Both nights we had vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Normally we try to sneak in some fruit in the frosting or the cake! Both nights we had gluten-free and egg-free batches to accommodate for different student needs. We are finding it really interesting how using specialty ingredients change the end product.

It seems that loom bands are back again! We have had some great bracelets, rings, necklaces and whole hand master pieces! Aside from craft we have also had some great art work. Unfortunately we can’t show you their work because they used their own photos. But here is an example of what they were doing.

Later in the week we had some fun problem solving. We found money and sports equipment down a drain. This of course posed a fabulous challenge. Children designed different hooks, poles with sticky tape and other contraptions to retrieve the items. Meanwhile on the mini oval a group of girls started to teach themselves partner acrobatic tricks. These tricks take a lot of cooperation and team work through discussing movements and placements of bodies.

We have started having more and more children bring bikes, scooters and skateboards to OSHC in the afternoon. It is great to see people trading rides, and giving different things a go. A favourite conversation to hear is the different types of bikes that we see. Bmx, Mountain bikes and classic cruisers seem to be the most popular. We love talking about differences in shape, types of tyres, riding styles and the uses of each bike.

For our Pupil-free day we were so entertained with Maya’s musical routines that she taught to lots of students. It was complete with music, singing, dialogue and so much dancing to a song from Matilda. The children were so inspired that we just had to watch the film in the long room.

Outside we took advantage of the good vibes and just chilled out in hammocks and cubby houses that we made. Most of the time everyone spent time listening to show tunes and requests from the children. Unfortunately many ‘ear worms’ crept into the mix, with classics like What did the fox say, PPAP and Banana dance ‘Peel the banana’.

As a way of remembering such a fabulous year we have started a finger print tree, which we will add to over the next couple of weeks.

The January Vacation Care program is now available. Just a friendly reminder, priority goes to bookings where parents are working. If you want to book in for a fun day we can place you on a waiting list to ensure families that are truly in need get first priority.

 WEEK ONE

Monday 16/1/17– Friday 20/1/17

Monday 16th January Home Day  –  Summer cooking using seasonal fruits & vegetables (with Sarah) Using fruits and vegetables in season and with input and ideas from the children we will make – smoothies, icecream and juices. We will be enjoying our treats as we make them.                  Please bring lots of snacks and lunch.

Tuesday 17th January Excursion Day – Central Market (9-2) We will leave OSHC at 9am and travel by train and tram to the Central Market. At the market we will divide into smaller groups to explore. Each group will be tasked to find a food that no-one has tried before (last time we bought samphire, kangaroo fritz and lychees). We will return to OSHC by 2pm Please wear appropriate shoes for walking, bring some money ($10 max, no junk food/soft drink will be bought) and a bag to carry your belongings and purchases. Please provide snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Wednesday 18th January Home Day – Soccer Clinic with Damian (9-3) Damian will lead a clinic that teaches basic ball handling skills, soccer rules, the role of each position and end with a match. Lunch will be provided, please provide lots of snacks.

Thursday 19th January Home day – Stop go Animation (am) We will taking part in a computer animation workshop we will be using ipads and a stop-go animation program. The children will be using photos of themselves and placing them in a scenario (circus/jungle. The individual animation will be joined together to make a story that we will all watch on a big screen. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch.

Friday 20th January Home Day – Circus Elements (am) Scott from Circus Elements will be her to teach some basic circus skills – plate spinning, stilt walking and juggling. Please wear appropriate shoes and clothes for physical activity. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch.

wEEK TWO

Monday 23/1/17– Friday 27/1/17

Monday 23rd January Home Day – Basketball with Dwayne (pm) Our favourite ex 36’s basketball player Dwayne will involve the children in a clinic that introduces and teaches – ball skills, hand-eye coordination, accuracy, communication, team building and having fun. Please wear appropriate clothes and shoes for sport. Please provide lots of snacks and lunch.

Tuesday 24th January Home day – Pot plants Each child will get a pot to decorate and plant with a selection of herbs and flowers (parsley, chives, thyme, violas, coriander). We will talk about the different flowers and herbs. The children will take their miniature gardens home. Lunch will be provided, please provide lots of snacks.

Wednesday 25th January Excursion Day – Gorge Wildlife Park We will leave OSHC at 9am and travel by bus to Gorge Wildlife Park at Cudlee Creek. We will take part in a Koala patting and snake touching session. We will also explore the park – looking at dingoes, monkeys, eagles, camels, kangaroos and much more. We will be at OSHC by 3pm. Please wear clothes appropriate for the weather and walking. Please provide lots of snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Thursday 26th January Public Holiday No Vacation Care

Friday 27th jANUARY Home Day – Mobile Science ‘In your guts!’ (am) Our favourite nerds are back with a new show about the digestive system, expect some gross smells!! Please provide lots of snacks, lunch and a drink bottle.

Dear Parents,

 I will be on sick leave from Monday 28th November until the end of the year. While I'm away Sarah will be running things. Sarah will have the OSHC phone and be checking emails. We have had huge information sharing sessions..but... there maybe something   I forgot to pass on! So please be kind :) I will come and visit before Christmas during Vac Care but to those of you I don't see - have a lovely break, working with and caring for your children is a delight. See you next year,  Dianne xoxo