Dear families,
As we near the end of the year we like to wish a fond farewell to families leaving our kindergartens at the end of the year and a warm welcome to all our new and returning families.
We hope you take the time to read through our termly newsletter to read about all the wonderful learning experiences the children are participating in. There are diary dates to note for each kindergarten.
Lastly, thank you to all our families who have participated in our kinder programs this year. We would like to encourage all families to participate in any of the opportunities there are for family involvement at your child’s kindergarten in 2024.
General Manager’s Update
Dear MEYM Families and Carers
What a wonderful year it has been! We hope that you enjoyed 2023 at an MEYM kindergarten and that you have seen your child flourish and develop lots of new skills since starting out in Term 1. Thanks for choosing MEYM and for the support that you have provided to our wonderful staff throughout the year.
MEYM has taken on a new service in 2024. We extend a warm welcome to the St Linus Kindergarten staff and community.
Oak Park Kindergarten will be extended in 2024 which will mean more kindergarten spots for the community and the service will also be able to offer 15 hours of funded kindergarten to 3-year-olds. The project will take approximately six months.
We would like to wish you all a safe and happy holiday period. For all those children heading off to school we know that you are ready and we wish you all the very, very best. For those children returning to kindergarten we are looking forward to another great year with you and your family.
Kind regards, General Managers
Anne McGregor and Sarah Vallance
Pedagogical Leader’s Update
MEYM held a professional development day on the Monday of the cup weekend, it was wonderful to see our administration team plus educators & teachers in attendance. Dr Chris Speldewinde presented his work & research on nature play / bush kindergarten & how children can engage in all areas of *STEM education by exploring their natural surroundings. Chris highlighted how play dynamics change when children investigate or sit in nature in all aspects of their development including socially & emotionally. So many wonderful take aways from this session.
If you would like to know more about nature play and how educators & teachers incorporate STEM education within these programs (or the general education program) please feel free to make a time to chat with one of the team at your children’s service.
*Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics (STEM)
Meredith, Pedagogical Leader
Enrolment Officer’s Update
St Linus Kindergarten in Merlynston will be under our management as of 1st January 2024. We would like to extend a warm welcome to all families and community at St Linus.
Orientation and start dates for 2024 are available to view on our website. Families have been sent an email with a link to book in for orientation. A reminder to book in has been sent today.
Note that our kindergartens will all be closed over Christmas and January. If you have any queries please email Samantha Zuccarelli, Enrolment Officer, MEYM at enrolments@meym.org.au
Transition to school: Parent information session recording: Transition to school – https://youtu.be/aOfvkHFzCbg
Timetables: Timetables of our kinder programs for 2024 for all of our kindergartens are available here.
Kindergarten Family Handbook: We have updated our Handbook – please have a read through at your leisure.
Important: Please keep the Enrolment Officer updated of the following change in family circumstances:
Change in address or phone number, update of concession card or visa status, update of your child’s Medical Action Plan, Court orders, Child Protection or Child and Family Services support.
If your child will be absent from the kinder program for a period longer than 2 weeks please inform us in writing to enrolments@meym.org.au with the length of time your child/family will be absent.
If you wish to cancel out of a kindergarten program again, please advise the Enrolment Officer in writing giving 14 days notice of cancellation.
For families wishing to have a tour of our kindergartens please book a visit through our Book-a-Tour on our website. Families have an opportunity to view our wonderful kindergartens and meet some of our educators who will be able to answer any questions and provide information on our programs.
Important Dates
Term Breaks
Term 1 Start Date 27 Jan Finish Date 6 April
Term 2 Start Date 24 April Finish Date 23 June
Term 3 Start Date 10 July Finish Date 15 September
Term 4 Start Date 2 October Finish Date 20 December
You will be notified of the last date of kinder for the year nearer the time.
Facebook and Instagram: Please visit and follow our facebook and instagram pages as we are posting information, notifications and photos of our programs there!
For any enquiries regarding kindergarten programs, enrolment or orientation, please email Samantha, Enrolment Officer at enrolments@meym.org.au
Thank you, Samantha Zuccarelli, Enrolment Officer, MEYM
Reports from our MEYM Kindergartens
Gowanbrae Children’s Centre
Dates for the remainder of the year:
End-of-Year Celebration
Red and Yellow groups Tuesday 12th of December 2-4pm
Blue group Wednesday 13th of December 12:30-1pm
The exhibition space will be open from 2pm on Tuesday the 12th of December through to 11am on Thursday the 14th of December if people want to visit again or are unable to come to the celebration times.
Last day of the year:
Blue group Friday the 15th of December
Red and Yellow groups Monday the 18th of December
The team at Gowanbrae has been reflecting on the year and discussing how much the children have learned and developed over the year and how much we have enjoyed being a part of that. We want to thank the families for the contributions they have made to the service this year. We wish the families who are moving on all the best for their child’s continued learning journey. For the families who are returning, we look forward to welcoming you back in 2024.
From the team at Gowanbrae Children’s Centre
Lake Park Kindergarten
Dear Parents and families,
Wominjeka from Lake Park Kindergarten!
Lake Park Kinder has been busy engaging with lots of additional learning and fun on top of the usual kindergarten program. Children have enjoyed the wonderful Italian Magician – The Great Armando who made the children laugh with his performance and magic show MAGIA MAGIA! https://www.thegreatarmando.com
Children also participated in The Bunjil Program where they learned more about Wurundjeri People through storytelling, language, song and dance.
https://www.wurundjeri.com.au/
And children engaged in the Merri Creek Water Watch Creek Clean Up where they got to learn about our local creek, its inhabitants, and why it’s so important to keep the area clean of rubbish. Children excitedly put on their gloves and went on the hunt to pick up rubbish and preserve our environment!
We did have The Responsible Pet Program booked for December but they have had to cancel unfortunately.
Don’t forget our Family Picnic End of Year Celebration at the Doug Hull Adventure Park this Thursday 30th Nov, 4.30-6.30pm. This event will be cancelled if it is raining.
Kind regards,
Caterina, Service coordinator
A message from Kingfisher group
The Kingfisher group has been very busy this term with many of the children preparing to transition to Primary school and attending orientation programs. To extend on this learning we have created a dramatic play area with school uniform dress ups, a black board and mat area for them to role play as “Teacher and students” and a selection of numeracy and literacy based experiences to replicate more academic style “school work” for the children to engage in. This has been very popular amongst the children and has fueled their excitement about starting school. We have also been continuing our nature program outings with the children enjoying a wider space to explore as we have expanded our area of exploration as the children’s confidence and competencies have grown and developed since the beginning of the nature program in term 2. The team and I are really proud of the progress that all the children have made this year and looking forward to celebrating the end of the year with you all as the senior members of the KF group prepare to move on to primary school.
End of year arrangements for the Kingfisher group:
– On Monday the 11th of December we will have our final nature program outing for the year from 10:30am-1:30pm approximately (please let us know if you can help),
– On Tuesday the 12th of December the Kingfisher group will be having an end of year concert/graduation from 2:00-4:00pm,
– Monday the 18th of December will be the final Kingfisher session for 2023,
– Tuesday the 19th of December will be a child free day for the educators to clean.
On behalf of all the Kingfisher team, Jess, Nicole, Kay, Hala and Caterina, we would like to express our thanks to all the families for a fantastic year and wish all the children moving on to primary school in 2024 all the best for their school journey.
A message from Dragonfly group
As term 4 is almost coming to an end, we would like to take this opportunity to reflect on our wonderful kindergarten year. The team and I are very fortunate to be a part of your child’s early learning, growth and development. We have certainly been busy in the program from participating in incursions and excursions to engaging in a number of activities at Lake Park. One of the major interests we focused on came from the children’s passion which was Star Wars. Many children have voiced their love for Star Wars and noticed that the other children who may not be aware of Star Wars earlier on are also now getting into Star Wars themselves, thus, allowing the children to build on their interests and use imaginary skills. To extend on this learning experience, the team and I worked hard to come up with ideas of how to create something meaningful and exciting based on their interests- Star Wars. After consultation with the children, the Dragonfly team developed StarWars studio outside. The children were invited to create costumes, props and help set the scene of a Star Wars universe. Currently, we are working with the children through our discussions during group time and using their comic panel to introduce and create scripts together for our mixed video. Some of the children helped us with the video while others have been acting out the scene. Talk about teamwork!
Secondly, as you may be aware, the Dragonfly group has taken part in our PMP program during the year and this term we are at it again but have related it to our Star Wars experiences through an intergalactic obstacle course, playing Star Wars music.
One of the major aspects coming from all the different learning experiences is how amazing it is to personally witness the beautiful friendships and strong bonds that have been formed through our social interactions with this group of children.
A friendly reminder to all families to come and attend our End of Year Dragonfly group celebration – Thursday 14th December, at 2:00pm – 4:00pm. We hope everyone will attend this significant celebration!
Finally, on behalf of the Dragonfly team, we would sincerely like to say thank you to our families and children for a wonderful year and wishing the children all the best in their primary school education. For children who will be moving to another service, we also wish you all the best for your future. For the children who will be returning to Lake Park we will be looking forward to seeing next year, 2024.
Best wishes from Dragonfly team,
Vicky, Scarlett, Elise, Kay and Siobhan
Moomba Park Kindergarten
Moomba Park have had a very busy few weeks.
Possum Group have been continuing their community excursion walks. They have explored the local school library and even enjoyed a trip the local coffee shop. These walks have been particularly popular with the group and their families and this is something we hope to continue and expand next year. Other highlights include making ginger bread men, and lot’s of exploring the outside yard. Many children have been completing school visits as well.
The group has also been enjoying some visiting pets. They have had a guinea pig stay for a few days, and currently are watching a caterpillar transform into butterfly.
Wombat Group
Wombat group really enjoyed the drama tool box dinosaur incursion. The group showed great concentration and focus as they sat and listened to a story all about hiding t.rex, a disappearing waterfall and some swooping Pterodactyls. The group has been enjoying revisiting this experience by working on their own display of photos and drawings about what they enjoyed most. Wombat group are also enjoying spending time with their teaching team before all of them move on to different services and organizations.
Kangaroo group
Kangaroo enjoyed a visit to Moomba Park school and their library space. They listened to some stories and did some art activities. The group was amazing on the walk to and from the school and listened very well about how to cross the road and stay together safely. Community excursions like this really help build close relationships with the area and the people who work in it.
Echidna
Echidna have been exploring loose parts. They have been using all sort of objects to build, pattern, counting and organize. They have been continuing to explore their interest in life under the sea. They have loved combing their interest in loose parts with this on going interest and have been using the tuff tray in the room to explore different small animal figurines and water. They have also been making art work including Jellyfish.
Dates:
End of Term Party
Wombat/Possum – Thursday the 14th of December
Kangaroo – Friday the 15th of December
Echidna – Tuesday the 19th of December
We would like to thank Shejuti for the following really lovely email that Shejuti has given permission for us to share with you and congratulate Bushra and her team:
Dear Ms Bushra,
We thank you wholeheartedly for your effort and contributions towards our little muffins’ (children) learning and development. As a parent, my aim for my children at their young age was simply to be able to develop social, interpersonal, hands on learning skills, and moreover build a key relationship with the environment around them. This enables them to discover their own selves and where they fit into the world.
I can already see Safiya thriving from these excursions and experiences she is receiving from her first steps into the real world (Kindergarten being the start of a long educational journey). Her exposure to the Indigenous culture, the touch and feel Nature Walks correlated with the life cycle of insects and animals, the travel to the café and local library to make them aware of their locality and become familiar with the local community…we are immensely pleased when she narrates her stories from Kindergarten and can faithfully understand the growth she is experiencing from the sparkle in her eyes as the world is opening up to her.
Additionally, your time invested in researching as well as reflecting upon our children’s development and learning is also evident in the thorough Statement of Learning you recently sent to us. It was clear that you catered your feedback specifically with regards to Safiya and this also helped us reflect on her journey through Kindergarten with her.
I hope that Safiya will be lucky throughout her school life to be able to meet more Teachers like yourself who make me reminiscent of my own school days when Teachers were so devoted to their occupation. This in turn, helps the students develop a love for learning and education and moulds them into broad minded individuals. You have truly set the benchmark!
Thank you Ms Bushra and your team for all you have contributed to the Possum Group for Moomba Park Kindergarten.
Yours sincerely, Shejuti
From the team at Moomba Park Kindergarten
Newlands Preschool
Can you believe we are almost to the end of another year? The children in the 4-year-old group have been busy with school transitions, telling us all about the friends they are making and the activities they are completing.
We have had lots of children go on holidays, or getting ready to head on holidays. We have spent time looking at different parts of the world, learning about the different customs and flags that make up these countries. Xanthie, Andrew, Shion, Oliver and Giulio even made the flags from their respective countries. We wish those children who are leaving us early all the best for their travels and their schooling years.
Both 3 and 4-year-old groups were lucky enough to have a visit from the Australian animals, getting to see, touch and hold a variety of snakes, lizards, a possum, crocodile and wombat. We got to learn where these amazing animals live, what they eat and when they sleep. We learnt what the words nocturnal, carnivore, herbivore and omnivore mean, and extended our knowledge about Australian animals. I wonder what other animals are native to Australia?
Our 3-year-old group have been busy with many cooking experiences, making pizza, cupcakes and a variety of other foods. We have planted beans and tomatoes in the vegie patches that we hope to use in our cooking soon. The 4-year-old group extended on their interest in making shop signs, particularly for an ice cream and pizza shop, by making our own pizzas and having a pizza shop of our own.
We have recently started exploring safety- what does it mean, what can we do to keep safe and what makes us feel safe? We have explored who we can go to when we are not feeling safe, and learnt about calling 000.
How can we stay safe?
“Listen to your parents” Luna
“Defend yourself” Shion
“To be safe you should not lie to other people because you might hurt them” Amani
“Stay inside if a bad guy is outside your house” Sebastian
“If there is a fire inside, go outside. If there is a fire outside, go inside” Adam
“If your seatbelt is loose, tell a grown up to tighten it” Hattie
“Wear a helmet when riding a bike” Lenny
“Superheroes save us and they’re fast” Oliver
“When a bad guy breaks into your house we call the police” Andrew
Upcoming dates:
23/11: OT parent session at the kinder at 4pm on school transitions
24/11: End of year celebration for both groups at Coburg Lake from 4-7pm. Bring a picnic dinner.
5/12: 4-year-old celebration at the kinder from 5-7pm.
15/12: Last day for the 4-year-old group
19/12: Last day for the 3-year-old group.
From the team at Newlands Preschool
Oak Park Kindergarten
It is beginning to get very exciting at Oak Park! Our building permit has finally come through and we were given 2 weeks to pack up the office and surrounds to hand over to the builders. We used our very empty and echoey office for the last time on Friday in a group time with the children, giving them an opportunity to ask questions and to be aware of the big changes that will be occurring very soon. I love watching them proudly show off the building plans to their parents and excitedly discuss the new classroom amongst themselves!
We were very lucky to receive the $5,000 Educational Toys and Equipment Funding Grant from the Government. Over the past month we have enjoyed receiving deliveries and opening them to find beautiful new toys to enjoy. We have purchased a lot of new puzzles, many aimed at the 3yo age group, Grimms loose parts play, a wooden water ways set, new wheely’s, balls, more marble run, dolls prams, cribs and change table, some individual Montessori activities and some large building blocks to go in the new classroom. Even for the teachers, it has been a lot of fun playing with new toys!!
We will be holding our Parents Information Evening on Thursday 7th December at 7.45pm over Zoom and would love for some of our returning parents to consider being in the Parents Group. The main goal of the Parents Group is to fundraise for the kindergarten. If we have a decent number of volunteers, it would not take up much of your time. Needing to furnish a new classroom and office in 2024, we will need to do a lot of fundraising too be able to provide this.
Our last days for 2023 are 3yo Green – Thursday 14th December, 4yo Purple – Friday 15th December and 4yo Yellow – Monday 18th December. Each group will have their own end of year celebration and your teachers will inform you in the coming weeks of the details.
From the team at Oak Park Kindergarten
Turner Street Kindergarten
Turner street have enjoyed being back in their newly renovated space, we are particularly enjoyed welcoming families into our foyer. The children have also enjoyed navigating their new space and it really does feel like we are ‘back home’
This term the Green group have enjoyed an incursion from Drama Toolbox, “Journey into Space” where children were able to immerse themselves into different space characters. Green group also enjoyed participating in Halloween dress up as did the staff! And just in Tuesday the Green group went on an excursion to the Zoo , we saw lots of animals , a particularly highlight was the spider monkey as we have had Henry our class spider monkey taking in turns visiting families each week. We also participated in an educational workshop where Kate the educational zoo officer talked about caring for nature with the children , before letting the children discover lots of wonderful activities associated with caring for nature.
Blue group have also had a busy term. They also celebrated Halloween, dress up and bringing along their special people to kinder. They have celebrated the Indian Festival Diwali, where staff dressed in traditional Indian Dress , made yummy sweet treats and made candles holders. This week Blue group children are heading to Diggers Rest Farm which I am sure will be lots of fun.
What else is coming up?
Tuesday 28th November – parent information night for all the new and returning 2024 families
Friday 8th December – Blue group end of year celebration
Thursday 14th December – blue group last day
Monday 18th December – green group end of year celebration and last day.
From the team at Turner Street Kindergarten
Our Community
Rhyme TIme: Enjoy a fun-filled session based on music and movement as you and your baby share rhymes and action songs. Rhymetime introduces carers to fun ways to support baby’s physical development and literacy. Rhymetime is for pre-walking (0-18 months) babies and their carers.
Rhymetime session times
Rhymetime sessions are held during school terms on:
- Tuesdays, 10.30am at Fawkner Library
- Wednesdays, 10.30am at Glenroy Library
- Thursdays, 10.30am and 11.30am at Coburg Library
- Fridays, 10.00am and 11.00am at Brunswick Library
WordPlay: Let’s use our words to play! Word Play is a free literacy program for families to learn English together and make the most of pre-school play. Learning through play is an important part of pre-school learning and in these relaxed sessions we use books, puppets, puzzles and blocks to learn together. Word Play is aimed at pre-school children aged 3-5 years.
Word Play session times
Word play sessions are held during school terms on:
- Mondays, 1.30pm at Glenroy Library
- Wednesdays, 10.30am at Fawkner Library
MEYM would like to thank you for taking the time to read our Newsletter