Banksmeadow Preschool
Belonging, Learning and Growing Together.
The Pelican Brief
General Information
- Banksmeadow Preschool enrolments are happening now. If you know someone looking for an early childhood preschool placement, please let them know.
Outcome 1: Children have a strong sense of identity
- Children have a strong sense of identity.
- Children feel safe, secure, and supported
- Children develop their emerging autonomy, inter-dependence, resilience and sense of agency
- Children develop knowledgeable and confident self- identities
- Children learn to interact in relation to others with care, empathy and respect
Singing and Sharing Home Languages
The children have continued to share and teach their friends words, phrases and songs in their home languages. Raphael is teaching us to count in Italian and Kenji is teaching us to count in French. Together, we have been learning a song called 'People All Around the World' that incorporates saying 'hello' in various languages. Several children were excited to share that they knew how to say hello in another language.
Everyone has also been doing a fantastic job of learning to sing our Australian National Anthem. Isabelle, Daniel and Charbel already knew the words and have been assisting the rest of the group.
- Children share aspects of their culture
- Children feel recognised and respected for who they are
- Children recognise their connectedness to others through a shared identity as Australians
Outcome 4: Children are confident and involved learners
Children develop dispositions for learning such as curiosity, cooperation, confidence, creativity, commitment, enthusiasm, persistence, imagination and reflexivity
Children develop a range of skills and processes such as problem solving, enquiry, experimentation, hypothesising, researching and investigating
Children transfer and adapt what they have learned from one setting to another
Children resource their own learning through connecting with people, place, technologies and natural and processed materials
How Do Plants Absorb Water?
To discover how plants absorb water, we conducted an experiment with celery and food colouring. The food coloring illustrates how water and nutrients are delivered to all parts of the plant. The children predicted what they thought would happen and the length of time that it would take. The majority predicted that it would take until after lunch time for the celery leaves to turn blue.
When we came in, the children were amazed to see that the celery had changed colour.
"We were right!" exclaimed Daniel.
"The celery turned blue!" added Lua.
After cutting the stalk of the celery, the children observed the inside of the stalk and discussed how the food colouring travelled up the celery stalk like a drink going up a straw.
- Children make predictions and experiment with cause and effect
- Children use reflective thinking to consider why things happen
Outcome 5: Children are effective communicators
Children interact verbally and non-verbally with others for a range of purposes
Children engage with a range of texts and gain meaning from these texts
Children express ideas and make meaning using a range of media
Children begin to understand how symbols and pattern systems work
Children use information and communication technologies to access information. Investigate ideas and represent their thinking
Visual Representations
A discussion about the seasons led to us observing the trees in the playground.
Harper commented, "These trees don't have any leaves."
Lua said, "They turned brown and they all fell off in Autumn.."
Mrs Pollock explained that deciduous trees lose their leaves each year.
It was exciting when we looked more closely and noticed tiny green leaves shooting from some of the branches. Several of the children chose to sketch visual recordings of the tree. They discussed their drawings as they sat and sketched.
"I'm taking my time," said Ruby.
"Me too," said Remi.
Ruby announced, "My tree's ginormous!"
"Mine has three thousand, one hundred and thirty five seeds," said Lua.
We will continue to observe, discuss and record changes to the tree as they occur.
- Children use language to share their ideas
- Children use drawing to visually record information
Banksmeadow Public School Preschool
Email: banksmeado-p.school@det.net
Website: banksmeado-p.school.nsw.edu.au
Location: Corner Herford and Wilson Street Botany
Phone: 9316 7661