Lady Forster Kindergarten By The Bay

February 2021 Newsletter

natborkbork — Thu, 11 Feb 2021 23:23:48 +0000

Welcome …. Womindjeka

What a remarkable start to the kindergarten year at LFK!

After such a challenging year of isolation, it has been lovely to see children settling so well and easily into kindergarten life at LFK.

We warmly welcome all our 2021 children and families into the LFK community! With the new kindergarten year underway, our first newsletter of the year is available for download here.

NEW Virtual Tour of our Kindergarten

natborkbork — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 23:44:21 +0000

We’re VERY excited about our new virtual tour of LFK up on our website home page.

With the help Lucas from Venue3d Tours, families now have a birds-eye view of the kindergarten and the places we explore nearby in our nature excursions.

Have a look around inside each room at kindergarten and our outdoor play space and Kitchen Garden.

This will help our prospective families see just a little more of our fabulous kindergarten.

Check it out on our homepage: www.lfk.org.au

Introducing Seedlings Nature Playgroup

natborkbork — Sun, 31 Jan 2021 23:32:14 +0000

A new community playgroup, Seedlings Nature Playgroup Port Phillip, will be starting this month.

The playgroup organisers are all local parents and will lead the first month or two of playgroups. The playgroup is an affiliate member of Port Phillip EcoCentre and registered with Playgroup Victoria.

Families are welcome to join at any time.

When

Alternate Tuesdays and Fridays from 10 am – 12pm commencing Tuesday 16 February. Families are welcome to join at any time.

Where

Location will rotate between the lovely parks, beaches and bushland in Port Phillip. The first session on Tuesday 16 February will be at St Kilda Botanic Gardens (meeting at Port Phillip EcoCentre, 55A Blessington Street).

More Info

Details for future sessions will be posted on the Seedlings Nature Playgroup, Port Phillip Facebook page and emailed to parents on their mailing list.

For more information please email: seedlingsplaygroup.portphillip@gmail.com

LFK School Readiness Funding Plan 2021

natborkbork — Sun, 20 Dec 2020 00:01:23 +0000

School Readiness Funding provides extra support for kindergartens to help children to get the most out of their early learning. School Readiness Funding is supporting children in all funded kindergarten services in Victoria from 2021.

This funding is a permanent and ongoing part of the Victorian kindergarten funding model.
It funds programs and supports that builds the capacity of kindergarten services, educators and families to support children’s learning and development outcomes.

At LFK we have worked with our regional DET Early Childhood Improvement Branch to develop our School Readiness Plan for this funding in 2021.

Next year we will partner with some outstanding providers for delivery of our School Readiness Funding Plan at the kindergarten.

There are four components to our Plan which include:

STAR HEALTH will facilitate 11 x sessions to support educators and children in the areas of language development, social maturity and communication.
EARLY LIFE FOUNDATIONS will deliver four webinars for families through the year on topics including:

The importance of childhood and play
Building resilient children
Setting our children up for success
School preparation and transition

ABECEDARIAN APPROACH training will be undertaken by teachers Liza Taylor and Erin Heapes to support language development in children at the service.
CULTURAL SUPPORTS will support the refinement of our draft Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and commence delivery on some Actions within this Plan.

We are excited to deliver these components of our Plan next year and thank the Victoria State Government and DET for this new funding at Lady Forster Kindergarten.

For more information see the School Readiness Funding Fact Sheet for Families here.

Draft Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) released for LFK

natborkbork — Mon, 23 Nov 2020 00:11:03 +0000

The first draft of a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) for the kindergarten has been released today.

This is a very important commitment to reconciliation for LFK.

There will be refinements to come before our final RAP is submitted for approval by Reconciliation Australia, but these documents establish an initial framework for consultation/collaboration/action.

There are three versions of the document all available on our website here:

Summary RAP – a brief overview of the actions that make up our RAP.

Poster RAP – a display version of our RAP on a single page.

Detailed RAP – all the detailed goals and deliverables for each ‘Action’ in our RAP

We’ll start finalising the RAP and implementing Actions from early next year and will consult with staff, families and the community along with local Boonwurrung custodians as we move through this process.

At Home Activities For Children In Port Phillip

natborkbork — Fri, 01 May 2020 00:42:57 +0000

This is a useful page developed by City of Port Phillip with ‘at home’ activities for children.

The page is being updated as new resources are identified so make sure to check back regularly.

The City of Port Phillip also provides a weekly newsletter to families called ‘Family News’ with other helpful information– particularly useful during the COVID-19 impact.

To add your name to the mailing list use this link:

Nature Play Groups in Port Phillip

natborkbork — Tue, 10 Mar 2020 00:13:09 +0000

The City of Port Phillip are working closely with the Port Phillip Eco Centre to see how we can support the establishment of nature play/beach/bush playgroups in Port Phillip.

What is a nature play playgroup?

A group of families that meet in a regular natural environment (e.g. a quiet corner of a local park, a small neighbourhood creek, or the beach) and connect to nature and their children through play. Meeting regularly gives children the opportunity to play outside often, in all weather conditions, and to build on prior play.

Why is this important?

The opportunity to experience play in a natural environment is recognised as a critical component of early childhood development. During community consultations last year for the Children’s Services Policy Development, the community (including children themselves) told us that helping children access natural environments was important. This is reflected in Every Child, Our Future: Children’s Services Policy, under Policy Objective 7: Children will have access to natural environments that allow them to learn about and experience play in nature. This includes natural environments within early years’ services.

Who will this be suited to?

All families who live, work or visit the City of Port Phillip are invited to get involved. Playgroups are suited to families with pre-school aged children (from birth to school age). You may already be connected to a playgroup and want to find out how you can incorporate some nature play activities, or you may not know anyone in the area. Everyone is welcome!

Ok, I’m interested. What do I do now?

Sign up to our Nature Play Playgroup mailing list to receive updates fyccommunitysupport@portphillip.vic.gov.au
We are planning a 2.5 hour information session for parents that will involve an educational component (a neuro developmental therapist providing insight into how the brain works and how easy it is to incorporate nature play-based, brain enhancing activities into playgroup settings) and a practical session where an educator from the Port Phillip Eco Centre will lead us through activities such as sensory garden storytelling, minibeast safari, and exploring the indigenous forest in the St Kilda Botanic Gardens. We would like to schedule this session to suit as many parents as possible, so please indicate your preferred time of the week through this poll: https://doodle.com/poll/yz8d7f7hur2grg2r
Like the Family, Youth and Children Facebook page to stay connected on this, and other activities and services for families in Port Phillip. https://www.facebook.com/CoPP.FYC/

Boonwurrung Cultural Incursion

natborkbork — Fri, 06 Mar 2020 00:22:00 +0000

This week we had an action packed session with Jaeden Williams who is a Yalukit Willam man of the Boonwurrung.

Jaeden came to LFK to perform a traditional Welcome to Country smoking ceremony and teach the children about the history and beliefs of the Boonwurrung people who have been the custodians of much of Port Phillip Bay for around 125,000 years.

Each time Jaeden comes to LFK we learn a little more about the culture and language which we can pass on to our children so that future generations will have a greater understanding of, and respect for our first peoples.

LFK’s Worm Farm is Famous!

natborkbork — Sun, 01 Mar 2020 00:07:10 +0000

Have you seen the latest copy of Port Philip Divercity news?

LFK makes an appearance thanks to our new worm farm donated by the City of Port Phillip.

LFK Annual Open Day – 15th June

natborkbork — Thu, 06 Jun 2019 01:47:39 +0000

We have our annual Open Day coming up on 15th June – the kindergarten will be open from 11 am to 1 pm.

Bring the family to explore our wonderful kindergarten and meet our dedicated educator team.

Children can enjoy face painting and kindergarten activities with a sausage sizzle.

If you would like to register for our waiting lists (2019, 2020 and 2021), click here.

We look forward to seeing you on the 15th – please email Julie at info@lfk.org.au if you’d like to attend or find out more about Lady Forster Kindergarten.