c&k maroochy family day care and...c&k maroochy family day care co-ordination team would...
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C&K Maroochy Family Day Care and
C&K Maroochy & Caloundra In Home Care
Newsletter
News from the Lead Coordinator
Dear Families and Friends of Family Day Care,
Welcome back to another fabulous year with C&K Maroochy Family
Day Care. We hope you and your family had a happy and safe holiday. My family and I were fortunate enough to hit the beach (before 9am) on a couple of the sunny days. The Sunshine Coast at Christmas, phew! I will never complain about a wet Christmas again!
This year we have already received a letter from Medicare Local. Pattie Hudson the CEO of the Sunshine Coast Local office, has written to tell us about the Immunisation Postcard Campaign which aims to…
*Increase the fully immunised rates of 5 years of age
*Raise parent awareness of the importance of childhood immunisations
*Remind parents that schedule vaccinations are due at 4 years of age.
Naturally, we will share any information for families, that comes directly to us.
The 2015 Project will be a Sustainability Project. An all encompassing community project connecting the children, educators, families and Service to the wider community. The project aims to upskill our commu-nity on the necessity for sustainability and the small things we can do every day to ensure that our foot-
print is a little less for every future generation.
This month, the newsletter includes some transitional activities for children preparing for Kindergarten or Prep. Consistency, regular visits to the new environment and interactions with the new educator while
keeping the child informed will enhance the transition. Remember don’t be to hard on yourself during that first week, it is a transition for you too. Make sure your give yourself some extra time to get to work or play on your child's first day. This will decrease stress levels and ensure that your attention is where it
needs to be when you are saying good bye for the 44th time. :P There is also some wonderful information on reading.
We also have some wonderful websites for you to visit. This one was found on Facebook. 30 Wonderful healthy recipes for packed lunches for the whole family. Don’t forget to pack yourself one of these little beauties. If they taste as good as they look, they should be amazing…..
http://www.thirtyhandmadedays.com/2014/08/packed-lunch-ideas-for-adults/
Did you know that C&K have a face book page. Get on and have a look at the wonderful information available.
Wishing you all the very best for a prosperous and safe New Year.
Julie McCosker and the team from C&K Maroochy Family Day Care.
C&K Maroochy Family Day Care.
45 School Rd, Maroochydore.
4558. Ph– 5479 1677
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Meet the C&K Family Day Care Co-ordination unit......
Julie McCosker — Maroochy Family Day Care, Lead Coordinator.
Welcome to Family Day Care.
Let me take this opportunity to introduce myself before you meet the rest of the
staff. My name is Julie McCosker. I am teacher trained and have been employed for
the last 20 years in Early Childhood Education and Care across Queensland. In my
role as the Lead Coordinator, I work with the Coordination unit, Educators and Fami-
lies to provide flexible quality care across the Sunshine Coast. It is my goal howev-
er, to offer family’s quality childcare options and educators/staff professional de-
velopment and employment opportunities that best suit their family’s requirements.
Shavaun Hattingh — Maroochy Family Day Care - Co-ordinator.
I have been working in the childcare industry for about 16 years in a range of chil-
dren’s services, as a group leader and also a Director. I became involved in family
day care when my daughter was only young, choosing to be a Family Day Carer within
our scheme, which allowed me to spend precious time at home with her. We have
lived here on the sunshine coast for 5 years.
I have been involved in my role as a Coordinator since 2008 and love the flexibility
and variety of my role.
Linda Simpson - Maroochy Family Day Care - Co-ordinator.
I have been working in child care for about 20 years, but have developed a passion
for Family Day Care since being appointed a lead coordinator in Brisbane in 2009. My
belief is that the home environment and one-to-one attention is very beneficial to
the development of each child.
I also have a great appreciation of the individual input of each Educator and the val-
ue of sharing each family’s culture. Since moving to the Sunshine Coast in mid 2011
and joining the team at C&K Maroochy Family Day Care, I have enjoyed working
closely with our Educators and have found relationships to strengthen over that
time. My two children are now young adults and independent, but enjoy our frequent
family times together. I have fond memories of their early childhood years when we
lived in the rural area near Coffs Harbour on the NSW north coast. My goal is to
continue to work together with families and Educators to maintain high quality care
and education which meets the needs of children within our community.
Nadine Smith — Administration Assistant.
I come from a varied working back ground which includes, amongst other things,
working as an assistant in a centre and also as a family day care provider which I
found to be both challenging and rewarding.
I have been working in my current role with C&K since 2008 and enjoy working as
part of the coordination unit and with our fantastic educators and the families with-
in our scheme.
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Immunisation
Immunisation is a safe, simple and effective way of protecting children from serious diseases. It not only helps protect individu-
als, it also protects the broader community by minimising the spread of disease. The risk of serious side effects from immunisa-
tion is very low compared to the risk of complications or death should a child contract one of the vaccine-preventable diseases.
Immunisation helps children avoid many diseases that can seriously harm them. Immunisation is an important way to actively
protect your child from these dangerous diseases and protects those who are too young or too sick to be immunised.
Vaccines work by triggering the immune system to fight against certain diseases. After immunisation, the immune system gen-
erates specialised cells to fight the infection if they are exposed to the disease. If a vaccinated person comes in contact with
these diseases, their immune system is able to respond more effectively, preventing the disease from developing or greatly
reducing its severity.
The vaccines on the National Immunisation Program have been chosen to provide your child with the best possible protection
against some very dangerous diseases and the very serious complications of vaccine-preventable diseases.
These complications include hospitalisation, brain damage, paralysis, meningitis, seizures, deafness, amputation and even
death. It is very important to follow the schedule. Not immunising your child on time slows them getting the protection that the
immunisation can provide and increases the window during which they may get the disease.
For some diseases, more than one immunisation is needed. Sometimes a “booster” immunisation is also needed to remind the
immune system about how it should respond and allow protection against the disease to last for a long time.
Immunisation protects against many serious childhood diseases, including:
whooping cough (pertussis)
measles
German measles (rubella)
pneumococcal disease
chickenpox (varicella)
tetanus
mumps
polio
diphtheria
rotavirus
hepatitis
Immunisation provides protection against vaccine-preventable diseases. It reduces
the death and disability these diseases can cause. Although many of the vaccine-
preventable diseases are rarely seen in Australia we are still susceptible to both
small and large outbreaks. If people aren't vaccinated and they get sick with a vac-
cine-preventable disease, they can spread this illness to others sometimes days
before and after showing signs and symptoms of being unwell. Unknowingly shar-
ing this illness with vulnerable people who are too young to be vaccinated or whose medical condition prevents vaccination (for
example, leukemia, other forms of cancer, immune system problems) could lead to long-term complications and even death for
these people.
In Australia most parents vaccinate their children. When over 92% of children are vaccinated in a community we all derive pro-
tection from "herd immunity". In the Sunshine Coast region the rates fall below the level needed for herd immunity.
Immunisation works very well to prevent a wide range of very serious diseases. It is one of the most extensively researched
areas of medicine and has proved to be the most valuable health care measure ever developed by saving millions of lives
worldwide. Over the years, immunisation has controlled or stopped many of the diseases that cause illness or death in chil-
dren, it is the key driver behind the decline in debilitating diseases like polio, and has even managed to entirely eradicate small-
pox.
The National Immunisation Program Schedule recommends certain vaccinations at certain times.
These vaccines are available free of charge for all Australian children. Childhood immunisations are recommended at birth, two
months, four months, six months, 12 months, 18 months and four years.
You can obtain the latest schedule information by talking to your immunisation provider, calling 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) or
visiting—www.qld.gov.au/health/conditions/immunisation/index.html
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In-Home Care
Vacancies Available! Are you in need
of Care? C&K Maroochy & Caloundra In Home Child Care provides
care for children in the familiar environment of their
own home by an approved educator.
We offer a flexible service designed to meet the needs
of families who may otherwise not be able to access
child care and meet one of the
following criteria:
Families with 3 or more children under school age.
Parents working shiftwork or non-standard hours
Families in rural/remote areas
Families where the parent/s
or child has an illness/disability
Contact the Office
PH 5479 5194 for any enquires.
Community Contacts for our
Local Service!
Child & Family Health:
Nambour 5450 4750
Maroochydore 5459 6901
DV line;
(Domestic Violence 24 hours) 1800 811 811
Crisis Care: 1800 177 135
Post natal depression Support; 1800 017 676
Life Line Helpline; 13 11 14
Lifeline; Counselling Centre 5443 5366
SCOPE
(Suncoast Cooloola Domestic & Family Violence Services
for safer communities)
Maroochydore , Noosa, Caloundra, Cooloola -
5479 5911
Women's Crisis Services: 5443 4711
Dads in Distress; 1800 853 437
Kids Helpline: 1800 551 800
Family Planning: 5479 0755
Come with us!!
Families are invited to meet at the Caloundra Roller
Drome for a Skatingly good time!!
When? - Sunday the 22nd of February 2015 Time? - 10am—2pm
Please RSVP to the Office by Friday the 20th of February . Ph—54791677.
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Maroochy Family Day Care Service
45 School Rd,
Maroochydore. Q 4558
6th of February, 2015.
Dear Educators, Parents and Friends of C&K Maroochy Family Day Care,
Advisory Committee 2015
C&K Maroochy Family Day Care Co-ordination team would like to take this opportunity to re-introduce you too the current educator representatives on the Advisory Committee for 2015/6.
Sue Farnham 5441 4959
Pam Nissen 5441 1774
As you can see not all of the positions are filled. We are still looking for educators who are interested in partici-pating on the Advisory Committee. We need educators and families, who are interested in the future of the ser-vice, the overall running of the service, networking, fundraising and policy review for the services. Please nomi-nate on the form provided.
The next meeting will be held on the 25th of February in Nambour at 6.00pm ish.
The role of the Advisory Representatives is to: *Be a proactive member of the FDC Community *Actively communicate with the Educators and Coordination Unit
The role of the Advisory Meetings is: *to be proactive in specific tasks related to your areas of expertise *to voice issues of concern from your area of representation *to engage in discussion on these issues which will formulate the initial process of decisions *attend approx 4 meetings per year As decisions made through Advisory Meetings impact significantly on all stakeholders involved with C&K Maroo-chy Family Day Care, it should be noted that the process of decision making may be prolonged if further consul-tation or research is required. As the sponsor, C&K Qld will also be consulted where necessary.
Before each meeting an email is sent to ask Advisory Representative if they have issues or topics for the agen-da. Specific topics will be on the agenda and representatives will be asked for their contribution.
C&K Maroochy Family Day Care is a service that recognises change and responds accordingly.
In 2015, we will be encouraging all educators to attend the Professional Educator’s Meeting held at the begin-ning of each workshop. The meeting will be hosted by the coordinator and the service will facilitate the meeting and answer any questions.
Please send any agenda items to the educator representatives, as we would like to include them on the agenda for each meeting where possible. If you have any further queries, please do not hesitate to contact me on 54769 1677. Yours sincerely,
Julie McCosker.
Lead Coordinator
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Mrs Claus & the Good Elf Mrs Claus & the Good Elf make some house calls…...make some house calls…...
Coordination unit staff showed flexibility in their
roles by undertaking to dress up as Mrs Claus and
the Good Elf and visit children in educator’s
homes to bring some Christmas sparkle and joy.
It was pleasing to be greeted by enthusiastic
children and educators alike, with some opting for
dress ups of their own. Due to a kind donation by
Mammoth Storage company, we were able to ex-
tend the joy with a festive mammoth for the chil-
dren.
The children joined in singing favourite Christmas carols and sharing their wishes for San-
ta’s list. They were amazed at the storybook about “The Little Old Lady who Swallowed
Santa” and even more so when Mrs Claus produced a Santa finger puppet who was engulfed
by the old lady hand-puppet!
But, as all good stories go, there was a happy ending when the little old lady “burst” open
and delivered Santa back into his sleigh with all the presents, ready to make his way to all
the children.
Thank you to the educators and
families who participated in this
event.
It is always a pleasure to make
connections and share in the fun
with the children, educators and
families.
We look forward to joining in again
later this year.
- Mrs Claus and the Good Elf
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TENTATIVE EVENTS FOR 2015
ADVISORY MEETINGS 25/02/2015
27/05/2015 -Telephone
26/8/2015 -Telephone
25/11/2015
EXCURSIONS 25/3/2015–C&K MFDC Play session visits the Emergency Services
22/7/2015-C&K MFDC Play session visit to Strawberry Fields
28/10/2015– C&K MFDC Play session visits the Maleny Dairies
PARENT INFORMATION SESSIONS Via SERVICE WORKSHOPS 14/04/2015 – Guiding Children’s Behaviour
15/09/2015 – Workshop on Children’s Health
SERVICE EVENTS STARTER PACK in December 2014.
RE-REGISTRATION March 2015-June 2015.
PLANNING NIGHT AND QIP REVIEW FOR EDUCATORS 10/11/2015
PLANNING DAY FOR UNIT 3/11/2015
HOLIDAY PLAY SESSIONS FOR ALL CHILDREN 08/04/2015, 1/7/2015 & 30/9/2015
SOCIAL EVENTS FOR THE FDC COMMUNITY
FEBRUARY Service Family Skating at Caloundra
Easter Raffle
APRIL Car Restraints Check at Maroochydore
MAY UNDER 8’S WEEK
Bunnings Fundraiser BBQ
JULY Christmas in July
(EDUCATOR RECOGNITION EVENING)
OCTOBER Market Day (Saturday)
Christmas Toy Catalogue Fundraiser
DECEMBER End of Year Celebrations
End of Year Raffle
Nominations for the Advisory Meetings
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Dear Families,
We are very excited to share the results of the 2014 C&K
Maroochy FDC Safer Queensland Grant Application.
The Service was granted approximately $3000 to improve the
Pedestrian Corridor that is C&K Maroochy Family Day Care
in its current location at 45 school Rd, Maroochydore.
With regular foot traffic from the School, Sunshine Plaza,
Mill well Rd Community Centre and the shops on Evans st,
staff were becoming increasing aware of the volume of pedes-
trian traffic. Whether using the paths, or staff on site early
or late, the Team realised that to ensure everyone's safety, the
perimetre needed an overhaul. The grant was quickly spent
on upgrading the lighting around the outside of the building
and cutting back the overgrown walkways and playground.
There has also been the added bonus of a sensory spot light for
the back play space which not only attracts the bush turkeys
but weekend joy seekers.
Thanks to Suncorp, C&K, Cr Jason OPray and MP Fiona
Simpson for their unwavering support through out the
process.
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Fostering children’s literacy – a resource for parents
Early childhood educators are using C&K’s Building waterfalls teaching and learning guidelines to acknowledge and develop children’s early literacy skills.
The early childhood setting and a child’s home environment play an important role in fostering and supporting children’s early literacy skills.
“Early literacy development does not simply happen; rather it is a social process, embedded in children’s relation-ships with parents, grandparents, extended family members, siblings, teachers, caregivers, friends and the wider community.” (Fleer & Raban 2005, 33)
What are the best experiences for supporting young children’s literacy skills?
Recent research highlights the importance of meaningful experiences.
For example, a young child will often be more interested and aware of the letters within their own name rather than learning letters in isolation of the whole alphabet.
Writing a shopping list together of required items gives context and meaning to a child of the im-portance of these symbol systems, and why and how they are used in daily life.
“To learn literacy, children need opportunities to see and hear, to experiment, to interact and share, and to prac-tise and refine what they know and can do.”
(Fleer & Raban 2005, 25)
As play is known to be a powerful medium through which children learn, C&K programs provide liter-acy experiences and materials that support literacy learning through play. Building waterfalls sup-ports children to “actively participate in and contribute to their own and others’ learning” (C&K 2011, p 83).
A C&K early childhood centre provides the perfect opportunity for this to occur. Building waterfalls acknowledges the role of supportive environments to “provide many opportunities to engage in expe-riences that provide the appropriate level of challenge and provocation” (C&K 2006, p 117).
“… Guided play provides an excellent method to learn about and use literacy in purposeful and meaningful ways (Raban 2003). Neuman et al. (2000) conclude that by incorporating literacy into play children are helped to develop and extend understandings about the functions and purposes of texts.” (Fleer & Raban 2005, 25)
Parents may sometimes feel concerned their child is not doing more ’formal’ types of literacy experi-ences prior to Prep and Year 1. It is unfortunate there has been a push down approach that reflects a belief that children need to do greater formal instruction prior to their readiness to do so.
It is critical that parents and teachers provide meaningful literacy experiences for young children ra-ther than adult directed modified Prep/Year 1 work.
Research shows that children who learn formal literacy skills prior to attending school do not neces-sarily do better over their lifetime at school.
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As all children learn to walk or ride a bike at different ages so, too, are they at very different levels of readiness with literacy skills. A C&K early childhood educator will support and extend children accord-ing to their strengths – one child may be scribbling to represent their name, another child may be able to write their name and another child may be writing their own name as well as all the people within their family. All literacy levels will be supported within the C&K early childhood setting in meaningful ways, based on international research and practice that reflects what is best for young children.
The internationally recognised PISA test carried out by the OECD shows that Finland, where children start formal schooling at seven years old, scores significantly higher in literacy than Australia where children tend to start for-mal schooling at five years old, taken from the 2009 reading results. (OECD 2010)
Parents should join educators in celebrating their child’s literacy learning and in fostering an early love of literacy. Parents are also encouraged to share information with their teachers about their child’s literacy learning. We value parents’ knowledge and ideas about what and how their child learns.
What are meaningful experiences that you will see at your child’s centre that can be shared at home?
Explore language and literature in many forms: songs, rhymes, recipes, poems, stories, brochures, phone books, maps, road signs and digital text. We are competent and capable learners, thinkers and inquirers, (C&K 2011, 92).
Sharing stories with children assists them in understanding the basic principles of reading text from left to right and top to bottom, and the relationships between written words, symbols, spoken words and meaning. Asking questions can help children articulate their understanding of the story. We share satisfying interactions and relationships, (C&K 2011, 71).
Share literacy examples in different languages and recognition of children and families with English as a second language. Provide children with multi-linguistic opportunities. We are connected to fam-ily, community and country, (C&K 2011, 47).
Making stories with children – books with photos, drawings and children’s stories relating to topics and events made at the centre or at home. Children’s portfolios and other documentation within the setting will also reflect literacy learning and the collaborative learning between home and centre. We are unique, rich in ideas, experiences and knowledge, (C&K 2011, 89).
Provide access to many writing tools for children to record their ideas, for example to write their own café menus, design stop signs for the roads they build, create a letter to a friend, craft a story for their picture, or make items to sell in their shops. We create, represent and communicate our under-standing in many ways, (C&K 2011, 95).
Children need many materials that support them in transferring their ideas into practice – drawing and scribbling and plenty of opportunity to practice leads to writing. That is why there will always be writing and art materials available for children to use on a daily basis. We connect with and build up-on what we know, (C&K 2011, 50).
Provide a print rich environment where children view, watch others’ engaging with, and use mean-ingful text in multiple ways on a daily basis. We are open and sensitive to new possibilities and per-spectives, (C&K 2011, 77).
Encourage and inspire children to experiment with oral language through drama, rhymes, storytell-ing and scientific discovery. Expand children’s active vocabulary by giving them meaningful and rel-evant language to express themselves. We contribute to a democratic learning environment, (C&K 2011, 83).
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Bibliography and further reading
C&K 2006, Building waterfalls: A living and learning curriculum framework for adults and children (birth to school age), Creche & Kindergarten Association Inc, Newmarket.
C&K 2011, Building waterfalls: A guideline for children’s learning and for teaching in kindergarten, Creche & Kindergarten Association Inc, Newmarket.
Fleer, M & Raban, B 2005, Literacy and numeracy that counts from birth to 5 years, a review of literature, DEST Early Childhood Learning Resources, Australia
OECD 2010, PISA 2009 Results: What Students Know and Can Do – Student Performance in Reading, Mathematics and Science (Volume I), Author, viewed 2 July 2013,
http://dx.doi.org/10.1787/9789264091450-en
Original article written (2007) Evans, A.
Revised (2013) Davis, K & Clark-Carran, C.
Our Annual Fire Station Visit is just
around the corner!!!!
Educators and Families are invited to come along for a
wonderful Fire Station experience.
On Wednesday the 25th of March 2015.
From 9.30am to 11.00am
At the Maroochydore Station, located on 103-1 North Buderim Boulevard, Buderim.
Please RSVP on 54791677 by Friday the 20th of March.
Hope to see you there!!
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Turning 1!! NIKITA SCHJELDE OLIVER DAWSON
CASEY HAYS SEBASTIAN MCGUINNESS
CAMERON FOSTER
Turning 2!! LOVELLA SHELDRAKE SCARLETT SHELDRAKE
BROCK ELLARD LARISSA HUNDRIESER MAGGIE-MAY CROOK
Turning 3!! CHARLOTTE MANDERS
MASON COX
Turning 5!! LIAM THOMAS
OLIVIA TINDALL SUNNY EVANS
VANESSA HUNDRIESER
January & February January & February
BIRTHDAYS!!!BIRTHDAYS!!!
CHLOE JARRETT GRACE HATTINGH LIBERTY ACLAND
KATE ARMSTRONG ELENA EDWARDS
Schoolies!!