I started working at Mercedes OSHC in July 2012. I have a strong passion for educating and working with young children and over the past year have developed a strong and trusting relationship with both the children and staff at Mercedes. The staff members at OSCH are friendly, competent and extremely professional, making Mercedes College OSHC a wonderful place to work.

I am currently studying a double degree towards a Bachelor of Junior Primary Education and Arts at Flinders University. I am in my second year and although at times it is very challenging, I am com-mitted to completing my education and am looking forward to having a career as a junior primary teacher.

I love cooking, especially with the children in OSHC. I also enjoy singing, playing netball and going to the gym. My family and friends are a very important part of my life and I enjoy spending quality time with them.

Vacation Care is my favourite time of the year! With various fun activities and the company of our amazing Mercedes OSHC community, it is always a time I look forward to.

Staff Profile Alana Di Rito

News and events from the year that is 2013

Mercedes College OSHC Newsletter - 2013

As the year progresses we get to know people much better and enjoy making new friends. Naturally, just like any family, we are bound to have our differences and this year we felt strongly that we needed to develop a new approach to personal responsibility in our programme. We have written three agreements for our children, hoping that they will support them to learn more about themselves and others around them. We would like to share the first one with you, more to come later.

The first agreement is titled COMMUNICATION. It states -

RESPECT YOURSELF, RESPECT OTHERS. Be honest always but don’t hurt other’s feelings. Be gentle with your words.

LOVE PEOPLE FOR WHO THEY ARE. You don’t know what sadness can be in their heart.

SPEAK CAREFULLY. What you say must help others, not hurt them.

HAVE YOU HAD A BAD DAY? Remember that SOMEONE...SOMEWHERE...is caring and loving you, even if you don’t know that.

Mercedes College Out of School Hours Care Staff

Valeria celebrated her 5th birthday in style when we were joined by her mum, dad, baby brother Sebastian & Grandma (Abuela) Sor on Wednesday of the last week of term. We were particularly delighted to meet Valeria’s grandma who has recently arrived from Venezuela. The children gathered together to sing Happy Birthday in English and Feliz Cumpleanos in Spanish and then enjoyed a slice of grandma’s delicious homemade birthday cake. We were then treated to an energetic Zumba session lead by Maria (Valeria’s mum). What fun!!

The afternoon was filled with happiness and joy as Valeria celebrated her birthday with her OSHC friends and family. We danced the afternoon away in-side and participated in a soccer game outside. What a special afternoon for Valeria and a chance for the OSHC community to come together and catch up with a special family.

Valeria’s Birthday

Celebrations!!

What role does media

play in your life?

Feliz Cumpleanos ! Happy Birthday

“Can of Worms” During the holidays, children are permitted to spend up to one hour on the computers and one hour on the Wii each day. They compose computer and Wii lists each morning and educators time each session for them. Once they have come to the end of their allocated time for the day we ask that they are gracious about this and explore alternative indoor or outdoor activities with friends.

Last week during After School Care we opened another ‘Can of Worms’ subject. In an earnest attempt to breathe more life into our MEDIA theme, we talked to the children about advertising and had lots of fun looking at how breakfast cereals are marketed to the public. We chatted about what cereals they eat and why they like them. Is it because there is an irresistible toy hidden inside the box or because they are good for us? We compiled a very recognisable list of favourite cereals and educators were pleasantly surprised with the thoughtful answers children provided.

It seems that most cereals are bought because they are healthy for us, they give us energy, the flavour is appealing and because they are filling. Children happily admitted that they really wanted to try cereals that they saw advertised on TV and asked parents to buy these for them when they went shopping. Some children said that they are not permitted to have cereals that are not healthy, ones that have a high sugar, salt or fat content. We can’t wait for our next ‘Can of Worms’ topic!

We have managed to sneak in two ‘Can of Worms’ sessions this term, both being based on our theme for Term 1 – MEDIA. In our first discussion, we asked children how much time they spend watching TV, playing games on the computer, the Wii or other game devices each day. Predictably, we had children saying that they would be happy to spend four or five hours a day being entertained in this manner but the majority seemed to think that spending one to two hours a day would be reasonable. It was evident that most had clear guidelines around time limits and they seemed to respect this and understood the reasoning. There is hope!!

Using our findings, we are advising children of our OSHC time limits on the use of computers, the Wii and watching movies. After school, children who want to do their homework have first priority on the computers and can spend up to twenty minutes depending on demand. After 5pm, children are permitted to play games (which are monitored by our educators) and we often have quite a crowd hovering around the computers, supporting each other and enjoying a lovely sense of camaraderie.

In Term 3 I enjoyed leading the children in a seven week Aerobic program as part of our Active After School Communities commitment. We began with basic rhythm and movement techniques set to music. The children were free to add their favourite dance moves into our routines.

Within three weeks we had choreographed an entire four minute song! I was very impressed with the children’s enthusiasm, coordination and memory.

The children enjoyed it so much that I ran a bonus session in the Term 3 holidays as a part of our Vacation Care Programme.

Written by Educator - Hayley Ewer

Soccer

Aerobics

In Term 3 of this year, the children in OSHC participated in soccer as part of their AASC (Active After School Communities commit-ment). We bought two fantastic net goals for the children to use and a whole set of soccer balls to play with.

Although the game of soccer is quite complicated on a technical level, it was great to see everyone (around 15 boys and girls) developing skills. At first, many of the children struggled to pass the ball properly with the side of the foot but by the eighth week the majority of children (including our Reception cohort) were able to control a ball, pass and shoot competently.

By week 4, we started playing full-sided games on the oval, and they all had a great time. Sometimes the competition was quite fierce but it was always in good fun!

Written by Educator - Danny Pettas

“Active After School

Communities”

“Africa”

Ingredients

½ cup (125ml honey)

¼ cup castor sugar

3 cups rolled oats

1 cup puffed rice

1 cup sultanas

½ cup chopped apricots or raisins (or a mixture)

½ cup desiccated coconut

¼ cup pumpkin, sunflower or sesame seeds (or a mixture)

Method

Preheat oven to 180 degrees

Grease and line a slice tray with baking paper

Combine honey, sugar and butter in a saucepan over medium heat

Cook stirring for 2-3 minutes until butter melts and sugar dissolves

Bring to the boil and cook for two minutes or until syrup thickens slightly

Remove from heat

Combine remaining ingredients in a large bowl

Pour over the hot syrup and stir to combine

Spoon into prepared pan and press firmly to make sure the mixture will stick together. Wet fingers with a little cold water and press the top to get a smooth finish

Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden

Cool and refrigerate until well chilled, then cut into slices

Cooking with OSHC ! Muesli Bar Slice

“It’s Ok To Be Different” It’s ok to be different, it doesn’t matter what’s on the outside. It’s what’s on the inside that counts. We hope that you enjoy this story.

Once upon a time there was a pair of Fairy Penguins who were awaiting the birth of their children. There were four eggs and the mama and papa birds watched over them with such love in their hearts. Suddenly the first little chick pecked its way out of its shell, and then the second and the third followed soon after. They were all soft, fluffy and white. When the fourth baby emerged, he was completely and utterly different, he was orange, the colour of a majestic sunset. As he grew he turned yellow, he was truly the odd one out, all his brothers and sisters were still soft, fluffy and white.

Mama and Papa Penguin loved all their chicks; they named them all according to their quirky nature. They taught them to swim and hunt for fish. His siblings did not take care with their lessons and were not very good at taking care of themselves. The yellow penguin sat back and watched his brothers and sisters as they played games, falling over each other, getting rough and tough and in to all sorts of mischief. He was not included in their games; they felt that he did not belong to their family because he was so different from them.

Story Time!!

Sometimes he would walk behind as his older siblings went on adventures far away from home. Many times they would forget how to get back and he would find food for them and lead the way back to their mama and papa but they still did not recognise him as one of their family. He liked to travel with them and had an interest in all things.

After some years, the youngest member of the family grew into a very handsome young fellow, despite his yellow feathers! On his travels he met a new friend who looked just like him and they became the best of friends. They were not bothered when they were teased; they were both different to all the others but did not feel that way anymore because they had met each other. They were truly special not only because they were rare in colour but because they were rare of heart and mind.

Of course they lived happily ever after!

“It’s Ok To Be Different”

OSHC

Activities

Semester 1, 2013

OSHC

Activities

Semester 2, 2013

Some exciting

additions to the

OSHC Room

I am sure everyone has noticed the new fish aquarium taking pride of place on one of our book shelves. It is a tropical aquarium. The fish that live in this aquarium come from warm, fresh water. We have six fish. The two smallest fish are White Cloud Mountain Minnows. These fish were originally found in fresh streams of White Cloud Mountain in China. The fish with the colourful yellow tail is a male Snake skin Guppy. Guppies were originally found in rivers in South America. The three biggest fish are platys. Plat-ys are found in Mexico and South America. They come in lots of different colours. Kate Doyle has named the yellow fish ‘Platy’...very fitting!

The other fish are still needing names! Many of you have noticed that the water has been cloudy since we set up the aquarium several weeks ago. This is a common problem when setting up a new aquarium. Don’t worry though, the water is changed regularly and the fish are fed every day.

News flash - just as predicted, the water in the aquarium has just righted itself and is now looking an absolute picture!! The fish are very happy in their lovely clear environment.

Spring Vacation Care

We are very lucky to have a new television in OSHC. It is a 50 inch LED that we have mounted on the wall so our children can watch cartoons in the morning, chill out in the afternoon or play games on the Wii during the holidays. We expect that children will treat our new television with respect and will take great care when changing the Wii games or using the DVD player. It is important that we look after our equipment - we would like to use it for a long time to come.

Frazer Kirkman We first met Frazer Kirkman during our Spring Vacation Care programme. Working with a personal trainer to increase our physical fitness is applauded but how many of us are willing to employ a wellbeing coach to lead us in our pursuit of happiness?

If there is such a thing, we may find it in the person of Frazer Kirkman, wellbeing coach, titled by some as ‘the happiness guru’. Our session began with a laughter workshop, a little confronting for some and it did seem a little contrived at first...how can you laugh at absolutely nothing, right??

Well take a moment to ponder this…

Laughter is infectious. The sound of roaring laughter is far more contagious than any cough, sniffle, or sneeze. Laughter makes you feel good and this feeling remains even when the laughter subsides. It helps to keep a positive, optimistic outlook through difficult situations; a laugh or even simply a smile can go a long way toward making you feel better. Just hearing laughter primes your brain and readies you to smile and join in the fun!!

Frazer is a delight; he gave us a great deal to think about and suggested that we could incorporate some new practices in our daily routine. We talked about changing our habitual responses to difficult situations and he shared strategies that he used as a child when he faced conflict with schoolmates. We talked about compassion and positive visualisation.

We were given a tool kit that we could access to make ourselves feel better and rise above painful situations. Naturally this takes practice so we have invited Frazer to join us again to check on our progress and to instigate lots more laughter.

OSHC Christmas Corner! It’s that time of year again!

Christmas is fast approaching and in the OSHC Room, we have been busy getting into the Christmas spirit. We now have the Christmas tree beautifully decorated by the children. It has taken pride of place in front of our window which makes it visible to everyone who walks by.

Stars and tinsel, not to mention the fruits of children’s Christmas activities have also started to appear around the room and it is just a matter of time before the joyous and festive feelings take over!

We asked the children to tell us what they like best about Christmas and the holiday season -

I’m a poet and I

didn’t know it!

Some Christmas Acrostic

Poems by the children

“We are excited about going to America (Aspen) in the holidays” - Darcy and Harry Rogers

“Having a break”- Zoe Furness

“My favourite thing about the holidays is not going to school” - Charlotte Harris

“Getting to do Kris Kringle” - Isabel Pena

“When you buy a Christmas Tree” - Oliver Wilmot

“I like putting the Christmas tree up” - Will Yeates

“Going to my friend’s house” - Valeria Gonzalez-Lopez

“I love seeing the pageant” - Owen Yeates

“Christmas Eve, night time carols and when I go to bed and Christmas Morning” -Tessa Moran

“I like getting presents” - Sophia Moretti

“I love being with my Family” - Annabelle Moran

“I like Santa’s presents and I’d like to get a real flying saucer!” Kate Magner

“I like seeing all of my extended family on Christmas Day” Erin Moran

Celebrate

Happy

Ridiculously Fun

Imagine

Singing Carols

Tree

Merry Christmas

Advent

Santa Claus

By Owen and Wil Yeates and Annabelle Moran

Christ

Have Fun

Rudolph

I Love Christmas

Santa

Together

Mistletoe

Always Happy

Sleigh Bells

By Veronica and Isabel Pena, Zoe and Angus Furness and Tayla Willoughby

Summer Vacation Care

Invitation to our Community Evening

Royal Icing Recipe

A Christmas Recipe

Christ

Have Fun

Rudolph

I Love Christmas

Santa

Together

Mistletoe

Always Happy

Sleigh Bells

By Veronica and Isabel Pena, Zoe and Angus Furness and Tayla Willoughby

Artwork by Imogen Wilmot

In week 7 of term 4, we assembled Gingerbread Houses. It was tricky work but everyone enjoyed the activity and worked well in teams. Even if the houses did not stand up for long, the children still managed to ice and decorate pieces of shortbread to take home. Delicious indeed!

Ingredients

1 ½ cups of pure icing sugar (sifted)

1 egg white

½ a teaspoon of lemon juice

Method

Lightly whisk eggwhite and lemon juice together in a bowl. Gradually add icing sugar, whisking until smooth and combined. Now your icing is ready.

We used premade gingerbread houses from IKEA.

‘Turbo’

There was this movie called ‘Turbo’ and it was about this snail who wanted to be in a racing team and tried racing. It was his dream and it was in his heart. Then he had magic powers to race fast and so he followed his dreams. He won the race. It was a FANTASTIC movie but I didn't like it when Turbo’s shell got crushed!

5 Stars - Movie reviewed by Tessa Moran

Movie Review

Unbelievably we have reached the end of another busy year in OSHC so it is perfect timing to say thank you to our wonderful educators for the outstanding service that they have provided to all who are in our care. We are very blessed to have such a talented bunch who consistently go out of their way to support our service whether it is behind the scenes with administrative duties or in their chief role ensuring that everyone is kept safe and happy whilst with us.

We are about to embark on a different journey as we look way down the track to almost six weeks of holiday care! Thankfully this is a journey that we can take at our own pace, we have so many lovely activities and excursions planned to keep us occupied along the way and of course there will be time to relax and do whatever makes our hearts sing. Ahhhh, sounds good doesn’t it! Hope to see many of you jump on board with us!

Well, just for a moment can I talk to you about what is ahead for us in 2014? I do love the New Year - new beginnings and renewed energy (we hope). We would like to let you know, well in advance, that you can expect an invitation to join us for our very first OSHC Community celebration to be held mid way through Term 1. We are very excited about the prospect of showcasing life in Mercedes College OSHC. We sincerely hope that you will be able to spend some time with us on this occasion. We promise to entertain and to provide you with some of our favourite snacks. Stay tuned for the announcement of the date for this event.

The fun starts at 7.20am! We have been having a fantastic time in the mornings with the children revelling in the exciting activities that we have to offer! Starting with breakfast, we offer a range of cereals, toast with a variety of toppings, pancakes (sometimes on Wednesdays with Hayley), juice and ‘Akta-vite’ as part of the most important meal of the day.

Recently, I’ve taught the children some new card games such as ‘Cheat’ and ‘Spoons’ which have certainly made for some lively mornings. These games attracted players from Reception to Year 7 and participants play against each other in rounds of friendly competition. There have definitely been some extremely close games which have had spectators on the edge of their seats! And…that’s not all. The winners of these games receive a personalised certificate in honour of their achievement. That’s not even the best bit. It is amazing to see how well everyone plays together. Especially pleasing is seeing the older children helping the younger ones, ensuring that everyone has an enjoyable time.

If they choose, children are treated to time on the computers (once they have eaten their breakfast) where they can play games of their choice. We are thrilled with our new TV which has been very popular with all of the children. As well as cartoon viewing on ABC 3, we have a wide range of movies which are guaranteed to entertain! Many of the viewers become so enthralled in films such as ‘Finding Nemo’ and ‘Aliens in the Attic’ that they don’t want to leave when it is time for school! For those who just want to chill out, we have lots of board games, colouring in sheets and even a couch where they can hang out with Mario.

I love working in the mornings because the children are excited and ready for a brand new school day! Written by Educator - Stephen Heuzenroeder

Growing Numbers