Kyla’s School

I can’t believe Kyla only has 2 more weeks of preschool!  She’s going to start big school in February…not only does time fly anyway, but I’m kinda getting robbed by about 6 months!!  She’s super excited though and it will be nice having the big girls at the same school.
Kyla has really enjoyed her 2 terms at Peter Rabbit Community Preschool.  The teachers are lovely and she has made some wonderful friends.  Preschool here in Australia is quite different than what I was used to in Michigan.  First, you have to put your child on a waitlist…and there is a non-refundable fee to do so.  A lot of people put there kids name on these waitlists from birth to assure they get placement in a particular school.  Even if you’re enrolling your child that day and there is a spot available, you still have to be put on the waitlist and pay the fee.  A lot of people put there children on several waitlists and then decide.  Second, the preschools here are all day…like 9am-3pm, 2-3 days per week depending on age.  Third, since this is Australia, there are some great outdoor play areas for the kids as well as no hat, no play policies and a big emphasis on skin care.  Fourth, from what I have seen so far, the preschools do daybook type things in which they share pictures and stories about each day over email.  I hear they also pull together photos, etc. from each specific child to give to the child at the end of the year.  Very cool!
So, when we arrived over half way through the year, there were very few options as far as preschool availability.  We have been happy with Kyla’s school and love that it is in our suburb and that she’ll have a friend from school in the same Kindy class next year (more about him later!). 
Here are a few pictures of Kyla’s school, which is attached to, but not affiliated with a catholic church. There’s the main large room with a lot of different stations-arts and crafts, manipulatives, painting, puzzles, books, etc., a small room off that with computers and a light box and other science type activities, a dramatic play area upstairs, and a great outdoor space, complete with a large sand pit, climbing obstacles, tables for morning tea and lunch, cubby house, a stage with puppet house and tables set up for different crafts.  Kyla loves it!!




And here’s a random site that we have seen more than a few times on our way to pick Kyla up…yep, that guy has a pet goat that he takes for walks…and often nibbles on bushes in the preschool parking lot.

Here is a picture of Kyla and her best friend, Mikayla…aka, sista!  They have so much fun together!

Kyla doing crafts at school

This was bring your bike or scooter to school day-such fun!                  
                          
And here is a picture of Kyla and Paris.  We hear about Paris ALL THE TIME!  She loves him, and he loves her too….when do we start worrying about this???  Who am I kidding…I’m already scared to death of this one growing up!  We do highs and lows at dinner time and Kyla tried to have both of her topic revolving around Paris-from seeing him, to seeing his mum, to getting to ride to big school with him (his mum drives Kyla sometimes since she also has an older daughter at the Bush School), and she will just randomly talk about him throughout her day. They are cute together though….and will get to continue their friendship into Kindergarten next year.

Kyla’s school keeps the parents very involved and there is a lot of fun to be had at Peter Rabbit.  In the short time we’ve been here, we’ve worked a fundraiser-a sausage sizzle at Bunnings, our local hardware store, worked a weekend garden duty, participated in a father’s day tea and a grandparent’s day tea (Kyla’s Nana & Papa skyped in for that!), and enjoyed an End of Year Disco/Monster Mash Party.  That was a really fun night where the kids got dressed up and they had a disco with music, dancing and games, followed by a sausage sizzle, games, auctions, and treats over at the preschool’s outdoor play area.  They also do a lot of great things during school time for the kids, from having authors visit, police & fireman visits, show and tell, animal farms, etc.
Kyla “showing” Nana & Papa her school

Here are a few pictures of the fun at the Disco

                                      

                                     
Of course, there’s Paris next to Kyla   Alaina and his big sister, Ellie are also friends!

                                     
Kyla and Hallie found the microphones and had a BLAST singing for everybody! So cute!



                                    
And of course, I had to throw in a little photo shoot in between the church and preschool!


                                   
So, Kyla’s preschool years are quickly coming to a close.  She has already had her 2 days of Kindergarten orientation at the Bush School and will have her best start assessment just before school starts on February 3rd.  Kyla is on the right holding hands with…Paris!

We are looking forward to her Christmas party and concert next week!

Alaina’s School

I’ve had some requests for more info about the girls schools, so I thought I’d fill you in on school here in Australia.  Firstly, I LOVE it!  Alaina had spent an entire year of school back in the States and I couldn’t tell you a single parent’s name from her class…and I was a pretty involved parent…I knew most of the kids’ names from working in the classroom, but no parents, even though I went on both field trips.  I think this is mostly because of the school set up for colder months and it all being contained in one building.  Here in Australia, it’s a very outdoorsy environment with each class having it’s own building or at least a door to the outside.  This is where all of the parents congregate to drop off or pick up their children, so you see the same people everyday and really get to know them!  They also organize social events several times throughout the year for either the mums or families….it’s very community oriented, and I love it!  I have gotten to know so many of the mums and can call several friends already! 

Here’s is Alaina’s classroom this year

One thing I have a love/hate relationship with is the school uniforms.  I really love not having to pick out or veto clothes in the morning and Alaina is always dressed and ready to go before I’m even out of bed!  It’s very simple and nice that the kids are all on the same playing field as far as clothing goes.  I don’t love having to pay for them though!!  If you know me well, you know I’m very frugal!  I’ve bought most of my kids clothes 2nd hand, so I did my best here to do the same.  I saved quite a bit by checking out the uniform shop on different occasions.  I thought it would be fun to show you the costs involved…and really, I just want to have this on record somewhere too!  Alaina was such a good sport!

Winter uniform:

                                     

Sports Uniform:

                                     

Summer Uniform:

There were a few other things I bought, like an art smock, chair bag, etc. and a lot of other things I could have bought, like a rain coat, hair bows, sweater, etc.  Next year, I will have 2 in these uniforms!!

Another thing I really like about Alaina’s school is how many activities they offer within the school for all the kids.  Alaina is currently in intermediate choir and swims once a week with her class and will plan to start recorder and dance next year.  They have an amazing band that starts in Year 3 and a lot of other sports, language, and arts offerings as well. 

Alaina’s class swimming (swimsuits here are called swimming costumes, cossies or swimmers…FYI)

I also really like the emphasis on public speaking in this school.  Each week the students have a news item and are required to practice and present to their class on the topic.  They also do an “item” each year during an assembly where the whole class does some type of speaking presentation as well as a song or dance, etc.  The older kids lead the assemblies and are amazing speakers!

Here’s Alaina with one of her news items ready to present…on her favorite activity (dance).  She drew a beautiful picture of her dance teacher and our good friend, Stacey from the U.S. along with her 2 sisters all in tutus!  She had to talk to the class about the activity, why she liked it and why they should consider doing it too.

Approximately every other week Alaina has assembly in which a chosen class does their item as well as some of the special groups (choir, dance, band, etc.) perform.  They also present certificates for different achievements during assembly.  Here’s Alaina getting a Silver Award during an assembly.  We are slowly learning the Australian National Anthem and school song.

They also do a lot of fun sports activities…either their regular sports day which includes swimming and normal gym activities, but they also have field day and specials sports days.  Here are a few pictures from Alaina’s sports day.

As far as actual learning and schoolwork goes, Alaina has had a lot to catch up on.  From my limited time in the schools in the States, I feel like the Australian school system (at least in the primary level) is a little further along than in the States.  Alaina joined the middle of Year 1, so she already had missed half of first grade and with the higher level of learning, she was quite behind.  She still has a lot of room to grow, but Brian and I have been thrilled with how far she’s come along in such a short time.  Her reading and spelling skills have astounded us and she is learning a lot in maths (yes, they say maths) and computers.  They have already made blog entries and have email addresses!  She has worked very hard and loves it when she gets moved up in reading or maths groups.  We are very proud of her!

Toward the beginning of Term 3 (when Alaina started school), the school had an open day for the parents to come and join in for morning tea and to tour the school and see their child’s school work, etc.  It was a great chance for Brian and I (& Hallie) to see the school and learn about a lot of the things she’d done.

Being an outdoor environment, that means they have to go outside to go the toilets as well as eat their morning tea and lunch outside.  The school has chickens on the property as well as lots of birds and bush turkeys that roam freely. They also have the cute school bell that one of the school prefects rings for the start and end of the day. 

One of the eating areas

Set of toilets and bubblers

Hallie chasing one of the bush turkeys

                                      

Adventure Playground with the School Hall (where assemblies are held) in the background

Hallie running toward the COLA (covered outdoor learning area) with classrooms straight ahead, the pools on her right and tuck shop (canteen) on the far right

A couple other cool things about the school are

1). They have scripture weekly-we had to sign them up for it and choose what religious group they would be a part of

2). Banking-I know most schools do this, but this is our first year and it’s pretty cool.

3). They offer enrichment programs for gifted and talented and really work with kids on all levels to be their best

I love knowing all of the kids in Alaina’s class and Hallie  (& Kyla sometimes) gets mauled by the kids after school is out…they just love her!  I’m sure I’ve missed some other great aspects of school here, but this should give you a little taste of our weekly routine!

Oh, and we walk to school from our house (about 8 min. walk) unless picking Kyla up from preschool.  I love that too!

Wahroonga Public is known as the ‘Bush School’ because it is situated within a high blue gum forest