Congratulations to everyone on successfully completing Term 1! It has been a very busy and rewarding beginning to our 2017 year. This term we have spent lots of time getting to know each other and forming friendships with peers and trusting relationships with our teachers and educators.
 
The 4-year old groups were excited to have Museum Victoria visit the kinder with their Dinosaurs and Fossils Incursion. We all got to explore the history of dinosaurs and their unfortunate extinction and were even able measure ourselves against a dinosaur leg (nearly as long as 3 children laying head to toe). We looked at a giant skeleton head and dinosaur fossils including dinosaur poo!! It was fantastic.

Some of the children have been extending on their dinosaur interest through a cutting and re-matching experience and making dinosaur paper plates.
 
In the last few weeks, although a little early, we have been engaging in Easter activities including; making baskets, cards, and cardboard Easter bunnies with the child’s photo as its face, clay ornaments and we have gone an Easter egg hunt.
 
Next term we will be focusing more on dental hygiene and overall health and wellbeing including, healthy eating and child safety and planning for children’s interest and needs.
 
We would like to wish everyone a very safe and happy Easter and a restful break. We look forward to seeing everyone at the beginning of Term 2. 

- The Lake Park Kinder Teaching Team

Hooray! Stage 1 of the outdoor works is now complete with the sandpit relocated to the back area of the kindergarten and a new mud pit established alongside. We now have a fully working pump which has been hooked up to our water tanks and is definitely a bit hit with all the children. The water channel can be used in either the sandpit area or the mud pit with some children deciding it would also make a good slide!

Where the old sand pit was, an "amphitheatre" has been created with some fantastic rocks placed alongside, which the children have quickly turned into a bit of a circuit, leaping and running on - and around the rocks. Our outdoor timber seating also arrived creating a fantastic communal place for our children to play, eat and discover.  

Stage 2 of the outdoor works is expected to kick off over the holidays. It will see the creation of our forest corner, development of a fruit tree area and additional veggie beds, clearing of the abundance of bark chips in the yard, the laying of "real" grass around the cubby area as well as the renovation of our fort. Further planting of the outdoor space will also be undertaken with the focus on native/hardy plant alternatives.

- Louise Roncon, Lake Park Kinder President