Indigenous Acknowledgement: Here is the land, here is the sky. Here are my friends and here am I. We thank you Dharug people for the land on which we learn and play. Hand up, hands down. We are on Dharug ground. We see you Dharug people, We hear you Dharug people, and we thank you Dharug people
ENROLMENTS
We sincerely thank you for your ongoing enrolments at Hunny Pots ELC.
Enrolment confirmations have been sent to existing families.
New enrolment confirmations for 2027 to new families will be sent over September/October.
For existing families: Update of bonds are due by Tuesday 15th September 2026 (via iPay, added to your invoice) to secure your child’s days of attendance for 2027.
Reducing confirmed days for 2027 after Friday 11th September 2026 6pm (eg: reducing days from 5 days to 2 days) will mean you to forfeit your bond for the days reduced.
Withdrawing your child’s enrolment for 2027 after Friday 11th September will forfeit your full bond.
Your child’s current enrolment pattern (from September 2026) must be ongoing throughout 2026 to maintain your confirmed 2027 enrolment. Any notice / withdrawal / reduction will void this 2027 confirmation.
ORIENTATION
Over the coming months, children from Eeyores and Tiggers Place will be participating in orientation if they are moving up a room for 2027. We will do this in small groups to ensure ratios are being met. If your child has participated in orientation, we will let you know. We will be working closely with all families on any strategies to assist with our transitions.
New children starting in 2027, will have orientation in November & December.
SUN PROTECTION/CLOTHING
Heading into Spring, the change of season; Please remember, our Sun Protection Policy states for all children to wear a broad brimmed, legionnaire’s style hat, or bucket style hat – NO BASEBALL HATS ALOWED.
Also, children must wear clothing that covers their shoulders – NO SINGLETS, STRAP DRESSES, MUSCLE TOPS OR THONGS ALLOWED.
This is to encourage lifelong sun protection skills for your child.
TRANSITION TO SCHOOL STATEMENTS
We are continuing to implement Transition to School Statements for the children going to school next year. We are using the Digital format/ portal – consent forms have been sent to families.
These Transition to School Statements are for active Poohs Corner enrolments going to school in 2027.
Our Pooh’s Corner teachers will be working on the statements – with family consent, these statements will be sent to the school through the NSW Department of Education portal.
We are honored to be working again in partnership with families and schools to transition our children to school in 2027.
LUNCHBOX DAYS/CRUNCH AND SIP FOR POOHS CORNER
Coming up we have our Lunchbox and crunch and sip days in term 4. This is part of our school readiness program and vital for children and families. Information about this will be sent in a separate email. We are hoping to organise excursion for our lunch box days
PARENT /COMMUNITY INVOLVEMENT
Over the last couple of months, we have provided lots of opportunities for families and our community to come in and participate in our curriculum. We invited families to come in and view their child’s portfolio to see all the learning your child has done throughout the year. This was a great opportunity to also ask families if they have any new goals for us to work on and to provide any new information regarding their child’s interests and strengths. Another opportunity we gave families was in early learning matters week where we invited families to come and engage with their children and to see what learning occurs through different experiences. We love having families involved in our curriculum. We have an open-door policy where you are more than welcome to come at any time to read a story, do some craft or just be with your children.
Over the last couple of months, we have been engaging with our surrounding schools to help assist the children prepare for big school. We are so proud of the connections we have with Holy Cross and Caddies Creek. Some children have had the opportunity to participate in excursions to Holy Cross and Caddies Creek. We were also fortunate to have a small group of year 4 students participate in our science week program. All children loved engaging with the year 4 students. There was so much joy and laughter. We will endeavor to organise more excursions with both Caddies and Holy Cross. This is all dependent on the school’s availability.
STAFFING NEWS
Congratulations on Gaby completing her Certificate 3. Miss Gaby will continue her studies and will be working towards her Diploma.
We welcome Miss Emmanuelle, Miss Akshani and Miss Ramanvir to our team. They will be assisting in all rooms. Please make them feel welcome.
NEW CHILD SAFE TRAINING
The advanced child safe training was released on 31st July. The advanced child safe training is a mandatory national requirement for Australian early childhood education and care sector under the national quality framework. This course is for nominated supervisors, persons in day to day charge and staff members who work directly with children. We are very proud that all our staff members have completed this training. We pride ourselves on having extra staffing to allow for this important training to occur.
SUSTAINABILITY
Sustainability is an important part of early childhood education, helping children develop a sense of responsibility, care and respect for our environment. Through hands-on experiences, children learn that even small actions can make a positive difference.
At our centre, all rooms take turns caring for our worm farm and composting, giving children opportunities to learn about reducing waste and caring for living things. Our children also enjoy planting and caring for our multiple gardens, watching plants grow, life cycles and learning about the importance of nurturing our natural environment.
Each room has also implemented its own sustainability project, allowing educators and children to explore a specific area of interest. In Pooh’s Corner, the focus is on loose parts, encouraging children to reuse and repurpose materials through creative play. Tigger’s and Eeyore’s rooms have a dramatic play focus, incorporating sustainability into imaginative experiences and encouraging children to explore ideas through play.
Through these everyday experiences, sustainability becomes a meaningful part of our curriculum and helps children build lifelong habits of caring for our environment.
RECONCILIATION ACTION PLAN (RAP)
At Hunny Pots, we embed the 8 Ways of Learning throughout our daily program to celebrate and strengthen children’s learning through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives. We encourage story sharing by reading books and listening to stories from local cultures. Children learn through learning maps as they explore routines and environments together. We use non-verbal learning by modelling skills, using visual cues, and encouraging observation. Symbols and images are incorporated through art, nature play, and cultural resources. Land links are developed by spending time outdoors, caring for our garden, and learning about the local environment. We provide opportunities for non-linear learning, allowing children to investigate, revisit, and extend their ideas in different ways. Deconstruct and reconstruct experiences encourage children to solve problems, build, create, and think critically. We also use community links by building relationships with families, inviting community members to share their knowledge, and acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land. Through these practices, we create a respectful, inclusive, and culturally responsive learning environment where every child feels a sense of belonging.
ADVOCACY OF PLAY BASED LEARNING
At Hunny Pots ELC we are very passionate about advocating for play based learning. This is something we are always critically reflecting upon. Play is a child’s hard work. Below is some information on what play is.
Play is intrinsic
Play is biologically driven because it is a developmental need. The developing brain is naturally wired to seek exploration, novelty, experimentation and mastery through play.
Play is connection
Play strengthens attachment, social cognition, communication, co regulation, and the brain pathways involved in human relationships.
Play is purposeful
Even when it looks random, play is often wiring executive functioning, motor planning, problem solving, sequencing, and social understanding.
Play is mastery
Children repeat play because the brain builds competence, confidence, coordination, prediction and deeper understanding through revisiting experience over time.
Play is creativity
Open ended play activates imagination, flexible thinking, divergent problem solving and internal idea generation without external scripting
Play is learning
Play is one of the most neurologically powerful and profoundly necessary ways the developing brain builds cognitive, physical, emotional and social architecture for life long learning and holistic development
HEALTH CHECKS AND EYE TESTING
We are very proud that we provide opportunities for our families to get their children’s eye testing done and health checks at our centre. These checks are so valuable in looking at the holistic child and providing resources for our families. This was the first year we implemented health checks for children 4-5 years old. It was a positive experience for the children and the families as it allowed families to get great information on their children to help support them before going to big school next year.
WITHDRAWAL OF YOUR CHILD/REDUCING DAYS
Parents must give at least three weeks’ written notice to the Director before withdrawing their child from Hunny Pots. If the child does not attend the centre during this period, fees are still payable (please see the below section: A child who has not yet received care or who has ceased receiving care) If the child is withdrawn without notice, three weeks full fees must be paid regardless.
Parents may reduce their child’s days of attendance by giving three weeks’ notice to the Director.
No notice period accepted in December and January for withdrawing or reducing days.
A child who has not yet received care or who has ceased receiving care
Below is from the Child Care Handbook Australian Government Department of Education and Training:
Child Care Subsidy will not be paid for absences where a provider charges a family to reserve a place for a child who has not yet physically started care.
If a child is booked in to start at a service on a particular date, and does not start on that day, no Child Care Subsidy will be paid until the child physically attends a session of care.
Similarly, a child care service is taken to have permanently ceased providing care for a child on the day the child last physically attends a session of care. This means that Child Care Subsidy will not be paid for absences submitted after a child last physically attends a session of care.
If a family has confirmed their child’s last day at a service, but that child does not attend their last booked sessions of care, no Child Care Subsidy will be paid for any days after the child’s last physical attendance at the service.
If a provider continues to charge fees for sessions on days after a child has left the service because the family did not give the agreed period of notice, Child Care Subsidy will not be payable for these sessions of care. If absences are reported in the above circumstances and Child Care Subsidy is incorrectly paid, these amounts will be recovered from the service.
You must attend the last day of care to receive child care subsidy on your last day.
UPCOMING EVENTS
SEPTEMBER –
- Eye testing for our 4-5 year olds 1st September and the 2nd September
- Early Childhood Educators Day – 2nd September WEDNESDAY
- Indigenous literacy day 2nd September – theme is country is our teacher
- Father’s Day Afternoon Tea Friday 4th September 2:30pm -4pm
- Jersey Day – 4th September Friday
- International Literacy Day 8th September Tuesday – theme is promoting multilingual education: literacy for multilingual understanding and peace
- Child protection week 7th – 13th
- R U OK? Day – 10th September Thursday
- Bravehearts Day – 11th September FRIDAY
- Talk Like a Pirate Day 18th September FRIDAY – come dressed up like a pirate for a fun day
OCTOBER –
- Children week 24th Oct – 1st November
- Recycle man show Tuesday 27th October
- Day for Daniel Day 30th October FRIDAY – we invite children to wear red
CLOSURE DATES FOR 2026 – Last day for 2026 Wednesday 23rd December 2026 – we reopen Thursday 7th January 2027.
Resource section for families
Please select the link below to download the child safety handbook. A wealth of pro-active and preventative measures to keep our youngest and most vulnerable members of our community healthy and safe.
https://nsw.childsafetyhub.com.au/handbook/
Here is another link to podcasts on supporting emotional regulation. Hope you find it useful.