Goodstart Early Learning Blacktown

🏅 Mini Olympic Torch Relay Excursion 🏅
Some of our preschoolers enjoyed a walking excursion to St Patrick’s Primary School as part of the Mini Olympic Torch Relay. The children did a fantastic job holding hands, staying safe, and representing our preschool community.
Along the way, we delivered some of the children's drawings to local mailboxes before meeting the school leaders at St Patrick’s. The children were excited to receive an ice block and stickers as a special gift.
We are so proud of the children for their excellent listening skills and enthusiasm throughout the morning!

Our Teddy bears picnic was a huge success today!🧸 we still can’t decide who enjoyed it more the children or the educators. Then again any excuse to stay in pyjamas all day is hard to resist. 🥰

I wonder what learning will happen next? Thank you Vianna and your family for the amazing lemons. I am sure everyone will enjoy them.

Yesterday, we had a wonderful visit from Blacktown Fire Station. We learnt all about what firefighters do each day to keep our community safe, and the children were very interested in seeing the protective gear they wear while on the job.
Afterward, we went out to the car park in small groups where we had the exciting opportunity to explore the fire truck and see all of the specialised tools and equipment up close.
Here are some photos from our exciting adventure! 😊

This week, we continued our Reconciliation journey with a strong focus on deepening the children’s connection to Country. Through meaningful experiences, conversations, and exploration, we supported the children to develop a growing understanding and respect for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Reconciliation Week so far..
"What do you think each colour means?

Children engaged in discussions about the Aboriginal Flag and the symbolism of each colour; sun, earth and people.

P asked why the ground was red in the flag instead of brown, Chantelle explained that in some parts of Australia the dirt is red and that it also symbolises the deep connection the Aboriginal people have to the land.

We discussed the Black symbolising the Aboriginal people's skin and reflected on the fact that despite this, Aboriginal people come in all different skin colours.

We continued our exploration by exploring poms as material in storytelling.

Playdough stamps with native plants to connect to Country and discuss the importance of the natural world to First Nations peoples.

"Why are leaves different shapes and sizes?"

K - "They come from different types of trees."

B- "Some are big and some are small."

Yesterday we joined in the Simultaneous story time reading Luna Roo. Before this story we had discussion about resilience and working through challenges. what a great book to inspire children.

Today, we welcomed officers from Blacktown Police Station, who engaged the children in an interactive session on road safety, personal safety, and “stranger danger.” The children learned practical strategies such as using crossings, staying aware near roads, recognising safe and unsafe situations, and seeking help from trusted adults. It was a valuable opportunity to build safety awareness and confidence, and we thank the officers for their time and support.

Today we hosted Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, we would like to thank all of our families, children, educators and community members Evan's Garden Library & Community Kindness Projects who made donations to such an important cause.
We are making a big difference towards vital cancer research, we will be continuing this tomorrow and will hopefully raise some more funds.

We deeply value children’s voices and love seeing them explore their ideas with confidence, knowing their educators listen, respond, and bring their ideas to life throughout the centre. We received a suggestion from Sia about adding lollies in the office and a suggestion to draw families, So our educator Miss Paige actioned this and set up a small area where her friends have started drawing pictures of their families and we have displayed these for our families and visitors.