Despite being a shorter than normal week last week, due to the Geelong Cup Public Holiday, it was still an action packed week at Drysdale Primary School OSHC.
The children were very pleased with our “backwards afternoon,” which was highlighted by having cereal for afternoon snack…something we have not experimented with before. The feedback we received from the children was very positive, and we will certainly be doing this again at some point in the future.
Other popular games and activities have included playing battleship, twister, tic tac toe, developing catching skills and reflexes, playing cricket, making friendship bracelets and learning how to plait, making perler bead designs, along with getting homework done and discussing Grade 5 camp.
We have also begun working on our TCAF project, Education for all in Nepal. This is aimed at raising the children’s awareness of the plight of children in the Dolakha area of Nepal, where 85% of classrooms were destroyed or badly damaged by the 2015 earthquake. We have discussed how earthquake occur, and some strategies to use in the case of a earthquake. In the coming weeks we hope to stage a mock earthquake drill, using information sourced from the New Zealand government website https://www.shakeout.govt.nz/schools/. We have also started working on the posters we will be sending to Melbourne to be collated with posters from all of the other Camp Australia services in the country and made into books to be sent to Nepal.
At the children’s request we have also started a countdown to the festive season, currently there are only 54 days until christmas, and only 37 more days of school for the majority of the students…not long to go now.
Parents, please remember that if you know that your child is going to be absent from OSHC for some reason (family holidays/School Camp/Ect) please ensure you cancel your bookings with more than seven days notice to ensure you don’t get charged.
Could all parents check their account details. There are some children no longer in prep who are still marked as being preps on their account. While the usual staff members at the service know who the actual prep students are, and there is a prep list on display, if for some reason another staff member is filling in for Lisa it might cause confusion. Also, if your child has two accounts, for example, in the case of separated families, could parents please change the way their child’s name is shown through their account to help differentiate between accounts For example, John Smith (Mum), or John Smith M and John Smith D.
Also could parents check that EVERY person they want to pick up their child from the service is listed on their account on the Camp Australia website. We are legally not allowed to release children into the care of people that are not on their enrolment forms as approved pick up people. This is for the protection of the children. Your assistance in these matters is much appreciated.
A friendly reminder for parents that for staffing and catering purposes children should be booked into OSHC through the Camp Australia head office, or if it is impractical to do so, through a staff member at OSHC.. Where possible bookings and cancellations should be made through the Camp Australia Head Office website or phone number, which is 1300 105 343. This is to ensure that we have adequate numbers of staff present to care for your children, and that we have prepared enough food to go around at snack time.
In related news, could parents be sure to notify OSHC directly, or the Camp Australia head office, if your child will not be attending a session they are booked in for.. This helps streamline the session for everyone else as we are not spending time trying to track down children who are not actually coming. This includes days when your child is absent from school for whatever reason. The Camp Australia Drysdale Primary School OSHC mobile number is 0404 427 452.