CHILDREN SERVICES

Term 4 was jam packed with many events which included our 35^th North St Marys Children Centre birthday celebrations,  Children’s Week 2019 with Rooby Roo, two of our Early Childhood teacher students, Shellbie and Lily graduating, School Readiness Orientation evening for parents, OOSH network Conference in Sydney, Preschool Graduation, and OOSH and Preschool’s Christmas party at Lollipops Playland.  Our team really thrived on the support of all families and our community who came together to attend and be a part of such memorable and significant occasions. We would also like to formerly announce that our service went through the Assessment and Rating process back in September and have received a proud ‘Meeting National Quality Standards’ which could not have been achieved without the children, families, educators and community that surround and support our Preschool and OOSH services each and every day, so thank you.

CHRISTMAS IN OUR COMMUNITY

Christmas Food and Toy Drive 

The 2019 Food and Toy Drive is over for another year. We were overwhelmed and thankful for the generosity of our community who again have donated food and toy items, which were distributed to families and community members in time for Christmas. Community Junction Inc. would like to  thank St Clair Shopping Centre and St Clair Public School for partnering with us again this year as well as local community members who donated to the drive.

Colyton Carols

Colyton Carols 2019 was a spectacular Christmas event hosted by Team Colyton and Community Junction on 7th December 2019. Kevin Dwyer Park Colyton was once again the home of the annual event which was attended by over 800 people who came along to sing, dance,  and celebrate the festive season with their local community. Colyton Carols is a major event in the Colyton community and is successful due to massive collaboration with local businesses, churches, schools and other organisations. We would like to thank all those who made Colyton Carols 2019 such a massive success and we look forward to doing it all again in 2020. 

North St Marys Christmas Event

Santa arrived giving children a big smile during our North St Marys Christmas Event. Over 200 residents joined us at North St Marys Neighbourhood Centre for this free event.  Families enjoyed free popcorn, slushies, jumping castle and having their face painted. During the event a Christmas card could be made or a letter could be written to Santa just to make the afternoon extra special. Thank you to Jo Greenwood from  CTET for providing our lucky door prizes to our community, it is greatly appreciated.

KOORI CRAFT / CHAT GROUP

This group is made up of local residents from North St Marys and surrounding areas.  Participants come from many different cultural backgrounds, which led to our group designing and making a welcome sign.  We used hand prints and painted circular designs, which in Aboriginal culture represents meeting place. Everyone had a choice of colours and what they wanted on the sign, including a word or two about what they get out of attending the group.  Their words were then placed around the board for all to see. The finished piece is colourful and eye catching. For more information about the group please contact Maureen on 9673 3908.

ABORIGINAL LEADERSHIP PROGRAM

This term we have launched our first Links to Learning Aboriginal Leadership Program for the year with Year 7 students from Chifley College Dunheved Campus. The program gives the girls opportunities to strengthen their personal skills and leadership qualities by positively connecting them to their peers, services,  community and Aboriginal culture. So far in the program we have had a focus on building relationships and aspects of leadership through team building challenges and learning about different ways of communication such as symbols and art. We are really looking forward to seeing the girls continue to grow and develop into tomorrow’s leaders.

CHILDREN SERVICES

This term we have been very busy engaging in educational and inclusive community events. Preschool and OOSH celebrated superhero day for Bear Cottage which was a huge hit, with most children participating in dressing up and making a donation,followed by an exciting science week at Preschool involving experimenting, hypothesising, and reacting experiences that kept children engaged and asking for more. Preschool’s combined Fathers Day afternoon tea and Jersey Day with a big hit with an AMAZING turn out from our families.  The children from OOSH have shared an interest in animals, in particular birds, and have been researching types and environments of a variety of breeds.  Thank you to everyone who came to share in the experiences with their children.

YOUTH SPACE AT NORTH ST MARYS

Term 3 has focused on creating a space for young people at North St Marys, and we wanted to add some colour and meaning to the space. The winter holidays allowed for an installation of a flat screen TV, but the young people added a personal touch to the space by creating some string art designs to hang on the wall. They looked at some designs, had discussions about what the youth space meant to them and then drew up their design on a sheet of paper.

The project involved cutting up and sanding back the wood, tracing their designs onto the wood, mapping out where the nails would be put, hammering the nails in, and then winding the string around the nails. It took a few weeks, but the final product will be on the wall and for all to see before our end of term celebrations.

CRAFT N CHAT GROUP

Christmas in July was celebrated at North St Marys when the Craft n Chat group met and enjoyed a delicious lunch together. The group provided the lunch and decorated the table in a Christmas theme.  The group meet weekly and enjoy sharing skills of patchwork, knitting and catching up over a coffee.  

VILLAGE CAFÉ

Marj and Nia are regular participants of the Village Café that meet at Wattle Park North St Marys. The Village Café is designed to empower people over the age of 50 in North St Marys to improve their health and wellbeing.  The local residents of North St Marys enjoy coming to this free service as they can enjoy a free cuppa and take advantage of the health Information and activities that are on offer.  

Nia crocheted this Village Café sign using her amazing crochet skills. This will be displayed at the Village Café to let other residents know that they are meeting and all residents are welcome .

The Sista Speak Program

The Sista Speak Program has commenced at Shalvey Public School and we are currently working with year 5 and 6 Aboriginal girls.

We were lucky enough to have a visit from Alison a mobile hairdresser to talk to the girls about hair care, making homemade hair products and giving the girls some tips on braiding. We are all very proud of the girls and their creation of some fantastic braid styles on each other hair.  The girls got to take home a comb and a spray bottle with leave in conditioner they made for their hair. Sista Speak program is run in the school, the girls have visits from guest speakers, discuss issues impacting their lives and learn about culture and have a lot of fun.  

CLASS OF 2017

At North St Marys Children’s Centre we feel very proud of the child and family involvement and support at our 2017 Preschool Graduation! The afternoon was a celebration of all  pre-schoolers who will be attending kindergarten in 2018, and commencing their journey into ‘Big School’. We were blown away by the volume of families and friends who came to support the graduates in receiving their graduation certificates and to watch their end of year performances; Taba Naba, Kangaroo Rock and Bumble bee where there were smiles, dancing and laughter all round! We wish all our graduates the very best of luck for Kindergarten, and hope that you all return to show us how grown up you are in your school uniform!”

TAFE OUTREACH BARISTA COURSE

During Term 4 staff at North St Marys looked forward to Tuesday mornings when our TAFE Outreach Bartista Class made coffees for staff and our Tuning into Kids group.  Natalie our TAFE teacher came each week with two coffee machines and taught students how to make Café quality coffees.  They were also taught how to clean the machine and correct  procedures in food handling.  This group have formed great friendships and are looking forward to the next TAFE Course Beauty

Therapy that will be run during Term 1 2018.

TREE SCARRING

Adrian Shafer Cultural Identity, Indigenous Historical Researcher carved the platypus and echidna into two trees located in the grounds of the neighbourhood centre at North St Marys. The platypus and echidna are significant as they represent totems of the North St Marys area and join the turtle which was previously carved into a neighbouring tree. Historically Aboriginal people scarred trees and would remove large pieces of the trees bark to be used for traditional purposes. Adrian removed the bark from the trees and has made coolamons from the removed bark.  These coolamons will be used by Adrian for a smoking ceremony to celebrate and present the tree carvings to the local community. The carving of the trees at the neighbourhood centre not only links culture to the centre, but creates a talking point and has made it a site of special significance. The carvings are 

magnificent and have become a focal point of the garden.

CHILDREN’S SERVICES AN EXCURSION TO THE MUSEUM

Term 3 has welcomed some BIG milestones for North St Marys Children’s Centre! Our Preschool service travelled by coach to visit the Dinosaur exhibition at the Australian Museum for our first ever excursion!

We visited the museum as an educationalextension of children interests of the Dinosaur project that has been taking place throughout the year, as we explored 10 complete dinosaur skeletons, eight-life-sized models, and interactive displays of 65 million years ago!

Preschool and OOSH took part in the celebration of ‘Book Week’ by dressing up as their favourite book character to promote literacy awareness and engagement within our service and community, and for the first time our Preschool held our very own Book Parade event! We had an absolutely amazing turn out and were inundated with family support and amazing costumes worn by the children and staff!  For more information on our services please call 9623 0331

OUT OF SCHOOL HOUR SERVICE (OOSH)

“Want to know where your school aged child can engage in opportunities to maximise their potential? Look no further! North St Marys Children’s Centre is the home of an Out Of School Hours

(OOSH) service, where child-led interest based planning, engaging extensions of learning, exciting physical activities and inclusive practices and experiences take place.  

Our OOSH service consists of Before and After School Care, to families who attend St Marys North Public School, and Vacation Care, open to all families. Our service has recently engaged in some very exciting incursions, such as teamwork based Billy Cart building and Racing, a digital scavenger hunt throughout the school grounds, a Hip Hop workshop, and an interactive Reptile show where we were able to hold a variety of snakes, turtles, lizards and even a baby crocodile!  

Please call Mel on 9623 0331 for quality care and amazing experiences  or email mel@communityjunction.org.au for more information or to book a place. 

Childcare rebates may be applicable.

ROOBY ROO’S BIRTHDAY

Rooby Roo celebrated her birthday at North St Marys Neighbourhood  Centre surrounded by local residents who enjoyed many free activities that were on offer throughout the morning. 

Smiling faces clapped and jumped to the sound of music played by Vintage FM.  We sung Happy Birthday to Rooby Roo and enjoyed eating her birthday cake, which was kindly donated by Caths Cakes St Marys.

CELEBRATING NAIDOC

NAIDOC was celebrated at North St Marys Neighbourhood  Centre, were there were activities for all

ages to enjoy.  These included painting, badge making, bracelet making and traditional games. Izaac come along on the day,  demonstrated and displayed how the Yidaki (didgeridoo) is played. He  explained some of the traditions of the Yidaki and gave a lesson to some willing young people.

NORTH ST MARYS CHILDREN’S CENTRE

Last term at North St Marys Children’s Centre we had some exciting additions to our environment! We have increased creativity in our art area with a new wooden easel, promoted our literacy development with a new  paper mache tree, promoted positive meal times in our eating area with our new natural furniture layout and new nutrition policy, and added a computer to our technology station for children to promote inquiry, fine motor development and problem solving skills! 

Our newest staff members Kate and Jayden are settling in with great relationships with children and families and implementing exciting new experiences and practices within our centre!  

We celebrated ‘Reconciliation Week’ through Maureen’s telling of the Emu Egg story and the Rainbow Serpent, painting with branches, a Tiddalick the Frog puppet story, mapping our addresses on a directory, clay representations, bark painting and using children’s handprints to create their own Aboriginal Flag. 

During experiences across the week, Educators  discussed the meaning of reconciliation and how we should treat everyone with kindness and respect. What an exciting, educational and motivational term!      

                 

For more information on our services please call the Children’s Services Team on 9623 0331

A Koori Vest for Rooby

Rooby got the biggest surprise at the launch of her new Koori Vest last term when she thought that she was going along to North St Marys Neighbourhood Centre to  visit and read with a few of her friends, when in actual fact Rooby was given a Koori Vest that was especially designed by Aboriginal students from St Marys North Public School.

Over two days the students created 48 designs, and 20 of those designs were chosen by Elders of the area to be put on the vest. Students and teachers from St Marys North Public School and their families, Elders and supporters of the project all came along to the launch to celebrate the great collaborative efforts of our community. 

Community Junction Inc. would like to thank Penrith City Council’s Community Assistance Program (CAP) for funding received for this project, Mission Australia and Paint the Town REaD for supporting the launch, Sean Mitchell Agencies for donating the students  'thank you' gifts and all of the students who were involved in creating the designs.

CHILDREN’S SERVICES

North St Marys Children’s Centre had a positive spring into the year with a variety of child initiated, celebratory, and community experiences!

OOSH and Preschool services joined together to celebrate awareness and raise funds for Harmony Day and Go Blue for Autism. These were widely celebrated events where children engaged in a broad range of inclusive experiences that addressed our celebration of all children and families within our service. 

In early April the Children’s Centre was lucky enough to have United Way volunteers and North St Marys community members provide a ‘Makeover Event’ where our service was granted a new mud kitchen, mulch garden, self-watering and composting vegetable garden, painted tyres and chalk boards, timber decking around our centre, a yard pole and some indoor painting! We are overwhelmed with excitement for the positive and sustainable experiences that this makeover will provide for the children within our service and community. 

What a great term for relationships, professional and team building with the Children’s Centre!

PAINT PENRITH REaD BLACK AND YELLOW

Together with Paint Penrith REaD, Rooby Roo is about to Paint Penrith REaD Black and Yellow.

Rooby is getting a new vest made to be seen out in our Koori community. Maryanne Wallace the Aboriginal Educational Officer at St Marys North Public School and her Aboriginal students have been hard at work creating many different designs that will be put onto Rooby’s new Koori vest. 

Students ranged in age from Year 1 right through to Year 6. Maureen Silleri, Community Junction’s      Indigenous Community Connections Worker said “It was an interesting project to be a part of and the kids have been super great.”

Community Junction Inc. would like to thank Penrith City Council’s 2016 Community Assistance Program (CAP) for funding received for this project.