This term, we are excited to focus on Quality Area 3 – Physical Environment, with many wonderful improvements taking place across our Centre. Families will notice exciting enhancements to our foyer, including room pinboards showcasing children’s learning, our completed Tree of Growth highlighting our Quality Improvement Plan journey, and a new Community Connections board featuring local services and programs available to support our families. 

Educators are also enriching our indoor learning environments, following recent professional development focused on creating engaging spaces that reflect children’s interests and support their holistic growth and development. 

Our biggest project is the transformation of the outdoors ELC fort area into a sustainability garden, where children will plant and harvest vegetables, learn about composting, and in years to come, care for chooks and even a bee hive! Oh to see the results of the plans and dreams we have for this space! 

We would love our families to be an integral part of this exciting journey. Please keep an eye out for upcoming working bees and community days, where parents can contribute ideas, resources, or helping hands as we grow together as a Centre community. 

Items to Bring Every Day - ALL labelled with your child's name:

• Cot-sized sheet x2
• Hat
• Water bottle
• 3 sets of spare clothes and small towel (hand towel size)

Tuckshop can be ordered through the Flexischools app. Download the app and follow the prompts. 

“Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” – 1 Samuel 16:7 

Ingredients

• 125g butter, melted
• ½ cup plain flour
• ½ cup self-raising flour
• ½ cup Milo
• 1 cup rolled oats
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• ⅔ cup desiccated coconut
• 1 egg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 170°C and line a 20cm square slice tin with baking paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine the melted butter with all remaining ingredients. Mix well.
3. Press mixture evenly into the prepared tin.
4. Bake for 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.
5. Allow to cool completely before slicing into squares.

Today, Tuesday 19th May, we welcomed our very first Story Time visit from Gympie Regional Libraries. Kim arrived with a big, friendly smile and a bag full of wonderful stories and songs to share with the children at CCC ELC.

The children thoroughly enjoyed listening to stories, joining in with songs and interactive experiences, and exploring the joy of books and literacy in a fun and engaging way. Experiences like these help foster a love of reading, imagination, language, and connection within our learning community.

We are so excited to continue building this wonderful partnership and look forward to their next visit, which is perfectly timed to coincide with Book Week in August!

For young children, disappointment can feel very big. Whether they lose a game, miss out on being first, do not get invited to a birthday party, cannot have the snack they wanted or find something harder than expected, these moments can lead to tears, anger, frustration or shutting down. 

While it can be difficult to watch children struggle, learning how to cope with disappointment is an important life skill. Children who can manage disappointment are more likely to build resilience, confidence and problem-solving skills over time. 

One of the most helpful things adults can do is acknowledge the child’s feelings before trying to fix the situation. Children need to feel understood. Phrases such as “You’re feeling really disappointed because you wanted a turn” or “I can see you are upset that you did not win” help children feel heard and supported. It can also help to remind children that disappointment is a normal part of life. Everyone misses out sometimes, loses games, makes mistakes or finds things difficult. Children need to know that these experiences are not a sign they are “bad” or “not good enough”. 

Games are a great way to practise coping with losing in a safe environment. Board games, simple card games and races give children opportunities to experience both winning and losing. Adults can model calm responses by saying things like “I didn’t win this time, but I still had fun” or “I’ll keep practising and try again next time”. 

Teaching children simple calming strategies can also make a big difference. Taking deep breaths, having a drink of water, squeezing a pillow, taking a break or talking about feelings can help children calm down when emotions are high. 

It is also important not to rush in and rescue children from every disappointment. While it can be tempting to let them win, replace every broken item or solve every problem immediately, children build resilience by learning that they can cope with hard feelings and recover from setbacks. 

Praise effort rather than outcomes wherever possible. Instead of focusing only on winning, try comments such as: 

· “You kept trying even when it was hard.” 

· “You were disappointed, but you calmed your body down.” 

· “You worked really hard on that.” 

· “You didn’t give up.” 

· “You showed kindness even when you were upset.” 

Books can also help children understand that disappointment is something everyone experiences. Stories where characters make mistakes, lose, feel left out or have to keep trying can open up valuable conversations about emotions and resilience. 

Over time, children learn that disappointment does not last forever. They begin to understand that they can feel upset, work through it and try again. This helps build confidence, emotional strength and the ability to manage challenges in healthy ways. 

Resilience is not about children never getting upset. It is about helping them learn that they can cope when things do not go their way. 

Retrieved from maggiedent.com 

We will often place information about the coming week or photos of things happening during the week. Please find the link here to check it out. 

Our CCC Playgroup is on Thursdays! Designed to encourage children's learning and development through engaging, hands-on experiences and structured story times, our Play Friends program follows the mainly play curriculum. We follow monthly themes, with new story and songs each week. Come to find community and build connection here at Cooloola Christian College. All parents with pre-school aged children welcome. $2 entry per child, capped at $5 per family. We look forward to seeing you there! 

• Tuesday 19th May: Story Time by Gympie Library 

• Wednesday 27th May: Under 8's Day/ Simultaneous Storytime 

• Wednesday 3rd June: Gecko's Wildlife Visit 

• Tuesday 9th June: Healthy Harold Kindy Visit 

• Wednesday 10th June: Grand Friends (our first visit from the residents of St Vincents Aged Care)