T4 Weeks 5-6

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👋 LIVE FROM THE HIVE … 👋

RE-ENROLMENTS

We’re still missing some re-enrolments for next year. Please note that permanent bookings cannot be made until your re-enrolment is completed, and we are already running waitlists for some days…

The link that was sent out will expire this Sunday (23 Nov), so be sure to submit it before then!!

LEAVING SCHOOLGROUNDS

For the safety and supervision of all our students, we kindly ask that parents and guardians leave the school grounds after picking up their children. While we understand the temptation to chat with other families or let kids play on the equipment, we cannot prioritise these activities over ensuring proper supervision. If you're bringing younger siblings to pickup, please make sure they stay with you at all times. This helps us maintain a safe environment for all children still in our care. We ask that you enter the school, sign out your child, and exit the grounds promptly. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation! ☺️

👨‍🍳 🎨 🎲 WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO? 🏏 🧸 🧪

Summer is truly upon us! We’ve been loving these lovely, warm days. Here’s what we’ve been up to this past fortnight in our ACTIVITY CLUBS:

ART & CRAFT: We’ve been building cardboard cities, experimenting with firework painting, creating tissue paper flowers, rainbow clouds, popsicle stick fruits, oil pastel flowers and accordion snakes just to name a few! We’ve also enjoyed designing hamma beads, jewellery and chatterboxes!
SPORT: bin ball, golden child, jack in the pack, kings & queens, European handball, touch rugby, knockout basketball and 3-point shooting! As well as our usual favourite soccer and soccer shootouts.
EXPLORE & DISCOVER: Christophe joined us for another coding session and we’ve LOVED making mud pies and mud cakes on the adventure playground recently…
BAKING CLUB: delicious scones and yummy choc chip cookies!
CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY: cubbies, magnatile towers, LEGOMASTERS, beyblades and straw construction!

🏖️ HOLIDAY PROGRAM 🏖️

Yes, you heard that right! Bookings for our hugely popular SUMMER Holiday Program are officially OPEN!!!! The bookings are already rolling in… so make sure to get in quick so you don’t miss out!

PLEASE NOTE: We are not open for any Holiday Program days in December. Hive will be closed from the last day of term (Friday 19th of December) and will reopen in the New Year (Monday 5th of January). We will also be CLOSED between FRI23 JAN - WEDS28 JAN for Public Holiday and Staff Training.

We’re really excited to be welcoming LOTS of new Kindy faces starting in our January HP!!

🐝 BEES OF THE WEEK 🐝

OPHELIA (Y5)

A very HUGE congratulations to our very own Ophelia H in Y5, who recently won the regional finals for poetry slam competition & is onto the state finals! Way to go Ophelia!!!

You can watch her submission HERE.

“The theme for my poem was For The Wild, but it was more about the effects that control and peer pressure have on the wild. I’m so excited to compete in the state finals at Taronga Zoo!” - Ophelia

LEROY - EDUCATOR

Leroy grew up and went to school in the Bondi area and enjoys spending as much time as possible outdoors and in the sun! When he’s not relaxing at the beach or camping on the South Coast, Leroy devotes his time to creative pursuits. He recently completed studies in furniture and interior design and is also a passionate musician, performing at venues across Sydney—from local Bondi stages to the Opera House!!

Leroy is also an enthusiastic traveler, exploring destinations around the world including Fiji, New Zealand, the United States, and most recently Europe, where he spent nearly two months visiting eight different countries…woah!!

📚 DID YOU KNOW…? 📚

One of our awesome Educators, Harper, is proudly representing Australia at the 2025 World Beach Ultimate (Frisbee) Championships in Portimão, Portugal! Check out his impressive defensive play below!! Don’t stop watching until the end! His celebratory dab is a special shout-out to our wonderful Hive children…

CONGRATULATIONS HARPER! You are amazing!!

HIVE GALLERY…

…..That’s all folks!!

T4 Weeks 3-4

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👋 LIVE FROM THE HIVE … 👋

‼️ RE-ENROLMENTS ‼️

If you’ve not already completed your 2026 re-enrolment, please do so over the weekend. The link to the pre-filled form was emailed to you on Mon 27 Oct, and it will expire at midnight on Sun 9th Nov, this weekend. Please note:


🙏 THANK YOU JOHNNY & THE DEPOT TEAM 🙏

For a change of scene, we held our last staff meeting at Depot, on a Thursday evening - and we loved it! Huge shout out to Johnny for taking such wonderful care of us - the vibe was great, the food was delicious (and just kept coming!) and they make a mean margarita! Our meeting table was the perfect spot and it was a welcome change to be sitting on full size chairs for once… 🤣 🤣

If you haven’t tried their Weds/Thurs steak nights - you’re missing out!! (bookings essential)

Thanks Johnny - we love you all. The Depot feels good! 😊 😊 😊

👨‍🍳 🎨 🎲 WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO? 🏏 🧸 🧪

It’s been a jam-packed, fun-filled, curiosity-fuelled couple of weeks…!

  • ART & CRAFT CLUB: Hama beads, paper rainbows, pipe cleaner spiders, friendship bracelets, ‘how to’ 3D drawing/shading, fingerprint trees, paper plate pizzas, watercolours, hot air balloon and soooo many Halloween crafts!

  • CONSTRUCTION & GAMES: cubbies, magnatiles, legomasters, marble run and the ever popular beyblades!!

  • SPORTS: newcombe ball, kick tennis, ultimate scissors paper rock battle, jack in the pack, soccer shootout, basketball, touch rugby, golden ball & star wars dodgeball

  • EXPLORE & DISCOVER: sensory car wash, bug hunts, mud pies, sensory boxes & a talent show!

🏖️ HOLIDAY PROGRAM 🏖️

HP bookings open in Week 6 — get ready!

Just a heads-up, there will be NO HP in December, with the last day of Term 4 and Hive being Friday 19 Dec.
We’ll be back for HP fun on Monday 5 Jan.

You can check out all the Dec/Jan Hive closures and term dates right here.

🐝 BEES OF THE WEEK 🐝

Archer & Lexi(YK)

For being wonderfully curious bees, always asking interesting questions and being eager to learn more!

Along with featuring the kids, we’re bringing back our Hive Team Spotlight! Every fortnight, we’ll share a little note about a different team member so you can get to know the wonderful people who care for the children each day 😊

SERENA - EDUCATOR

Inspired by her own fond memories of BBPS, Serena joined us earlier this year while also studying to become a Primary School Teacher.

Outside of work, she loves playing and managing women’s netball teams — even waking up early on frosty winter Saturdays to umpire, often spotting some familiar faces from The Hive!

Most of all, Serena loves reading and getting crafty. Whether she’s painting, sculpting, or weaving something new, her creativity is always buzzing — and she loves sharing that with the children!!

🐌 OUR GARDEN 🌿

It’s all happening in our garden at the moment! We have so many exciting things to update you on… including:

Our Frog Pond 🐸

This fortnight, Nelly and our little garden enthusiasts installed our lovely new frog pond. The kids dug the hole, put the pond shell in, then added pebbles on the bottom of the pond and around the edges before adding water and aquatic plants. The final step was installing the metal grid, and covering with rocks, pipes, and plants around the edges to provide shelter for frogs. It was all very exciting!

We haven’t spied any froggy friends just yet, but the bees are sure loving it!

Did you know…?

We can’t introduce frogs ourselves, as it can spread disease and upset the ecosystem. Instead, we can create a safe, inviting home and wait for the frogs to discover it on their own 🐸🏠

🌿 New Edible Native Garden 🍃

Nelly also popped by the Indigigrow nursery in La Perouse last week to get some expert tips on what to plant in our new Edible Native Garden bed.

With the kids’ help, we planted our very own native edible garden! It’s full of yummy native plants like Karkalla, Midyim Berry, Davidson Plum, Bush Basil, Native Oregano, and Apple Berry. They’re in the baby stage at the moment, but they should settle in and fill out the space more over the next few months ☺️

NEW SIGNS

We’ve put up our brand-new signs! They include the life cycle of a frog (ready for some possible new residents!), a handy list of what’s inside the toolshed, and a bright, colourful reminder of our garden rules….

HIVE GALLERY…

T4 Weeks 1-2

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🍯 LIVE FROM THE HIVE … 🐝

👋 WELCOME BACK!! 👋

Welcome back to Term 4! As we draw towards the end of the year, here are a few things we know:

  • sun safety is more important than ever. Make sure your child has a HAT every day, so they’re free to play

  • lots of kids get end-of-year fatigue. We’ll always make sure there are peaceful activities on offer, and quiet spaces available for rest and chill time

  • we start to increase the Kindys’ independence, in readiness for Year 1 and we get ready to farewell some of our older children…

🎉 2026 RE-ENROLMENTS ARE OPEN! 🎊

Look out for Xplor comms from lunchtime Thu 23 Oct, plus an email from Xplor containing your re-enrolment link. Your link is active for two weeks only, and this year we’re asking parents to act within that window, to help us streamline admin and better manage waitlists. A quick re-enrolment is the safest way to secure the bookings you need for 2026.
If you have a new Kindy starting next year, that requires a separate, new enrolment. Next Thu (30th)—following the Kindy parent info Weds evening—you’ll receive an email from school containing the link for fresh enrolments.


🏃‍♀️ PLEASE LEAVE AFTER SIGN OUT 🏃‍➡️

As the weather warms up and the sun stays out for longer, we know it’s tempting but please minimise the amount of time spent on school grounds at pickup. Although it might feel harmless, hanging around for a chat with parents or children still in our care, or letting younger siblings run around and join in, it’s actually very distracting for the children still in our care, and makes it much harder for us to manage and supervise effectively.
To support us, please collect, sign out and then leave the school grounds straight away.


🚫 PARENTS IN CHILDRENS’ TOILETS 🚫

It’s important that parents don’t enter or use the childrens’ toilets. For the safety of all the kids who use them, these spaces are reserved for children only. Please ask a member of staff if you need help…

DID YOU KNOW?

We’ve launched two brand new activities this Term. A big thank you to our fabulous Educational Leader, Ana 🙏 💕

🤖 CODING CLUB 🤖

We had Christophe from the University of Sydney’s Physics Research team join us to teach us all about drag-and-drop coding! We’ve been using a program called Scratch to create our own code and upload it to the Edison Robots (version 3). So far, we’ve made them move with claps (so cool!) and even taught them to avoid obstacles using their clever sensors!

🇩🇪 CULTURAL EXCHANGE ✍️

We’ve teamed up with a school in Kiel (Germany) to exchange letters between students! We were the first to receive some letters and got to learn a little about life for our German friends, and to answer questions about our favourite foods, subjects, and what life is like in Australia. The children absolutely loved it — we had 17 eager participants of all ages in our first session, and some even included drawings with their letters! Here are a few of the letters, incoming and outgoing…

🐌 OUR GARDEN 🌿

Exciting updates from our garden!

  1. We welcomed back our dear gardener Nelly, who has returned from teaching English in Indonesia! Nelly will work alongside David in the garden, and her return means we can now offer Gardening Club 3/4 afternoons per week. …and we’re currently trialling it on a Wednesday morning too!

  2. Nelly’s been hard at work already, getting our Sensory Garden bed ready for our frog pond installation! With the children’s help, Nelly has already culled the persistent banana trees (roots and all) and dug the hole where the pond will be placed.

HIVE GALLERY…

SPRING HP

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🏖️ Spring Holiday Program - done and dusted!🏖️

We got busy this Holiday Program, and what an epic one it was!! The weather was in our favour and boy did we make the most of it! We had FARMER DAVE to learn about all things dogs, went to our favorite TARONGA ZOO, had an incredible time with JULIE ZOMMERS making our own sock puppets, went to MONSTER JUMP, had an AFL CAMP with a real-life AFL coach(!), went to NINJA PARK and FRENZY PARK, went to Bondi Beach for a BEACH CLEANUP and SAND PLAY, and had a lovely yoga session with the wonderful Marketa…. PHEW!!! 😅

Some photo highlights below, including our usual HIVE GALLERY at the end :-))

COUNTRY YARNS & CANVAS ART: We had Josh, Billy, and Deakin join us for an amazing day sharing their Indigenous culture — and we LOVED it! We learned traditional dances and the stories behind them, discovered the meaning and making of the didgeridoo (fun fact: it’s named after the sound it makes!), and finished the day painting our own canvases with Indigenous symbols — plus a big one for our Hive room!

The MASSIVE monster jump at the ENTERTAINMENT QUARTER!

Keeping our beach clean and having fun in the sun! We had such a great chat about what it means to care for our community and protect the animals we share the beach with — then rolled up our sleeves for a super successful BEACH CLEAN UP! Of course, we finished off with some SAND PLAY… we’re so ready for summer!

We also had a surprise visit from our lovely ALI! Our Kindy educator who moved away earlier this year… What a treat!

Hive Gallery….

T3 Weeks 9-10

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👋 LIVE FROM THE HIVE … 👋

🎒 SENIOR EXCURSIONS 🎒

Our seniors’ excursion are growing in popularity - the older kids the extra freedom and responsibility of their dedicated mini-trips out of school in the afternoon. In Wk10, we headed off straight after roll call, taking afternoon tea with us. It worked well, and gave us an even longer excursion - win/win!

💡 REMINDER - SIGN OUTS 💡

It’s a legal requirement that children are correctly signed in & out. Even if you forget your phone, you can still sign in/out at the iPad, using your phone number and the PIN you chose when you created your Xplor parent profile.

🙋🏽‍♀️ Not sure how, or need a hand…? Just ask a staff member 🙋

🐟 WHERE ARE THE FISH? 🐠

We finally had to accept that it was just too hard to keep our fish tank clean. Our fish have now been rehoused with a local fish enthusiast, and he’s also been able to advise us on our exciting new plans for the tank…. a playground for HERMIT CRABS!!

The children will help to plan, design and then build a wonderful dry tank environment for our new crabby friends! 🦀 We’ll make sure it includes everything they need to be safe and happy. We’ll also get busy creating some housing options for them, including (of course) a lovely range of sea shells 🐚🐚🐚

🏖️ HOLIDAY PROGRAM 🏖️

HP spots are filling fast, with several days now fully booked
Even if we’re full, you should still ‘request a space’ to join the waitlist, in case of last minute cancellations.

  • Mon 6 October is a Public Holiday

  • Mon 13 October is still Holiday Program - school goes back on Tues 14th…

‼️ IMPORTANT REMINDER ABOUT WAIVERS ‼️

Three of our excursion venues require waiver forms:
> Wed 8 Oct: FRENZY PARK (Little Bees) & NINJA PARC (Big Bees)
> Thu 2 Oct: MONSTER JUMP (All Bees)
All waiver details are in the excursion permission form. The kids can’t participate without a valid waiver, so please don’t miss these important steps

Quick reminder: please do complete the excursion permission form even if you’ve not yet booked any excursion days

👨‍🍳 🎨 🎲 WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO? 🏏 🧸 🧪

As the term winds to a close, we’ve been providing lots of time for rest, but even more for PLAY!! Here’s what we’ve been up to in our ACTIVITY CLUBS this last fortnight:

  • ARTS & CRAFT: DIY calendars, hama beads, paper weaving, DIY picture frames, paper watch, fidget toys

  • EXPLORE & DISCOVER: ooblek, origami, treasure map making, nature self-portraits

  • SPORTS: Newcomb ball, hunger games, jack in the pack, dance games, and of course all the usuals…

  • BAKING CLUB: choc-chip muffins & cinnamon scrolls

  • CONSTRUCTIVE & GAME PLAY: giant jenga, bingo, kapla blocks

🐝 BEE OF THE WEEK 🐝

YONAH (Y6)

For making children of all ages feel cared for and included. We’ve noticed that if Yonah ever spots
someone looking a tad lost or lonely, he heads straight over to check on them and ‘bring them in’.
We love this about you, Yonah - it’s a very special quality...

HIVE GALLERY…

T3 Weeks 7-8

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👋 LIVE FROM THE HIVE … 👋

SENIOR EXCURSIONS

Last week, the weather gave us the gift of a beautiful sunny afternoon – the perfect way to kick off the senior excursions! A group of 25 headed over the road to the Pavilion Playground with Matt and Sydney and had a whale of a time playing soccer, playing on the playground, and soaking in the freedom…

PLEASE LEAVE AFTER SIGN OUT

With the days getting longer, we understand it’s tempting to stay and have a chat with other parents, or hang out at the play equipment after sign out. Though it might feel harmless - it actually makes it harder for our staff to supervise the children still in our care. The safety and security of the children in our care is our highest priority, and we thank you in advance for your support with this.

REMINDER - SMART WATCHES

💡 Just a gentle reminder: children shouldn’t bring out electronic devices (like phones or smartwatches) while at The Hive, unless you’ve arranged an exception with us. If they do bring them along, they’ll need to stay tucked safely away in their bags.

GOING AWAY…?

For planned absences of one full week or more, we allow families to cancel their permanent bookings for that period. This reduces your costs, and helps manage the allowable absence total, as recorded by Centrelink. You should request these planned longer absences in the app as HOLIDAYS. The absence must be submitted before 9am on a Friday in order to take effect the following week.

See the step-by-step instructions below—photos and red text will help guide you along the way.

  1. Click ‘Bookings’ to open the calendar

    • Click 'add new' (top right)

  2. Choose ‘Absence/holiday’

  3. Select start and end date.

    • Add optional comment.

    • Select HOLIDAY (this is important)

  4. Click 'Request' (bottom right). The request will cover all that child’s bookings within the selected period

  5. All done! Your holiday request has been received. You will be notified when it has been processed.

💥DID YOU KNOW…? 💥

At The Hive, we operate using a child-led approach.

This means, we give children the freedom to choose what they’d like to do! When kids pick their own activities—whether that’s sometihng crafty, gardening, playing soccer, or taking some quiet time—they feel confident, capable, and proud of their choices.

Following their interests helps them learn new skills in ways that feel fun and exciting. Most of all, it lets children know that their ideas and voices matter every single day 🙂

🏖️ HOLIDAY PROGRAM 🏖️

✨ HP bookings are now open – and spots are going fast! ✨ Make sure to secure your bookings so you don’t miss out!
NB: Early bird prices end on Sunday the 21st of September.

IMPORTANT NOTE ON WAIVERS
We’ll be visiting three venues, each with its own waiver. For two of them (FRENZY PARK - LB ONLY) and (MONSTER JUMP @ EQ), you can give the Hive permission to sign on your behalf. The third (NINJA PARC – for Big Bees only) requires your signature directly. More details about the waivers are available on the excursion permission form - You can find the link here.

A quick reminder to please complete the excursion permission form, even if you’re not planning on booking any of the excursion days!

👨‍🍳 🎨 🎲 WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO? 🏏 🧸 🧪

The days are getting WARM (one might even say HOT?!?!). We’ve been outside as much as possible, looking forward to those glorious summer days…. Here’s what we’ve been up to in our ACTIVITY CLUBS lately:

ARTS&CRAFT: cardboard roll olafs, jewellery, pop out cards, diy flower bouquets, chatterboxes, popsicle stick fruits, watercolours, hama beads, free drawing,and comic strips!
EXPLORE & DISCOVER: modelling clay club, dance games, recycled crafts, bird count walk and movie club
SPORTS: touch rugby, circus skills, netball, dodgeball, newcombe ball, soccer, kick tennis, handball, and soccer shootouts!
CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY: cubbies, kapla blocks, beyblades and legomasters!!

🐝 BEES OF THE WEEK 🐝

CLEO (YK)

For showing such wonderful curiosity on our bird count walk and getting so excited about spotting pigeons! It was such a joy to see. Thank you, Cleo, for reminding us that even pigeons can be beautiful in their own way!

Ben - Educator

Ben joined our team back in February after graduating from Rose Bay Secondary College last year, and it didn’t take long for him to feel right at home at The Hive! He’s especially passionate about supporting children’s well-being and bringing plenty of fun, energy, and enthusiasm to mornings and afternoons.

When he’s not at work, Ben loves a good laugh and enjoys keeping active and social—whether that’s a day at the beach or catching the footy with mates. A keen sports fan (and player!), football ⚽ is his absolute favourite. He’s currently studying a Bachelor of Business Management at UTS, majoring in Sport Business, and is soon off on a trip to Europe to watch football!

HIVE GALLERY…

T3 Weeks 5-6

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👋 LIVE FROM THE HIVE … 👋

Evacuation and Lockdown Drills

Every term, we conduct emergency and lockdown drills to ensure that all children are familiar with the necessary procedures. Participation in these drills is essential, as it helps everything run smoothly in the event of a real emergency.

This term, our evacuation drill is scheduled for Tuesday the 2nd of September, between 3:30 and 4:30 PM. If you need to collect your child during these hours, email us and we will arrange for them to stay at the centre during the drill.

We’ll be holding a lockdown drill on Thursday 4th September, between 4:15 PM and 4:30 PM. We kindly ask that families avoid picking up children during this short window if possible. If you do need to collect your child during this time, just send us a quick email or SMS, and we’ll make the necessary arrangements. Thanks for your support in helping us keep everyone safe and prepared!

Senior Excursions!!

Thanks to the fantastic feedback we received through the anonymous parent survey and from the children themselves, we’ve re-launched our senior excursions! A big thank you to everyone who has already completed the excursion permission slip. If you haven’t had a chance yet, you can fill it out here.

Unfortunately, due to a high wind forecast, we had to postpone this week’s planned outing—but not to worry, we’re all set to head out next week!

As always, we’d love to hear your ideas. Feel free to share any suggestions with our Senior Stage Lead, Coach Matt, at matt@thehivebondi.com.au.

Christmas Closures

As we start looking ahead to the festive season, please note that our centre will be closed from Monday 22nd December and will reopen on Monday 5th January.

With the last day of school being Friday 19th December, there will be no holiday program running in December this year. We’ll be back in action on the 5th of January, ready for a fun and fresh start to 2026!

We’ll also be closed Monday 26th - Wednesday 28th January, for Public Holiday and staff training.

Hive Parent Survey - Results Are In!

A big thank you to everyone who filled out our anonymous parent survey—we really appreciate the time you took to share your thoughts. Your feedback helps us keep improving and making our centre the best place it can be for your children 💛
You can check out a summary of the outcomes here.

👨‍🍳 🎨 🎲 WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO? 🏏 🧸 🧪

This fortnight gave us a mix of weather—one very rainy week followed by a warm, sunny one. We embraced the wet days with plenty of fun indoor activities, and once the sun came out, we made the most of every moment outdoors! Here’s what the children have been up to in our ACTIVITY CLUBS:

ART & CRAFT: paper badges, dot paints, toilet roll flowers, dads and lads doodles, homemade pet toucans, paper roll octopuses, origami rabbits, diy picture frames and a colouring competition!
SPORTS: kings and queens, voochey volley, star wards dodgeball, gymnastics, rob the nest, netball and last man standing soccer!
EXPLORE & DISCOVER: diy stylus pens, cardboard cities, paper plane comp, cosmic yoga, dance games and glow in the dark snowflakes
BAKING CLUB: blueberry muffins & choc-chip cookies… a fan favorite.
CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY: cubbies, straw construction, magnatile tower comp, legomasters and the famous beyblades!!

🏖️ HOLIDAY PROGRAM 🏖️

We’ve received lots of questions about our holiday program dates! Bookings will be open by 5pm on Thursday September 4th (Week 7)

🐝 BEES OF THE WEEK 🐝

Clara (Y4)

For being a gentle and positive role model to our kindies. Whether it’s helping with small tasks, offering a friendly smile, or including others in play, Clara is leading by example in a calm and thoughtful way—and that’s something really special!

We see you, Clara!

Javier (Y1)

Javier is our Bee of the Week because he’s always looking out for others in small but meaningful ways. Helping his friends make a paper plane this week was just one example of the kindness he shows every day. Way to go, Javi!

🐌 OUR GARDEN 🌿

Over the weekend, our wonderful Garden Guardian, David, popped in to make sure everything in the greenhouse was well watered—and what a sight it was! The strawberries planted with the children are coming along beautifully, and the climbing peas are growing tall and strong. On Wednesday & Thursday, the children had a chance to enjoy the garden and join in some lovely harvest moments.

The garden is thriving with the help of our little green thumbs—it's such a joy to see it grow alongside the children! 🌿🍓

HIVE GALLERY…

T3 Weeks 3-4

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👋 LIVE FROM THE HIVE … 👋

PARENT SURVEY

We're still collecting responses for our anonymous parent survey! All feedback is welcome (and very much encouraged). Please take a moment to fill it out—we’re always aiming to do our best for you, but there’s always room to grow. Tell us everything— the good, the bad, and the ugly! You can find the link to the survey here…

SIGN OUT AND LEAVE THE SCHOOL GROUNDS

Please remember to leave the school grounds as soon as you sign out. We know it’s tempting to stay and have a chat with other parents, or hang out at the play equipment - and we understand that it feels harmless - but it actually makes it harder for our staff to supervise the children still in our care. The safety and security of the children in our care is our highest priority, and we thank you in advance for your support with this.

FISH FRIENDS SEEKING NEW HOME

Our fish have been living their best lives with us for years—and they've grown into some pretty big personalities (and bodies)! They've officially outgrown their tank, so it's time for them to upgrade to a bigger pad. We're looking to rehome them to a lovely new tank and a caring fish fan who’ll give them all the space they need and deserve to keep on thriving! Please reach out to us if you are interested…

NEW MINDFULNESS ROUTINE

We've recently refreshed our mindfulness routine before fruit time! Now, children can choose from four different mindfulness activities—ranging from active options like laps, a plank challenge, or wall sits, to quieter choices like gentle stretching or calming breathing exercises. For those who prefer stillness, there's also the option of a quiet minute of silence.

📖💡LEARNING OUTCOMES💡📖

At The Hive, we encourage children to connect with and contribute to their world, and that includes during our daily routines!

There are so many ways they get involved: packing up after activities, running meetings, serving afternoon tea, handing out hand sanitiser… just to name a few! It’s a wonderful way for them to take part, and honestly, we can never have too many of these little roles—everyone wants to help!

….They also play a role in shaping the Hive program! Each week, one of our scheduled activities gives children the chance to share their ideas and help choose what activities they'd like to do. Using iPads and laptops, they research their ideas and record them to be included in the following week’s program.

👨‍🍳 🎨 🎲 WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO? 🏏 🧸 🧪

Even though the weather has been hot and cold this past fortnight, we’ve been keeping up the fun!! Here’s what we’ve been up to in our ACTIVITY CLUBS:

ART & CRAFT: hama beads, handprint trees, finger painting, picasso faces, chatterboxes, cellophane fish, pipe cleaner dragonflies, and canvas painting!
EXPLORE & DISCOVER: colour theory, foam dough and potions!!
BAKING CLUB: deliciously sweet passionfruit slice and cinammony cinammon scrolls!
SPORTS: jack in the pack, golden ball, netball, basketball, handball, LOTS of newcombe ball, builders and bulldozers, tee ball and gymnastics!
CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY: magnatiles, kapla blocks, obstacle courses, lego and straw construction

🏖️ HOLIDAY PROGRAM 🏖️

It feels like we’ve just come back to school, but we’re already working hard behind the scenes for our Spring Holiday Program…. If you have any ideas or suggestions, please let us know here…! We would love to hear from parents and children alike…

🐝 BEES OF THE WEEK 🐝

Leonardo (Y2)

Leo is a Bee of the Week for showing kindness and empathy by being a warm and welcoming friend to a new student who joined us last week. He went out of his way to make sure they felt included, comfortable, and part of The Hive from day one. Well done, Leo!

Gwen (YK)

Gwen is a Bee of the Week for her incredible curiosity! She’s always full of thoughtful questions and wonder, showing a genuine excitement for learning and exploring the world around her. We love to see it Gwen!

HIVE GALLERY…

T3 Weeks 1-2

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👋 LIVE FROM THE HIVE … 👋

Forgot your phone…?

You can still sign in/out on the iPads! You can log in to your account using your phone number and PIN. If you need help with this, feel free to ask any of our friendly educators!

National Aboriginal & Torres Islander Children’s Day

Monday August 4th is National Aboriginal & Torres Islander Children’s Day, a special time to acknowledge the importance of culture, family, and community in Indigenous children’s’ lives. This year's theme is "Little Footsteps, Big Future", recognising the journeys children take as they grow, guided by their culture and community connections. It connects closely to what we do at The Hive, supporting children as they grow with help from the strong spirit of our community.

We’ll be marking the day by proudly wearing our Wuri Wuri design T-shirts, enjoying lively games of Gorri and Kai, and engaging in conversations about the importance of culture, identity, and the strength found in community.

Parent Reminders

For everyone's safety, please do not ride bikes through the school grounds. The children are not allowed to ride their bikes during pickup, and we kindly ask all adults to follow the same rules. Thank you for your understanding!

🏖️ HOLIDAY PROGRAM - DID YOU KNOW…? 🏖️

We're still buzzing with excitement after our most fun-filled and busiest Winter Holiday Program yet! Make sure to check out last weeks newsletter if you wish to see what we got up to.

A huge thank you to Danny Cameron for the great idea to take the children to see The Twits at the Opera House – our Big Bees had an absolute blast and are already asking to see more live shows!

If you have any ideas, questions, or suggestions for future Holiday Programs, we’d love to hear from you. We’re always on the lookout for fun new activities, and your input (from both kids and grown-ups!) helps us make each program even better. You can drop us a line here…

👨‍🍳 🎨 🎲 WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO? 🏏 🧸 🧪

We’ve hit the ground running and launched straight back into term-time fun these past couple of weeks! Here’s what we’ve been up to in our ACTIVITY CLUBS:

ARTS & CRAFT: finger painting, paper plate fans, flying bees, diy tote decorating (a popular one!), hama beads, self-portraits, q-tip paint fireworks, buzzing hive bees, popsicle stick fish, sponge ice cream painting, friendship bracelets and turtle racers!
SPORT: handball, crack the code, basketball, soccer shootouts, oz tag tips, hockey, tip games and circus skills…. as well as plenty of time on our play equipment and adventure playground
EXPLORE & DISCOVER: DIY playdough, talent shows and bug fact sheets!
CONSTRUCTIVE PLAY: cubbies, legomasters, magnatile mazes, straw construction and famous beyblades

🌈 LOST PROPERTY 🌧️

We have a number of lost property items left behind from the Holiday Program. If you recognise any of these belongings, please collect them from the Hive room between 3:00–6:00pm. To help lost items find their way home more easily, we recommend labelling all clothing and personal items your child brings in….

🐝 BEES OF THE WEEK 🐝

Marlene (Y3)

This week, we’re celebrating Marlene for her amazing dance performances during free play! She’s been lighting up the small basketball court with her moves and drawing a crowd with every performance.

Leo F (YK) & Charlie P (Y1)

Leo and Charlie are being celebrated this week for their kindness and patience while playing Beyblades. They showed excellent sharing and even took the time to teach other children how to play. Way to go, boys!

🐌 OUR GARDEN 🌿

It’s all happening in the garden with our garden guardian, David! This past fortnight, the kids have been learning about different techniques in planting and maintaining seeds in the winter. It’s been a great opportunity for them to learn about seasonal fruits and veggies!

HIVE GALLERY…

WINTER Holiday Program

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❄️ Winter Holiday Program - it’s a wrap! ❄️

Another successful Holiday Program has come to an end! We were incredibly lucky with the beautiful weather, and spent as much time as we could outside bathing in that Winter sun!

We got BUSY with ICE SKATING at the Bondi Ice Rink, playing LASER TAG, spending hours on our ARCADE GAMES, building our very own TEDDY BEARS, going on a nature walk through NIELSEN PARK with GENE ROSS, watching LILO & STITCH at the Ritz, enjoying a JUNKYARD BEATS show, journeying to the Opera House for THE TWITS, and so much more!

😅 Phew…! 😅

It sure has been a big (and fun!) few weeks, and we wouldn’t have it any other way….