May 21, 2020

Term 2 Week 4 - exciting news...!!!

May 21, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

Morning Crew: drawing club & puppet making

HIVE NEWS::

HUGE NEWS from us: we’ll soon be introducing you to a new-and-improved software system!! This brand new software, is a collaboration between two of the best in the business Xplor & QikKids. It’s secure, efficient, looks amazing and offers tons of fantastic new functionality. It also has an app - so, finally… something that works well on your mobile!! Enrolments, bookings, sign in/out will all change for the better. We’ll have more detailed communications to follow, but wanted to let you know about this exciting development, which we hope to have in place for the start of Term 3

School is back full time from Week 5, and we’re ready! If you need us to look after your small people - please book. Our staff are here - ready and waiting - and looking forward to seeing some of the faces we’ve missed over the last couple of months… 😊

💦We’re bringing this reminder to the top o’ the page! 💦
💦School bubblers are currently closed, so please remember to 💦
💦send kids with their WATER BOTTLES…💦

WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO…?

We got busy using lots of exciting, natural and recycled materials this week…

the kids created bird feeders from recycled milk containers and decorated them with all sorts of cool stuff. We bought bird feed too.
🦜🦜Please send us photos of your bird feeders being used at home! 🦜🦜
We used natural materials from the school grounds to make branch mobiles, with all sorts of beautiful shapes and colours…
We made our own chalks, tie-dyed fabric and folded paper bracelets. We have such creative, curious and clever bees here at The Hive! 🐝🐝
We had self-managed mini workshops of kids editing movies, taking drawing lessons from youtube, and running highly-charged Beyblade comps inside the Hive room - a real hive of activity ;-)
Archery, soccer, basketball and lots of free play were also the order of the week. We keep all equipment cleaned and on rotation

…and their ‘candley’ concoction! 🕯️🕯️🕯️ (are they hot dogs in that pan…??) — …and their ‘candley’ concoction! 🕯️🕯️🕯️
(are they hot dogs in that pan…??)

May 14, 2020

Term 2 Week 3 - back to school…

May 14, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

HIVE NEWS::

We hope all the 💕mothers and others 💕 enjoyed cuddles and treats on Sunday. We think you’re the BEST!! 🌟🌟

We’re happy to see the children slowly starting to come back to school and Hive this week. We’ve missed them! We have staff ready to ramp up as numbers increase, and the usual fun-filled (and Covid-aware) program in place to keep the kids happy and engaged.

Please be reassured, we’re still implementing various additional hygiene measures, such as:

increased hand-washing and sanitiser applications
social distancing measures
amended activities and sports, to reduce high touch situations
rotation & additional cleaning of resources and equipment
safer drop off/collection. When you drop off or collect, simply come into the Hive room and make yourself known to staff - we’ll sign in/out at the touchscreen on your behalf.

WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO…?

We’ve had so many amazing craft and science projects this week:

the kids have made their own soaps, some amazing colours and scents (not sure how clean you’ll all be, but hey…)
we recycled milk bottles to make pencil holders, using a whole range of other recycled materials to cover, paint and decorate them. Such a useful thing to have at home!
Giorgette (Y6) had a great idea to create a tile mosaic, which the kids completed this week: they painted one tile each, which we joined mosaic-style to make a framed artwork. Nice work!
We also continued with the extremely popular Origami activities, with so many wild and wonderful shapes and 3-D creations being made

PARENT REMINDERS ::

TOYS: please keep your child’s toys and trading cards at home. Anything found will be held by staff, and returned to parents only.

WATER BOTTLES: the school bubblers are currently closed, so please remember to send a water bottle!

WINTER IS COMING: (the old ones are the best!) It’s getting cooler now, so please send a jumper or jacket every day

May 08, 2020

SUPPORT FROM THE COMMUNITY

May 08, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

COVID-19 is causing stress and hardship for many Australian families. The Wayside Chapel’s mission of creating community with 'no us and them’ is more important than ever. Heart Café, a social enterprise run by Wayside Chapel in Bondi Beach, Char Rotisserie and the Bondi Surf lifesaving Club are working together to provide care packages to those people who need some extra help from our community right now.

If your family or you know anyone affected in the Eastern Suburbs by COVID-19 and are struggling to make ends meet through this crisis, please send them our way. We have family and individual care packs of toiletries, nappies, baby food, as well as chicken soup for that has been lovingly made to feed people who are currently having trouble putting food on the table.

Drop in to Heart Café on the corner of Roscoe and Gould street (opposite the Police station) or contact Heart Cafe Manager, Mo Rosa by email mo.rosa@thewaysidechapel.com and while we can’t give you a hug, we can give you a warm smile, 'Soup for the Soul' and some useful essentials that will make your life and budget a bit brighter to help you get through these hard times.

Love your community?

If you love Heart Cafe, you can continue to support us by ordering our delicious food and coffee items via our new takeaway menu (hyperlink to https://heartcafe.orderup.com.au) or support Wayside Chapel's emergency appeal to help people through crisis, by donating at waysidechapel.org.au

Much thanks and love,

Mo Rosa

Heart Café Bondi Beach.

May 08, 2020

Term 2 Week 2 - Mother's Day!

May 08, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

Plaster casting and painting. So much fun!

HIVE NEWS::

We’re ready for the children’s phased return to school. Another reminder to please book into Hive if you need our care. Staff numbers are limited so the more notice we have for your bookings, the better. Thank you!

We’re already busy planning the next Holiday Program. Do you have any ideas that you’d like to see in the program? Please email them to Lenka

WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO…?

We can’t say too much, as pretty much all our CRAFT & SCIENCE activities have been related to top secret Mother’s Day gift making…! But the kids have had a ball, learned some new techniques and creative approaches, and enjoyed a few scientific experiments along the way!

On the sports side, we had a full mix of outdoor activities and free play this week, avoiding contact activities.

PARENT REMINDERS ::

As per our recent email - please support us by keeping your child’s toys and trading cards at home. They’re not allowed at school or Hive as they so easily get damaged or go missing. We have loads of cool Hive stuff for the kids to play with!!

Our new recycled paper bead-maker - super cool!

April 29, 2020

Term 2 Week 1

April 29, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

Frankie & Sid with their home-made bows & arrows

HIVE NEWS::

Welcome back to Term 2! We hope you’ve all been keeping healthy, safe and sane during isolation.

It’s a quiet start at Hive, with a maximum of 20 kids in the afternoons. This term will see a slow return towards normality and we’ll ramp up care as required, in close liaison with school.

Our sessions this week have included heaps of dancing and lots and painting. Well done Millicent who helped to sharpen all the pencils!!! Wonderful little helper!

HOLIDAY PROGRAM::

We ran a small-but-perfectly-formed Holiday Program, with a tight little crew who joined us daily for lots of fun on their wheels, kinetic sand, mandala art, Kapla blocks, LOADS of laser tag, so much craft and sport, costume making , movie-making and SO much more…

A massive 🌟THANK YOU 🌟to our staff who ran the program, in challenging and confined conditions. We’re looking forward already to July, when we can hopefully bring back incursions and at least some local excursions…

PARENT REMINDERS ::

We’ll serve a limited range of afternoon tea options this term
Please remember to PACK A HAT, so your child can play safely outside
Let’s avoid all penalty fees this term…
- Hive closes at 6pm - please don’t be late to collect
- If you’re going to miss a booking, let us know! Thanks

March 26, 2020

Term 1 Week 9, 10, 11 - deep breaths...

March 26, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

HIVE NEWS ::

WE’RE HERE FOR YOU
These really are challenging times, and the Hive remains committed to staying open for as long as possible, providing care to those that need it most, and taking one day at a time.

HOLIDAY PROGRAM
HP bookings are now open. Our program will be run from Hive/school, with no excursions and no external providers visiting school. We’ll pack it full of different activities, games, sports and crafts and we’ll keep the kids outside as much as possible.

45 places each day
$75/day (usual rebates apply)
No food provided - eat breakfast at home, send recess, lunch and afternoon snack

March 20, 2020

Term 1 Week 8 - Harmony Week

March 20, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

HIVE NEWS ::

OPEN FOR BUSINESS!
Difficult times right now, but the Hive is committed to staying open for as long as possible, providing care to those that need it most.
As per Thursday’s email - please cancel any bookings you don’t really need. This will help us prepare for further change & challenge. Did you miss the Friday 9am deadline to cancel next week online? If so, please mark Week 9 sessions ‘away’ and cancel for Week 10 onwards.
Please keep checking your emails for latest updates from us, as we’re receiving ongoing updates from the Depts of Health & Education.

HOLIDAY PROGRAM
Unless advice changes, we still plan to run a Holiday Program, largely school-based and with a lower cap on bookings. There will be no excursions requiring coaches, only trips on foot over the road to the grass, playground, sand or paddling pool.
This requires a sizeable re-work of the program, which we’re doing right now - we’ll open for bookings early next week. Again, we urge only those who really need the care, to make bookings.

WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO?

We enjoyed a beautiful theme this week - HARMONY. Our ART & CRAFT activities explored family trees, creation of country flags, and a run of wonderful self-portraits. And don’t forget our welcome window of flags - showing just how many different nationalities we enjoy in our Hive community and how to say hello in each language! Thanks also to the children for their idea to make recycled sculptures this week. Good work!

In BAKING CLUB we made the most delicious VELVET CHOCOLATE BROWNIES this week. ‘Nuff said ;-)

In fact, all our ACTIVITY CLUBS pulled together around our powerful theme this week - we printed African masks, directed harmony-themed movies on the iPads, made aboriginal hand-print hangers and created our very own ‘belonging’ puzzle.

Oh, and loads of SPORT too - dodgeball & hockey for the littlest ones and soccer, archery & volleyball for our Y2-3s. Plus the usual sprinkling of lego and BEYBLADE fun…!

PARENT REMINDERS & UPDATES ::

Please remind your children of the importance of washing their hands, practising cough/sneeze etiquette and reporting immediately if they feel unwell.
If your child displays any symptoms at all - please keep them at home

Thanks everyone for your cooperation 🙏

March 12, 2020

Term 1 Week 7 - St Patrick's Day!

March 12, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

HIVE NEWS ::

CORONA VIRUS
We’re staying abreast of the Dept of Education’s response to COVID-19. We’re following the Dept of Health’s guidelines and are relying on all families to do the same. We continue to be vigilant about washing and sanitising hands and generally encouraging the children to maintain good practice with hand washing and cough/sneeze hygiene.

OCEAN LOVERS’ FESTIVAL
Brainchild of one of our BBPS parents - Anita - the OCEAN LOVERS’ FESTIVAL (17-22 March) is an annual celebration of ideas, art, music, workshops & actions, showcasing some of the latest innovations, science and state of the art technology for helping the oceans.
Held right here at Bondi Beach, the festival offers 6 days of free entertainment and events: VR and photographic exhibition; Australian Geographic talks; Ocean Hub workshops for all ages; live music on the solar powered Sunshine Stage and countless food stalls!
Actions for the oceans include: a beach clean, paddle-out for ocean protection plus yoga for the sea. See oceanloversfestival.com for more…

NEW STAFF!
A happy HELLO to new staff member Hannah, who joins The Hive this week. Hannah comes with several years’ experience already working in OSHC, and we’re looking forward to enjoying her expertise within the team

WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO?

This week’s ST. PATRICK’S DAY theme was very special to our children of Irish heritage. We talked about Ireland, and their customs and traditions. Our ART & CRAFT activities explored various shamrock crafts and pottery; St Patrick’s jewellery, printing and even a wand; leprechaun design competition (and loads of green paint…!)

Welcome back Mia! BAKING CLUB missed you… The kids made delicious mini muffins this week, with our older kids continuing to demonstrate care and patience helping the little ones learn what to do.

EXPLORE & DISCOVER club saw the children experiment with making their own mud paint - see all the fantastic pictures of that activity!

And SPORTS was super busy this week, with a wide range of activities such as spikeball, dodgeball, croquet, touch rugby and handball… Busy bees!

Some of our SENIORS wish more of their peers came to The Hive. So… we’re on a drive to recruit more seniors! If this sounds like your child, get them to talk to their friends… We offer an amazing program for the older kids, including: wheels day, beach excursions, BBQing, dedicated seniors sports, computer time in the library, various ongoing creative projects and the chance to buddy up with the Kindys for Baking and (soon) reading!

PARENT REMINDERS & UPDATES ::

We’d like to thank all those kids who are doing a GREAT JOB of remembering their hats! We’ve noticed increased attention to this, so thank you all for helping us to help you stay SUN SAFE! Those without hats must stay in the shade when outdoors (for UV3+) as we do not condone using hats from lost property, due to the risk of spreading nits.
We ran lockdown drills and daily safety talks last week. It’s vital that the kids understand why we run these drills, and how important they are. Thanks to all the kids for listening and cooperating!

SENIORS ON MINI-EXCURSION - GOOD TIMES!!

March 04, 2020

Term 1 Week 6 - International Women's Day

March 04, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

Alex, Oisin & Alfie helping with lemonade at the Welcome BBQ!

‘Build your own’ pulled chicken mountain bread wrap. YUM!

HIVE NEWS::

Last Friday’s WELCOME BBQ was big news! A huge well done to Lenka, the staff and the kids who helped make it such a success. Hive hired the bouncy castles, served home made fizzy lemonade (the kids were SO helpful!), created tablecloths and decorations, painted faces and more. Well done to the P&C volunteers and Hive team, who pulled it all together!!

Our Seniors group is working on the development of our own Hive ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY, which will become part of our daily routine. This is part of our drive to develop our own Reconciliation Action Plan, in collaboration with the Hive kids and two indigenous parents from our own community.

A big THANK YOU to Mr West who donated a fabulous MUSICAL KEYBOARD to The Hive. The kids are loving it and now Seth is back from his stay in NYC, we’ll start some serious music-making with the children!

We say a sad goodbye to AIYA and HARRY, who’ve lit up the Hive for a long time, but must now leave us for full time study. We wish them both well in their next chapter… Watch this space for an introduction to new team members in the next week or two…

WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO?

Our WOMEN’S DAY theme this week saw us engage in a range of activities and discussions: art activities based on historical female figures; discussions with the Seniors about female role models; creating gifts for the special women in our kids’ lives… Thank you Euge for such an inspiring theme and program!

ART & CRAFT saw a very busy week with Drawing Club in the Hive room - it’s beautiful to see the kids express themselves with a range of cards, colours, and materials.

BAKING CLUB is alive and well whilst Mia’s on holiday - thank you Priscila and Sydney! This week the kids loved making their own simply pizzas. Bellissimo!

Sports took a bit of a hit from the weather this week, but we kept the kids happy with BEYBLADES and KAPLA CONSTRUCTION in the Hall… And we still managed some team sport, with SOCCER in the cola. Yay!

What rain?? Our SENIORS enjoyed some quiet time in the library playing CLUEDO this week. Its great to see them developing their powers of deduction…!

PARENT REMINDERS ::

Remember: The Hive closes at 6pm sharp. We need you to please collect before then! There is a penalty for late collection, $15 per 15minutes. We don’t like applying penalties, so please collect on time.
We’re a SUN SAFE centre, which means NO HAT, NO PLAY.

February 26, 2020

Term 1 Week 5 - World Compliment Week

February 26, 2020/ Jara Poslusny

HIVE NEWS::

Our HOLIDAY PROGRAM is shaping up beautifully (nice one Lenka!), and will be open in Week 7. Watch this space… This is an 11 week term, and our HP starts after Easter Monday, on Tue 14 April.

Soon we will run this term’s LOCKDOWN DRILLS, on a morning and afternoon session. We will email you with notice of which 30min windows to please try and avoid for drop off and pick up. We’ll follow up with SAFETY BRIEFINGS with the kids: what worked; what didn’t; how we can improve for next time and a reminder of exactly why the drills are so important.

At the beginning of each term (and periodically as required) we remind the kids of the BASIC SAFETY RULES at The Hive, such as: staying within the school grounds at all times; respecting out of bounds areas; transitioning between spaces in pairs; not speaking to people through the fence; taking care when crossing the car park and so on. Your support at home is much appreciated.

Work has now started on the fit out of the NEW HIVE OFFICE. Very exciting! The new storage space in there will allow us to de-clutter the Hive room a little and put some of the toys and games on rotation, to keep things fresh and the kids engaged.

WHAT HAVE THE KIDS BEEN UP TO?

Our COMPLIMENT theme this week was all about using kind words to give compliments to the people in our lives, to bring a smile and make those around feel good! ♡

ART & CRAFT saw the kids create beautiful aboriginal dot paintings, talking about the methods and materials used by Australia’s indigenous people. They also attended a balsa wood workshop and did some pottery. Busy week!!

The Juniors also enjoyed planting their own succulents in EXPLORE & DISCOVER. Baking club was - as always - a big hit, with Carrot Cake on the menu this week. Our little ENGINEERS enjoyed building their own bubble tower, as suggested by own of our own Hive bees!

We had a wide variety of activities in SPORTS CLUB this week, including spike ball, volleyball, hockey & netball. The seniors also had a go at yoga and beach cricket!

Our SENIORS’ MINI EXCURSION involved a shopping trip to Woolies and a beach BBQ. The kids are learning about shopping, produce, budget and food prep

PARENT REMINDERS ::

Remember: The Hive closes at 6pm sharp. We need you to please collect before then! There is a penalty for late collection, $15 per 15minutes. We don’t like applying penalties, so please collect on time.
We’re a SUN SAFE centre, which means NO HAT, NO PLAY.