04.06.2021 Zurich Early Years and Pre-School PARENTS' NEWSLETTER
Dear Parents,
April showers bring May flowers, or more showers...
The latter was certainly true for this past month, and we made the most of the rainy weather. We explored muddy puddles, created rain-themed artwork, and gained plenty of practice and dexterity in putting our rain trousers on! The frequent rain benefitted the natural world, which was our main topic in each age group. The Seahorses, Geckos, and Pre-School Hedgehogs have all explored the different biomes present in our world. Ladybug larvae and caterpillars (already in their cocoons) also arrived in our classrooms and the children have shown wonderful care and respect for these delicate creatures.
Our Welcome Letters will be sent next week with updated information about our teaching staff for the next school year, along with the yearly calendar and After School Club information.
In August of 2021, I will start my new role as the Head of Early Years and Pre-School for the three Tandem IMS locations in Uetikon am See, Zollikon, and Zurich. I will continue as the Team Leader in Zurich and will also spend time each week in the Uetikon and Zollikon schools. As our Early Years and Pre-School groups have grown, each location has developed a unique individuality with respective strengths. I am excited to bring these qualities together for the benefit of our curriculum and school community.
Instead of sending wet or dirty clothing home in plastic bags, we are now using cloth "wet bags." These are washable at 60° C and can then be returned to your child's class teachers. Many thanks for your support!
Please note that if you would like to change, reduce or increase your child's days of attendance as of the first quarter of the school year 2021/22 (August, 2021), we will need to receive a new attendance form by Friday, 11th June 2021.
Im Mai haben wir uns besonders mit dem Thema "Pflanzen" befasst. Wir haben nicht nur herausgefunden was eine Pflanze benötigt, sondern auch die Entstehung einer Pflanze thematisiert. Die Entstehung einer Pflanze konnten wir sogar beobachten, da wir unsere eigenen Pflanzen gepflanzt haben. Gemeinsam pflegen wir unsere Bohnen und unsere Sonnenblume. Wir freuen uns mit dem Thema "Lebewesen" weiterzufahren und verschiedene Tiere wie auch Lebensräume kennenzulernen.
During our unit about animals and plants we started a new project about the jungle. We began to look into the jungle with the children by finding out where the jungles of the world are located, and what lives in a jungle. We played many animal movement games, played board games with animal dice, and learned new animal yoga poses. We danced to a new song (Walking in the Jungle) and loved the different sounds! This was a great way to strengthen our gross-motor skills, sense of rhythm, and improve our orientation and balance. As the weeks progressed, giraffes, parrots, lions, snakes and flamingos started to fill our Gecko room and we enjoyed seeing our self-made animals from different biomes on display.
This past month we have been learning about both the sand desert and polar desert. We have been very busy with different sensory activities, such as playing with sand or melting ice with warm water. Our daily morning circle has also been adjusted to fit the current biome we are learning about. During the desert biome week, we looked at a different desert animal each morning and hung a photo in our desert centre. For the polar desert we sang songs about the snow, listened to polar bear sounds and threw snowballs made of cotton. The Seahorses have been very active during this time and have enjoyed the many opportunities to get messy and explore our sense of touch. Our soft-play blocks have brought a great deal more movement to our play routines, to everyone's delight! We are looking forward to learning about more biomes in the weeks to come.
All Tandem IMS Parents can only send their children to school if they can commit to the following (as completed in the Health Declaration):
My child and all other persons living in our household have no symptoms of Covid-19: sore throat, persistent cough, shortness of breath, chest pain, fever (37.9 degrees or higher), loss of sense of smell and/or taste or body aches.
Our child has not knowingly been in contact with a person who has Covid-19 symptoms within the last 10 days.
No member of our family, or a person who our family has been in contact with, is planning to take a Covid-19 test or is awaiting a Covid-19 test result (either due to having symptoms or because of having been in contact with a person who has tested Covid-19 positive).
Currently, we are running a 48-hour sickness policy. This means that children who experience one or more of the following conditions: fever, vomiting and/or diarrhoea - can only return to school once they have been 48 hours free of symptoms. Children with a temperature of 37.9 degrees or higher should stay at home (or will be sent home if this develops during the school day).
For all other details regarding our Covid-19 protection concept and sickness policy chart, please click here.
A great way to stay connected with us is via our social media channels. On Instagram and Facebook you get the latest information and see various activities we do. On LinkedIn you find topics regarding education.