May
June
Newsletter · 2026
Halfway through the year already! A cosy mid-year update — growing rooms, our Spot the Farm excursion, a hugely popular Friday Night Freedom, and a big round-up of learning from every room at Gurwood.
Halfway Through an Amazing Year
Hi Families,
We're already halfway through the year — how the time has flown! We've been reviewing occupancy for the second half, and our numbers are growing, which means more families joining our beautiful community. If you're after any casual days, please don't hesitate to reach out and I'll try my hardest to meet your request.
We've had lots of interest from educators looking for work, and right now we have a wonderful, dedicated team who are caring and enthusiastic. We each have our strengths, and learning differently is what bands us together — your children are always our priority.
Friday Night Freedom was a huge hit! If you took the opportunity, I hope you enjoyed some very well-earned time to relax. Excursions have been a real highlight — it's so exciting to hear the children share their adventures when they get back. I love walking them to the bus and waving them off.
Transitions begin again in the first week of July, and it's been an absolute pleasure watching our little friends grow. We hope you enjoyed your photos — all the children looked beautiful — and over the coming weeks you may spot a new staff uniform, refreshed to reflect us as one.
Hi Families,
I can't believe we're almost at the end of June — mid-year already, and this year is flying! What a wonderful six months it's been at Gurwood. We've had many talented new educators join and so many beautiful families and children start. It's an honour to watch your little ones grow, and we hope you feel just as welcomed and supported as they do.
We've celebrated so many events — the Easter Hat Parade, Mother's Day Afternoon Tea, and lots of in-service days. The Dugongs also went on an excursion to the Civic Theatre to see 'Spot', and I was lucky enough to see the pure excitement on all their faces.
More excursions and incursions are planned for the rest of 2026 — you'll be notified via email and OWNA, and keep an eye on our 'What's On' walls in both hallways.
Our mid-year transitions run from Monday 6th July. If your child is part of this, you'll already have been emailed, so please reach out with any questions. Looking forward to all the amazing achievements ahead! 😊
What Every Room Has Been Learning
We've seen some amazing learning over the last few months, with every classroom focused on its own developmental stage and the events we've celebrated together. Here's a peek into each room.
Both rooms have brought The Resilience Project into their spaces, and Cozy Koala has begun visiting different children's houses — lovely for the children to share with friends. They've also kept up their name recognition, tracing, and pre-writing in their workbooks.
The Koalas have been focusing on letter tracing and recognising the first letters of their names. Each day the children find their name tags for their bags and place them on the hook — building independence and early literacy.
The Possums have been exploring nature and collecting sticks and leaves in the yard. They've welcomed their new room leader Chelsea, and lots of Quokkas friends have visited for play, ready for the mid-year transitions.
The Quokkas have loved art experiences and creating collages from different pieces of paper. They also celebrated the Philippines' Independence Day and got to try some yummy foods made by Jen and Jane.
The Bilbies have been developing their gross motor skills through outdoor play and loved dancing with their teachers. They had a great time on Donut Day and got to enjoy some yummy treats!
The Bandicoots have been doing lots of messy sensory play. They celebrated National Italian Day with pasta in the sensory trays, explored Mabo Day with feathers on a bird template and the dreamtime story "How the Birds Got Their Colours", and dived into an ocean sensory tub.
There's so much ahead at the centre — including our new Chicken Pen! The children will learn how to care for the chickens, feed them, and make sure they have water. Most importantly, they'll check and collect the eggs, and learn which food scraps chickens can eat and how to handle them safely.
A Couple of Important Reminders
As we approach the end of the financial year, CCS payments are being balanced. You'll need to lodge your tax return, or notify Centrelink that you don't need to lodge one.
If this isn't done, your CCS may be cancelled until it's completed — so please action it as soon as you can.
A reminder that Gurwood offers planned leave. If you know your child will be absent — for a holiday or any other reason — you're entitled to up to 10 days per financial year, with fees reduced by 50%.
Please provide at least four weeks' written notice. Note that planned leave counts towards your child's allowable absences.
Friday Night Freedom Was a Hit!
Our Friday Night Freedom event was so successful that we're hoping to run it again. Here's what a couple of our families had to say — thank you for the lovely words!
Thank you so much to the centre and staff for running Friday Night Freedom. We thoroughly enjoyed our first dinner out alone since becoming parents, and it was so nice to know our daughter was in the very best care with educators she knew well. She lit up when she saw the room and had the best night. We'll be back if it runs again!
When I saw FNF advertised, I immediately jumped at the chance to book a dinner with just my husband, knowing my two children were safe. As we're relatively new to town and still building our support network, it was too good to miss. Upon pick-up, my eldest didn't want to leave — he was having too much fun with the educators. Knowing dinner and snacks were provided and they were with people I trust, we could have a conversation uninterrupted. Would definitely do it again!
Spot Visits the Farm 🐌
On the 19th of May we went on a very exciting adventure to the Civic Theatre to watch Spot Visits the Farm! The children travelled to and from the theatre by bus and were so excited for the experience.
During the show, the children helped Spot find all the missing farm animals by listening to animal sounds and searching together. They even counted how many animals had been found and how many were still missing — supporting their early numeracy skills. The children laughed, giggled, and thoroughly enjoyed the interactive performance, and couldn't wait to share all about their special adventure.
Our Dugongs room will be running a mini-series on careers, with visits from the Wagga Fire Department, a police officer, a doctor, and much more. Stay tuned, families!
Here's to the Next
Six Months of Learning & Growth!
Thank you for a wonderful first half of the year. We can't wait to see everything our children achieve in the months ahead — see you next term!