Penrith City Council Children'S Services

Traineeship applications closing soon!

Be creative. Be active. Be entertained.
There’s plenty of opportunities for kids to unleash their energy and creative side at Real Festival from 2-3 November. A silent disco, trapeze school, circus activities, kayaking on the river and so much more! Check out what’s happening for kids and families at this year’s event at www.realfestival.com.au

Real Festival For Kids (Real Festival 2018)
Unplug the devices and create memories with your kids at Real Festival, from 2-3 November. There’s free activities and entertainment for the whole family to enjoy at the Nepean River. Check out everything that’s family-friendly and bucket loads of fun for kids and families here bit.ly/2Q8CO0R

On Monday 22 October the children and educators of Strauss Road Children's Centre kicked off Children's week with an excursion to One55 Fitness where we were able to participate in a Fitness class run by Chantelle (one of One55's Group Fitness Trainers).
As a group, we made our way to the Gym and were met by Brooke who explained how the day was going to unfold. We then continued to the fitness studio and warmed up while Chantelle introduced herself to the children and educat...ors.
Chantelle had some great activities organised for us, which included:
• a fitness competition where we did some push ups, squats, star jumps and a high knee run • a small dance routine • a ninja obstacle course • some yoga to finish the exercises off
The children really enjoyed their time with Chantelle at One55 Fitness and hope to visit again in the future!
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As part of Children's Week celebrations a group of children from Gumbirra Children's Centre took part in a variety of activities at The Mondo area near the Civic Centre in Penrith. The children had the opportunity to engage in a game of outdoor chess, yoga, and science experiments. With Dr Geoff (The Germy Doctor) the children played a game which involved passing around a ball in a circle. The children then looked at their hands under a special light to see how many germs the...y had on their hands. The children practiced how to wash their hands thoroughly. As a group the children expressed through music and song as a guitarist played nursery rhymes. The children also engaged in ephemeral art which involves the use of natural found objects. When the children arrived back at the service Emily shared with her peers and educators "I am going to tell my mum what we did today."
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FOUND AT MONDO - Fitbit - has been taken to Penrith Council Civic Centre front counter. Thank youFOUND AT MONDO - Fitbit - has been taken to Penrith Council Civic Centre front counter. Thank you

Please note that there are no Playvan sessions this week however it will running as per the Children's Week Program instead. Thank you

A free parenting course will be running at Jordan Springs in November - Positions are strictly limited! For all enquiries please contact Penrith City Council's Children and Parenting Coordinator Kate Mason on 0417 337 783

Both Mobile Playvan sessions today have been cancelled due to poor weather.Both Mobile Playvan sessions today have been cancelled due to poor weather.

The Term 4 roster for Mobile Playvan is now available!

All Mobile Playvan sessions for today have been cancelled due to the wet weather forecast. Thank you

A free parenting course will be running at Werrington County in October - Positions are strictly limited! For all enquiries please contact Penrith City Council's Children and Parenting Coordinator Kate Mason on 0417 337 783

On the 9th October 2018 Gumbirra had a visit from Cathie and her Guide Dog Penny. Cathie discussed with the children the important work that guide dogs do. Cathie explained that if we see a guide dog in the street it is best practice to not pat or feed them as they are working and guiding the visually impaired. Cathie talked about how puppies become guide dogs through a lot of training. The children closed their eyes and Cathie asked them if they could see anything, they all... said no. Cathie then explained that she is unable to see anything, all that she can see is light and darkness.
Cathie showed the children different technologies she uses to help her with everyday tasks. The children explored an app which tells the visually impaired many different things such as colours and what type of money they have in their hand, this makes shopping and buying things much easier. The children then came up and placed an object in front of the app and the app then announced what colour it was. Cathie demonstrated with some money and the children confirmed that it was correct money that she was holding in her hand. Cathie showed the children how she uses a barcode reader to read packaging when she is cooking.
The children also had the opportunity to see how Cathie is able to read books using audio books. The machine that she uses is called a “Victor Stream”.
At the end of the discussion, Cathie took off Penny’s guide dog harness and the children had the opportunity to come up and say hello to her.
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Children's Week is fast approaching! Join us at one or more of our four fun filled events during Children's Week!

Are you interested in beginning your career as part of Children's Services? Come along to one of our traineeship information sessions!

MOBILE PLAYVAN CANCELLED - Both sessions cancelled today due to wet weather. Thank you