General News
28 July, 2022
Music helps the kinder transition
A FAMILIAR figure made a musical visit at the local kindergartens recently.
A FAMILIAR figure made a musical visit at the local kindergartens recently.
Having previously visited Camperdown Kindergarten with St. Patrick’s School Foundation team leader Pru Darcy, fellow Foundation team member Mick Saunders aka ‘Mr. S.’ has taken his musical talents on tour, paying a visit to Banana Splits in Camperdown.
He followed up with a circuit comprising kindergartens at Cobden, Timboon and Simpson.
With guitar and ukulele in tow, Mr. S. performed a huge variety of children’s songs that saw the children sing, dance, hop, jump, skip and wriggle.
Included among the songs were those he had composed with the St. Patrick’s Foundation children such as ‘Zoe the zebra’ which complements the School’s Little Learners Love Literacy Program, as well as his own song ‘The cutlery draw’ which introduces the digraphs ‘or’ in fork, ‘oo’ in spoon and the split digraph ‘i-e’ in knife and can be seen on the Smart Spelling Facebook Page.
A favourite of Mr. S. performances are the colourful shirts he wears featuring ‘The very hungry caterpillar’, ‘The cat in the hat’, and ‘Where the wild things are’ amongst others.
The shirts, most being the creation of his daughter Adriana, proved a big hit.
“The major focus of each visit is to build a familiar link between kindergarten and school prior to the more formal transition program later in the year and to help the children see staff are there to ensure they feel happy and safe,” Mr Saunders said.
He said he particularly enjoyed seeing the children of former students from his 13 year tenure as Principal of St. Patrick’s from 1995-2007 amongst the smiling faces.