Last week began with the opportunity to partake in a professional theatrical performance. The children were mesmerised. The props & pageantry captivated everyone. Thank-you so much Capital E (Wellington) for travelling around NZ sharing your charismatic performance with us all - especially in the South!
Patch Theatre Company's Mr McGee and the Biting Flea
By Pamela Allen
Monday the 21st October at the Civic Theatre Invercargill
Prepare to be mesmerised and enchanted as huge packing cases open and new worlds emerge, filled with quirky characters and stories.
Capital E’s National Theatre for Children is bringing back this much-loved collection of tales from popular children’s author, Pamela Allen. Using an assortment of props and found objects, the three performers bring the tales to life. This wonderful production features adaptations of the stories ‘Mr McGee’, ‘Alexander’s Outing’, ‘Belinda’, ‘Brown Bread and Honey’, ‘Mary Elizabeth’s House’ and ‘Mr McGee and the Biting Flea’.
The books by Pamela Allen are published by Penguin Books Australia and New Zealand and licensed by Tim Curnow, Literary Agent and Consultant, Sydney
Mr McGee
In this story Mr McGee is a puppet with a balloon as his head! The balloon gets pumped up so that he can y around the stage area.
Alexander’s Outing
When a straggling, inattentive duckling falls down a deep hole in the road passers-by use their ingenuity and join together to come to the rescue.
The ladders and suitcases are arranged to create a small city for a family of ducks to go on an outing. The ducks are toy rubber ducks. Alexander the duck is walking with his mum and brothers and sisters. During their outing Alexander goes missing – he has fallen down a hole. Don’t worry- he gets rescued in the end by some kind passers-by.
In this story Mr McGee is a puppet with a balloon as his head! The balloon gets pumped up so that he can y around the stage area.
Alexander’s Outing
When a straggling, inattentive duckling falls down a deep hole in the road passers-by use their ingenuity and join together to come to the rescue.
The ladders and suitcases are arranged to create a small city for a family of ducks to go on an outing. The ducks are toy rubber ducks. Alexander the duck is walking with his mum and brothers and sisters. During their outing Alexander goes missing – he has fallen down a hole. Don’t worry- he gets rescued in the end by some kind passers-by.
Belinda
This is the story of Belinda the cow, who only lets certain people milk her.
Two of the performers dress up as Belinda the cow. During this story Farmer Tom tries to milk Belinda and to begin with she doesn’t want him to, so she runs away from him which is quite funny. Belinda the cow and Farmer Tom come out to the audience and run along the front of the stage. Farmer Tom eventually dresses up as his wife Bessie and Belinda the cow lets him milk her.
Brown Bread and Honey
The king loves to run and jump and ride his horse - but he also loves to eat. Soon he is too fat to run, jump and ride his horse and the delicious dishes prepared by his cooks no longer seem so good. One night he is really sick from over-eating and he sacks the cooks. As he feels better and a little hungry, he is upset when he is unable to nd anyone who can make him breakfast. The next day the stable boy nds the king hungry and sad and gives him his lunch - brown bread and honey! From then on, the two lunch together and soon the king is able to run, jump and ride his horse again.
The performers become French chefs in this story and have French accents. If you listen carefully you can understand what they are saying. The performers also play many other characters to act out the story.
Inside Mary Elizabeth’s House
There is a monster at Mary Elizabeth’s house – but her classmates don’t believe her! One night she invites them all home to dinner, and they realise she isn’t lying!
The monster in this story is the audience. When the boys come over to Mary Elizabeth’s house, she introduces them to the monster – and as part of the audience you can join in and do a very loud, monster roar! The boys get scared of your loud roar and run away.
Two of the performers dress up as Belinda the cow. During this story Farmer Tom tries to milk Belinda and to begin with she doesn’t want him to, so she runs away from him which is quite funny. Belinda the cow and Farmer Tom come out to the audience and run along the front of the stage. Farmer Tom eventually dresses up as his wife Bessie and Belinda the cow lets him milk her.
Brown Bread and Honey
The king loves to run and jump and ride his horse - but he also loves to eat. Soon he is too fat to run, jump and ride his horse and the delicious dishes prepared by his cooks no longer seem so good. One night he is really sick from over-eating and he sacks the cooks. As he feels better and a little hungry, he is upset when he is unable to nd anyone who can make him breakfast. The next day the stable boy nds the king hungry and sad and gives him his lunch - brown bread and honey! From then on, the two lunch together and soon the king is able to run, jump and ride his horse again.
The performers become French chefs in this story and have French accents. If you listen carefully you can understand what they are saying. The performers also play many other characters to act out the story.
Inside Mary Elizabeth’s House
There is a monster at Mary Elizabeth’s house – but her classmates don’t believe her! One night she invites them all home to dinner, and they realise she isn’t lying!
The monster in this story is the audience. When the boys come over to Mary Elizabeth’s house, she introduces them to the monster – and as part of the audience you can join in and do a very loud, monster roar! The boys get scared of your loud roar and run away.
McGee and The Biting Flea
Mr McGee went out to play, down to the beach one windy day, the story begins. His happy mood is spoilt when he is bitten by a ea, a ea that he can’t get rid of. The only solution is to take o all his clothes and jump into the sea because of course, eas don’t like the sea. Mr McGee and the ea are nally separated, and the ea moves on to the hair of a dog instead.
It is very funny when Mr McGee starts to take his clothes o to nd the ea. We see pretend large red spots where the ea has bitten him. He eventually takes all of his clothes o but hides behind a suitcase, so we don’t see him fully naked."
What an amazing show it was!! It sure had us sitting on the edge of our seats and bursting with uncontrollable laughter - both tamariki and adults!! The tamariki reflected on the show when we returned with some beautiful re-tellings and drawings created on the blackboard. Thanks heaps to all of our 'helpers'.
A bit of an update ... Heather Cruickshank was unable to 'take up' the Admin Support position so a warm welcome to Leesha Moore. Some of you may know Leesha from her involvement @ Dipton Playgroup & Dipton School. We await Police Vetting & then Leesha will be supported by Sheryl (Lead Administrator Kindergartens South) with training.
Next week (actually Monday) we are off to Limehills School Pet Show Day. A thanks to Ester, Josh, Danny, Raff & Keeley for inviting us.
A heads up to the All Blacks as they head in to their final game of the 2019 RWC. We are NOT defined by one game but by our continuity & humility - debrief, regroup ... come back STRONGER. The Silver Fern netballers played their last international for the year in the Trans-Tasman Constellation Cup last weekend in Perth. The girls didn't bring back any silverware but they still have the accolade of being World No 1. NZ League also came away without a win last weekend along with Scott McLaughlan crashing on the Gold Coast. Our sporting stars were definitely NOT aligned last weekend.
See you next week!
The Teaching Team.
It is very funny when Mr McGee starts to take his clothes o to nd the ea. We see pretend large red spots where the ea has bitten him. He eventually takes all of his clothes o but hides behind a suitcase, so we don’t see him fully naked."
What an amazing show it was!! It sure had us sitting on the edge of our seats and bursting with uncontrollable laughter - both tamariki and adults!! The tamariki reflected on the show when we returned with some beautiful re-tellings and drawings created on the blackboard. Thanks heaps to all of our 'helpers'.
Lights, Camera, Mercy - St Thomas Aquinas School
'Lights, Camera, Mercy' by St Thomas Aquinas School. Seeing our past students on stage is heart-warming mixed with pride. The performance was scripted & choreographed by the students. Interesting was that a lot of OUR Kindy kids weren't so familiar with Nursery Rhymes. Here's a challenge - share a Nursery Rhyme each night. The wonderful flow of rhyming words & poetry is a wonderful way to build delight & intrigue in the acquisition of language.
Amazing Me
Along with being immersed in the Performing Arts over the last couple of weeks we've also captured the Visual Arts this week ...
Artist in Residence: Jomae Basgunit
Note the distinct differences of the two portraits - long eyelashes & no eyelashes. Self-portraits will begin next week as we introduce the 5-week Amazing Me programme.
Thanks to Winton New World for all your recycled remnants. If you have anything intriguing lying around (packaging is great) bring it in. Creativity is what makes us ... US.Winton Open Day Wreath Competition
Let's get creative ... it is who we are.
We are looking out for some natural remnants to make our Winton Kindy Xmas Wreath. With one teacher down @ the moment we wondered if SOMEONE could both share their creative spirit & work alongside the children. Our entry is due in Winton Open Day 17 Nov 2019.
Recycle, Reuse, Repurpose ...
Antonia's Care Package ...
A big thanks to everyone for your kind contributions. Christina delivered our 'Care Package' to Antonia yesterday & shared that Antonia is profoundly 'BORED'. It is indeed a waiting game - hopefully your next Ortho appointment might mean a 'moon boot' & a bit of mobility.
Admin Support
Winton Policy/Procedures ...
Take a minute to have a read our terms Winton Kindy Policies/Procedures. They are a great way to understand/appreciate/discuss/review our day-to-day practices.
Lost Property ...
Please have a fossick through all the Lost Property clothing. Next week we'll wash all the clothing & donate it to The Hospice shop.
Taiao Tuhura ... Discovering Nature
A warm welcome to Evie Howard who joined our eco-warriors this week along with Dad (Mark). Last term we were involved in the ecology of our stream through our liaison with Environment Southland - today along with considering the hydrodynamics of the stream ... another consideration was can anyone find 'Neil the Eel' or maybe a fish. Oh ... it's fishing season - let's go FISHING!!!
Next week (actually Monday) we are off to Limehills School Pet Show Day. A thanks to Ester, Josh, Danny, Raff & Keeley for inviting us.
We still need some HELPERS. Can anyone help out?
A heads up to the All Blacks as they head in to their final game of the 2019 RWC. We are NOT defined by one game but by our continuity & humility - debrief, regroup ... come back STRONGER. The Silver Fern netballers played their last international for the year in the Trans-Tasman Constellation Cup last weekend in Perth. The girls didn't bring back any silverware but they still have the accolade of being World No 1. NZ League also came away without a win last weekend along with Scott McLaughlan crashing on the Gold Coast. Our sporting stars were definitely NOT aligned last weekend.
See you next week!
The Teaching Team.
