In this edition
Dear Families
We are continually reflecting on how we can connect families to our learning, particularly through these unprecedented times. We certainly want you to be involved, informed and curious about what is happening within the ELC.
Firstly, if you are reading this article, it means you have taken one of the most important steps: opening up our fortnightly newsletter which provides you with insight into our learning experiences and additional information about ELC community life.
The teachers are working closely with Mathematical Consultant Lisa-Jane O’Connor, and our video this week showcases the work we are doing in this area. As an integral part of our ELC Strategic Direction, we aim to create a smooth transition to the Junior School with this shared pedagogical approach. Lisa-Jane returns to the ELC again in a few weeks and will continue mentoring our teachers whilst working alongside children.
Ferguson Conservation Park visits have again ignited our passion for learning in the outdoors and taking in the wonder of the season changes, particularly with the wattle blossom and the very active birdlife. Community members have joined us on a few walks, and we encourage this engagement and assistance with our visits.
We continue to nurture our garden-to-plate experiences with afternoon cooking sessions featuring produce that comes directly from our Community Garden. Ask your Learning Community 2 children to tell you what they made for a late snack. Last week, I saw beetroot pizzas inspired by our incredible harvest. Have you also heard about the delicious broccoli pasta that we made? Our broccoli is the envy of many gardeners and I am thankful for Miss Balnaves and Mrs Tierney for their passion in ensuring these vegetables receive the very best care. All children in the Centre visit the garden across their week, participating in this important area of care and learning through a sustainable lens.
The inquiry ‘Symbols can create meaning’ across the community is amazingly rich – you may have seen the documentation in the foyer of Peter and the Wolf from Learning Community 1. Ms Angel’s passion for music, theatre and storytelling has led to some amazing role play, retelling, use of symbols through colour, character and emotions from our youngest learners. In Learning Community 2, Mrs Porplycia and the team have been driving an incredible discovery of the creation of significant symbols that tell our story and identify significance to us as an ELC. You will read more about this in the documentation on our Learning Community Home Pages.
Meanwhile, we are planning how we can connect in other ways with our community. We have the upcoming Father’s Day coffee and pastry morning on Wednesday September 2 at the ELC’s Hallett Road entrance. Fathers, grandfathers and special friends are invited to grab a coffee and delicious treat when they drop their child off at the ELC. Staff and members of our Friends of the ELC will be outside to greet you as you arrive. We are also creating a video for our grandparents which will be a very special acknowledgement of the important role they play in our lives.
We are excited to announce that we are going ahead with face-to-face Term 3 Parent-Teacher Conversations. Details about how you can book your session will be made available to you via this newsletter and an email. This is a unique time to discuss the progress your child is making through the sharing of data and documentation in the portfolios.
I thank you for your ongoing support and engagement with our ELC life and, as always, welcome your feedback.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Important Dates
Wednesday 2 September: Fathers and Special Friends’ Coffee and Pastries, 7.30 – 9.15am
Monday 14, Tuesday 15, Monday 21 September: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Monday 28 September – Friday 9 October: Vacation Care
Monday 5 October: Public Holiday
Parent Teacher Conversations – Book Your Meeting Now
ELC Parent-Teacher Conversations for Term 3 will take place on Monday 14, Tuesday 15 and Monday 21 September 2020. There are designated 15 minute, face-to-face time slots to meet with your child’s teacher.
We strongly encourage you to book a meeting as it provides us with the opportunity to share your child’s learning journey and significant moments, and the documentation we have supporting this. From these discussions, future goals for your child may be created to ensure they reflect the perspectives of parents and educators.
Bookings are now open and can be made via myLink.
How to access myLink for bookings:
- Log in to the myLink parent portal using your username {ID} and password. If you don’t know your password, use the link provided on the login page.
- Once you have logged in and arrive on the Welcome page, click the ‘Community Portal’ tab in the top menu, then click the ‘Interviews’ tab and select the required cycle. You can log in and change your booking any time up to 5pm Thursday 10 September.
If you require myLink assistance, please contact the IT Helpdesk via helpdesk@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 08 8334 2227.
We look forward to meeting with families and sharing our insight into your child’s learning journey.
Are Your Child’s Immunisation Records Up to Date?
Following changes to the South Australia Public Health Act 2011, from 7 August 2020, children are not able to enrol in or attend early childhood services unless all immunisation requirements are met. Please ensure you have provided the ELC with your most recent approved immunisation records.
To find out more, please visit the SA Health Early Childhood Services and Immunisation Requirements page.
Fathers and Special Friends’ Coffee and Pastries
We hear that our ELC dads love coffee and cake! Upon drop off next Wednesday 2 September, we welcome our ELC dads, grandpas, uncles and special friends to enjoy a coffee and a pastry from the coffee van out the front of the ELC.
We also invite families to visit the Virtual Father’s Day Stall to purchase a lovely gift for Father’s Day. The stall includes a variety of gifts for $5 each which will be wrapped and delivered to your child’s room on Friday 4 September. Thank you to the P&F for organising this special stall.
We wish all our dads a very special Father’s Day on Sunday 6 September.
St Peter’s Girls’ P&F Family Day
Join us on Sunday 18 October for an afternoon of fun and community at the St Peter’s Girls’ P&F Family Day.
Tickets include pasta, pizza and a glass of wine or soft drink; additional drinks and gelato will be available for purchase.
The afternoon will feature kids’ activities and roving entertainment; BYO chairs, tables and/or picnic rug.
Ticket Prices: Adult – $20; Child – $15; Family of Four – $50
Book via www.trybooking.com/BKUAL
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长们，
我们的园长和教师团队一直在思考如何将我们现在的学习与家庭联系起来，特别在这个具有挑战的时期。我们非常希望您能了解孩子在ELC每一天的学习生活。希望通过我们园长的简讯来帮助大家了解我们孩子们现在所学的东西。
非常重要的一步是：在每两周的新闻简讯里，你会看到我们两个学习社区的学习经历以及关于我们ELC社区生活额外的信息：
- 老师们和我们的数学顾问Lisa -Jane O’Connor女士密切合作，我们本周的视频展示了我们在数学学习这一块的工作。Lisa-Jane女士几周后会再次回到ELC，她将继续指导我们的老师并与孩子们一起工作。
- 探访Ferguson公园点燃我们在户外学习的激情,在这神奇的季节变化之际，感受着金合欢树花的盛开和观察活跃的鸟类生活。很多社区成员已经加入我们的行列，我们鼓励家长们参与进来，一同帮助我们和孩子们对公园的探访。
- 在学习二社区里，我们的孩子们下午会有烹饪活动。上周我们的孩子们做了甜菜根披萨，所有的食材正是来自我们自己的社区花园的惊人收成。你有没有听你们的孩子提起我们做的西兰花意面？同样的，西兰花也是来自我们花园。我们很感谢Miss Balnaves和Mrs Tierney老师的工作热情， 确保这些蔬菜得到最好的照料。幼儿园的所有孩子每周都会参观花园，并通过可持续的视角参与和关心到这个重要学习领域。
- 在整个社区您可以看到关于“符号可以创造意义”这一主题，孩子们进行各种各样的探究。在学习社区1的门厅里您可能会看到《彼得和狼》的相关学习纪录。Ms Angel老师对音乐、戏剧和讲故事的热情使得我们的孩子们开始进行一些令人惊叹的角色扮演、复述并运用了色彩、性格和情感的符号。在学习社区2中，Mrs Porplycia老师和她的团队一直在推动一个探究主题，即创造重要的符号来讲述我们的故事，来传达ELC对我们孩子们的重要意义。您将在网上教学资源Canvas页面中看到并了解更多关于这方面的内容。
与我们社区的联系：
- 9月2日 星期三 “感恩父亲节” —— 在Hallett路的ELC门口，我们为即将到来的父亲节准备了咖啡和点心。当爸爸们、祖父们和特别的朋友带着他们的孩子来到ELC时，我们欢迎您拿上一杯咖啡。届时我们的老师们也会在那里迎接大家。我们同样录制一个短片给我们的祖父母们，来感恩在我们孩子生活中他们所扮演的重要角色。遗憾的是，我们ELC内部无法位家长举办活动。
- 我们很激动地将迎来我们第三学期的家长和老师一对一面对面的谈话。关于如何预约会议的具体讯息会通过我们的电子邮件和新闻简讯告知家长们。这次特别讨论关于通过分享学习文档中的数据和纪录来了解孩子们在学习中的进步。
我们的园长和教师团队再一次感谢家长朋友们为我们ELC作出的长期支持和大家的参与。我们同样欢迎您的任何反馈。
Kate Mount
早教中心主任
Emma works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
Embracing and Welcoming Difference
Recently in our Early Learners’ Centre, I led a staff meeting on the many aspects of inclusion and diversity. As a pedagogical leader and EAL/D Specialist, I support Kate Mount in guiding conversations and facilitating staff learning circles. I delivered my research paper titled ‘Embrace and welcome the difference’, which facilitated robust staff discussions and critical reflections.
Diversity, inclusion and equity are always an ongoing focus in our ELC. This professional learning was an opportunity to plan, lead and delve deeper into how we welcome difference in our Centre and how this impacts positively on our professional practice.
Our professional conversations are always an opportunity for growth to improve quality learning outcomes for children. Thus, our shared discussions on ‘Embrace and welcome the difference’ stimulated growth through acknowledging our strengths and reflecting on our understandings of inclusion.
My provocations included how we build capacity to embrace and welcome difference. We reflected on our ELC’s flexibility and creative delivery in how we facilitate for learner differences. We discussed how play-based learning and the Reggio Emilia approach offers genuine experiences of participation, engagement and inclusion. Plus, how being included is to truly feel accepted, to belong and to engage actively in social and academic learning.
I am very fortunate to work alongside Kate Mount, to assist staff in deepening their understandings of how we are active participants in the promotion of cultural awareness. Our shared growth and action research on ‘Embrace and welcome the difference’ will certainly continue in our ELC.
It is exciting that we are all reflective practitioners, working together with a unified goal of improving our professional practice. By asking reflective questions and linking theory to our practice, we strive to authentically bridge gaps to engage across cultures and ‘Embrace and welcome the difference’.
Regarding our practice of ‘welcome’, I believe all families have made fabulous choices to join our community to be a part of ‘Belonging, being and becoming’ at St Peter’s Girls’ Early Learners’ Centre.
Trish Tynan
EAL/D Specialist
Sustainability in the ELC
With the help of Charlie Aykroyd, General Manager of Australian Green Clean and St Peter’s Girls’ Old Scholar, we have learned to identify different waste materials and where they should go after use. The children are particularly keen to place their food scraps and waste into our small organics bins and use the contents to feed the worms in our Community Garden.
Did you know that many councils offer a food caddy to collect food scraps? These free organics bins are a fantastic way to implement an organics waste system for your family, and link the children’s learning at the ELC to daily practices at home. They are also the perfect size for a convenient space like the kitchen counter or under the sink.
In a recent article, Charlie provides useful information regarding bin systems that are available to you. She outlines the councils that can provide an organics waste caddy for your home. We invite you to read the full article here.
Green and Clean Question of the Day: What items can go in the organics bin?
Staff Spotlight
Elina joined our staff team late last year, bringing with her years of experience in early learning. She has a thirst for learning and is continually participating in workshops and webinars beyond the ELC to further her skills. We are thrilled to have Elina on board and part of our special ELC community.
What is your teaching background?
Before I came to Australia in 2008, I was a high school teacher in Shanghai with a Bachelor Degree in Teaching and a TESOL (Teaching English as a Second Language) certificate from Canada. Over the past 10 years, I have worked in community child care and completed my diploma of Early Childhood Education. I am also a registered teacher in South Australia and have worked as a Mandarin teacher.
What is your favourite part of working in the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?
I feel so lucky to be a part of this great team and that I get to learn every day alongside the children. Seeing the smiling faces of children and staff in the morning is my favourite part of going to work.
Why are you passionate about working with children?
It is a unique journey for me to watch children grow, learn and develop. I enjoy the laughter with the children, which is priceless in this busy life! I’m truly passionate about this rewarding work and knowing that I’m making a difference even just a little bit every day.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I have two boys of my own who are eight and four. I love travelling and my husband is a fan of road trips, so weekends are family time for outdoor exploration and, of course, for yummy food!
News from Learning Community 1
This week, we welcome Miss Chong, our student teacher. As our Central Idea for Term 3 is ‘Symbols can convey meaning’, she was curious to know how we teach children as young as two years old about symbols. It’s a fair question!
We told her that many of our children already have knowledge of Kaurna symbols and this was a good place to start. Many children are able to draw and recognise symbols for things like a campsite, palti circle, clap sticks and rainbows. Next, we introduced a provocation we hoped the children would find very interesting – the Rainbow Serpent. This mythical, colourful creature from Aboriginal Dreaming stories is said to have created the landscape with its body. This has been fascinating for the children, and they have been very engaged in making representations of it using materials such as paints, pastels, clay, fabric, sticks and coloured wool.
The story of Peter and the Wolf has been another invitation to expand their understanding of symbols. In this exciting tale written by Russian composer Sergei Prokoviev, each character is represented by an instrument of the orchestra. The children have come to recognise each distinctive piece of music that symbolises Peter, the Wolf, Grandfather, Bird, Duck and Cat. We went on to introduce colourful scarves to serve as symbols so that the children began to identify each character with a colour – the red Bird, the grey Wolf, and so on.
Understanding that symbols have meaning is an important part of Literacy and Numeracy development. In our national curriculum for early years education, one of the key objectives is for children to become effective communicators:
‘Children begin to understand how symbols work. They will develop an understanding that symbols are a powerful means of communication and that ideas, thoughts and concepts can be represented through them’.
The play-based inquiry we are undertaking now will prepare the children for interpreting the alphabet and mathematical symbols. At the same time, they are falling in love with stories, colours and music from a rich array of cultural traditions. Most importantly, it is through these experiences that they are building relationships with their community, shaping and changing who we are as a group made up of diverse and creative individuals.
Relationships are the strongest foundation for effective learning and we are very proud of how our young friends are living their lives among us with curiosity, confidence and joy. Much like the rainbows we have been studying, children have always been a symbol of hope, beauty and happiness. In them, we see boundless possibilities and potential, not just for the future but in the everyday.
Mel Angel and Annabelle Redmond
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
In Learning Community 2, we have been engaging in experiences to develop the children’s image of themselves as mathematicians. Together, we have been identifying how and when we use mathematical skills and concepts in our lives. Through our daily rituals and learning inquiries, we have explored quantifying, subitising and identifying the cardinal number.
In our world, there are two symbol systems children need to learn about. In English, that symbol system is called the alphabet. In Mathematics, the symbol system is called the Base Ten Numeration system. In the alphabet, the symbols are called letters. In Base Ten, the symbols are called digits. In Base Ten, we use the symbols 0-9 to create numerals that represent a quantity (how many).
By participating in professional learning with Lisa-Jane O’Connor, a Mathematics Consultant, we have been able to go deeper into our Mathematics curriculum within our Learning Community and to recognise and embrace mathematical teaching moments. Our sessions with Lisa-Jane support us to further develop our knowledge base and teaching strategies.
Here’s a fun game to play at home together with your child:
Go on a digit hunt, take photos of all the digits you can find in your environment.
Kirsty Porplycia, Nell Tierney and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2
Find Out What Happens Throughout
the Day at ELC
The ELC Learning Community Home Page is a dynamic online sharing space that invites you to participate in the communities’ learning as it happens. We use this tool to communicate important information with families and provide a window into the children’s life at the ELC, as educators share documentation of teaching, specialist lessons and spontaneous moments.
Accessing myLink for the first time:
- Visit https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
- To set your password, click the link located below the sign in section
- Your user name was emailed to you upon your child’s commencement (see Helpdesk contact details below if you cannot source your user name)
- Enter your unique user name, click ‘Next’
- Enter the security code sent to your mobile
- Enter the password you would like to use and press submit
- Return to the login screen at https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au to access myLink
- Several instructional videos are available via the Welcome page if you click on the ‘HELP’ menu tab.
Accessing the Learning Community Home Page through myLink:
- Access myLink as per the above instructions
- Click on the ‘MYLINK HOME’ tab
- Click on your child’s name tab
- Under ‘Class Contacts’, click on the ELC room name (you may need to enter your user name and password again)
If you have any issues accessing or navigating myLink, please contact the IT Helpdesk via helpdesk@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2227.
ELC’s Online Etiquette Policy:
Please note that the ELC Learning Community Home Page and ELC News contain images and videos of other children. We therefore ask that you do not copy or share images or videos, especially on social media, if they contain other children.
Absences in the ELC
Student Absences
Please notify the School via one of the following methods for late arrivals/early departures and absences, ensuring a reason for the absence is included.
Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)
Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Phone: 8334 2200 or phone the relevant room as per the contact list below.
Please include the relevant room teacher when sending via email.
ELC Room Contacts:
Bell Yett – 8155 5777
Ferguson – 8155 5776
Hallett – 8155 5775
Stonyfell – 8155 5778
ELC Immunisation Policy
Under the Government’s No Jab No Play policy, families must meet immunisation requirements to attend the ELC and receive the Child Care Subsidy. Families are required to provide all approved immunisation records to the ELC. Further information is available by clicking here.
Children who are suffering from illnesses such as those listed below must be excluded from ELC in line with our Exclusion Policy.
Influenza
Chicken Pox
Conjunctivitis
Diarrhoea
Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
High Temperature
Infectious Hepatitis
Measles
Meningitis
Mumps
Rubella (German Measles)
Scabies
Scarlet Fever
School Sores (Impetigo)
Upper Respiratory Tract Infection
Vomiting
Whooping Cough