In this edition
Dear Families
We are looking forward to seeing you all in the next two weeks for Parent-Teacher Conversations. The teachers are busy preparing some rich learning to share with you. It will be extremely special to welcome you into the ELC for these meetings.
We ask that families please support us by following these procedures:
- Arrive at least 5 minutes ahead of time to allow for our COVID-Safe protocols
- Take a seat in the foyer and wait to be escorted into your meeting
- Be aware that your meeting time is 15 minutes
We thank you so much for your cooperation. If you are unable to make your scheduled time, please email or phone your teacher well in advance.
Last week, we enjoyed a coffee van and pastries at the entrance of the ELC to celebrate Fathers and Special Friends’ Day. It is always so lovely to find time for a chat, and the teachers and I relished this chance to see so many of our families. With a delicious coffee and pastry, family members headed off for their day with smiles on their faces.
In last week’s School eNews, I wrote an article celebrating our wonderful Mid-Year Reception group. They have transitioned so smoothly into the School, and the ELC staff are so proud to see the way in which the girls have confidently taken on their new status as Reception students. We are including this article below so that you can read the perspectives of the teachers for this success.
Looking forward to sharing our learning with you over the coming weeks.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Important Dates
Monday 14, Tuesday 15, Monday 21 September: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Monday 28 September – Friday 9 October: Vacation Care
Monday 5 October: Public Holiday
Monday 12 October: First day of Term 4
Have You Booked Your Parent-Teacher Conversation?
ELC Parent-Teacher Conversations for Term 3 will take place next 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.
Vacation Care
Vacation Care booking forms have been sent home this week. You can also download the form here. Vacation Care bookings are required if you wish for your child to attend ELC outside of normal term bookings. Please see ELC staff if you have any questions regarding this.
Completed forms can be returned via the box in the foyer of the ELC.
Please note, Vacation Care commences on Monday 28 September, with Monday 5 October being a Public Holiday, and Term 4 beginning on Monday 12 October.
Sun Safety in the ELC
Please ensure your child brings a broad-brimmed hat to ELC each day they attend. If you do not have an ELC uniform hat, we ask that you pack another broad-brimmed hat for your child to wear. As we move into the warmer months, it is extremely important that we adhere to our policies and procedures. If your child does not have a hat, they will be asked to play under the shaded areas or indoors.
Please note that sunscreen application also occurs regularly at the ELC. If your child requires an alternative sunscreen, please provide this to your child’s teacher. We ask that your child wears their correct ELC uniform and avoids wearing dresses or singlets where the shoulders are exposed. Appropriate footwear is also required, such as sneakers or sandals that have a backing.
Children’s Lunch Boxes
With the weather warming up, it is important that your child’s lunches are prepared and stored safely to avoid the risk of food poisoning. Keep pre-made lunch boxes in the fridge until they are ready to be packed into your child’s bag. We ask that you pack a frozen ice block/ice pack in your child’s lunch box to keep food cold. Please consider healthy, safe lunch box alternatives such as fruits and vegetables, and please ensure your child has a drink bottle filled with water each day they attend ELC. The staff can refill the bottles as required throughout the day.
What’s Happening Around the ELC
The ELC is buzzing with life as we near the end of Term 3. We are enjoying the spring sunshine and opportunities to come together as a community. The children are engaged in group storytelling experiences, reconnecting with Ferguson Conversation Park, caring for living creatures, and it is wonderful to see our families connecting with our inquiry investigations.
We have had a wonderful term so far and look forward to a refreshing break before launching into our final term for the year.
Our ELC to Reception Transition Process
Over the past seven weeks, there has been a continual conversation starter from many of the School staff: “The Mid-Years are a great group”, or, “The Mid-Years have settled in quickly”. I reflected on this and decided to ask my ELC colleague Kirsty Porplycia and Mid-Year Reception teacher Zoe West their perspectives. What are those key ingredients that have created such a smooth transition and how has this enabled the girls to merge straight into their Term 3 learning in Reception, following their ELC experience?
Zoe believes the Transition Visits are pivotal. She says her three mornings with the girls, plus the outstanding handover with the ELC teachers, has enabled her to build a strong connection and understanding about the group and their learning. The firm friendships that were established amongst these girls gave them confidence as a group to make this transition together.
Kirsty supports this by stating that the partnership with the ELC and Reception teachers is fundamental, not only for the handover process, but as an ongoing relationship between the girls and the ELC. Kirsty and Zoe have reimagined their buddy class, connecting the students in areas of their inquiry, as well as adding value to other areas of the existing curriculum.
Emphasis in the ELC this year has been placed on Mathematics and how we can build connections of understanding through utilising Lisa-Jane O’Connor, Mathematics Consultant in the ELC and Junior School. We were curious to see if Zoe noticed any of these skills in the classroom setting. She has been very impressed with the girls’ ability to use the mathematical language and reasoning to build that solid foundation at Reception level. This is an area that will continue to grow as our work in Mathematics deepens. This strong connection of learning has also occurred with the delivery of basic THRASS (Teaching Handwriting, Reading And Spelling Skills), and as the girls have entered school, they have already become familiar with the THRASS Chart.
As teachers, we become strong advocates for the child and feel a sense of responsibility to ensure that we work in partnership with the School, where information is provided to support a seamless transition. Kirsty points out that this is not only important for the child, but also for the family.
We continue to be proud of our process of transition, especially when we hear such amazing feedback about the next phase, and this process will continue to grow as we critically reflect on each layer to ensure our practice is forever evolving. Our Mid-Year group of students are wearing their biggest smiles as they are so proud to be Saints Girls together.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长朋友们：
我们很期待在接下来两周的“家长老师面对面一对一交谈会”见到大家。
我们的老师们也忙碌着准备中，来和你们分享孩子们丰富的学习内容。也正是这次的家长会，让我们有这样特别的机会来欢迎大家走进ELC来。
我们也请家长朋友们支持我们，遵循以下会议的流程：
1. 请提早五分钟来到ELC，以便遵循我们的疫情期间安全入园流程。
2. 请在大厅里坐下并等待我们的教师们带你们进入会议区域。
3. 请记得您和老师的会议时间是15分钟。
我们十分感谢您的协作。如果您无法按照约定时间参与会议，请提前给我们的老师们发邮件或者打电话告知。
在上一周，我们很高兴通过一杯咖啡和一份点心来给我们“特别的朋友们”庆祝父亲节。我们园长和老师们尽享在这样的机会下和大家聊天交流。带着这一份美味的糕点和咖啡，家长朋友们微笑着开始了他们的一天。
也是在上一周，我们园长在学校的简讯里写了一篇关于庆祝我们年中小学班的小朋友出色地过渡并进入学校的文章。我们把这篇文章也放在这次的简讯下面，家长们可以看到老师们关于这次孩子们成功入校的一些观点分享。
我们期待在接下来的几周里和您分享我们的学习之旅。
Emma works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
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
Sustainability in the ELC
In Learning Community 2, we have been experimenting with different recipes using produce from our ELC Community Garden. Together, we have cooked pumpkin scones, broccoli slice, broccoli pizza, beetroot dip and beetroot pizza. Families have shared with us that the children are eating foods they never imagined they would eat at home and are wanting these items in their lunch boxes.
This week, we are closely watching our cabbage, cauliflower and broad beans which are nearly ready to harvest.
We strongly encourage parent and grandparent participation as we search for delicious recipes to cook to deepen our ‘garden to plate’ inquiry.
If you have a recipe idea, please share with Nell Tierney via: ntierney@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Green and Clean Question of the Day: What can we use beetroot to make?
Staff Spotlight
Caterina is an Art Educator who graduated in Contemporary Art at the University of Bologna, Italy. She works closely with the children in both Learning Communities and formulates Art experiences that stimulate all senses, giving voice to the children through creative freedom. Her eye for detail and beauty is demonstrated throughout the Centre, especially in our Atelier spaces. We are so lucky to have Caterina as part of our team.
What is your teaching background?
I graduated in Contemporary Art (University of Bologna, Italy) and have a Master in Art Education and Pedagogy (University of Rome). I completed my postgraduate training in Reggio Emilia, where I presented the art workshop for children ‘Photographing the time’ (project and training by Reggio Children).
I was an art educator at the Art Gallery of South Australia for three years, creating workshops for students and supporting the public program in creating learning opportunities for children aged 2 to 5 years. I have also worked as an Art and Pedagogical Consultant for schools, kindergartens and organisations in South Australia, sharing my vision about the Reggio Emilia educational approach.
In 2013, I became an Artist in Residence at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC. The ELC valued my expertise, so the Centre became not only my workplace but a place of ongoing research where I could learn and grow together with children, families and other educators.
What is your favourite part of working in the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?
Working with the children in the Atelier. The Atelier is a laboratory where the children can explore artistic techniques and give voice to their theories. They can express their creativity in multiple ways, as well as their hundred languages. It is a real privilege to be part of their life journey.
What makes the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC special?
The ELC is not only a place where we care, it is a place where we empower the children and their potential. We respect their perspectives, their rights, and there is no doubt about their capabilities. Their hundred languages are welcomed and supported. The children’s voices are our guide, they are our compass in every aspect of our everyday practice.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
In my spare time, I enjoy my time with my family. I love to go to the city to visit the SA Museum and the Art Gallery of South Australia with my 4 year old son, Alessandro. I also enjoy the beautiful beaches and landscapes that Adelaide offers.
News from Learning Community 1
Early this term, Ms Angel and Miss Redmond introduced the story of Peter and the Wolf to the children in Learning Community 1. We had just begun exploring our central idea, ‘Symbols can convey meaning’, and saw an opportunity to investigate this concept deeper through storytelling and drama. In Peter and the Wolf, each character is represented by a colour and a musical instrument.
We began by listening to Peter and the Wolf every day to build familiarity with the characters, the instruments they are represented by, and the plot. Within weeks, this had developed into allocating characters with costumes, and a full acting out of each scene of the story. Eventually, the children required very little assistance from the educators; their investment was so deep in the story that they were able to perform the plot on their own.
As the weeks progressed with Peter and the Wolf, the educators began to notice the children listening and responding to the narration and the music with their bodies. Soon, the character of the bird was represented by the flute, the colour red and quick, light movements that matched the tune of the flute. The music of the wolf was responded to with sly, low and creeping movements. Grandfather, who the children understand as ‘angry’ in the story, was represented by a hobble and a cross face. In the children’s spontaneous play throughout the day, educators began to notice that different parts of the room transformed to represent different scenes of the story. Children who did not usually play together were collaborating and taking turns to act each character of the story.
Our engagement with Peter and the Wolf has made evident the benefits of drama-based learning in early childhood. The story has encouraged participation and expression of feelings. It has stimulated imagination and creativity as we’ve brainstormed together appropriate costumes, how to share a limited amount of characters and how to create different scenes with our bodies rather than furniture. The drama opportunities have developed social awareness, with the children quickly learning they must wait their turn to speak or perform. They have begun to understand that they will not always have the opportunity to be a character.
Ms Qian has shared the valuable learning opportunities she has observed for children who have English as an additional language. She has observed these children to ‘worry less about the language barrier and to use their imagination to understand the story through the music and body movement’. They do not need words to represent a character; they can use their body and their facial expressions. The children are connecting with one another over a love of the story and performing together.
Mel Angel and Annabelle Redmond
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
Symbols take the form of words, sounds, gestures, ideas or visual images and are used to convey ideas and beliefs.
In Learning Community 2, we have embraced the different ways we can convey meaning through the use of symbols. Our ELC Lizard is beginning to take shape as the children have democratically chosen images that can be displayed inside the lizard to help tell the story of ELC.
We have had some wonderful group experiences where we have told the story of ELC using the images we have created, and many children have commented that we haven’t included all the elements that make ELC special. The ELC teachers were becoming concerned that the children had chosen to omit us from the ELC. No one had thought to add the teachers to the ELC as an important element of daily life, until last week during a storytelling session when a friend announced, “We need the teachers. It wouldn’t be ELC without the teachers.”
It has been extremely important for us as the adults to give the children time and opportunities to discover what is missing for themselves. This is an important learning process and one that they have undertaken collaboratively. The SOL team with Miss Caterina and Miss Simistis have been exploring gestures and how they can communicate to others. The children are composing a dance with Miss Simistis to a favourite ELC song which we look forward to sharing with you. The essence of the dance is how their gestures reflect the language of welcome.
We thank families for participating in our inquiry by returning their drawings, words or symbols to be considered for our ELC Lizard. The children have been thrilled sharing the responses from their families. Our Learning Community is a hive of activity as we begin to choose the different images to add to our lizard. We are in the process of thinking of ways we can share this project with you as it has been one of our best.
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