In this edition
Dear Families
Having the opportunity to meet with many of you over the past few weeks has been wonderful, and already, we are creating a beautiful sense of community within the ELC.
Our Welcome Morning Tea last week offered the informal opportunity to come together, with many families able to meet others in their child’s Learning Community. Our Information Evening provided a chance for the teachers to outline their teaching and learning strategies as well as share with you what a typical day in ELC might look like. This will help support your understanding of what your child might be experiencing at ELC. I would like to thank those families who were able to attend these events.
We continue to be amazed at the competencies of the young child. We promote children to take responsibility for their belongings by learning how to unpack their bag, find their locker tag and get themselves organised for the day. We invite you to support us in this process, allowing children the chance to walk into the Centre rather than be carried, to guide you to their room if you are doing a room drop-off and to show you how they begin their day. Obviously, this is a much more involved process for our younger children to learn, but it is important that we recognise just how capable our children are. Please engage us in conversation about what you are noticing as your child becomes more familiar with these transition processes.
We thank all of our families for supporting us at ELC to have the most wonderful start to the school year.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Important Dates
Monday 8 March: Public Holiday – ELC Closed
Friday 12 March: ELC Twilight Family Picnic, 5pm
Thursday 1 April: End of Term Morning Tea, 8.30am
April 2 – 5: Easter (ELC closed)
April 6 – 16: Vacation Care
Embracing Social Skills and Rituals at ELC
Positive social interaction from an early age is particularly beneficial for children’s development. At St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, we provide an environment where the children are supported and encouraged to develop strong social skills including patience, empathy, communication and confidence.
For many years, the ELC educators have worked alongside the children to develop various daily rituals. These have included our daily Ban-Ban-Balya (morning meeting), the way we enter the Centre and place our bags in the lockers, morning and afternoon tea time, and many more. We place great importance on slowing down our daily routines and making the present moment special, which turns a routine task into a special daily ritual.
Check out our video above to hear Learning Community 2 educators Laura and Nell delve deeper into the importance of building strong social skills and rituals within our ELC.
ELC Enrolment Requirements
Thank you to those families who have let us know your requirement for days of enrolment moving forward. We are currently preparing our 2021 mid-year intake offers and need to ensure our current families have their allocated days in place.
Please notify me via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require additional days moving forward in 2021.
Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer
Drop-off and Collection Procedures
Whilst we are enjoying having family members entering the Centre again, we must remind all adults to scan the QR code upon entry.
Please also be reminded that the 1.5 metre rule applies at all times, and we request that families be very aware of other adults already in the rooms they are about to enter.
Keeping Track of Belongings
We ask each family to ensure all items that come with their child into the ELC are clearly named. Already, we have many duplicate water bottles and lunch boxes.
We thank families in advance for supporting us to keep track of each child’s belongings.
ELC Twilight Family Picnic
We warmly invite you to attend our Twilight Family Picnic on Chiverton Lawns from 5pm on Friday 12 March, hosted by the Friends of the ELC.
Families are welcome to bring a picnic basket or purchase food at the event. A sausage sizzle and cupcakes will be sold on the night as well as beer, wine and bubbles.
Families will need to register their attendance and pre-order food and drinks via: www.trybooking.com/BOWQM
The Twilight Family Picnic is an ELC community event and a wonderful opportunity to meet new families and chat to the ELC educators.
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长朋友们，你们好：
爆竹声中一岁除，在开学之际我们迎来了农历牛年，我们十分高兴能在elc这个社区大家庭里和孩子们一起共渡新春佳节。
在ELC，老师们和孩子们沉浸在这节日的气氛中。我们一起制做美味的水饺、观看舞狮舞龙的表演和制作与春节有关的手工艺品。学校的中文老师给孩子们讲述关于春节的故事。让孩子们了解中国的文化和传统习俗。
通过这一系列的活动，给孩们提供了一同庆祝和探索文化节日的机会。同时，也创造了一个让孩子们在多文化环境里发展他们的创造力和社交能力以及如何理解和尊重他们自己的文化的机会。
最后，恭祝大家牛年大吉，万事如意。
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
Chinese New Year in the ELC
We are always looking for ways to share our families’ different cultures throughout the ELC. The educators have been enjoying sharing with the children many experiences to celebrate Chinese New Year, including wearing celebratory clothing, creating and handing out red packets, and making dumplings. The latter is quite a craft, and you can see from the photos how well we have perfected this with the help of Ms Huang and the other educators.
Community Spotlight
If you haven’t already, meet Nikki Geyer. Nikki has a pivotal role in leading the Friends of the ELC. This volunteer group of parents helps build the community within the ELC and beyond. With regular meetings, we discuss how we can best support the ELC teachers. Nikki has two daughters at our campus: Charlee in Year 1 and Riley in ELC Learning Community 2.
How long have you been involved at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?
I joined the Friends of the ELC at the beginning of 2019 when my eldest daughter Charlee started in the Hallett Room. She is now in Year 1, and my youngest daughter Riley is in the Hallett Room.
What do you love about St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?
The ELC is an amazing facility with wonderful educators. They are what makes the Centre so special; they are passionate, dedicated and caring. My girls love going to ELC and Charlee can’t wait to visit everyone when we go to pick Riley up.
As a parent, how can you make the most of the time your child has at the ELC?
I love going along when the educators take children into Ferguson Conservation Park. It is a wonderful experience watching my daughter in this environment and witnessing all the things she is learning. Volunteering in your child’s classroom is a very rewarding experience.
The ELC is a beautiful community and we hold many events throughout the year. Coming along to these events is a great way to meet other parents and your child’s friends. I have made so many friendships with parents at the ELC.
Dads Invited to Enjoy a Night Out
Our ELC fathers are warmly invited to St Peter’s Girls’ Dad’s Night on the Green. Bring a mate and meet the other fathers in the Saints Girls’ community.
Friday 26 February from 6.30pm
Tranmere Bowling Club, 1 Kings Grove, Tranmere
Tickets: $40 via Trybooking.com/BONMD (includes entry, bowling fees and a sausage sizzle)
Bookings close Wednesday 24 February
Drinks and raffle tickets can be purchased on the evening.
Proudly supported by the Saints Sport Support Group.
Melissa Westgate
Foundation Manager
Sustainability in the ELC
After months of waiting, the children in Learning Community 2 have discovered that the carrots they planted in early December are finally ready for harvest… and don’t they look funny!
“They look like a family hugging each other!” – Amelia
“They look SO funny.” – Amelie
It is important for children to understand the entire life of the food that they eat. From the very beginning when they planted the tiny seedlings in December, to watching, watering and waiting for them to grow, to experiencing the joys of harvesting, followed by washing and prepping them to eat. This garden-to-plate journey is one we highlight here at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC. Understanding where our food comes from is one of the ways we empower children to make sustainable and healthy eating choices.
We had so much fun pulling out the carrots and exploring their shapes and sizes. The children in Learning Community 2 are taking an active role in caring for their garden and contributing to the sharing of food within our community. Over the past two weeks, we have explored making carrot cake, carrot and zucchini slice, and honey roasted carrots.
One of the most important influences on children’s behaviours and attitudes towards sustainability is how the significant adults in their lives act.
We are wondering, how do you role model sustainable eating practices in your home?
Henrietta Balnaves
Staff Spotlight
Lily joined our team at the beginning of 2020, bringing with her a passion for early years learning and language, and a desire to grow within our special community. Lily has a Master of Teaching (Early Childhood), is fluent in Mandarin and Japanese, and has quickly become an integral part of Learning Community 2 with her flexibility to support any room when needed. The ELC staff and children absolutely love having Lily on board.
Why are you passionate about working with children?
Children are creative and have boundless imagination, which always inspires me to learn from them. Their curiosity for knowing more about their world also fuels my enthusiasm to learn along with them.
What makes the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC special?
In my view, the Learning Community model significantly enhances children’s social abilities. They develop a sense of belonging to the community and interact with everyone in the community.
What does a typical day look like in your Learning Community?
Children arrive at the ELC with joy to see the teachers and friends. Then, they enjoy a wide range of intentional and playful learning experience with others, in which they learn to respect each other and develop compassion.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
I have many hobbies such as drawing, painting, photography, calligraphy, hiking and swimming.
News from Learning Community 1
Relationships are pivotal to the development of children’s sense of belonging, their self-esteem, their social competence and engagement. For this reason, the development of relationships underpins our time in Learning Community 1.
As we settle into our new learning communities, the ELC educators have been reflecting on relationships – how do we build close, secure relationships with individual children and their families? How do we support children to form and maintain positive relationships with each other?
Our daily rituals provide a wonderful opportunity for children to engage with educators and each other, developing their sense of belonging and exploring fundamental social skills. With a focus on this term’s unit of inquiry, ‘Shared rituals can create a sense of belonging to groups and communities’, we have provided a range of opportunities for children to interact and engage with educators and each other. In our morning Ban-Ban-Balya (Kaurna word for ‘meetings’), we welcome each day and develop connections and familiarity, greeting each individual and engaging in rituals to symbolise us coming together as a Learning Community.
Our spaces are purposefully curated to provide children with opportunities to encounter each other and engage in small group play to develop social competence and fundamental social skills including turn-taking, entering and maintaining play, sharing resources, problem-solving and negotiation. We take time during the day to engage in small and large group interactions, actively supporting children to develop relationships with educators and each other.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
Our days are full of countless opportunities for connection, however these opportunities can become lost in the day-to-day rush of our lives. Every time we interact with a child, we as the adult have a decision to make: will this moment be one where I am present, listening and open, or am I too busy?
We know that always being fully available and present for each other is not always possible; however, at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, the educators have made a conscious effort to provide opportunities within our days to shift gear, to slow down and give value to building and enriching our relationships.
The way we are enacting this is through our daily rituals. A ritual can emerge from the simplest of tasks, and we have been able to discover and develop many rituals throughout our days together at ELC. A ritual is considered to be a sacred act, a special time where all participants are present, welcomed and valued. Some of these rituals include the way we are welcomed into a space or how we begin each morning undertaking in our Ban-Ban-Balya together. Some of our rituals have been gifted to us through the guidance of Tamraru, our Kaurna elder and friend.
Our attitude towards the task at hand also allows this shift to occur from routine to ritual. Something as simple applying sunscreen can move from ticking a box and getting the job done to a time of conversation and connection. It is up to us to give that moment the energy and respect, and therefore shift it to a ritual. It has taken many years, as well as active ongoing research, to create and foster an environment that supports and nurtures rituals over routine. Every day, we continue to build an environment that respects all those in it and places trust in each other’s capabilities.
We believe that our rituals are supporting the children and educators to slow down, and appreciate each other and the time we have together. Many rituals have also been created to foster and improve social skills. For example, when we greet the children around the Palti Circle, they need to develop their ability to be patient by waiting for their turn. And when we are participating in meal times, we need to share the food we have been given as well as the use of the tongs.
In Learning Community 2, we are constantly evolving and growing our daily practice. We are developing new rituals, some which have included exploring the language of light and digital technology, and with some of our existing rituals, we are enjoying sharing them with newer members of our Learning Community.
Nell Tierney, Laura Reiters and Kathy McCabe
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.
Health Notification – Norovirus
The School has been notified of some suspected cases of Norovirus, a type of viral gastroenteritis.
SA Health says there have been increased reports of gastroenteritis in South Australia. Symptoms include:
Nausea
Vomiting
Diarrhoea
Abdominal cramps
Headache
Low grade fever
Noroviruses are very infectious and can spread easily from person-to-person via faeces and vomit. Symptoms usually begin 24 to 48 hours after ingestion of the virus, but can appear as early as 12 hours after exposure.
People should be excluded from childcare, pre-school, school and work until there has been no vomiting or diarrhoea for at least 48 hours.
Please keep unwell children home, particularly if they complain of stomach pains in the morning.
For further information on symptoms, treatment and prevention, click here. Please note the recommendations regarding hand washing in particular. The School applies strict hygiene standards for the safety of our community, and we ask families for their cooperation and vigilance.
Kind regards
Lara Waltham and Sarah Wilkinson
Registered Nurses, Health Centre
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