In this edition
Dear Families
We have experienced such joy over the past two weeks as we have had the opportunity to intentionally engage in conversations with you about your child’s learning journey. Thank you to all of you who have made appointments to meet with us.
The purpose is, of course, to strengthen our partnerships with families and ensure we are working together to support your child. We recognise the significance of giving focus in the early years on holistic child development, and not singling out one developmental area at risk of isolating another. We also recognise that no ones knows their child as well as you, the family, and that your invaluable contributions strengthen our capacity to support your child.
Our ELC mission highlights openness and optimism alongside mutually respectful relationships. These essential values guide the way in which we view each child’s journey and orientate our pathway forwards. The depth of knowledge each teacher has about your child can be shared, demonstrating where your child is currently at and what the next steps of learning may look like. Often strategies are suggested that can be applied both at home and at ELC, and these assist in bringing consistency to the child’s day-to-day life.
Your presence within our ELC conveys to our children a great deal of trust. This trust assists the children’s sense of belonging in the Centre, as they learn that you value and respect their place of learning and their educators. We know that a strong sense of belonging enhances children’s learning opportunities, so this is something we place a lot of emphasis on.
We hope that you left the Parent-Teacher Conversation knowing you have a collaborative voice on the shared goals for your child that, together with the teachers, you are positively working towards as a team. We will be sending home each child’s portfolio at the end of the term, and these will be wonderful examples of learning that you can again share and discuss with your child.
The strength of our community stems from each and every one of you. Thank you so much for your part in this wonderful place of learning.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Important Dates
Monday 10 – Wednesday 26 May: Back to School Appeal
Monday 31 May: Mid-Year Reception Transition Visits commence
Tuesday 1 June: ELC Reconciliation Week Celebration
Monday 7 June: New Families Welcome Evening, 6.30pm
Tuesday 8 – Thursday 10 June: ELC Photos
Watch Our Sustainability Journey Evolve
Our sustainability journey at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is ongoing and constantly evolving. As part of our Centre’s Strategic Direction, we pledged to help educate our ELC community through sustainable engagement with food and waste. A key focus is given to the concept of responsibility. We believe in modelling our behaviour so the children will develop a deep understanding of what it means to be sustainable.
We recently had the pleasure of welcoming back a special guest and friend to the ELC, Charlie Aykroyd (Kennion 2010). Charlie is a St Peter’s Girls’ Old Scholar and the General Manager at Australian Green Clean, a waste management service that supports events and businesses, and she will continue to work with us throughout the year.
Take a look at our video above to see our ever-evolving sustainability journey!
Henrietta Balnaves
Joyful Morning at Special Friends’ Breakfast
Thank you to our wonderful community, including mothers, grandmothers, aunties and treasured friends, for sharing a breakfast with us on Friday. Everyone enjoyed the delicious croissants on offer, and it’s always a delight to see the children’s faces light up as they share their ELC with their loved ones.
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
Service Learning in Action in the ELC
As a key part of the ELC – Year 12 Strategic Plan, the ELC is commencing our Service Learning activity by supporting The Smith Family’s Back to School Appeal. Continuing our relationship with The Smith Family enables us to better understand the organisation we are supporting, and to find new and authentic ways our youngest students can be involved in service learning through actions. We believe this is such an important foundation to build upon as the students move through their life journey, starting at school.
To be able to serve others, to contribute through actions for the benefit of another, is such an important life skill. We have introduced the Back to School Appeal to our ELC students and will be building on this in the coming weeks. We ask families to support us through intentional conversations with your children at home, helping to build on the learning we are already undertaking in the ELC.
In support of The Smith Family’s Back to School Appeal, we are asking families to contribute to the baskets in the foyer, donating new and unused items that can be used to fill a disadvantaged child’s school backpack. Please use the flyer that has been sent home to assist you in understanding which supplies to purchase. The backpacks will then be collated by the children to further enhance their understanding of the appeal, and will then be distributed by The Smith Family to disadvantaged students.
The essential component for family participation is to:
- Involve your child in the discussion about the backpacks, giving a deeper understanding of why it is important to help those less fortunate than us.
- Go shopping with your child to select the item(s) to contribute to the backpack (please select unbranded, gender-neutral items).
- Support your child by having them place the item(s) in the appropriate container(s) in the ELC foyer.
At ELC, we will be role-playing this activity regularly and involving the children in the packing of the backpacks once we have all of the items. In three weeks, Rhianna from The Smith Family will return to the ELC to collect the collated backpacks.
Thank you for your kind support.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长朋友们，
在过去的两周里，我们很高兴有机会能和您诚挚交流您孩子的学习历程。在这里，感谢家长朋友们参与“一对一家长会谈”。
当然，这一次会谈的目的是为了加强我们与家庭的伙伴关系，来确保我们共同努力来支持您孩子的学习。我们意识到，在早期阶段将重点放在儿童全面发展上极其重要，而不是把一个发展领域单独的挑出来，后者有可能会影响其他领域的发展。我们也认识到，没有人比您和您的家庭更了解自己的孩子，你们为孩子做出的宝贵贡献同样是对我们教育工作的极大支持。
我们ELC的目标是强调发展开放乐观的学习态度以及相互尊重的关系。这些基本价值观促使我们去优先考虑，如何看待每个孩子的学习旅程和定位孩子们向前发展的方向。与您分享每个老师对于您孩子的深度了解，展示了你的孩子目前学到哪里，如何下一步学习。通常老师建议的策略，可以同时在家里和ELC展开，这样能更好地帮助孩子们的学习达到一致性。
您的到来，让孩子看到您对我们的极大信任。这种信任有助于孩子们形成“中心归属感”。他们知道你们重视和尊重他们学习的地方以及他们的老师。这种强烈的归属感可以增加孩子们的学习机会，这是我们非常重视的。
我们希望您在这次同老师面谈中了解到，您和老师们密切合作，并作为一个团队积极地朝着共同的目标努力。我们会在学期末把每个孩子的学习文档让你们带回家，你可以再次与你的孩子分享和讨论这些美好的“学习瞬间”。
我们社区的力量源自于你们每一个人，非常感谢你们为这个美好的学习环境所做出的贡献。
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
Staff Spotlight
Most of our families already know Sarah Elliott, our ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer, but we thought this would be a great opportunity to get to know more about her. Sarah has strong ties to St Peter’s Girls’ School as she is an Old Scholar herself, and her daughter Brooke graduated from Saints Girls in 2019.
What is your professional background?
I have a Certificate III in Business Management and have worked at St Peters’ Girls’ School for 12 years, with the past six years in ELC Enrolments.
What is your favourite part of working in St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?
I love how strong and encompassing the ELC community is. There is a feeling in the ELC of wonder, investigation, connection, fun and tranquillity. And it is wonderful to see the Kaurna culture embedded in the ELC – to see the children singing in Kaurna language and exploring their environment with wonder and respect.
What makes St Peter’s Girls’ ELC special?
The amazing and passionate staff – their care of the whole child – including their education and development. It’s such an inspiring thing to witness on a daily basis.
What is your favourite memory at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?
When Old Scholar and former Foreign Affairs Minister Julie Bishop opened the new development of the ELC – the additional learning space which is now Learning Community 1, the Piazza and the surrounding gardens. It was a very exciting time as we expanded the ELC to include 2 year olds.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Family Yum Cha Lunch – Bookings Open!
You are invited to a family yum cha lunch hosted by the Friends of the ELC on Sunday 6 June from 10am – 12pm at Chef Dong, 3/103 Payneham Road, St Peters. Bookings are essential via www.trybooking.com/BQOXX as spots are limited.
We look forward to seeing you at this fantastic community event.
The Friends of the ELC
Sustainability in the ELC
Last week, we welcomed our Tuesday Morning playgroup families and children into the ELC Community Garden, where they had the opportunity to explore what we’re growing along with finding caterpillars that have been eating our broccoli plants. Families also had a go at planting some snow pea seeds, which have sprouted already in this wonderful rain!
It was fantastic to be able to extend the use and collaboration of our garden to our wider community, especially to those who are part of our Playgroup.
There are many benefits to getting young children out into the garden and involving them in these hands-on learning experiences. Not only are we supporting children’s fine and gross motor skill development, but we are enriching children’s sensory explorations too. Through engaging all five senses such as feeling the soil, seeing the colours of the garden, hearing the rustling, smelling the herbs and tasting the produce, children are experiencing a wider understanding of gardening and strengthening their relationship with food.
Modelling the language and actions of care, empathy, responsibility and respect for our environment is also crucial in ensuring the children will value these concepts later on in life!
Henrietta Balnaves
News from Learning Community 1
Developing our sense of belonging and community in the ELC is one of our key focuses this term. Each individual is valued as a citizen of our Learning Community. In a functioning community, citizens have rights, and with these rights come responsibilities.
Through this term’s unit of inquiry, ‘Shared responsibilities can promote citizenship’, we are providing opportunities for children to explore the responsibilities that come with being part of a community. To launch our inquiry, we have focused on our Acknowledgment of Country that we share together each day in our Ban Ban Balya’s. We have been unpacking what it means when we say, ‘We will look after everything on the land, the people and the animals.’
We have asked questions of the children and provided provocations, allowing their interests and ideas to emerge and drive our inquiry. Through this, a strong focus on care has emerged; care for our environment, care for each other and care for the animals in our world.
As we investigate care for the world, we have been exploring sustainability and waste management in our classrooms and community. This has led to rich discussions around the impact of plastic on our world; in particular, the impact it has on the ocean and sea life. Some of our lines of inquiry are: What happens when plastic is not disposed of properly? Where does it end up? What impact does this have? How can we help? Children have been provided with opportunities to explore these concepts and share their understandings through different languages including clay, drawing, loose parts, storytelling and watercolours.
Another emerging theme has been children expressing the human figure in their drawing, predominantly representing themselves. As we explore belonging, responsibility and care, we have been inviting children to represent not only themselves in their drawings, but others. Children have been inspired to represent their families, peers and educators, focusing on features and details, similarities and differences, and further developing their sense of belonging and connection.
We value family engagement in our inquiries and learning. Each week, we provide an insight into what is happening in our Learning Community through our online portal. We share photos and dialogue of our group learning and explorations, allowing opportunities for families to be connected to their child’s learning and continue discussions at home.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
We would like to thank families for their involvement in Parent-Teacher Conversations over the past two weeks. Meeting with you gives us the opportunity to further strengthen our partnership to support your child’s development during their time in Learning Community 2.
We appreciated the time to communicate freely and respectfully with you, and value the contributions and the roles we both play in your child’s life. We feel a huge sense of responsibility every day, and as we shared insights and perspectives about your child, it was powerful to hear what your goals and wishes are for them moving forward. As many of you may have noticed, we were carefully taking notes when you shared important points as this is a vital way for us to seek information or strategies from families to enhance our pedagogy and teaching experiences.
The Learning Community 2 teachers have engaged in many cluster meetings, discussions and planning meetings discussing the main themes that emerged through our conversations with families. The main areas that were raised from families who they felt their child required additional support fell under the following headings:
- Fine and gross motor development
- Social and emotional wellbeing
- Language development
- Group function skills
As educators, we reflected on how we are currently supporting the children’s development in these areas and how we could enrich these teaching opportunities. Our collaborative discussions between the LC2 teachers is extremely valuable as it gives multiple voices and perspectives which are all valued and included. An immediate action has been to develop more intentional groups which target the above areas.
We have carefully grouped the children with consideration of the perspectives from the family, educators and the children themselves. This more intentional approach to grouping children will allow us to target specific areas where the children require more support. We also aim to work alongside our team to build upon current group times by expanding the breadth of the experience and having a differentiated approach.
As we know, collaborative partnerships with families contribute to positive learning outcomes for children, so this process has been highly valuable for us.
Nell Tierney, Laura Reiters and Kirsty Porplycia
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