In this edition
Dear Families
It is with honour that I share with you our work on reconciliation. Our ELC has been leading the way in practice through the journey of our staff – both past and present – from 2017 until now, in partnership with Kaurna elder Tamaru. I do hope you enjoy the article and the videos we have created and that, together, we can all work proactively to understand the significance of ensuring our youngest citizens are educated in this area.
The events of the past weeks have kept us busy. Our ELC photos are always a joy and we do hope you have placed your order so you can receive a copy of your child’s special moment once they are printed. We have class photos as well and these are a lovely memory of your child’s special group of friends and educators at ELC.
On Monday, we hosted a Welcome Evening for new families entering Learning Community 1 in Term 3. It is always a time to reflect, as we know one group moving in means another group is moving on. Our Mid-Year Reception girls are busy with their School Transition Visits, preparing for the next step in their educational journey, and a few other members of our ELC are leaving to continue their journey at other schools. As a Centre, we pause and reflect on these amazing students who have been with us for some years and the depth of relationships formed with each of them.
Our ongoing thanks goes to each of you for your support of our ELC community in so many ways.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Important Dates
Tuesday 8 – Thursday 10 June: ELC Student Photos
Monday 14 June: Public Holiday (ELC closed)
Monday 21 June: ELC Hat Ceremony, 12.15pm
Friday 25 June: Last day of Term 2
Monday 28 June – Monday 19 July: Vacation Care
Tuesday 20 July: Term 3 commences
Big Efforts from our Littlest Citizens for The Smith Family Backpack Appeal
We are so proud of our community for supporting The Smith Family Backpack Appeal. This level of service learning is so important for our littlest citizens, helping them to build an understanding of their role in supporting others in our community.
The ELC children participated in the packing of the backpacks and you will see in the video just how many we managed to fill.
Thank you so much for getting behind this great initiative!
More Than a Word: Reconciliation Takes Action in the ELC
This year’s theme for Reconciliation Week rings true to our ears in the ELC. We have been so empowered by our own journey and having many opportunities to share this important message beyond our own front door. Since we delivered our first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP), we have taken stronger steps on our journey of reconciliation, using the vision of the RAP and the three essential pillars of Relationships, Respect and Opportunities to guide our work.
Having an important relationship with the Kaurna community allows us to hear first-hand their narratives, to learn and embrace their culture, and have an authentic history lesson. Kaurna elder Tamaru has assisted us to build our daily rituals, to connect to Mother Earth and to acknowledge on a daily basis the reason why we must enact our pledge to look after our land.
It is indeed the action that matters, and our work is pivotal as it is embedded in daily practice. At the ELC, we advocate for honesty and change in the area of reconciliation and, over the past four years, have made a significant impact on our ELC and School community, not to mention the wider community.
Our work is so significant in the wider community that I was recently asked to be on the panel at the SA Reconciliation Breakfast representing the ELC to Year 12 education sector at a State level. Speaking and advocating for our work in front of 1700 people was both slightly overwhelming and invigorating as I know our work matters. It comes back to viewing children as citizens and seeing their role in forming their own decisions and understandings from these important early childhood years. We hope that our community can continue this work, listening to children’s questions and answering them honestly, as they continue through their years of education.
We marked our journey in the ELC with Tamaru holding a traditional smoking ceremony and a Welcome to Country. Many of our community members attended and, together, we stood side-by-side on this journey of reconciliation, which was a true act of respect. We look forward to sharing more of this work with you through our videos that document our actions.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Symphony of Languages Draws Inspiration from Reconciliation
Reconciliation Week inspired a Symphony of Languages’ experience involving the children across the ELC. We revisited the the 2021 National Reconciliation Week theme graphics drawn from the artwork ‘Action’ by Jessica Johnson. The artwork reflects our connection and mutual obligation to one another, community and country.
We analysed the Aboriginal symbols and colours, we discovered new meanings and created our interpretations. The children painted in collaboration, respecting each other’s space. The result has been a beautiful painting that is representing the joy, the everyday commitment and action of our ELC children to learn and honour the Aboriginal culture.
Caterina Pennestri
Atelierista/Symphony of Languages
Community Joy at Family Yum Cha Lunch
Our Yum Cha event last Sunday was another wonderful example of community. With nearly 100 people attending, there was laughter, cheer and pure joy as the children realised they were dining out with their friends and families.
An additional surprise was to see some of our lovely educators there as well. We filled the restaurant at Chef Dong and enjoyed delicious cuisine. Thank you to the Friends of the ELC for organising such a fantastic event and to all the families and staff who supported this special gathering.
ELC早茶时分！
感谢ELC之友的家长们，在六月六日早上，在位于圣彼得区的董家园餐厅，精心组织了早茶活动， 让家长们能够在一个轻松自在的环境里，享用源源不断上来的美食，跟老师，跟朋友们，随意聊天。 将近百名家长，老师，孩子参加这次活动，没有了早晚接送的匆忙，没有了工作的压力，一切轻松随意。ELC这个社区大家庭紧密团结，大家彼此自我介绍，孩子们充当小使者，給爸爸妈妈仔细介绍。周末早茶是中国广东习俗，很多当地老师和家长，乃至中国文化背景的一些家庭，都是第一次享用，大家直呼“美味”， 纷纷要求再次举行类似活动。
Ann Li
ELC parent and St Peter’s Girls’ School staff member
Vacation Care Bookings Open
In order to streamline bookings and make the process easier for our families, the ELC Vacation Care booking system is now online through TryBooking. Bookings will close on Tuesday 15 June, and can be accessed via www.trybooking.com/BRPZB
A booking instruction sheet has gone home with families. If you haven’t received it, you can download a copy here.
Henrietta Balnaves and Danniella Capaldo
Extended Hours Care Team
FUNdamental Skills Development in the ELC
Developing core motor skills in the early years has always been a passion of mine and in previous roles, both in America and Queensland, I was tasked with creating a soccer based fundamental skills program for those aged between three to five, which I am currently running with our ELC friends on Wednesdays.
The basis of this program is in the word itself: FUNdamentals. When working with children of this age in sport, I’ve found that high-energy, high-movement and imagination are key in delivering an enjoyable program. But first and foremost, it must be fun! Each week we use a different theme to encourage creativity and imagination. These themes include topics such as pirates, safari, dinosaurs, under-water, and race cars.
At the start of each session, players are given a ball each. This is their ‘vehicle’ for movement and must stay at their feet for the entirety of the session. With the ball as their race car, rocket ship or boat, students move around the area to discover theme related objects/beings and then complete set tasks.
These tasks ensure that players develop confidence and take on challenges. For example, when faced with an angry pirate, players must fire their cannon (kick their soccer ball) and sink the pirate’s ship or when an alien comes close, they should escape by dribbling their ball quickly to a different coloured planet. By coaching the Football Federation Australia’s four core skills of striking the ball, first touch, 1 v 1’s and running with the ball through hidden learning – and at such a young age – we are putting the building blocks in place for quality skill development and long-term participation.
I look forward to working more with our ELC friends and seeing how the skills and confidence of our youngest Saints students develop.
Tommy Peak
Director of Sport
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长朋友们，
很荣幸通过在学校的新闻简报中所写的这篇文章与你们分享我们在关于“和解”这一方面的教育工作。从2017年到现在，我们在ELC的工作引导我们教师团队的实践以及学习旅程(感谢那些在它的实施和进步中发挥重要作用的教师们，包括那些已经离开ELC的成员)，并与土著（Kaurna）长老 Tamaru一同合作。我们希望你喜欢我们的文章和视频，让我们预见到确保我们的“小公民”在原住民文化方面的教育成长的重要性。
在过去几周举办的活动让我们变得十分忙碌。我们每一年的“ELC学生照”总是值得期待和令人高兴。我们希望您已经填写好表格，这样届时您就可以收到一份您的孩子的特殊纪录。照片里也有班级照片，这些都是您孩子在ELC特别的朋友和他们老师们的美好回忆。
此外，在周一我们还为新家庭举办了一个“欢迎晚会”。这些家庭将在7月第三学期开始时进入学习社区1。这正反映了，新的学生的进入就意味着另一群学生的离开。我们的女学生正忙于他们“入学的过渡期“，为他们的下一步入学做准备。而我们ELC的其他一些孩子们正离开去其他学校开始他们的新的学习之旅。作为一个幼儿中心，我们停下来并反思这些与我们共事多年的优秀学生，以及与他们之间形成的深厚关系。
我们要继续感谢你们每一位大力支持我们的ELC社区的朋友们。预祝你有一个美好的一周。
园长
Kate Mount
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
Staff Spotlight
Bright and bubbly Olivia, or Liv, joined our ELC community in 2021 after returning from London. She works in Learning Community 1 and is incredibly passionate about early childhood education.
What is your teaching background?
I completed a Certificate 3 in Early Childhood Education and Care in 2018 and began working at the World of Learning Childcare Centre. After 18 months, I embarked on an adventure to London, where I worked as a Nanny for a family with two young children for nine months. Although I had a two-year visa, my time in London was sadly cut short due to COVID-19 and I returned home early. Shortly after, I was lucky enough to be employed at St Peter’s Girls in the ELC at the same time as starting my teaching degree at the University of South Australia.
Why are you passionate about working with children?
Children have always brought me so much joy. After work each day, I often think to myself that I’m so lucky to be a part of their development and education in this early stage of their lives. I love that I get the opportunity to help them achieve their full potential, watching them learn and having lots of fun in the process.
What makes the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC special?
The St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is special in the way that we are such a close-knit community. The relationships we have with families and people within the School and wider community are so beautiful; it’s like nothing I’ve ever been a part of.
What does a typical day look like in your Learning Community?
A typical day in our Learning Community starts by having our morning Ban Ban Balya (‘meeting’ in Kaurna) which is followed by morning tea. In our morning meeting, we welcome the children and educators and start the day by acknowledging that we live and work on Kaurna land. Throughout the day, children partake in intentional learning experiences in both Bell Yett and Stonyfell rooms. They have the opportunity to explore the physical environment outside and play amongst each other and the educators. A typical day involves laughter, learning and joy.
Sustainability in the ELC
Over the week, the children in Learning Community 1 have enjoyed exploring our native Kaurna plants growing in the ELC outdoor environment. We have been incredibly lucky to learn about these from our friend and Kaurna elder, Tamaru, along with their different uses for our cooking experiences.
The children have had a keen focus on our lemon myrtle trees with Mrs Fernandes, discovering the scent and texture and their different uses within the kitchen.
The children had a wonderful time as they held beautiful tea ceremonies with soaked lemon myrtle leaves and created lemon myrtle and coconut cakes!
Henrietta Balnaves
News from Learning Community 1
As Learning Community 1 reflected on this year’s National Reconciliation Week theme, ‘More than a word. Reconciliation takes action’, we considered how we can share this journey with our youngest citizens and empower them to take action. At the ELC, we don’t focus on reconciliation for one week a year. Our journey has seen us embed Kaurna language, stories and symbols in to our everyday, creating natural connections to our learning and inquiries. Through this, we aim to develop children’s awareness and understanding and a community that values Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their histories, culture, and their future. Through valuing and embedding this rich culture and history, children are empowered to share this knowledge and passion in their everyday lives and into the future.
Every morning in Learning Community 1, we share our Acknowledgement of Country in our Ban Ban Balyas, one of our most treasured rituals. We have been unpacking what it means when we say, ‘We will look after everything on the land, the people and the animals’. As we delve deeper into our Unit of Inquiry, ‘Shared responsibilities can promote citizenship’, we have been posing some key questions to the children to drive our learning:
- What do we mean when we say ‘the land’?
- How do we care for the land?
Through a range of experiences across the Learning Community, we are establishing beginning understandings that the land encompasses more than just our physical space and local surroundings at the Early Learners’ Centre in Stonyfell. The land also includes the oceans, the plains and the skies, and everything growing and living in these landscapes. As we expand this thinking, there has been a natural connection with Kaurna culture and practices, and further exploration of their strong connection to the land.
Children have been provided with opportunities to develop their understanding and connection to the land through physical interactions with the natural world, visits to Ferguson Park with Tamaru, shared storytelling, sustainable planting, and growing experiences and exploration of Kaurna people’s connection to the land.
Our inquiries during Reconciliation Week have further consolidated this knowledge and understanding, and helped us to develop ways that we can care for the land. These experiences are supporting the children to develop a global perspective of the land to which they belong.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
Reconciliation Week holds a great deal of importance for us at the ELC. For the past few years, we have taken time to explore the concept of reconciliation with our children. Our Centre places significant value on Kaurna culture and language and embedding it into our daily practice. We believe it is extremely important for our children to understand the reconciliation story and the history of the country we all live in.
The children have been involved in a range of experiences to deepen their knowledge and to build on their understanding of why reconciliation is so important. We have been working together with our children to support them to recite an Acknowledgement of Country in Kaurna language. This was a provocation from Kaurna elder Tamaru. The children have also been exploring the reconciliation story and discussing the feelings and emotions around the history and stories of the Aboriginal people.
We have spent time unpacking from our Acknowledgement of Country the following statement:
‘We will look after everything on the land, the people and the animals.’
We asked the children to discuss what they feel this means and what actions we can take to live this:
- ‘It means not stepping on the plants and animals in Ferguson Park.’
- ‘It means we don’t hurt each other.’
- ‘We look after all the plants in the Community Garden.’
- ‘We stay on the path in Ferguson Park.’
- ‘We help pack up at ELC.’
The children spent several mornings engaging in these discussions, drawing their thoughts and sharing what they believe is important. When working with young children, addressing a challenge and sometimes a confronting topic, it is important to offer an action. They need to feel supported that they can make a change and better the situation.
We believe it’s not enough for the children to just know the history of this country but to understand the importance of taking action and how they can be involved. We want to empower our children to be catalysts for change and to be able to take their experience, knowledge and passion for the Kaurna culture into their lives and further into their educational journey. We believe we are laying the foundations for this change to occur.
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