In this edition
Dear Families
Nell is the teacher in the Hallett Room (Monday – Wednesday) and plays a key role in the Centre’s relationship with Ferguson Park. Nell is also a strong advocate for nature and sustainability pedagogy, and is passionate about teaching the younger generation how to care for our planet.
At St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, we are committed to exploring and actioning sustainability every day, and we want to help the children develop a strong relationship and appreciation for the world they will soon inherit. We believe, through our commitment to sustainability in the ELC, we are helping the children to build a foundation of skills and knowledge they can use as they grow into environmentally responsible adults.
As part of our ongoing sustainability journey, we engage the children in many different activities including growing fresh produce in our ELC Community Garden, preparing and cooking our ELC-grown food, exploring our neighbouring Ferguson Conservation Park and the native flora and fauna it contains, and engaging children in games and discussions about waste and recycling.
As educators, we believe it’s important to teach our children about waste, landfill, and the lifecycle of our rubbish. Through our intentional learning experiences, our goal is to help children understand that after we throw something in the bin, it does not just disappear – this rubbish has a life and ends up somewhere on our planet.
By exploring this concept, we are educating our community to understand that, together, we can generate change by composting, recycling and reusing as much waste as possible. The children are empowered and feel proud when they can put their knowledge into practice by placing their leftover lunch or food waste into the right bin, or using something recycled when making their creations.
Watch our video to see how we have been exploring ways to sustainably manage waste.
Nell Tierney
Learning Community 2
Important Dates
April 4, 5, 11: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Thursday 14 April: End of Term Coffee Van
April 15 – 18: Easter (ELC closed)
April 19 – 29: Vacation Care
Monday April 25: Public Holiday (ELC closed)
Important COVID-19 Information
Families are reminded that, under the current State Government COVID-19 restrictions, parents are still limited from being inside the learning spaces across all sections of the ELC and School. As such, our team will continue to assist families in the Foyer during drop-off and pick-up times.
We ask that all parents remain in the Foyer while an ELC staff member comes to welcome your child into their room or brings them to you for collection. Parents must also wear a mask, maintain social distancing and use the hand sanitiser provided.
As we’re fast approaching the end of Term 1, we have experienced a smooth transition period and are delighted to see the children becoming more independent, especially during the drop-off ritual.
We are embracing this opportunity to assist the children in becoming more independent and appreciate your support during this time.
Community Joy at Our ELC Twilight Family Picnic
Thank you to the many families who attended our ELC Twilight Family Picnic on Chiverton Lawns last Friday evening. It was such a joy to be able to share that moment together as a community.
It is always special to see the children outside of their normal ELC day, interacting with their friends, families and the ELC staff. These events are pivotal in growing our strong community and we look forward to other events in the near future.
Parent-Teacher Conversations
ELC Parent-Teacher Conversations will take place on Monday 4, Tuesday 5 and Monday 11 April. There are designated 15-minute time slots for families to meet with your child’s teacher.
We strongly encourage you to book a meeting. From these discussions, future goals for your child may be created to ensure they reflect the perspectives of parents and educators.
Bookings can be made via myLink:
- Log in to the myLink parent portal with your username (your ID) and password. If you don’t know your password, use the link provided on the login page to reset it.
- 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, Wednesday 30 March.
If you require myLink assistance, please contact the IT Helpdesk via 08 8334 2227 or email
helpdesk@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
Warm Reception for Our ELC Graduates
One of the most treasured traditions in both the ELC and Junior School calendar is the ELC Reception Transition program. At the beginning of a new year, students, staff and families comment on just how quickly the newest Reception students have settled into school life. They are amazed at how comfortable and confident our youngest Junior School students are, whether they are walking up to school independently alongside the Prefects, participating in co-curricular activities or navigating their way past the older girls to collect Tuck Shop orders.
There are many reasons these ELC students are so ready for the next step in their schooling journey. The most important will always be the strong transition program which includes classroom sessions, visits to the Junior School throughout the year, established relationships between students and staff, and the cherished ELC Hat Ceremony. When the girls finally arrive for the first day, they are filled with the kind of excitement and confidence that comes from such a strong foundation developed over their years at the ELC.
This year’s Reception girls have continued to impress everyone as they have fully embraced school life and being Saints Girls. In class, they are already working independently during Literacy groups which focus on building their THRASS knowledge and phonological awareness. In Mathematics, the girls are continuing to develop their number sense through Number Talks concentrating on subitising and the concept of more and less. They have also started their inquiries into commemorations around the world and their own personal histories.
The Reception girls recently commenced their weekly dance lessons with Kirsty Battersby, which is always a highlight. Hopefully, they will be able to share their amazing dance moves with their ELC friends at a performance later in the year. It has been a very exciting start to 2022 and we are so proud of the girls’ confidence and sense of agency. We can’t wait to see what they achieve in their first year of school because it has been a remarkable first eight weeks!
Meg Jordan and Alana Lesiw
Reception Teachers
Vacation Care Bookings Now Open
ELC Vacation Care bookings are now open online. Bookings can be made until 5pm, Friday 1 April via www.trybooking.com/BXZGS
Please note: the ELC will be closed for public holidays on Monday 18 April and Monday 25 April.
Henrietta Balnaves and Danniella Capaldo
Extended Hours Care Team
Sustainability in the ELC
This week, the children in Learning Community 2 have begun the process of voting for what produce they would like to plant next in our ELC Community Garden, ready for a winter harvest!
After welcoming each child’s ideas, along with the ideas from our wider community, a group of children acted as researchers and explored a few gardening books to find out what specific produce will grow at this time. This narrowed down our choices to carrots, broccoli, potatoes, snow peas, capsicum, pears and lettuce.
Involving all children in this democratic process of a vote shows them that their voice can make a difference, and engages them in the full cycle of our sustainable garden-to-plate experience.
Soon, children will be able to count the winning produce and get their hands dirty when planting! Stay tuned…
Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager
Can You Lend a Helping Hand in the ELC?
If you have an afternoon or morning spare, we would love more volunteers to join us as we explore Ferguson Conservation Park. We try to get out to Ferguson Park as much as possible to provide the children with rich learning experiences; however, this is deemed an excursion and requires higher ratios of adults to children.
Volunteering at the ELC is a fantastic opportunity to connect with the ELC community, and our treasured walks in Ferguson Park allow the children to deepen their relationship with their natural environment.
To be an ELC volunteer, we require a copy of a Working with Children Check (which can be processed free of charge through the School) and proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. If you would like to get involved, or have any other queries, please email me via hbalnaves@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
We look forward to seeing you at the ELC!
Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager
Join Us for a School Tour
We warmly invite you to join us for our first scheduled School Tour of 2022 on Saturday 2 April at 9am. Hear from our Principal Julia Shea and Head of Junior School Suzanne Haddy as we showcase our beautiful campus and world-class facilities. Please register your family via our online form.
Alternatively, we welcome families to arrange a Personal Tour at a time that best suits you.
Jess Geraghty, Rachel Vanderzon and Megan McCormack
Enrolments Office
+61 (08) 8334 2215
enrolments@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长，
在 St Peter’s Girls’ ELC，我们每天都致力于探索和践行可持续发展，我们希望这将帮助孩子们建立牢固的关系，让他们对即将继承的世界充满感激。我们相信，通过我们对 ELC 可持续发展的承诺，我们可以帮助孩子们掌握技能和知识，长大后为对环境负责。
作为我们持续的可持续发展之旅的一部分，我们让孩子们参与许多不同的活动，包括在 ELC 社区花园种植新鲜农产品、准备和烹饪 ELC 种植的食物、探索邻近的弗格森保护公园及其本土动植物，让孩子们参与有关废物和回收利用的游戏和讨论。
作为教育工作者，我们认为向我们的孩子介绍垃圾、垃圾填埋场和垃圾的生命周期非常重要。通过有意识的学习体验，帮助孩子们了解，当我们把东西扔进垃圾桶后，它并不会消失——这些垃圾有生命，最终会在我们星球的某个地方结束。
通过探索这一概念，我们正在教育我们的社区了解，我们可以一起通过堆肥、回收和再利用尽可能多的废物来产生变化。当孩子们能够通过将剩余的午餐或食物垃圾放入正确的垃圾箱中，或者在他们的创作中使用回收的东西来将他们的知识付诸实践时，他们会得到授权并感到自豪。
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
News from Learning Community 1
‘We place enormous value on the role of the environment as a motivating and animating force in creating spaces for relations, options and emotional and cognitive situations that produce a sense of well-being and security.’
– Loris Malaguzzi, Reggio Emilia
In the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education, the physical environment is considered the ‘third teacher’. Environmental set up, the spaces that children inhabit, is recognised to play an active and integral role in making learning meaningful.
Over the course of the term, educators have designed spaces to inspire exploration, wonder and connection. We observe closely for the elements that comprise ‘magnet spaces’, – areas that children return to and find joy in.
The children have been invited to explore the different spaces that make up the ELC and reflect on those that they feel inspired by and connected to. For the children in Learning Community 1, these spaces include:
- The home corner and play kitchen
- The sandpit and cubby house
- The ‘back garden’
- The ELC Community Garden
- Climbing space outside
- The stage
In the coming weeks, children will be offered opportunities to further explore these spaces and represent themselves within them using writing, art and photography.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
‘Mathematics is the science of patterns, rules and relationships in your world.’
– Lisa-Jane O’Connor
‘Thinking like a mathematician’ is something we say to the children daily in Learning Community 2. Our Mathematical Consultant, Lisa-Jane O’Connor, has shared with us that empowering the children to have a love of Mathematics beginning in their earliest years sets them up as confident learners to embrace the knowledge, skills, behaviours and dispositions that children need in order to use Mathematics in a wide range of situations. As parents and educators, we play a critical role in introducing children to Mathematics and encouraging our children to be curious and enthusiastic about Mathematics.
Children begin their journey by using the action of noticing by comparing, sorting, matching and describing what they observe and interact with. They use mathematical concepts to make sense of their world and connect these concepts with their environment and everyday experiences. In St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, we begin our day by counting the friends and educators, sequencing the days of the week, sorting into small groups and recording using mathematical words. We are immersing children in mathematical language as we describe more than, less than, how many, which day, what’s next, challenging thinking to support problem-solving, hypothesising, researching and investigating.
This term, we have been investigating number and algebra, exploring concepts such as patterns, symbols and relationships. We have introduced many languages in our explorations including playdough, plasticine, clay, music and movement, finger rhymes, as well as mark-making, recording and games. A large part of learning in this area involves using numbers in everyday contexts, counting, and understanding how the numbers combine and connect to describe the world and help us to make meaning.
What can you do to support this learning at home? Next time you look for a house number, record a phone number, write a shopping list, read the supermarket catalogues or as you drive in the car, ask your child to play ‘hide and seek’ with number.
What do you notice? What number can you see? Can you see any others the same? Can you record what you see? Can you sort the numbers?
Please feel free to email, phone or speak to us if you have any questions.
Nell Tierney, Kathy McCabe 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:
Each parent has an individual username to access our myLink parent portal.
Your username is {ID+}@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Please note that the username is your ID number followed by @stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Your ID number has been provided to you in an email from the School
If you have not accessed myLink before or have forgotten your password, please follow these steps:
- Visit https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
- Sign in with your parent username
- Click on ‘Forgot my password’
- Make sure the ‘email’ address is your parent username, type in the code, then click the blue ‘Next’ button
- Enter your mobile number registered with the School, with the area code (Australia is +61), dropping the 0 at the beginning (e.g. +61 400000000). Then select ‘Text’
- Enter the security code sent to your mobile number
- Enter the password you would like to use and click ‘Finish’
- Return to the login screen at https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au to access myLink
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 our IT Hub 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