In this edition
Dear Families
Welcome to Reconciliation Week. Reconciliation Australia states that ‘National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.’ The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2023 is ‘Be a Voice for Generations’, encouraging all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in our everyday lives.
At St Peter’s Girls, we recognise the importance of reconciliation on a daily basis. This is evident in the ELC through each room’s morning Banbanbalya (meeting) time, our Acknowledgement of Country, the connections we make and the work that we do with Kaurna Elders and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People in our community, our Language of Welcome which is a key part of our ELC philosophy, our connection to Ferguson Conservation Park and the development and implementation of our Reconciliation Plan. I have been extremely fortunate to join a School that places high value on the process of reconciliation and where the desire for reconciliation is deeply embedded in ELC practice. I have learned so much about Kaurna culture since commencing at St Peter’s Girls and look forward to continuing this journey through our knowledgeable staff, our practices, and looking for authentic opportunities for our children, staff and families to engage with Aboriginal Elders and our wider First Nations community.
Assessment and Rating
We have been notified by the Educational Standards Board that we have commenced the assessment and rating cycle for our ELC. Services are assessed and rated against the National Quality Standards with our last assessment and rating taking place in 2013. The aim of this process is to promote continuous improvement in the provision of quality education and care.
The Assessment and Rating is based on 7 quality areas:
- Educational program and practice
- Children’s health and safety
- Physical environment
- Staffing arrangements
- Relationships with children
- Collaborative partnerships with families and communities
- Leadership and service management
Our Quality Area Goals for 2023 are:
Educational Program and Practice
Goal: To utilise our newly re-imagined tool of assessment as a vehicle to communicate our teaching and learning strategies.
Children’s Health and Safety
Goal: To embed the Quality Improvement Plan and National Quality Standards deeper into our everyday practices and processes, making our work more visible, with a wider shared understanding for both new and existing staff, with support through our new leadership structure.
Physical Environment
Goals: To give value to our new physical environments of the Atelier, the Pathway Room and the Stonyfell veranda, ensuring we use these essential and integral components of our environment to their full potential.
Staffing Arrangements
Goal: To extend on the evaluation of our induction processes, widening this to involve not only new staff but anyone who enters the Centre, drawing upon our Language of Welcome and ensuring there is alignment across the ELC and other sections of the School.
Relationships with Children
Goal: To use our Emotional Regulation Toolkit from our 2022 research to strengthen our relationships and connection with children, ensuring a consistent understanding of emotional regulation strategies across the ELC.
Collaborative Partnerships with Families and Communities
Goal: To continue to re-imagine our methods of communication for families, critically reflecting on their effectiveness as we aim to strengthen the communication processes within our community. These include MyLink, ELC Newsletter and children’s learning portfolios.
Governance and Leadership
Goals: To facilitate a positive commitment to continuous improvement. To welcome and embrace the ELC’s new model of leadership for 2023, living our values and facilitating support for the new model.
Liz Schembri
Director of ELC
Important Dates
Monday 5 June: Reception Transition Visits commence
Monday 12 June: Public Holiday (ELC Closed)
Wednesday 14 June: New Family Welcome Evening
Monday 26 June: ELC Hat Ceremony
3–24 July: Vacation Care
Reconciliation Week in the ELC
As part of our Reconciliation Week celebrations we welcomed Mya Damon, a Ballardong-Nyoongar artist, to our Centre. Mya attended our staff morning briefing to talk about her experience as a First Nation’s Person and what reconciliation means to her. Mya spent time with the children, sharing her artwork and its symbolism and held mini workshops where children explored symbolism and mark making. This will culminate in a shared artwork in Term 3.
In Week 8 we will be welcoming Boorie Monty Pryor into our Centre. Boori is an award-winning author, musician, storyteller, and now filmmaker. During Boori’s presentation he combines humorous tales from his life experiences and Dreamtime stories whilst embedding music, dance and the language of his family and his home. By combining traditional elements of performance with his contemporary stories, Boori helps children better understand both the past and present culture of First Nations People.
Mya Damon’s Artist Statement
My name is Mya, I am a Ballardong-Nyoongar artist from Western Australia, born on Barngarla Country – Tumby Bay. I live in South Adelaide and I am currently in my third year of Archaeology at Flinders University, which has become a passion of mine along with art. I have been practicing art for over 10 years now. I enjoy it because I am able to connect with my culture and express myself in different ways. Over the years I have also been able to learn about my culture and understand the significance of dot painting.
I have also experimented with a range of different mediums and techniques, including digital art, painting, drawing, print making and sculpting. Through my art, I’ve been able to design Guernsey’s for various sporting clubs, artworks and hold workshops for many events.
Building Upgrades at Our Centre
We are very excited to announce the upgrade of our ELC facilities for Learning Community 2. This will include extending our current learning spaces, the addition of a new kitchen, toilets and Piazza space. These changes reflect our belief that the environment should be vibrant and flexible, support children’s explorations, creativity and learning, and be responsive to their developmental needs as well as the individual requirements of each child.
As a result of the changes planned for Learning Community 2, and looking ahead to our vision for this space, we will be making some changes to room locations for Semester 2. This will allow us to ensure that we are maximising opportunities for collaboration, allowing for children’s sleep and rest needs by providing a quiet comfortable environment and support the creation of a flexible and stimulating environment that enhances children’s learning.
For Semester 2 the following changes will occur –
- Pathway and Ferguson will be swapping learning spaces. Pathway will now be in the room adjacent to the Piazza.
For Semester 2 the following teachers will be leading each learning space
- Bell Yett – Jess Catt
- Stonyfell – Annabelle Redmond and Nell Tierney
- Ferguson – Chloe Skoss
- Hallett – Laura Reiters
- Pathway – Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
New Vacation Care Booking System
We are excited to introduce our new ELC Vacation Care booking system. To streamline the booking process and align with the School Vacation Care service, families can book their children into Vacation Care via our online booking form on the School website.
Vacation Care will run from Monday 3 – Monday 24 July, and bookings are now open.
Families must book the days they would like their child to attend Vacation Care. To access our online booking form, click here
Vacation Care runs similar to a normal day within the ELC, led by Valentina Fernandes in Learning Community 1 and Alexandra Portus in Learning Community 2. Our days are filled with a range of creative, inquiry-based and hands-on experiences, using our indoor and outdoor spaces as well as our ELC Community Garden and the School lawns. Children will frequently participate in music, dance, picnics on the lawns, gross motor skills and cooking experiences.
Similar to typical ELC days, children will need to bring their own packed lunch, hat, water bottle and a change of clothes. Due to allergies, we ask that you do not pack nuts. A healthy morning and afternoon tea and late snack will continue to be provided to children.
If you need to make changes to your booking, please email ELCVacationCare@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
Please note: due to staffing requirements, cancellations made after the booking period ends will incur the full day’s fee.
Can you lend a Helping Hand in the ELC?
If you have an afternoon or morning spare, we would love 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). If you would like to get involved, or have any other queries, please email via wharding@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
We look forward to seeing you at the ELC!
Community Safety Announcement
Transportation presents heightened risks to children’s safety, in particular while embarking or disembarking from a vehicle. The health and safety of our community is our highest priority and therefore we ask all parents to be vigilant when picking up and dropping off your children. When parking we ask that you are mindful that children and families are present in this vicinity and therefore move in and out of parking spaces with caution.
Please supervise children closely when getting into and out of the car. Families are asked to use the pedestrian crossing to cross Hallett Road safely and model appropriate road safety behaviour to children. Please do not leave siblings or other children in the car when dropping off or collecting your ELC child.
来自ELC园长：
亲爱家长朋友们，
欢迎来到“和解周”。澳大利亚和解协会表示，全国和解周是所有澳大利亚居民了解我们共同的历史、文化和成就，并探索我们每个人如何为实现澳大利亚的和解做出贡献的一周。2023年全国和解周的主题是“为时代发声”，鼓励所有澳大利亚人在日常生活中为和解发声。
在圣彼得女校ELC和解周是我们日历上的一个重要事件。我们认识到和解在我们日常生活中的重要性。在ELC，这一点在每个教室早班会(Banbanbalya)的时间、我们对原住民和这片土地的认可、我们与社区中的原住民长老、原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民建立的联系和我们所做的工作、我们的欢迎语言(这是我们ELC理念的关键部分)、我们与Ferguson公园的联系以及我们和解计划的制定和实施中都得到了体现。我非常幸运地来到了一个高度重视和解意义的学。在这里，对和解的渴望深深植根于ELC实践。自从在圣彼得女校的开始学习以来，我学到了很多关于原住民文化的知识，我期待着通过我们对和解学习有着丰富经验的教师们让我们的实践继续这一旅程。并为我们的孩子，教师和家庭寻找真正的机会，与土著长老和更广泛的“第一民族”社区建立更好的联结。
评估及评等：
我们ELC已收到教育标准委员会的通知， 进入了对ELC的评估和评级阶段。根据国家质量标准对我们ELC的服务进行评估和评级，上一次评估和评级是在2013年。这个过程的目的是促进持续提高并提供优质教育和看护。
评核及评级基于7个质素范畴:
- 教育计划和实践
- 儿童的健康和安全
- 教学环境
- 人员安排
- 与孩子的关系
- 与家庭和社区的合作伙伴关系
- 领导和服务管理
我们2023年的质素范畴目标是:
教育计划与实践
目标:利用我们新设计的评估工具作为沟通我们教学和学习策略的工具。
儿童健康与安全
目标:将质量改进计划和国家质量标准更深地嵌入到我们的日常实践和流程中，使我们的工作更可见，使新老员工更广泛地理解我们的工作，并得到我们新的领导结构的支持。
教学环境
目标:为我们的新工作室、学前班教室和Stonyfell联结公园的活动区域的新教学环境提供价值，确保我们充分利用我们这些必要和不可分割环境的潜在可能。
人员安排
目标:扩展我们入职过程的评估，将其扩大到不仅包括新员工，还包括任何进入中心的人，利用我们的欢迎语言，确保在ELC和学校其他部门之间保持一致。
与孩子的关系
目标:从2022年的研究中使用我们的“情绪调节方法”来加强我们与孩子的关系。确保对整个ELC的对孩子情绪调节策略有一致的理解。
与家庭和社区的合作伙伴关系
目标:继续重新设想我们的家庭沟通方法，在我们旨在加强社区沟通过程的同时，批判性地反思其有效性。其中包括MyLink、ELC 每两周的简讯和儿童学习文档。
管治及领导
目标:促进对持续改进的积极承诺。欢迎和接受ELC在2023年的新领导模式，实践我们的价值观，并为新模式提供支持。
Liz Schembri
园长
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
News from Learning Community 1
The ELC Community Garden is a treasured space for the children at our ELC. Through frequent visits and involvement in the planting and harvesting process, the children in Learning Community 1 have developed early understandings of the ‘garden to plate’ process. The recent change in season saw big change in the garden. Guided by Mrs Fern, small groups of children have planted the seeds of winter vegetables and have eagerly observed the tiny sprouts, stems and leaves that have just begun growing. We have wondered though… is anything happening beneath the soil?
We have taken our question back to the classroom where we have begun investigating how a plant grows. We have examined how a plant grows both upwards and downwards. We have viewed time lapse videos of different plants growing from seed and have used a microscope to closely examine the intricate root system that grows below the soil. Looking closely at samples of roots on the light table, children have begun to share their observations. The roots have been described as:
- Octopus legs
- Noodles
- String
- Squiggly lines
- Scribbles
The children have expressed their knowledge through creative drawings, movement and dance. Each day we have explored our inquiry further through storytelling and the use of non-fiction reference books. The children have enjoyed reading:
Plant the Tiny Seed by Christie Matheson
The Tiny Seed by Eric Carle
Up in the Garden and Down in the Dirt by Kate Messner
If you would like to see and hear more about our plant growing inquiry, please remember to visit our online learning page on the Parent Canvas App. This page is updated multiple times a week and provides great insight into the learning that is taking place.
Nell Tierney, Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
The Children across our learning community have been working together to rethink our mealtimes. Much of our day revolves around food and eating, often this time can be hurried and lack the time and effort to make it enjoyable. Meals are not just something we need; they can be a pleasurable experience and create a sense of community that comes from eating together. The children have been working with their educators to discuss ideas and share their experiences from home. They have considered how they feel when we eat together, when morning tea is served on plates rather than in containers, when we play music or place flowers on tables.
The educators have been starting conversations and asking questions to encourage the children’s thoughts and ideas. Many of the educators choose to eat their lunch with the children sparking conversation around who packs their lunch, what they enjoy eating, and whether we have the same foods as each other. We are curious about each other’s likes and dislikes and delight in sharing the things we like to eat the most!
This may seem like a given in any early learning setting however the art of conversation, the ability to sit and eat together is something that can become lost in our busy lives. By placing importance on this time, and building the children’s capacity to converse, we have seen joy in being together and relationships strengthen and grow.
When we asked the children why they think it’s important to have a nice space to sit and eat lunch, one reply stood out from the rest of them. “If we have a nice space to eat lunch and have nice things on the table, then we will also have a nice lunch together!”
Chloe Skoss and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2
News from Our Pathway Room
Inquiry based learning gives children the opportunity to ask questions, build theories and be the constructors of their own knowledge. It stimulates questions and investigation and develops a positive attitude towards lifelong learning. Over the past few weeks in the Pathway room we have engaged in rich inquiry to investigate who makes their morning and afternoon tea. The children have actively shared their prior knowledge and understandings, posed questions, shared their ideas for investigation and engaged in active research.
Working alongside the children, exposing them to different research methods has been exciting. The children have enriched their literacy capabilities as we have engaged in letter and email writing, gathered evidence, and shared our findings with the wider community. Engaging in inquiry projects that have direct impact on the children’s lives provokes engagement and curiosity.
Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
Pathway Room
Please Help Keep our Centre Infection Free
To minimise the spread of illness please keep your child at home if they have:
- received Panadol or Nurofen in the morning
- a fever of 38 or above. Children can return to the Centre 24 hours after their last elevated temperature
- swollen glands
- a continuous runny nose
- a sore throat
- a consistent cough without a doctor’s clearance
- been unusually tired or lethargic
- been vomiting or have diarrhoea. Children should be kept home until the these symptoms have been absent for at least 24 hours.
- an undiagnosed rash
We look forward to your child returning once their symptoms are cleared so they can be happy and engaged in learning.
Remember to cover coughs and sneezes with your elbow and wash hands regularly for at least 20 seconds.
Important Allergy Information
Please remember allergy awareness when packing food for your child.
We kindly ask you to refrain from packing nuts or nut products in your child’s lunch box.
We have members of our community across the Centre with severe food allergies to the following:
- Nuts
- Dairy
- Sesame
- Fish and shellfish
- Egg
- Banana
Due to the severity of these allergies, we are asking that you be mindful of this when packing food for your child. Please ensure food is safely packaged and/or contained.
If you have any questions, please see your child’s Room Teacher. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our community safe.
COVID-19 Information
Please find the latest guidance from SA Health:
- It is strongly recommended that students stay home if they have cold or flu-like symptoms, and test for COVID-19.
- Whether they receive a positive or negative result, they should stay home until symptoms subside (usually five to seven days).
- It is strongly recommended that parents/guardians inform the School if a student is a close contact. For further advice regarding close contacts, click here
If your child tests positive to COVID-19, please notify the School. Please also notify the School each day of absence, or provide the expected period of absence.
You can notify us via one of the following methods. Please include the name of the ELC Room. If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher/s of the room as well.
Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)
Phone: 8334 2200
If children are displaying symptoms, it is mandatory that we send them home.
SA Health guidelines advise that symptoms include:
- Fever (a temperature of 37.5˚C or higher) or chills
- Cough
- Loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Tiredness (fatigue)
- Runny or blocked nose
- Shortness of breath (difficulty breathing)
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea
- Headache
- Muscle or joint pain
- Loss of appetite
For more SA Health information, click here
Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.
Find Out What Happens Throughout the Day at ELC
myLink is our School’s parent portal, where families have access to a range of resources including the ELC Home Page. Our ELC Home Page is a dynamic online sharing space that invites you to participate in our learning. We use this tool to house important information for families and provide a window into your child’s life at the ELC, with educators sharing documentation of teaching, specialist lessons and spontaneous moments.
This page can also be accessed through your smartphone, via the Canvas App.
Accessing myLink for the first time:
Each parent has an individual username to access our myLink Parent Portal. 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)
Accessing the Canvas Parent App for the first time:
- Ensure you have previously logged in to myLink on a PC
- Download the Canvas Parent App from your App Store
- Click the ‘Find School’ button
- Look up: stpetersgirls
- Log in using your parent username and password
- Tap on ‘ELC 2023’
- Click on ‘Front Page’ on the top right-hand side
- Here, you can navigate the page through the app
Please note: we do not use the message feature on this app, and ask families to contact their child’s teacher via email rather than this message feature.
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
If your child will not be attending ELC due to illness or otherwise, please notify the School via one of the following methods and include the name of the ELC Room.
If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher/s of the room as well. Please also provide a reason for the absence as the School requires this for government reporting purposes.
Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)
Phone: 8334 2200
ELC Room Contacts
-
- Stonyfell – 8155 5778
- Bell Yett – 8155 5780
- Ferguson – 8155 5776
- Hallett – 8155 5775
- Pathway – 8334 2250
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
As part of our approach to prioritising health and safety, we implement effective hygiene practices and work to prevent and effectively deal with any infectious disease in line with the Education and Care Services National Regulations and the advice of health experts. If your child has one of the following, chickenpox, measles, rubella, meningococcal or tuberculosis or any other vaccine preventable diseases we ask that you inform the Centre as soon as possible.