In this edition
Dear Families
It was wonderful to see so many of you attend our Meet the Teacher Information Evening. Our Central Idea for Term 3 is Our Actions Impact Our World. As families moved through the Centre, the emphasis of our Central Idea was evident through the carefully curated learning spaces, where we utilised sustainable loose parts to encourage curiosity. Many families also stopped past our new Atelier to see the materials and resources available. Our Atelierista, Caterina, has worked hard and passionately on this space and we are very excited to see the children interacting and learning together.
The children have enjoyed working with loose parts; they are tactile, versatile and open-ended materials that can easily be manipulated and combined in different ways. Loose parts allow children to explore and find out more about them, encouraging engagement and imaginative play. Loose parts can be big or small; you can find them in your house or workplace! They include materials such as boxes, paper tubes, bottle tops, buttons, beads, straws, rocks, wooden planks, and pallets. They can be natural or recycled materials that play an important role in enhancing children’s cognitive skills.
Some toys can be one-dimensional with limited opportunities for creativity and imagination as they have a predetermined purpose. This is why we encourage the children to explore loose parts; it is great to see them focusing on the different shapes, textures and colours. They are curious about what they pick up, asking questions and discussing ways to re-use the parts.
We look forward to sharing photos from today’s event, An Afternoon in the Atelier: Meeting the Hundred Languages, an exciting celebration of the opening of this wonderful new space.
Liz Schembri
Director of ELC
Important Dates
Friday September 1: Fathers and Treasured Friends’ Afternoon Tea, 2pm
Wednesday 23 August: Book Week Dress Up
The Atelier: Our New and Inspiring Learning Space
Our ELC architecture has been enriched by another inspiring learning space: the Atelier. The Atelier is designed as a flexible environment that encourages child-led learning processes, problem-solving and creativity. It is a space immersed in natural light facing Ferguson Conservation Park, our daily landscape and constant inspiration. The magnificent view transforms the Atelier into a zone that connects with nature right at its doorstep. This is valuable for the children as it supports their relationship with the Kaurna Land and culture.
The location of the Atelier at the core of our ELC also enables connections with the Piazza, our meeting place. Its positioning ignites a creative dialogue between the two Learning Communities. We feel fortunate and proud to be able to learn and research in an inspiring environment. We look forward to utilising everything our new Atelier has to offer, exploring the endless potential of the Hundred Languages and sharing our projects with the wider community.
Caterina Pennestri
Atelierista
News from Learning Community 1
A big thank you to those who attended our ELC Meet the Teacher Information Evening last Wednesday night. This was a valuable time where we were able to unpack what your child’s day looks like in Learning Community 1 and how we embed learning intentions into our daily rituals and classroom experiences.
Our current inquiry has led us to explore the story Not a Box. The children have been entranced by this story, joyfully anticipating the transformation of the box and what it becomes. There are many benefits of reading the same story repeatedly in Early Childhood: it enables the promotion of early literacy skills, brain development, imagination, and it sparks curiosity. In our classrooms, we have created story tables for the children to engage with. It is a space where their imagination can be ignited to invent new characters and create their own Not a Box. As children are independently interacting with these tables, they are developing skills in collaboration, including turn-taking and sharing and building language to positively work alongside others.
By exploring with boxes of various shapes and sizes, children can create, organise and communicate mathematical ideas and concepts. This form of organised play enables children to investigate, experiment, test hypotheses and explore ideas. This week we will be inviting the children to record their thinking using mark making, drawing and photography.
Reading the Not a Box story and providing a differentiated active learning environment has enabled children to make meaning and gain knowledge using all areas of the curriculum. As educators we play a crucial role in these learning environments, encouraging children to discover deeper meanings and make connections among ideas and between concepts and representations.
Nell Tierney, Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
To introduce this term’s inquiry of Our Actions Impact Our World, the children across Learning Community 2 have been visiting our neighbouring Ferguson Conservation Park. These visits are always highly anticipated by everyone in the ELC and allow for meaningful connections to be made with nature. Our outings to the park also enable children to develop a greater appreciation and awareness of our environment and how we share our planet through the identification of various flora and fauna.
Each time the children venture out into the park, they make different observations and notice more intricate details about the flora and fauna. As the term progresses, so will our exploration into the concept of sustainability; however, in order to look through the lens of sustainability in the coming weeks, we want children to firstly come face-to-face with the beauty of their natural environment and develop a deep understanding of what it is that we are trying to protect through our sustainable actions.
Our recent encounters in Ferguson Conservation Park have been deeply inspired by Sir David Attenborough’s quote:
“No one will protect what they don’t care about; and no one will care about what they have never experienced”.
Chloe Skoss and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2
News from Pathway to School
The Pathway to School class has been visiting the ELC Community Garden in small groups. The children have enjoyed this time together to connect with their peers and explore new friendships by working alongside someone who they haven’t spent a lot of time with. The children have been involved in prepping the soil and the garden beds for planting some vegetables in connection with our inquiry into Our actions affect the world we live in. The educators identified a need for the children to take responsibility for something relevant and meaningful to them, where they would be able to see the action they were taking to care for the environment with a sustainable mindset. We feel the Community Garden will be a successful vehicle for our learning intentions.
The children also explored many problem-solving strategies during our visit to the garden beds such as:
- How do we make the garden beds and soil ready for more planting?
- What will we plant?
- How will we get the seeds?
- Who can we ask as an expert to help us in our community?
We often start our inquiry posing many questions to the children as it starts a conversation and it helps develop brain synapsis about the topic at hand. Asking children open ended questions during the inquiry will stimulate and support reflection and increase their level of self-control.
We have encouraged many mathematical connections through voting and data collecting as a class. The Pathway children have become very keen mathematicians and are becoming very skilled at reading data and summarising what we have found. The children have begun learning about the way ‘5’ can look in different ways when collecting data and seeing addition and grouping as a skill when counting large numbers quickly on the data poster.
Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
Learning Community 2 (Pathway)
Staff Spotlight: Joshua Romeo
My name is Joshua Romeo, and I’m a Co-Educator at St Peter’s Girls’ Early Learners’ Centre.
I graduated from the University of South Australia in 2018 with a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. Before joining St Peter’s Girls’ ELC in 2019, I worked as a relief Educator in other Adelaide independent school ELCs.
I believe early childhood is a special time in one’s life, and as such, it should be respected and appreciated for the beauty it possesses. Working alongside children every day is a great privilege, and I’m always amazed by their curiosity and creativity. I also understand the huge responsibility that we hold as educators, as we help the children in our care to grow into caring and compassionate citizens of their world.
I am the morning Co-Educator for Learning Community 2 and I really enjoy being able to greet families and help settle children into their day at the ELC. Our mornings start together in the Piazza with Learning Community 1, where we are lucky to share some quiet moments together as a whole community.
Sharing this time together helps children develop familiarity with all educators across the Centre, while also allowing children to reconnect with some of their former educators, spend time with friends in different rooms and even have a chance to play with their siblings!
This year I have been fortunate to be the Key Co-Educator in the Pathway to School room, working alongside Mrs Kirsty Porplycia and Mrs Kathy McCabe. Our Pathway to School room hosts our oldest children who are in their final six months at the ELC and supports their transition to formal schooling. In the Pathway to School room, we have a strong focus on developing learning dispositions that will strengthen children’s transition to School, such as building confidence to share with the group, emotional regulation and social skills, speaking and listening skills, increasing children’s independence, and supporting children to take responsibility for their belongings. The learning opportunities offered in the Pathway to School room help to support children’s emerging literacy and numeracy skills, as they engage in a wide range of inquiry-based experiences.
I look forward to seeing you and your family around the ELC!
Book Week Dress Up – Wednesday 23 August
We invite your child to dress up as their favourite Book Week character on Wednesday 23 August.
We would love for you to come and watch our Book Week Parade at 9.30am at the ELC on this day.
Fathers and Treasured Friends’ Afternoon Tea
Friday 1 September, 2pm in the ELC
We invite you to our Fathers and Treasured Friends’ Afternoon Tea. We will be celebrating Father’s Day and the inspirational men in the children’s lives including fathers, grandfathers and uncles. We hope to see you there!
来自ELC园长：
亲爱的家长朋友们，
很高兴看到这么多家庭参加我们的教师信息交流会。我们第三学期的中心思想是“我们的行为影响我们的世界”。当我们的家庭往来ELC之间，他们可以时时刻刻看到我们通过精心策划的学习空间，我们利用可持续的松散零部件（开放性材料）来鼓励孩子们的好奇心。许多家庭路过我们的新工作室，可以看到正在被使用中的材料和资源。我们的美育教学专家Caterina在这个空间里付出了努力和热情，我们很高兴看到孩子们在一起互动学习。
孩子们喜欢摆弄松散零部件（开放性材料）;它们是有触感的、多功能的、开放式的材料，可以很容易地以不同的方式运用和组合。松散零部件让孩子们有机会探索和发现更多相关的东西，并鼓励他们参与富有想象力的游戏。松散零部件可大可小;你可以在家里或工作场所找到它们! 它们包括盒子、纸管、瓶盖、纽扣、珠子、吸管、石头、木板和托盘等材料。它们可以是天然的或可回收的材料，在提高儿童的认知技能方面发挥着重要作用。
有些玩具可能是一维的，对于创造力和想象力的机会是有限的，因为它们有一个预定的目的。这就是为什么我们鼓励孩子们去探索松散零部件;极其好的是看到孩子们专注于运用不同形状、纹理和颜色的材料。他们对发现的东西感到好奇，会问问题，讨论如何再利用这些零件。
我们期待着与您分享今天活动的照片，“工作室的一个下午:与百种语言的相遇”，这是一个令人兴奋的、值得庆祝的瞬间——这个美妙的新空间的开幕活动。
Liz Schembri
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30am – 4:30pm.
Ladies’ Night Out
Date: Wednesday 20 September, Week 9
Venue: Regal Theatre, 275 Kensington Road, Kensington Park
Time: Foyer opens at 6.30pm (movie starts 7.30pm)
Movie: My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3
Cost: $25 per person
Raffle tickets: $5 for 1 ticket, $10 for 3 tickets
Grab your girlfriends, mothers and sisters and get ready for a fabulous night celebrating the power of family and laughter at our ‘Ladies’ Night Out’ with the highly anticipated My Big Fat Greek Wedding 3.
You’ll be welcomed onboard with a complimentary glass of bubbles and chocolate bar, ready to transport you to Greece with the hilarious Portokalos family as they embark on another antic-filled adventure.
Raffle tickets are available to purchase online with your tickets. Prizes include tickets to Choral Night 2024 and this year’s Carols in the Cathedral – waltz past the queues straight to your reserved seats with the VIP guests! We also have 4 x one month OSX Outdoor Group Fitness Training vouchers (each voucher is for one person and valued at $160 each) kindly donated by Susanna Parkinson (current Year 9 parent).
This wonderful community event is hosted by The Friends of The Arts group with all
proceeds going directly to support the many wonderful Arts programs Saints Girls enjoy.
Join us for an evening to remember.
To book tickets – click here
Late Fee Reminder
A reminder to all families that a late fee is applied for any pickups after 6pm, Monday to Friday in the ELC.
The fee is as follows: $15 per every 15 minutes after 6pm.
We ask all parents to remember to sign their children in and out when arriving and departing from the Centre. This helps to ensure that we have an accurate record of all children who are present at any given time.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer Sarah Elliott via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Thank you for your understanding.
Sun Smart Practices in the ELC
Following Cancer Council advice, our Centre has strong guidelines for sun protection, mainly on days the UV is 3 and above. Recently, the UV has been high for small parts of the day; therefore, it is important for families to be aware of the following directions:
We ask all families to please return your child’s hat to the ELC, so our Centre can be prepared for warmer days throughout the term as well as Term 4.
It’s important that children access the outdoor spaces and Ferguson Conservation Park, which requires children to wear their hats depending on the weather. Please ensure your child’s hat is labelled clearly with their name.
Thank you for supporting our sun safe practices.
For more information, please visit the Cancer Council website.
School Health Centre Notices
Minimise the spread!
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.
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.
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.
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.
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
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- Stonyfell – 8155 5778
- Bell Yett – 8155 5780
- Ferguson – 8155 5776
- Hallett – 8155 5775
- Pathway – 8334 2250