Dear Families

Our ELC is thrilled to welcome children and families back for the final term of the school year. We are excited about the ELC End of Year Celebration and look forward to seeing many of our families at this event.

I would like to thank Wolita Harding, Alexandra Portus, Valentina Fernandes and all the Vacation Care staff for their efforts during the school holidays. A big welcome to Ellyana Sims who has joined the ELC team as a Co-Educator. Ellyana was previously at Tenison Woods College Early Learning Centre, Mount Gambier, and is currently studying a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education. She will be spending three days a week in Learning Community 1 and working with our Pathway children for one day.

Last week the Year 12 students celebrated the end of their school journey, and it was wonderful to see their excitement. Some of our ELC children went to watch the festivities, further strengthening the connection and learning journey that takes place at Saints Girls, from ELC to Year 12. Our learning environment is carefully curated with specific learning intentions to spark curiosity and wonder. Learning opportunities build the children’s interests, are reflective of their questions and support them to develop the capabilities they need to be successful learners now and into the future. We look forward to Week 3; this is a time for children to share their portfolios with their families either at drop off or pick up. The portfolio is a rich documentation of your child’s learning at the ELC.

This term our Unit of Inquiry is based on the central idea ‘Celebrations can tell stories’. During our investigations, we will be exploring how shared stories shape communities and bring them together. There are a number of shared community celebrations that will be happening between now and the end of the year that will support our inquiry as we explore the different rituals involved and their significance. This is a wonderful time to talk with your child about some of the celebrations that you have as a family, their purposes and why they are important. I look forward to the term ahead and all the opportunities that it will provide for learning, growth, reflection, connection, community and celebration.

Liz Schembri
Director of ELC

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Important Dates

Monday 13 November: Reception Transition Visits Commence
Friday 1 December: ELC End of Year Celebration 
Monday 4 December: ELC Hat Ceremony
Thursday 7 December: Last Day of Term 4
Friday 8 – Friday 22 December: Vacation Care 
Saturday 23 December: ELC Closed until Monday 8 January 2024

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Celebrate our Learning – Portfolios

In Week 3, you are invited to spend some time looking through your child’s Portfolio during drop off or pick up.

At the ELC, we celebrate and document each child’s learning journey. The portfolio is a celebration of your child’s achievement, linking to curriculum frameworks and providing meaningful assessment for educators, families, and the individual child.

Work samples, photographs, transcripts of conversations and reflections provide a rich insight into learning and involvement in our inquiry investigations.

We look forward to seeing you at the ELC, enjoying this special time with your child and celebrating their progress.

Week 3
Monday 30 October – Friday 3 November
The Piazza

The Portfolios will remain at the Centre until the end of the school year. 

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News from Learning Community 1

A big, warm welcome to Term 4 in Learning Community 1. This term’s central idea guiding our learning and teaching is ‘Celebrations can tell stories’. As we embark on this inquiry as a Learning Community, our intention is for children to develop their understanding of how stories can bring communities together. Our key lines of inquiry that will guide our planning, observations and documentation are:

• The different ways to record and share stories
• How shared stories shape communities
• The different perspectives that are shared through stories

To launch this inquiry, we have explored different ways to represent and record stories. Using the familiar story ‘Brown Bear, Brown Bear, What Do You See?’, children were provided with opportunities to retell the story through different creative languages such as role play, oral recount, using story props and drawing. 

During Vacation Care, the children noticed changes in the environment as the seasons changed. Continuing this exploration and learning, we excitedly celebrated spring this week. We looked at different spring blooms in detail, using loose parts, drawing and paint to represent our observations.

As this unit of inquiry evolves across the term, we are excited to explore different cultural and community celebrations and how stories are woven through these events, sharing history and perspectives. 

Annabelle Redmond, Nell Tierney and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

A warm welcome back to everyone in our St Peter’s Girls’ ELC community. As we embark on our fourth and final term of the year, it is a pleasure to introduce our new IB inquiry, based around the central idea ‘Celebrations can tell stories.’

In a short term where one could easily get lost in the chaos that is the ‘Christmas season,’ we have planned this unit of inquiry with purpose and intention. As a learning community, we intend to go deeper by supporting children to understand how celebrations are used in different cultures to share stories and unpack how these stories and rituals shape communities.

With major cultural celebrations such as Diwali and Christmas fast approaching, we want to ensure that through this inquiry, children are still learning the rich and meaningful histories behind the associated traditions such as decorations, gatherings and gift giving. Over the past week, educators have been using their own personal photos of celebrations as provocations to encourage children to identify different clues about what type of celebration the photo has captured. These initial provocations have not only supported a rich dialogue between children and their educators but allowed the teaching staff to gain a sense of children’s prior knowledge surrounding this inquiry.

In a world where celebrations are becoming increasingly commercialised, we believe that developing a deep appreciation for, and understanding of the historic stories behind celebrations are key to children’s sense of community and belonging. We look forward to sharing more of this inquiry with you all as the term progresses.

Chloe Skoss and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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News from Pathway to School

Our central idea for this term is ‘Celebrations can tell stories.’ We have started Term 4 thinking about how we are going to celebrate and tell the story of the Pathway Room.

This semester has been the second Pathway to School classroom. We are writing and creating our own stories, as well as building rituals and traditions that will influence the future. The children have begun to discuss their transition to school. They have been articulate about their school start date and when they are going to be visiting their chosen school for their transition visits. Transition visits are important for the children to get to know their new educational setting, the people, the surroundings and get a feel for the community. Not only is it important for the children but also for families.

For many of our families, this will be their first encounter with the school environment, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders to ensure the Pathway to School children and families feel confident and supported to make the next step in their educational journey.

At the end of the term, we have some exciting events planned for the Pathway children. We have intentionally started to involve them in the planning for these events so that they have a sense of ownership and voice in how these events will unfold, and what story we want to tell to help celebrate their time in the Pathway Room and ELC.

Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
Learning Community 2 (Pathway)

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Vacation Care – Term 3 Holidays

Celebrating Spring

 

During Vacation Care in Learning Community 1, we celebrated spring through art, such as still flower painting, collage making and creating flowers through loose parts. 

 

Children continued to be active in our ELC community garden. With spring in full bloom, we discussed what plants we could grow and after a few discussions we decided on strawberries, tomatoes, cucumber, radish, capsicum and carrots.

 

We also explored spring through cooking; we made pizza using fresh tomatoes and basil, berry smoothies and noodles with mint and peas!

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Staff Spotlight: Wolita Harding

I came to Australia in 2010 with my husband Henry. Moving to Australia meant a whole new career path for me.

I always loved being with children and I enjoy seeing the way a child embraces everything wholeheartedly with joy, love and curiosity. This made the decision to study Early Childhood Education very easy. 

Before working at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, I worked at Annesley Junior School as Co-Educator for four years. My family grew bigger and we welcomed my daughter Mila into the world in 2017. I started working at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC in 2019 and have never looked back.

I cherish the connections and relationships I have made with the ELC families, children, and work colleagues. My favourite part of working at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is working alongside the amazing children, educators, and families. It is a privilege to be able to share the learning journey alongside the ELC community. 

I am enjoying my new role as ELC Manager and embrace the new challenges and learning opportunities this role brings. 2024 is almost among us and I am excited to welcome new families and children to the ELC as well as reconnect with the current families.

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来自ELC园长：

亲爱的家长朋友们，

我们的ELC非常高兴地欢迎孩子们和他们的家人们回到本学年的最后一个学期。我们怀着激动的心情迎来ELC的年终庆祝活动，并期待着在这个活动中看到许多我们的家庭的到来。

我要感谢Wolita Harding, Alexandra Portus, Valentina Fernandes和所有假期日托班的教师们在学校假期期间付出的辛劳。我们热烈欢迎Ellyana Simms加入到我们 ELC教师团队。Ellyana之前曾在Mount Gambier的Tenison Woods学校早教中心学习，目前正在攻读幼儿教育学士学位。她每周将有三天时间在学习社区1，一天的时间与我们Pathway的孩子们一起工作。

在上周，我们学校12年级的学生们庆祝了他们学校旅程的结束，看到他们激动喜悦的样子真是太好了。我们一部分ELC孩子去观看了一些庆祝活动，进一步加强了从ELC到12年级在圣彼得女校发生的联系以及他们的学习之旅。我们的学习环境是精心策划的，有特定的学习意图，以激发好奇心和可能性。学习机会可以培养孩子们的兴趣，反映他们的问题，并支持他们发展现在和未来成为成功学习者所需的能力。我们期待着第三周;这是孩子们与家人分享他们的学习文档的一周。在接送孩子的时间里，欢迎家长朋友们和孩子们通过一起分享他们的学习文档去了解您孩子在ELC的学习之旅。

本学期我们的探究单元是基于“庆典活动可以讲述故事”的中心思想。在我们的探究中，我们将探索“被分享的故事将如何塑造我们的社区并将他们聚集在一起”。从现在起到年底，将会有许多社区庆祝活动，这将支持我们的探究学习。因为我们将探索其中不同仪式及其意义。这是一个与你的孩子谈论在一个家庭里的一些庆祝活动，它们的目的和重要意义的最好时机。我期待着这学期的学习，期待着它将为学习、成长、深思、联系、社区和庆祝提供的所有机会。

园长

Liz Schembri

Emma Huang (ELC Educator and Chinese Community Contact, Fluent in Mandarin) works in Learning Community 1 on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30am – 4:30pm.

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Save the Date: ELC End of Year Celebration

Save the date for our ELC End of Year Celebration on Friday 1 December at 5pm. More details will be shared with families in the next edition of ELC News.

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New Uniform – Compulsory for 2024

The ELC is excited about the launch of our new custom-designed uniform. This beautiful new range takes into consideration the unique sizes, proportions and needs of our youngest community members, giving our ELC children a smart, cohesive look, and simplifying the routine of getting dressed in the morning.

As of Term 1, 2024, the new ELC uniform will be compulsory, consisting of both the top and bottom pieces (t-shirt; shorts; long sleeve top; long pants). A plain navy-coloured long sleeve top will be permitted to be worn underneath the t-shirt.

For summer and high UV periods, children will wear the new ELC bucket hat, and for cooler periods, there is a new ELC jacket and vest. These items are available from the School Shop.

All items that come to the ELC, including your child’s clothing and water bottle, must be clearly named.

Please ensure your child wears appropriate enclosed footwear for active and safe play, including excursions into Ferguson Park.

School Shop Hours

Monday – Friday: 8am – 4pm
(Closed 12 – 12.30pm for lunch)

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2024 ELC Enrolment Requirements

We are working through our intake offers for next year and need to ensure our current families have their allocated days in place. We will do our best to accommodate any changes of, or extra days requested; however, this will be based on availability. Please notify Sarah Elliott via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require an amendment to your days moving forward in 2024, or if you are leaving the Centre at the end of this year. 

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Our New MyLink Parent Portal Tutorials

We are excited to share our new myLink Parent Portal Instructional Tutorials with you. Our tutorials provide insight into the many features that myLink has to offer including accessing your child’s Learning Community Homepage, placing online Tuck Shop and School Shop orders. Please enjoy exploring the range of tutorials via the links below: ELC Parents Tuck Shop and Online Uniform Shop Ordering

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.

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Car Parking Notice

Families are reminded to be extra vigilant when parking on Hallett Road, Stonyfell Road and within the School car park during drop-off and pick-up times. The health and safety of our community is our highest priority, and we ask families to park in a safe and designated parking space on these roads and neighbouring streets. With a constant flow of traffic on the main roads surrounding our School, and families and children present in this vicinity, it is crucial for all drivers to move in and out of parking spaces with caution.

Please supervise children closely when getting into and out of the car. Families are reminded to use the pedestrian crossing to safely cross Hallett Road and Stonyfell Road and model appropriate road safety behaviour. Please do not leave siblings or other children in the car when dropping off or collecting your child.

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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.

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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. 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.

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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).

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.

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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.

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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

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ELC Room Contacts

• Stonyfell – 8155 5778
• Bell Yett – 8155 5780
• Ferguson – 8155 5776
• Hallett – 8155 5775
• Pathway – 8334 2250

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