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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Dear Families

It was wonderful to officially open our new Atelier this term with a special event for families, giving value to the ‘Hundred Languages’ as a metaphor for the many ways that children express their thoughts, theories and ideas. It was a well-attended occasion, welcoming families to view the space and all it has to offer. It was very special to see children and families engaging in this new space, exploring the materials and being creative together. I imagine this encouraged some rich conversations at home. Each time I walk past the Atelier, there is always an interesting and inspiring project happening; it is certainly a space where our ELC children are keen to spend their time.

This term, there has been wonderful engagement with sustainable loose parts as children have engaged with a variety of materials in a creative capacity to represent their world and as a resource for storytelling. There have also been beautiful recreations of the Ferguson Conservation Park landscape including large group creative collaborations and individual pieces of artwork.

We were excited to host a number of teachers and leaders from across the independent sector as part of the cross-school collegial meetings. During this time, Caterina Pennestri presented on the role of the Atelierista and the Atelier as a conceptual space. Caterina’s presentation was incredibly inspiring with participants keen to view the Atelier and ask questions.

This term, the central idea of our Unit of Inquiry was, ‘Our actions can impact our world.’ Across the ELC, we have connected with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals as we explored how we can take action to look after our world and the people in it. It has been exciting to see this inquiry evolve as children’s questions and curiosities have guided the learning. In Learning Community 1, children engaged in sustainable loose parts and connected with the book, ‘It’s Not a Box’, by Antoinette Portis. This led to some incredible creations as children used their imaginations to re-imagine what their boxes could be. This inquiry has been beautifully captured by the picture book that Learning Community 1 created called, ‘It’s Not Rubbish.’

In Learning Community 2, the children delved deeply into the meaning of our Acknowledgement of Country to understand what it means when we say that ‘we will look after everything on the land, people and the animals’ as we work together to nurture our ecological identity. Ferguson Park has played a key role in these investigations; children have had many opportunities to explore the local flora and fauna and the creek system that runs through the park. Our ELC Community Garden has also played a key role this term with some rich discussions around what children would like to plant. Our Pathway to School children even created their own scarecrow to watch over their growing vegetables and herbs.

Our Father’s and Treasured Friends’ Afternoon Tea was a wonderful event that engaged the whole community. The children were incredibly excited to spend time with their special visitors at the ELC. This event, along with our Coffee Van morning, allowed us to connect with families and enjoy some special moments together.

Term 3 concluded with the ELC Parent-Teacher Conversations which were a wonderful way to celebrate the learning that has occurred across the term and to work in partnership to ensure that we are offering the very best learning and care environment for your child.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all families for your continued support throughout Term 3. We are looking forward to what Term 4 will bring and all the wonderful upcoming learning opportunities together.

Liz Schembri
Director of ELC

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Important Dates

Monday 2 October: Public Holiday (ELC closed) 
Tuesday 3 October – Friday 13 October: Vacation Care
Monday 16 October: First day of Term 4

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Pathway to School

Pathway to School has created a unique classroom culture where emphasis is placed on collaborative group learning, where we work together towards achieving a shared goal and outcome. Through our inquiry projects and rich learning environments, the children are further developing their skills, dispositions and independence in the months before their transition to school. 

Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
Learning Community 2 (Pathway)

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News from Learning Community 1

As we near the end of Term 3, we begin to reflect on and evaluate our Unit of Inquiry and the learning journey we have been on with the children. This term we have focussed on the central idea, ‘Our actions can impact our world’. This unit has provided children with opportunities to further explore the key concepts of waste management, reusing, recycling and how we can transform waste into play resources. Through interpretation of these observations, we identified the following key lines of inquiry to further explore with the children:

• Responsibility to recycle, reuse and repurpose materials

Sustainable practices have been created with the children so that they can begin to recognise that taking an active role in sorting, reusing and repurposing can reduce the amount of waste going to landfill. We began Term 3 by sharing the book ‘Not a Box’ with the intention of inspiring the children’s imagination and generating reflections on reusing and repurposing materials. This play-based inquiry helped develop children’s social skills, collaboration, curiosity, problem solving and creativity.

• Responsibility to care for Ferguson Park

The children are actively making connections to our ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ as we promise to ‘care for everything on the land, the people and the animals.’ The children used their senses while noticing the creatures that live in the park, researched the various Wattle trees and actioned change in recognising that rubbish can cause harm to the animals if they eat it. It has been our pleasure to share your child’s journey and engagement in our Unit of Inquiry through our Parent Teacher Conversations over the last two weeks and we look forward to adding this documentation of your child’s learning to their individual portfolios.

Annabelle Redmond, Nell Tierney and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

Everyday across the ELC, we say our Acknowledgment to Country; these words are a promise we make, and this term we intentionally decided to focus on the line:

‘We will look after everything on the land, the people and the animals.’

Throughout the term, we had endless discussions with the children about what they thought this meant. We reconnected with Ferguson Park by taking daily trips. We watched, listened and waited, always guided by the children to see what direction our learning would take. We saw one of our main focuses in both the Hallett and Ferguson rooms evolve, and the introduction of recycled and repurposed materials filled our spaces. We thought about how we can look after people and each other through the kindness tree. We explored our connection to the insects and animals that inhabit our space. We used storytelling as a tool to solidify ideas and concepts and we supported the children to use play as a strategy to understand the impact they can have on the world around them.

We’ve had the privilege of sharing your child’s involvement in this learning during our Parent teacher Conversations over the past few weeks and we have enjoyed this celebration of learning and knowledge.

We will be filling your children’s Portfolios with more examples of their involvement. In Term 4, we look forward to welcoming you and your families to the Centre to view the Portfolios closer.

Sustainability, and creating a genuine and authentic connection to the land, is a value we place great importance on at the ELC and we look forward to strengthening this as we move into Term 4.

Chloe Skoss and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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News from Pathway to School

Over the past two weeks, we have had the privilege of meeting with families in our Parent Teacher Conversations. We value working in partnership with families to ensure that we are best supporting the children in a holistically and balanced manner. We loved the opportunity to share stories, strategies and support options in an open and honest forum. We appreciated the questions about our practice and welcomed feedback. When you ask us questions about your child and their time in the Pathway room, we feel your sense of pride and awe as you reflect on your child’s learning journey. We recognise that for many, this is the final semester at the ELC as your child will transition to school next year; this often brings emotion and time for reflection. We thank you for taking the time to meet with us this week and we welcome ongoing dialogue to further enhance your child’s time in Pathway to School.

Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
Learning Community 2 (Pathway)

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Vacation Care – Term 3 Holidays

Vacation Care will run from Tuesday 3 – Friday 13 October.
Please note: Monday 2 October is a public holiday and the ELC will be closed.

Families must book the days they would like their child to attend Vacation Care.

As Vacation Care is staffed based on bookings, please make your Vacation Care bookings by tomorrow, Friday 29 September.

To access our online booking form, click here
Alternatively, you can contact Wolita Harding via ELCVacationCare@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

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

Due to limited spaces during vacation care, please book early. Any bookings made after this date will incur a late booking fee of $5 added on top of the daily rate per child.

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Staff Spotlight: Emma Huang

I’m grateful for the opportunity to share my journey of work and learning at our ELC. Over the past six years, our children’s growth and development have continually inspired me to strive to become a better educator. This year, I am pursuing my Master’s Degree in Early Childhood Education to deepen my understanding of children’s learning.

In April, I embarked on a remarkable learning journey to Reggio Emilia, a city celebrating children’s voices as active citizens. It was a treasured experience connecting the possibilities happening every second in our ELC. It was a profound resource for me to motivate and empower our young learners. This experience opened up rich knowledge for me to research the field, embracing creative and critical thinking and learning in art education. 

In our diverse Learning Communities, bilingual education plays a crucial role. I work alongside Mrs Catt, Mrs Tierney, Ms Redmond and other lovely colleagues to develop children’s languages and connect with their cultures in the ELC; like celebrating Chinese New Year. By fostering children’s sense of belonging and creating a supportive learning community, children feel secure to learn and grow. Open and positive communication with families emphasises respect for each student’s uniqueness to be themselves, supporting the cultivation of their interests and goals. Following Loris Malaguzzi’s saying, I deeply believe that a child has a hundred languages, a hundred hands, a hundred thoughts, a hundred ways of thinking, playing and speaking.

Our efforts to support new children in establishing strong and nurturing relationships are the cornerstones. These relationships encourage engagement and collaboration in rich learning experiences; including storytelling, revelling in the beauty of early childhood literature, the ELC Community Garden and Ferguson Park, exploring nature and sustainability, musical adventures immersing in the rhythms and dancing, gross motor skills and a deep dive into Kaurna culture acknowledging the country and the First Nations People. Children develop deep connections with their teachers and peers, fostering their confidence, resilience, and enjoyment of learning and transitioning to the next journey. In embracing such relationships, children discover the world, their voices are heard, and they know they are cherished, respected, and supported every step with joy.

Children are like tiny seeds; our passion is the sunshine that awakens their potential. Our authentic care forms the foundation, the nurturing soil from which they draw strength. Our unwavering dedication as the water will cultivate them to grow and thrive into confident and lifelong learners.

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来自ELC园长：

亲爱的家长们，

这个学期，令我们高兴的是我们的新工作室以一场特别的家庭活动正式开幕。“百种语言”是作为孩子们以多种方式表达思想、理论和想法的一种比喻。我们欢迎许多家庭来到现场，并体验这个空间和它所提供的一切。看到孩子们和家人参与到这个新空间中，一起探索材料，一起创造，这是非常特别的。我可以想象的是，当孩子们回到家中，和家人们分享这一空间的一些丰富的对话，以及它所促的学习。每当我走过这个工作室，总会有一个有趣而鼓舞人心的学习项目正在发生;这是我们ELC孩子们热衷于渡过他们时间的地方。

这个学期，我们的孩子们充分运用了可持续的零散材料（loose parts），并以创造性的方式使用各种材料来表达他们的世界，作为一种讲故事的资源。还有使用这些材料来展现弗格森公园的美丽景观，这不仅包括大型团体创意合作，还有个人艺术作品的创作。

我们很高兴能够接待来自许多部门老师和领导，作为跨学院之间学术交流的一部分。在此期间，Caterina Pennestri提出了美育教学专家和“工作室”这一概念空间的作用。Caterina的演讲令人难以置信地鼓舞人心，到场的老师们热衷于参观工作室并提出问题。

这个学期，我们探索的中心思想是：“我们的行为可以影响我们的世界。”“在整个欧洲经委会，我们与联合国可持续发展目标联系在一起，探索如何采取行动来爱护我们的世界和生活在其中的人们。令人感到十分激动的是，能看到这种探究激发了孩子们的问题和好奇心，并引导学习的发展。在学习社区1中，孩子们参与了可持续的松散部件的创作，并与Antoinette Portis的书《这不是盒子》联系在一起。这带来了一些不可思议的创作，因为孩子们用他们的想象力，重新想象“盒子还可能是什么”这一主题。“学习社区1”制作的图画书《这不是垃圾》精美地记录了这个探索学习。

在学习社区2中，孩子们深入探索了我们对“承认我们的国土和原住民”的这一概念，以理解当我们说“我们将照顾土地上的一切，人和动物”时，我们共同努力培养我们的所处的“生态系身份”是有什么样的意义。弗格森公园在这些调查中发挥了关键作用;孩子们有很多机会探索当地的动植物和贯穿公园的小溪流生态系统。我们的ELC社区花园在本学期也发挥了关键作用，围绕“孩子们喜欢种植什么”进行了丰富的讨论。我们学前班的孩子们制作了稻草人来照看他们正在生长的蔬菜和香料植物。

我们的父亲节以及“欢迎孩子们特别的朋友”的下午茶是一个精彩的活动，整个社区都积极参与进来。孩子们非常高兴地与他们的“特别访客”在ELC共度时光。这个活动，连同我们的“早茶咖啡车”，让我们与家人联系在一起，一起共享这些“特别的时刻”。

第三学期以ELC家长-老师对话迎来了尾声，这是一个很好的方式来庆祝整个学期的学习，并确保我们为您的孩子提供最好的学习和环境。

我想借此机会感谢所有家庭在第三学期一直以来对我的支持。我们期待着第四学期的到来，期待着所有美好的学习机会。

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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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 and 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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Dear Families

I hope you’re enjoying the warm change in the weather. It’s a wonderful time to be out in Ferguson Park and the ELC Community Garden. Both environments provide a wonderful opportunity for children to engage with concepts of sustainability and responsibility. These areas have also supported the Central Idea for our current unit of inquiry ‘Our actions can impact our world’. It has been wonderful to observe the rich investigations that have been occurring and how these have been shaped by the children’s curiosity and questions. I know that the teachers are looking forward to sharing the children’s learning at the upcoming Parent Teacher Conversations. If you haven’t booked a time yet to meet with your child’s teacher, please visit the following link to do so: myLink Parent Portal

On Friday 1 September, we hosted the Father’s and Treasured Friends’ Afternoon Tea. It was fabulous to see this event so well attended. Building a welcoming and inclusive community where families feel they belong is a priority at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC. The pride and excitement on the children’s faces as they spent time in the ELC with their fathers and special friends was an absolute highlight. I thoroughly enjoyed engaging with families and observing the rich connections that were formed and built upon with this wonderful opportunity to gather as a community.

Liz Schembri
Director of ELC

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Important Dates

Tuesday 19 September, Wednesday 20 September & Monday 25 September: ELC Parent-Teacher Conversations
Monday 2 October: Public Holiday (ELC closed) 
Tuesday 3 October – Friday 13 October: Vacation Care

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Sustainability in Learning Community 1

This term, Ferguson Park has provided us with rich learning opportunities as we explore the Central Idea, ‘Our actions can impact our world.’ The Learning Community 1 children have been working like botanists in the park, researching the common and scientific names of the plants and trees. We have also been connecting this learning to Kaurna culture and history as we learn how Kaurna people lived with a sustainable mindset.

The teachers have created a book that highlights the actions identified by the children that can be taken to ensure the plants and animals will not be impacted by rubbish found in the park. They have used their knowledge of bin systems, recycling and reusing to help combat our war against waste. This has empowered the children to feel a connection to the land and develop their sense of responsibility to care for the world.

Nell Tierney and Jessica Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 1

Learning Through Storytelling

‘The human species thinks in metaphors and learns through stories.’ – Mary Catherine Bateson, Writer, and Cultural Anthropologist.

Throughout the year, educators and children are witnesses to the magic of stories and their impact on our learning at ELC. Storytelling plays a powerful role in supporting and driving inquiry themes and concepts. It invites excitement, provokes curiosity and ideas, and sends messages for further thought.

Across Learning Community 1, children are invited to storytelling experiences each day through reading books and engaging at story tables where they can retell familiar stories and create their own narratives. Participating in storytelling develops early literacy skills and foundational pre-reading skills. Educators seek to develop listening comprehension, phonological awareness, the understanding of cause and effect, and the ability to predict sequence and retell a story. Engaging in storytelling each day supports a lifelong love for books and reading.

This term’s Central Idea ‘Our actions can impact our world’ was introduced with the storybook Not a Box. In this story, a rabbit uses his imagination to transform a simple box into a playful creation. Quickly, the story became a contagion for which children began using boxes and other recycled materials to design new creations to use in their play, just like the rabbit. The children began to see the possibility in everyday materials, and understood the materials could be reinvented and reused, rather than being put into the rubbish. We saw the connection with a storybook transform imagination and creativity.

Working with ELC teachers and our Atelierista, Caterina Pennestri, we have collated images of the children’s recycled creations, using them to create our own storybook ‘It’s Not Rubbish’. The book follows the same theme as Not a Box, supporting children to connect, compare, and make predictions in the storytelling process. Sharing our book ‘It’s Not Rubbish’ has been a powerful learning experience for the children in Learning Community 1. It has allowed them to see the outcome of their actions in their ability to reduce, reuse and recycle waste in a fun and creative way. The children have demonstrated a sense of pride in creating their own storybook, evident in the buzz of excitement each time it is read and retold.

Please keep an eye out for updates on our MyLink Homepage and notifications on the classroom doors for the official launch of our story ‘It’s Not Rubbish’.

Annabelle Redmond, Nell Tierney and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

The Development of Our Ecological Identity

Observations taken during the early days of exploring our Central Idea ‘Our actions can impact our world’, provided educators with a broad snapshot of children’s prior knowledge. The children across Learning Community 2 could demonstrate an understanding of surface level issues such as food waste and why they need to recycle, but what was missing was their connection to and deeper understanding of ‘what’ they are trying to protect through their sustainable actions.

This gap in children’s knowledge inspired us to begin our frequent encounters to Ferguson Park. Through these opportunities of complete immersion in nature, children have begun to develop a strong Ecological Identity by cultivating ‘a love of place’ and connection to the park. As the term has progressed, educators across Learning Community 2 have noticed a vast difference in children’s knowledge surrounding how their actions impact their world and sustainability, which is linked to their new relationship with Ferguson Park.

During our encounters in Ferguson Park, children have been taking on many roles such as botanists through the exploration of different plants, ornithologists by documenting the different birdlife and hydrographic surveyors through the discovery and mapping of the different water ways in the area. Taking on these roles has further supported children to develop their ecological identity by deepening their knowledge as they have had to research, problem solve, formulate ideas and test hypothesises related to their natural environment.

Developing a meaningful connection with Ferguson Park through an ecological identity is vital as ‘obligation grows from love’. As educators, our intention is for children’s sustainable actions to be fuelled by their passion for nature, love of place, and connection to Ferguson Park.

Chloe Skoss and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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News from Pathway to School

As teachers, we always try extremely hard to find the hook, the spark that is going to create an excited contagion amongst the children, where everyone is eager to involve themselves and contribute. The Pathway teachers used the ELC Community Garden as the vehicle to support the children to have a concrete experience, which forced them to ‘take action’ and show their responsibility towards the environment. Whilst our aim was to have the garden as the hook, the children showed us that it was through making scarecrows to protect the garden from crows, birds and other living creatures. The children have immersed themselves in a rich inquiry understanding why scarecrows are in gardens, how to make a scarecrow, and mathematical concepts such as measurement and spatial awareness. We have made stories about our scarecrows’ lives and included them in our dramatic play.

In Early Childhood Education, teachers plan intentions and link them with learning and teaching outcomes. However, the true magic is when the children take the inquiry in a direction that is much more meaningful and engaging than we envisaged. Each week, we’ve received emails from families explaining that their child has spoken about our scarecrow inquiry, made one at home or found one in their local community that they wanted to photograph and share with their classmates. We have started planning our next scarecrow and have enjoyed the opportunities we’ve had to connect with families and invite them into the learning environment.

Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
Learning Community 2 (Pathway)

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Staff Spotlight: Elina Qian

Having transitioned from being a High School Teacher in Shanghai to becoming a qualified Early Childhood Educator and registered teacher in Adelaide, I have dedicated 15 years of my life to nurturing and learning with young minds. It has been a rewarding and fulfilling path, and I want to express my passion for this field to our ELC families and fellow staff members.

My journey into Early Childhood Education began in 2009 and since then, I have found immense joy in being around young children. The foundation of my career rests upon the strong relationships I build with them. These formative years, the first five, are undeniably the most crucial and essential period in one’s life. It is an honour and a privilege to work alongside these young minds, learn from them, and watch them grow.

This is my fourth year at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC and it has been an exciting year of growth and learning. I have had the opportunity to engage in various professional development activities that have enriched my capacity as an educator. In April, I had the privilege of joining the Reggio Emilia Australia Study group’s visit to Reggio Emilia, Italy. This trip was a remarkable experience, providing me with valuable insights into the Reggio Emilia approach and broadening my horizon to another level. 

Additionally, in June, I attended the REAIE (Reggio Emilia Australia Information Exchange) national conference in Melbourne. This conference brought together educators from all over the country to explore innovative teaching practices and share ideas. It was an inspiring event that allowed me to connect with like-minded educators and further enhance my skills and knowledge. One of my aspirations is to become an outstanding Atelierista, akin to our esteemed Caterina. I believe in the power of creativity and artistic expression in early childhood education, and I am committed to developing this aspect as my personal and professional goal. 

This year marks a significant milestone in my journey as an Early Childhood Educator as I transitioned from LC1 to LC2, where I have the privilege of working alongside Laura Reiters in the Hallett Room. This transition has been a transformative experience, and I feel incredibly fortunate to be part of this new chapter in my career.

A quote that resonates deeply with me is by Loris Malaguzzi: “Your image of the child is where teaching begins.” This quote encapsulates our shared belief that understanding and respecting each child as a unique individual is the foundation of effective teaching. I believe that every child has their own strengths, interests, and potential, and it is our responsibility to nurture and guide them on their educational journey. The more opportunities we offer children, the more possibilities they create. I understand that exploration and discovery are fundamental to a child’s learning process. Therefore, in addition to my prior research and practical experience in the field of the ‘Language of Light,’ I have worked with my team to seamlessly incorporate a range of pedagogical approaches and methodologies into our daily inquiries. These include the strategic utilisation of loose parts, the integration of digital landscapes, and the intentional practice of mark-making techniques. These diverse educational tools and strategies have been carefully selected to enrich the learning experiences of our students, fostering holistic development and a deeper engagement with the curriculum. We work diligently to create an environment rich in opportunities for hands-on learning, creativity, and critical thinking. 

Early Childhood Education is not just a profession for me; it is a passion and a lifelong commitment. I am grateful for the opportunities I’ve had for professional development, and I look forward to continuing to grow and evolve as an educator, contributing to the bright futures of the children we encounter at the ELC.

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Meet Student Teacher, Luxi Luo

Luxi is a final year student at UniSA, majoring in Early Childhood Teaching. We are pleased to have Luxi working in the Hallett Room as a preservice teacher until the end of term.

About Me
My name is Luxi and my preferred name ‘Lucy’ has a similar pronunciation to my Chinese name. I was born in Northern China and grew up in a city close to Beijing. I can speak both Mandarin and English, as well as a little bit of Spanish.

My parents and I love pets and we keep two dogs, Summer and Winter, a few goldfish and a calico cat named Piggy in our house.

My Teaching Goal
In my upcoming teaching experience, I will make every endeavour to be supportive by embedding fun, engaging and playful learning in line with the Early Years Learning Framework.

I firmly believe that each child’s unique interests and abilities should be valued and extended to reach their full potential. Every child should be viewed as competent and capable learners to take control of their own learning.

I am looking forward to building genuine relationships with children, parents and staff members, and I will be making active contributions to work collaboratively with others when planning, implementing and documenting children’s learning.

Fun Facts About Me
1. I love playing the piano
2. I love travelling with my parents to different places in China and all around the world
3. I love tidying my house in my free time

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Vacation Care – Term 3 Holidays

Vacation Care will run from Tuesday 3 – Friday 13 October.
Please note: Monday 2 October is a public holiday and the ELC will be closed.

Families must book the days they would like their child to attend Vacation Care.

To access our online booking form, click here
Alternatively, you can contact Wolita Harding via ELCVacationCare@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

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: As Vacation Care is staffed based on bookings, please make your Vacation Care bookings by Friday 29 September (Week 10). Due to limited spaces during vacation care, please book early. Any bookings made after this date will incur a late booking fee of $5 added on top of the daily rate per child.

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Parent-Teacher Conversations

Bookings for ELC Parent-Teacher Conversations are open, and conversations will take place on the following dates:

Hallett and Ferguson Rooms:
Tuesday 19 – Wednesday 20 September

Bell Yett, Stonyfell and Pathway Rooms:
Tuesday 19,  Wednesday 20 and Monday 25 September

There are designated 15-minute face-to-face time slots to meet with your child’s teacher. Bookings can be made via myLink and will close at 5pm on Thursday 14 September (today).

We strongly encourage you to book a meeting as it provides us with the opportunity to share your child’s learning journey and significant moments, and the documentation we have supporting this. From these discussions, future goals for your child may be created to ensure they reflect the perspectives of parents and educators.

How to access myLink for bookings:

• Log in to the myLink parent portal using your username (your ID number) and password. Your ID number was sent to you in a previous email. If you don’t know your password, use the link provided on the login page.

• 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 on Thursday 14 September.

If you require myLink assistance, please contact the IT Helpdesk via helpdesk@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 08 8334 2227.

Upon arrival for your meeting, we ask that you please enter the ELC via the Hallett Road entrance, follow our sign in procedure and wait in the foyer to be met by your child’s teacher.

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来自ELC园长：

亲爱的家长朋友们，

希望大家正在享受这逐渐变暖的怡人天气。这正是来到弗格森公园和ELC社区花园的美好时光。这两个环境都为孩子们提供了一个很好的机会，让他们了解可持续发展和责任的概念。这些领域也支持了我们当前探索学习的中心思想“我们的行动可以影响我们的世界”。观察孩子们的好奇心和提出的问题是一件美好的事情，也正是因为如此，创造了丰富多彩的探究学习。我们的老师们都很期待在即将到来的“家长与老师一对一交流会”中分享他们的探索成果。如果您还没有预约与您孩子老师见面的时间，请访问以下链接: myLink家长门户网站。

在上周，我们为父亲们和孩子的“特别的朋友们”准备了下午茶。看到这么多家长和孩子的“特别的朋友”来到这个活动，真是十分令人高兴的事。建立一个包容的社区，让家庭感到受欢迎和归属感是圣彼得女校ELC的优先事项。当孩子们和他们的父亲以及特别的朋友们一起在ELC共渡这美好的时光，他们脸上洋溢着的骄傲和快乐绝对是一个亮点。我喜爱和孩子们以及家长们互动，通过这样丰富的互动联结，创造了机会让大家凝聚在一起，形成了一个社区。

园长

Liz Schembri

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30am – 4:30pm.

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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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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

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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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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.

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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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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

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Important Dates

Friday September 1: Fathers and Treasured Friends’ Afternoon Tea, 2pm
Wednesday 23 August: Book Week Dress Up

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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 

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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

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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

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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)

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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!

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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. 

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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!

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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.

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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

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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 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.

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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).
• 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.

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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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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.

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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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A warm welcome to current and new families to the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC Community. I hope you have settled in well and are enjoying Term 3 so far.

Our educators have been working hard to create strong relationships with each child, so they feel secure and connected. Our team is looking forward to working closely with all families to support their child on their learning journey.

Vacation Care was a huge success these school holidays. I would like to thank Alexandra Portus and Valentina Fernandes who did a tremendous job working in collaboration with teachers across the Centre so they could continue to build on the rich learning opportunities that occurred throughout Term 2. The children engaged in many wonderful activities such as music, clay, cooking, dance and so much more.

Since returning to the new semester, we have been busy as we have had our assessment and rating through the Education Standards Board South Australia. This occurs on a cyclical basis for all Early Childhood services. One of the things that the assessor noted when observing practice within the learning environments was how embedded the Kaurna culture is at our Centre. As finalists in the Narragunnawali awards in 2021, we are very proud of our reconciliation journey and the way that we continue to draw on our knowledge of Kaurna culture, language and symbolism to enrich children’s learning. This weekend I was reading about Early Learning Matters Week on the Early Childhood Australia website and the importance of learning through connection. It was wonderful to reflect on how supporting children’s knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and perspectives has a tremendous reach and impact. I found the below paragraph very significant as it aligns with our values at the ELC:

‘By learning about the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and experiences including the value of caring for Country and community, children gain a deeper appreciation for the importance of social justice, active citizenship and sustainability. This can foster a sense of belonging and social engagement and promotes active and respectful participation in shared efforts to build a sustainable and inclusive future.’

We are looking forward to an exciting and eventful Term 3 as we celebrate the opening of our Atelier, embrace the way books enrich our imagination and creativity through Book Week, as well as celebrating our Fathers and Treasured Friends.

Liz Schembri
Director of ELC

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Important Dates

Friday August 4: ELC Coffee Van, 7.30am
Wednesday August 9: Meet the Teacher Information Evening, 6.30pm
Friday September 1: Fathers and Treasured Friends’ Afternoon Tea, 2pm
Wednesday 23 August: Book Week Dress Up

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Joy at July Vacation Care

We created a ‘produce market’ in the ELC, where children selected their fruit and vegetables and served it in their ‘home’. We also set up a live food observation station. Here we talk about where food grows (above soil or under soil) and the children paint, draw and discuss what dish we can prepare during the week using that produce.

Learning Community 2 continued to explore the function of water and food through cooking experiences and using the vegetables from our Community Garden. The children were also thrilled to curate their own ELC restaurant and share their mealtimes and learning with Learning Community 1. The book Rain Child by Clare Thompson was the inspiration behind our inquiry into the function of water. The children in Learning Community 2 have been using the language of watercolours and loose parts to tell stories and create worlds. The Ferguson room was also transformed into a space for water discovery where children were invited to explore water and its function in the world through dance, meditation and art. 

The children also enjoyed music, dance and yoga, which really got everyone moving! They also explored their creativity through paint and clay.

Our Centre is excited for Term 3, and we can’t wait for the next Vacation Care in October.

Valentina Fernandes and Alexandra Portus
ELC Co-Educators & Vacation Care Leaders

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News from Learning Community 1

A very warm welcome to Term 3 in Learning Community 1! Welcome to our new families who are starting their journey with us at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC. Welcome back to our families continuing with us in the Bell Yett and Stonyfell rooms.

We began the term with an open mind and excitement for what the semester ahead has in store for our ELC’s youngest learners. The mid-year break gives our staff an opportunity to gather and intentionally discuss the remainder of the year. It’s also a time that allows us to review the new group of children and families who will be joining our ELC. We look at where their needs sit and how we can sufficiently assist these. Cinzia Innerti, an Early Childhood Teacher and Consultant from Reggio Emilia, Italy, tells us that arriving in a new place is complex. You need to refine your heart and mind. As we begin this new semester, we acknowledge the emotions of our new families as they experience many ‘firsts’. The first full day apart and the first few weeks in a new space with many new faces.

A strong sense of community underpins every aspect of our ELC lives, and a sense of belonging felt by all in our community is at the forefront of our practice as educators as we welcome young children and their families. We treasure that school is a place where people live a portion of their lives together, and we hope for our youngest learners, that it begins to feel like an extension of the home. This term, our learning and interactions will be guided by the central idea Our actions can impact our world. We will be exploring how children develop their understandings of how to build sustainable practices in our everyday lives to look after our world. Our early lines of inquiry will include:

• The purpose of reducing, reusing and recycling
• What happens if we don’t manage our waste?
• Reflecting on our responsibilities within our community, at home and ELC

Over the coming weeks, we will share our learning with you through conversation, documentation in the rooms, our online MyLink page and in your child’s individual parent teacher conversation.

Nell Tierney, Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

At this point of the School year, we welcome change and transition into the first few weeks of the term. We know that change can be a challenge and we, as adults, can find change difficult and unsettling. Some of us avoid it as much as we can; however, like most things in life, it is inevitable. How we manage change can really impact how our children manage change. We often want to smooth their pathway, take out the bumps and make it as easy as possible. We need to ask ourselves: What do they learn from this approach? What happens when we are not there to do this for them?

As your child develops and grows, we want them to build on their strategies and ability to work through these times and feel confident that change can be a positive experience and we can learn something from facing times of challenge.

Over the mid-year break, we have been embracing change in our Learning Community. The biggest change that has occurred has been the Ferguson and Pathway Room swapping locations. Alongside this physical change in spaces, we warmly welcome all our children and families who have transitioned from Learning Community 1. We are excited to build our relationships with you and your children. We look forward to working with you to embrace this time of transition and change and seeing the positive aspects and learning moments that will occur with your children.

Chloe Skoss and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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Pathway to School

Welcome to Pathway to School for Semester 2, 2023. As a part of Learning Community 2, we have created a flexible learning space to provide targeted support for children during the six months prior to their commencement to school. Last week, we welcomed the second group of children into the Pathway to School classroom, as these children will be eligible to start school from the beginning of 2024.

This semester, we embrace our new learning environment which was previously known as the Ferguson Room. The children have quickly shown us why the move was beneficial as they have had the opportunity to break into smaller, more intentional learning groups, maximise learning spaces and access other areas with ease such as the Piazza and Atelier. The children have quickly shown their interest and curiosity towards the invitations for learning within the environment and the opportunities and possibilities that lie ahead.

As a group, we have actively begun accessing the wider school spaces and it was a touching moment as our existing Pathway friends from last semester reconnected with their peers who have recently transitioned to Mid-Year Reception.

We look forward to working in partnership with families to best support your children in these six months prior to their transition to school. We feel privileged to be able to work so intentionally with your children and look forward to sharing the learning with you via our homepage, newsletter, parent teacher conversations and room documentation.

Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
Learning Community 2 (Pathway)

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Playgroup in the Atelier

This week at Playgroup, we welcomed many new families into the ELC and celebrated our current families returning from holiday. We began Term 3 by exploring the inquiry of Who we are and the children took time to look at themselves through mirrors, explore their facial features with playdough, and changed their image of self through dress up. 

We also had the opportunity to explore the new Atelier and meet our Atelierista, Caterina.  Caterina took the children on a journey to discover more about the 100 Languages and encouraged them all to play and learn in this new ELC space.

Kathy McCabe
Playgroup Coordinator

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Tomorrow – ELC Community Coffee Van

The ELC Coffee Van is here once again tomorrow – Friday 4 August from 7.30am (Hallett Road entrance).

This is a wonderful opportunity to engage with the ELC community and enjoy a hot drink on us at morning drop off. We hope to see you there!

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Save the Date – Meet the Teacher Information Evening

We invite you to attend our our Meet the Teacher Information Evening on Wednesday 9 August, 6.30pm in the ELC (enter via Hallett Road).

This is a unique opportunity to see the learning environments, hear from the teaching team about how we plan and implement our units of inquiry and gain a better understanding of the teaching and learning within our ELC.

We recommend parents/guardians only attend this event, as it is information based.

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Celebrating the Opening of the Atelier

 An Afternoon in the Atelier: Thursday 17 August, 2 – 6pm

Meeting the Hundred Languages in the ELC 

We invite ELC children and parents to visit the new Atelier on Thursday 17 August from 2 – 6pm. 

Your child will lead you through the Atelier space where you can explore the materials and resources together. 

Our Atelierista Caterina and the ELC Staff will be available to support you and your child during this exploration of our new Atelier.

We hope to see you there! 

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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. 

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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!

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来自ELC园长：

亲爱的家长朋友们，

热烈欢迎我们现在和新家庭来到圣彼得女校ELC社区。我希望从上周到现在大家已经逐渐适应了并开始喜爱上第三学期的学习。我们的教育工作者一直在努力与每个孩子建立牢固的关系，让他们感到安全、信任、联结。我们的教师团队期待着与所有家庭密切合作，支持他们孩子的学习之旅。

假期日托班在这学期假期取得了巨大的成功。我要感谢Alexandra Portus和Valentina Fernandes，他们与ELC的老师们共同合作，让他们能够在第二学期丰富的学习基础上有机会继续学习。

开学以来，我们ELC一直致力于迎接来自南澳大利亚教育标准委员会的评审团的考察。这在所有幼儿服务中都是定期发生的。在观察学习环境时，评估员注意到原住民文化植根于我们ELC日常实践中。作为2021年Narragunnawali奖的决赛入围者，我们对自己的“和解之旅”以及利用我们对原住民文化、语言和象征意义的了解来丰富孩子们的学习而感到非常自豪。

这个周末，我在澳大利亚早教网站上阅读了关于早教课题周的内容，以及通过建立连接关系在儿童学习中的重要性。令我感到十分重要的是，支持儿童了解和理解原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民的历史、文化和观点对孩子的学习具有巨大的影响。我发现以下分享内容非常重要，因为它符合我们在ELC的价值观:

“通过了解原住民和托雷斯海峡岛民的历史、文化和经历的多样性，包括关心国家和社区的价值，孩子们对社会公正、积极公民身份和可持续性的重要性有了更深的认识。这可以培养归属感和社会参与感，共同努力促进积极并尊重地参与性，建设可持续和包容的未来。”

我们期待着一个激动人心的第三学期，我们将庆祝我们学习工作室正式开启孩子们的学习之旅，拥抱书籍来丰富我们想象力和创造力，并庆祝我们的父亲节以及欢迎那些在孩子生活中重要的家人朋友的到来。

园长
Liz Schembri

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30am – 4:30pm.

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Child Care Subsidy (CCS) Update

We wish to inform you that from July 10 the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) increased. This means that most families using early childhood education and care will receive an increase to their CCS. In addition, families who were previously not eligible for CCS may now be eligible.

If you currently receive CCS and would like to know more about these changes, please refer to the following fact sheet Fact sheet – Do you already get Child Care Subsidy? – Department of Education, Australian Government

If you do not currently receive CCS and would like to know if you are eligible, please refer to the following fact sheet Fact sheet – Are you eligible for help with child care fees? – Department of Education, Australian Government

For any queries with regards to these changes, please do not hesitate to contact our ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer Sarah Elliott via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

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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

We thank you for your understanding.

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.

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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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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.

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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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To our wonderful ELC community,

It is my great pleasure to announce the appointment of our new St Peter’s Girls’ ELC Director, Ms Liz Schembri.

Liz is a highly-skilled teacher, successful leader and advocate for early childhood education. Her career includes teaching appointments at St Andrew’s School, Emmaus Christian College and Holy Family Catholic School here in South Australia, in addition to spending 10 years at the Beijing City International School where she trained in the International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme (IB PYP) and was involved in the development of the school’s new Early Childhood Centre.

Upon her return to Australia, Liz spent two years teaching at St Francis de Sales College at Mount Barker before leading the team as a Professional Pedagogy Coach, mentoring and working alongside staff to implement inquiry learning into classroom practice. She then led the building and development of the new Alive Catholic Early Learning Centre and was appointed as the Head of Early Learning, Alive (Mount Barker).

Liz has a diverse range of experiences as a leader and educator across early learning to Year 7 with roles such as Professional Pedagogy Coach (R – 6), Years 3 – 6 Leader and Literacy Coordinator. She brings an incredible dedication and skillset to the role of ELC Director, and a strong belief in the important relationship between indoor and outdoor learning experiences and the way these lend themselves to inquiry and nature play, based on the Reggio Emilia approach. She has a passion for developing quality future-focused education programs for our youngest learners and recognises the importance of each child’s unique learning journey.

Liz says, ‘My experiences have helped me to develop a deep understanding of current methodologies and practices in education and what a learner needs to be successful now and into the future. In the early years of development, it is crucial that we understand and implement a holistic program planned with purpose and intent that honours a child’s need for connection and belonging, and nurtures and builds on their natural curiosity and capacity to learn.’

I am equally delighted to announce Sera Boccaccio has accepted the position of ELC Manager. Sera has been a part of our community since she was 10 years old, coming down to the ELC to volunteer while she was a student at St Peter’s Girls’ School. Over the years, she developed a passion for working with young children and consequently chose this area as a career pathway, first studying a Certificate III in Children Services and then completing a Diploma in Early Childhood and Care. Sera has been a pivotal part of our ELC team since 2014, and we are extremely honoured to have such a passionate and experienced Old Scholar to help guide and support our ELC team.

Whilst we look forward to the wonderful work Liz and Sera will perform within our ELC community, we also take the time to thank Henrietta Balnaves and Caterina Pennestri for their immense contributions to our ELC this year as ELC Manager and ELC Educational Leader respectively. They have been dedicated mentors to the rest of the ELC team, constantly striving for educational excellence, best practice and teamwork of the highest calibre. Under their guidance, the children’s learning has continued to be of an incredible standard as demonstrated in our fantastic ELC News videos and articles, and we thank them for this as they prepare for a detailed handover with Liz and Sera. We will continue to enjoy Caterina’s educational expertise as she returns to her role of ELC Atelierista. Henrietta will spend the first term working alongside Liz, ensuring a smooth and thorough handover period, and the Stonyfell Room before she embarks upon a new adventure for the remainder of next year.

We congratulate Liz and Sera on their appointments, and look forward to introducing Liz to our amazing community in the near future.

Kind regards

Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School

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Important Dates

Monday 5 December: ELC Hat Ceremony
Friday 9 December: Last day of Term 4
December 12 – 23: Vacation Care

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Exploring the Language of Food

At St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, we invite the children to learn through different experiences and with all their senses. We value the ‘Language of Food’ as a vehicle to understand the cycle of food from garden to plate, supporting healthy eating choices and cultural awareness.

Cooking with children offers many educational benefits including building knowledge of other cultures, special celebrations and traditions, promoting social skills and boosting confidence.

Following a recipe and mixing ingredients can teach mathematical concepts such as fractions, geometry, quantity, volumes and measurements. Understanding a recipe improves comprehension and expands children’s vocabulary by naming ingredients, tools and verbs.

During the process of cooking food, children discover chemistry principles while the ingredients change and transform, and following step-by-step instructions to achieve a finished result ignites a sense of pride and accomplishment.

Creating dishes is a sensorial learning experience that inspires discovery, curiosity and the joy of being together as a community. 

‘But we must not forget that one of the most important links between people and food is the principle of pleasure; the pleasure that derives from using the senses but also the pleasure of discovery, the pleasure of manipulating raw materials to create foods, the pleasure of play and the pleasure of company, which at the table becomes conviviality.’ – Reggio Children Publication ‘The Languages of Food recipes, experiences, thoughts’ by Reggio Children

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Reminder: Our ELC End of Year Celebration is Tomorrow!

Join us for our ELC End of Year Celebration tomorrow at 5.30pm on Chiverton Lawns. Singing will commence from 5.45pm.

We encourage families to bring a picnic basket and rug, and set up your space on the lawns (see map below for optimal viewing positions).

Children are invited to wear their Christmas party clothes. We can’t wait to see you there!

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Good Sports Rally at R to 3 Sports Morning

Last Friday, our R to 3 Sports Morning was the perfect crescendo to our celebration of PE Week. The excitement levels are always high as the girls showcase what they have been learning throughout the year to staff and families.

The focus of the event is on fun and participation. In this age group, building positive experiences of being physically active helps foster a love for PE and sport, one that we hope will last for their entire lives. The girls participate in a host of games, each harnessing a different FUNdamental movement skill. They compete in their Houses to develop teamwork while also fostering healthy competitiveness.

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Exciting New ELC Uniforms

We are excited to announce our ELC will be rolling out a new custom-designed uniform from mid-December 2022. 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.

2023 will be a phasing-out period, where children can continue to wear pieces of the old ELC uniform to supplement their outfits, giving families time to purchase the new garments.

From 2024, the new ELC uniform will be compulsory for all children to wear during their time at the ELC. Children will need to wear 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 will be new ELC vest and jacket options to replace non-ELC jackets, jumpers and vests. 

These new items will be available for purchase from our School Shop in mid-December, and we look forward to seeing the children proudly wear their new ELC attire.

Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School

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Vacation Care Bookings Close Soon!

Vacation Care bookings are now open and will close at 5pm on Monday 28 November. Families can book via www.trybooking.com/CEEME. Please note: Due to staffing requirements, any changes made after the booking closing date will incur the full day’s fee.

Vacation Care will run from Monday 12 to Friday 23 December, and will be closed from Monday 26 December. Vacation Care will reopen on Monday 9 January and run until Friday 27 January, with Term 1 beginning on Monday 30 January. Please note: Thursday 26 January is a public holiday and the ELC will be closed.

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ELC Giving Tree

In a special ELC tradition, and as part of the Saints Girls’ Anglicare Christmas Appeal, we are once again partnering with Anglicare SA for our annual ELC Giving Tree.

ELC families are invited to bring a gift from Monday 21 November to place under the ELC Giving Tree for a child less fortunate.

Gifts could include books, board games, craft sets, Lego, musical instruments, footballs and soccer balls, toy cars and dolls.

Please note, all items must be new, not wrapped and placed under the ELC Giving Tree by
Monday 5 December.

Thank you for your participation in this special giving tradition.

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Sun Safety in the ELC

As the weather starts to warm up, please ensure your child brings a broad-brimmed hat each day they attend ELC. If you do not have an ELC uniform hat, we ask that you pack another broad-brimmed hat for your child to wear. As we move into the warmer months, it is extremely important that we adhere to our policies and procedures. If your child does not have a hat, they will be asked to play under the shaded areas or indoors.

We encourage you to apply sunscreen on your child prior to arriving at the ELC so they are ready for the day. Sunscreen application is undertaken regularly at the ELC; if your child requires an alternative sunscreen, please provide this to your child’s teacher.

We also ask that your child wears their correct ELC uniform, and refrains from wearing dresses or singlets where their shoulders are exposed. Appropriate footwear is also required and we ask that children wear sneakers or sandals that have a backing to them. For visits into Ferguson Park, long pants and closed-toed shoes are required.

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2023 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.

Please notify me ASAP via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require an amendment to your days moving forward in 2023, or if you are leaving the Centre at the end of this year.

We understand that families may need to take extended periods of time off throughout an ELC year for special circumstances. We do still charge for any booked days when your child is enrolled in the ELC. In line with the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) service, children are allowed 42 CCS ‘absent’ days per year, with any number of days following this incurring the standard daily rate of ELC without subsidy. Please keep this in mind and let me know if you intend to be absent for an extended period of time.

Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments Manager

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COVID-19 Information

As you may be aware, a number of COVID-19 requirements have been lifted including mandatory isolation for those who test positive. Notwithstanding this, SA Health encourages anyone with symptoms to get tested and stay home until symptoms have cleared (usually five to seven days).

As there is no longer a set COVID isolation period, you must notify the School each day your child will be absent, or provide the expected period of absence.

Please notify us via email or text:

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

The School is no longer required to record details of COVID-19 cases for SA Health; however, there is still a requirement for South Australians who test positive using a RAT to report their result to SA Health online.

Close contacts should continue to monitor for symptoms, get tested and stay home until symptoms have cleared.

For more information, click here.

As always, we will keep you informed of any updated advice.

Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.

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来自黄老师的信息

对于我们精彩的 ELC 社区，

我很高兴地宣布任命我们新的 St Peter’s Girls’ ELC 主任 Liz Schembri 女士。

Liz 是一位技能高超的教师、成功的领导者和早期儿童教育的倡导者。她的职业生涯包括在南澳大利亚的圣安德鲁斯学校、以马忤斯基督教学院和圣家天主教学校任教，此外还曾在北京城市国际学校任教 10 年，在那里她接受了国际文凭小学项目 (IB PYP) 和参与了学校新的幼儿中心的开发。

回到澳大利亚后，Liz 在 Mount Barker 的 St Francis de Sales College 任教了两年，之后作为专业教育学教练领导团队，指导并与员工一起工作，将探究式学习实施到课堂实践中。然后，她领导了新的 Alive Catholic 早教中心的建设和发展，并被任命为 Alive 早教部负责人（巴克山）。 Liz 在早期学习到 7 年级期间拥有丰富的领导者和教育者经验，担任过专业教育学教练 (R – 6)、3 – 6 年级领导者和扫盲协调员等职务。她为 ELC 主任的角色带来了令人难以置信的奉献精神和技能，并坚信室内和室外学习体验之间的重要关系以及这些基于雷焦艾米利亚方法的探索和自然游戏方式。她热衷于为我们最年幼的学习者开发面向未来的优质教育计划，并认识到每个孩子独特学习之旅的重要性。

Liz 说：“我的经历帮助我深入了解当前的教育方法和实践，以及学习者现在和未来需要什么才能取得成功。在发展的早期阶段，至关重要的是我们要理解并实施一个有目的和意图的整体计划，以尊重孩子对联系和归属感的需求，培养和培养他们天生的好奇心和学习能力。 我同样高兴地宣布 Sera Boccaccio 已接受 ELC 经理一职。 Sera 从 10 岁起就成为我们社区的一员，在她还是圣彼得女校学生的时候就来到 ELC 做志愿者。多年来，她对与幼儿一起工作产生了热情，因此选择了这一领域作为职业道路，首先学习了儿童服务三级证书，然后完成了幼儿和护理文凭。自 2014 年以来，Sera 一直是我们 ELC 团队的重要一员，我们非常荣幸有这样一位充满热情和经验丰富的老学者来帮助指导和支持我们的 ELC 团队。

在我们期待 Liz 和 Sera 将在我们的 ELC 社区中完成出色工作的同时，我们也花时间感谢 Henrietta Balnaves 和 Caterina Pennestri 今年分别作为 ELC 经理和 ELC 教育负责人对我们的 ELC 做出的巨大贡献。他们一直是 ELC 团队其他成员的敬业导师，不断追求卓越的教育、最佳实践和最高水准的团队合作。在他们的指导下，孩子们的学习一直保持在令人难以置信的水平，正如我们精彩的 ELC 新闻视频和文章所展示的那样，我们为此感谢他们，因为他们正在准备与 Liz 和 Sera 进行详细的交接。随着 Caterina 重返 ELC Atelierista，我们将继续享受她的教育专业知识。 Henrietta 将在第一个学期与 Liz 一起工作，确保顺利过渡，并在明年剩余时间开始新的冒险之前与 Stonyfell Room 一起工作。 我们祝贺 Liz 和 Sera 获得任命，并期待在不久的将来将 Liz 介绍给我们令人惊叹的社区。

Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.

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News from Learning Community 1

As we explore celebrations in Learning Community 1, we have been sharing stories, traditions and rituals. The children have been supported to develop their understanding of who we celebrate with, what makes these occasions special and how each individual, family and community has different, unique celebrations.

We have provided opportunities for children to explore how a range of different cultures celebrate. Over the past fortnight, Ms Huang and Ms Qian have shared how they celebrate the Moon Lantern Festival. Children have been engaged in role play, cooking experiences, storytelling and the creation of traditional symbols of celebration. We have also explored all the ways we can celebrate birthdays – songs, rituals, parties, cake, gathering with loved ones, presents and foods that are shared.

Through the sharing and exploration of celebrations, children are developing their cultural competency, increasing their awareness of others, their appreciation and inclusion of diverse beliefs, and developing their own self-confidence. Children have also been able to develop their awareness of commonalities in celebrations. Many celebrations are shared with loved ones, have special foods and meals that bring people together, and have shared stories, traditions and symbols connected with these celebrations.

As we prepare for our ELC End of Year Celebration, we have been investigating all the different ways that people around the world celebrate during the festive season. We have been researching the reasons and stories behind many of the significant symbols of Christmas including the star, Christmas colours, Father Christmas and the story of the Nativity. We have been practising for our performance and are looking forward to sharing this significant ELC celebration with you all tomorrow.

Jessica Guimaraes and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

In Learning Community 2, there are many unique places within the ELC that children will remember forever. These spaces are a part of their everyday life. These places will be part of the children’s own stories and will be imprinted into their memory of the ELC. We want to ensure the community knows the history of the ELC and the deep meaning that each place preserves.

Over the past few weeks, we have been celebrating the history of the ELC. One particular space we have explored this week is the Hallett Garden. It is rich in history, meaning and symbolism. Within the garden, there are Kaurna symbols everywhere waiting to be discovered, and markings from the dreamtime story of the rainbow serpent, focusing on the growth of the land and the garden. 

We recorded some of the children’s knowledge of the Hallett Garden:

• ‘The serpent is from the dreamtime story that the Kaurna people say.’ – Axel
• ‘The snake has lots of colour, that gives colour and the big poles have colour too.’ – Chloe
• ‘The serpent made all the land and all the mountains, it was flat. Our garden is up and down too.’ – Amy
• ‘The rocks over near the tap are coloured like the rainbow serpent.’ – Noah
• ‘The tap is next to the sandpit and the Serpent goes around and around.’ – Rose
• ‘The outside tap is the waterhole from the story, and the rainbow serpent helped make the water.’ – Harvey
• ‘The rainbow serpent is in this path here down to the Wodli.’ – Clarice
• ‘The rainbow serpent is everywhere in the garden, here too, up to the canoe.’ – Georgina

From here, children began to draw and recreate the dreamtime story of the rainbow serpent over many days. They were captivated by the spaces out in the garden and their meaning. We encouraged children through this interest of the serpent to create their own using circles to symbolise the moving snake. This took in numeracy and fine motor skills to colour, cut and count the parts of the serpent. 

Come wander around and join us on this journey of discovery into the history of the Hallett Garden.

Nell Tierney, Kathy McCabe and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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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. 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.

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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.

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

ELC Room Contacts:

• Stonyfell – 8155 5778
• Bell Yett – 8155 5777
• Ferguson – 8155 5776
• Hallett – 8155 5775

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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

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Dear Families

Term 4 at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is a time to celebrate the spirit of our community of learners.

Our central idea this term is, ‘Welcoming traditions, rituals and histories can build on knowledge’. We aim for the children to reflect on why we celebrate and have rituals and traditions, and to also reflect on their personal history with a focus on their time at ELC. 

Soon, we will be immersed in the festive celebrations, but before the exciting events ahead, we want to highlight and celebrate our children’s learning journey, their growth, their skills and their participation in the life of the ELC.

In Week 3, we proudly shared our children’s learning portfolios with their families and treasured friends through our new event, ‘Celebrate our Learning Week’. We have been amazed by the capacity of the children to articulate their learning experiences and knowledge with their loved ones, and their ability to revisit concepts and meaningful moments at the ELC. This has been a valuable opportunity to share our history and stories, and celebrate how far we have come, how we have changed and how much we have learnt together.

Each portfolio is a custodian of pedagogical documentation, precious works of art, literacy and numeracy experiences, theories, interpretations and photographs of the children engaged in their learning environments. The portfolios are individual and as unique as each child, but they also tell the story of each child as a community member and their participation in the inquiry amongst a group of peers.

As educators and researchers, we feel the need to make more visible our children’s learning and to find more opportunities to share information about their daily life, goals and achievements. We have been so proud to share our children’s portfolios with you and we hope that ‘Celebrate our Learning Week’ can become a new tradition for our ELC.

Caterina Pennestri
ELC Educational Leader and Atelierista  

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Important Dates

Monday 14 November: Reception Transition Visits Commence
Friday 25 November: ELC End of Year Celebration
Monday 5 December: ELC Hat Ceremony
Friday 9 December: Last day of Term 4
December 12 – 23: Vacation Care

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The Joy of Storytelling in Our ELC

Storytelling is the earliest form of literacy for our youngest learners. By engaging in early storytelling experiences, they are developing key literacy awareness that prepares the foundation for future reading and writing skills and learning. Through storytelling, children create a sense of wonder as they use their imagination. They are developing their listening and communication skills, enhancing their vocabulary, and making important links between the written and spoken word.

Watch our video below to see how we embed literacy in our every day here in Learning Community 1.

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You’re Invited to Our ELC End of Year Celebration

Join us for our ELC End of Year Celebration on Friday 25 November at 5.30pm on Chiverton Lawns. Singing will commence from 5.45pm.

We encourage families to bring a picnic basket and rug, and set up your space on the lawns (see map below for optimal viewing positions). Families can also pre-order pizza, paella and beverages up until Friday 18 November via www.trybooking.com/CDXOG

Children are invited to wear their Christmas party clothes. We can’t wait to see you there!

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Exciting New ELC Uniforms

We are excited to announce our ELC will be rolling out a new custom-designed uniform from mid-December 2022. 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.

2023 will be a phasing-out period, where children can continue to wear pieces of the old ELC uniform to supplement their outfits, giving families time to purchase the new garments.

From 2024, the new ELC uniform will be compulsory for all children to wear during their time at the ELC. Children will need to wear 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 will be new ELC vest and jacket options to replace non-ELC jackets, jumpers and vests. 

These new items will be available for purchase from our School Shop in mid-December, and we look forward to seeing the children proudly wear their new ELC attire.

Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School

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Vacation Care Bookings Now Open!

Vacation Care bookings are now open and will close at 5pm on Monday 28 November. Families can book via www.trybooking.com/CEEME. Please note: Due to staffing requirements, any changes made after the booking closing date will incur the full day’s fee.

Vacation Care will run from Monday 12 to Friday 23 December, and will be closed from Monday 26 December. Vacation Care will reopen on Monday 9 January to Friday 27 January, with Term 1 beginning on Monday 30 January. Please note: Thursday 26 January is a public holiday and the ELC will be closed.

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ELC Giving Tree

In a special ELC tradition, and as part of the Saints Girls’ Anglicare Christmas Appeal, we are once again partnering with Anglicare SA for our annual ELC Giving Tree.

ELC families are invited to bring a gift from Monday 21 November to place under the ELC Giving Tree for a child less fortunate.

Gifts could include books, board games, craft sets, Lego, musical instruments, footballs and soccer balls, toy cars and dolls.

Please note, all items must be new, not wrapped and placed under the ELC Giving Tree by
Monday 5 December.

Thank you for your participation in this special giving tradition.

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Sun Safety in the ELC

As the weather starts to warm up, please ensure your child brings a broad-brimmed hat each day they attend ELC. If you do not have an ELC uniform hat, we ask that you pack another broad-brimmed hat for your child to wear. As we move into the warmer months, it is extremely important that we adhere to our policies and procedures. If your child does not have a hat, they will be asked to play under the shaded areas or indoors.

We encourage you to apply sunscreen on your child prior to arriving at the ELC so they are ready for the day. Sunscreen application is undertaken regularly at the ELC; if your child requires an alternative sunscreen, please provide this to your child’s teacher.

We also ask that your child wears their correct ELC uniform, and refrains from wearing dresses or singlets where their shoulders are exposed. Appropriate footwear is also required and we ask that children wear sneakers or sandals that have a backing to them. For visits into Ferguson Park, long pants and closed-toed shoes are required.

Back to top

2023 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.

Please notify me ASAP via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require an amendment to your days moving forward in 2023, or if you are leaving the Centre at the end of this year.

We understand that families may need to take extended periods of time off throughout an ELC year for special circumstances. We do still charge for any booked days when your child is enrolled in the ELC. In line with the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) service, children are allowed 42 CCS ‘absent’ days per year, with any number of days following this incurring the standard daily rate of ELC without subsidy. Please keep this in mind and let me know if you intend to be absent for an extended period of time.

Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments Manager

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COVID-19 Information

As you may be aware, a number of COVID-19 requirements have been lifted including mandatory isolation for those who test positive. Notwithstanding this, SA Health encourages anyone with symptoms to get tested and stay home until symptoms have cleared (usually five to seven days).

As there is no longer a set COVID isolation period, you must notify the School each day your child will be absent, or provide the expected period of absence.

Please notify us via email or text:

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

The School is no longer required to record details of COVID-19 cases for SA Health; however, there is still a requirement for South Australians who test positive using a RAT to report their result to SA Health online.

Close contacts should continue to monitor for symptoms, get tested and stay home until symptoms have cleared.

For more information, click here.

As always, we will keep you informed of any updated advice.

Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.

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来自黄老师的信息

亲爱的家人

圣彼得女子 ELC 的第 4 学期是庆祝我们学习者社区精神的时刻。

我们这个术语的中心思想是，“欢迎传统、仪式和历史可以建立在知识之上”。我们的目标是让孩子们反思我们为什么庆祝并拥有仪式和传统，并反思他们的个人历史，重点关注他们在 ELC 的时间。

很快，我们将沉浸在节日庆典中，但在接下来的激动人心的活动之前，我们想强调和庆祝我们孩子的学习之旅、他们的成长、他们的技能以及他们对 ELC 生活的参与。

在第 3 周，我们通过我们的新活动“庆祝我们的学习周”自豪地与他们的家人和珍贵的朋友分享了孩子们的学习档案。我们对孩子们与亲人表达他们的学习经历和知识的能力，以及他们在 ELC 重温概念和有意义的时刻的能力感到惊讶。这是一个宝贵的机会，可以分享我们的历史和故事，并庆祝我们已经走了多远，我们发生了怎样的变化，以及我们一起学到了多少。

每个作品集都是教学文献、珍贵的艺术作品、识字和算术经验、理论、解释和儿童在学习环境中的照片的保管人。这些作品集是个人的，与每个孩子一样独特，但它们也讲述了每个孩子作为社区成员的故事，以及他们在一群同龄人中参与调查的过程。

作为教育工作者和研究人员，我们认为有必要让孩子们的学习更加明显，并寻找更多机会分享有关他们的日常生活、目标和成就的信息。我们很自豪能与您分享我们孩子的作品集，我们希望“庆祝我们的学习周”能够成为我们 ELC 的新传统。

Caterina Pennestri
ELC Educational Leader and Atelierista

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.

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News from Learning Community 1

As we shared our histories and background with the children, we provided opportunities for them to immerse themselves in a variety of cultural rituals and traditions through the languages of loose parts, music and food.

Most importantly, children experienced these by engaging in pretend play, which provides opportunities for young learners to start developing social skills in a safe and enjoyable way. Pretend play enables children to experiment with other social roles, make sense of real-world situations, and understand social rules and boundaries while interacting with peers and educators.

In the past two weeks, children have experienced:

• A traditional Italian Sunday lunch – through the language of loose parts, children pretended to cook lasagne, pasta and meatballs. They heard the story of Queen Margherita and cooked margherita pizzas.
• The Diwali festival – children learnt about the story behind this festival and designed and decorated the Centre with rangolis. They were also able to cook some traditional foods from India.

In the coming weeks, children will explore and investigate more about Chinese culture as we share stories and meals and experiment with traditional cooking tools. Further to that, children will share their own rituals around birthday celebrations and how their families make these moments unique.

Jessica Guimaraes and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

This term as we investigate our central idea, ‘Welcoming traditions, rituals and histories can build on knowledge’, the children have been introduced to many rich stories and traditions that are celebrated all over the world.

Over the past few weeks, Ms Fernandes shared how her family celebrates Diwali, immersing the children in the story of why it is such as important tradition for the Hindu people and how it all began. The children were so enthusiastic to experience creating sand and chalk patterned lanterns and designing intricate patterns to cover their hands as done with Henna to commemorate the celebrations.

By introducing children to traditions and rituals from many countries, it enables them to be aware of and respect others’ perspectives, to explore different identities, and to develop strong foundations in their own culture and those of others. We want to promote in all children a strong sense of who they are and to show respect for diversity, acknowledging the varying approaches of children, families, communities and cultures. 

Our ELC spaces and places are full of history, all with a memorable story attached. We have created many pieces of documentation to support this, all of which were developed alongside the children. As many of our children are transitioning to school next year, they are part of our ELC history and all share a similar narrative that we hope will travel with them and leave a trace forever in their personal history.

The spaces we will be exploring are the ELC Community Garden, the Path, the Hallett Garden and the Friendship Garden. We invite you to ask the children to share their knowledge with you:

• Why was the ELC Community Garden created?
• What do all the symbols of the Path represent?
• What does the stone circle in the middle of the Friendship Garden represent?
• Can you identify all the areas in the Hallett Garden and what they are called?

All of these exciting pieces of history will be revealed this term. Please come into the Hallett Room or Ferguson Room to read the documentation and understand our valuable history. 

Nell Tierney, Kathy McCabe and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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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. 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.

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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.

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

ELC Room Contacts:

• Stonyfell – 8155 5778
• Bell Yett – 8155 5777
• Ferguson – 8155 5776
• Hallett – 8155 5775

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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

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Dear Families

We welcome you all back to ELC as we jump straight into Term 4 of 2022!

We would like to take a moment to acknowledge our wonderful Vacation Care team. The children in Learning Community 1 enjoyed slowing down and building stronger connections to their spaces, getting involved in planting our new herb garden area as well as enjoying the outdoor makeover from our team.

Learning Community 2 reflected on the space and time we are gifted with in Vacation Care, taking part in team-wide research into the benefits of long uninterrupted periods of play for children. Across the two weeks, the children were completely engaged in our large-scale play scenarios set up in the Ferguson Room, where they were able to continuously build on their play and develop their executive functioning skills and emotional self-regulation – two crucial 21st century skills that are largely developed from long periods of social play. The children also enjoyed replanting our ELC Community Garden for spring and testing their engineering and technology skills by making robots from recycled materials.

Caterina and I are looking forward to spending this joyous and exciting term with you all, and we would like to point out a few events that are coming up in the Save the Date section below. Tomorrow, we welcome our new Friends of the ELC Meeting Group which we invite each of you to join us for, located in the School Chapel next to the ELC from 8 – 9am.

Our Term 4 central idea is: Welcoming traditions, rituals and histories can build on knowledge. This will act as a vehicle to celebrate together, whilst supporting children’s understanding of the history of the ELC, the stories of places, our rituals and our celebrations. We invite families to get in touch with their child’s teacher if you have any special rituals or celebrations to share with us, as we would love to learn more about them.

Ngaitalya (Kaurna for ‘Respect’)

Henrietta Balnaves (ELC Manager) and Caterina Pennestri (ELC Educational Leader)

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Important Dates

Friday 28 October: Friends of the ELC Meeting, 8 – 9am
Monday 14 November: Reception Transition Visits Commence
Friday 25 November: ELC End of Year Celebration
Monday 5 December: ELC Hat Ceremony

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Celebrate Our Learning!

Term 4 at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is all about celebration. Next week, we are inviting families at the ELC to celebrate your child’s learning journey with us, as we offer in-house access to each child’s portfolio during pick-up and drop-off times.

We create individual learning portfolios for each of our children, where we collect, record and make visible their learning experiences, engagement in the inquiry and growing knowledge since their first day of ELC. We value these portfolios not only as tool of assessment, but also as a treasured piece of childhood, full of memories and evidence of rich engagement in your child’s life at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC.

Across each term, our teaching team produces dynamic pedagogical documentation, unpacking for families how our teachers’ learning intentions meet the children’s goals and skills. In these portfolios, you will find documentation in many different forms including photographs, works of art, children’s quotes, theories and reporting documents. Each piece has been carefully selected in order to make visible the evolution of your child’s thinking, creative languages and different skills.

We believe it is important for children to share their portfolios to revisit and solidify their learning, and give value to their participation.

We look forward to celebrating our learning with you!

Caterina Pennestri
ELC Educational Leader

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Reminder: Friends of the ELC Meeting Tomorrow

Are you a parent/family member looking to be a part of our Friends of the ELC, connecting with other families and helping organise our ELC community events?  

Our Friends of the ELC will hold a casual meeting tomorrow from 8 – 9am in the School Chapel next to the ELC. These meetings will enable families to connect while we will discuss the volunteering opportunities for the term ahead, organise helpers for our upcoming ELC events, and ensure we continue to give value and voice to our parents, families and other community members.

We look forward to seeing you there!

Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager

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Save the Date: ELC End of Year Celebration

Save the date for our ELC End of Year Celebration on Friday 25 November at 5.30pm. We’ll share more details with families in the next edition of ELC News.

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Sun Safety in the ELC

As the weather starts to warm up, please ensure your child brings a broad-brimmed hat each day they attend ELC. If you do not have an ELC uniform hat, we ask that you pack another broad-brimmed hat for your child to wear. As we move into the warmer months, it is extremely important that we adhere to our policies and procedures. If your child does not have a hat, they will be asked to play under the shaded areas or indoors.

We encourage you to apply sunscreen on your child prior to arriving at the ELC so they are ready for the day. Sunscreen application is undertaken regularly at the ELC; if your child requires an alternative sunscreen, please provide this to your child’s teacher.

We also ask that your child wears their correct ELC uniform, and refrains from wearing dresses or singlets where their shoulders are exposed. Appropriate footwear is also required and we ask that children wear sneakers or sandals that have a backing to them. For visits into Ferguson Park, long pants and closed-toed shoes are required.

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2023 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.

Please notify me ASAP via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require an amendment to your days moving forward in 2023, or if you are leaving the Centre at the end of this year.

Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer

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COVID-19 Information

As you may be aware, a number of COVID-19 requirements have been lifted including mandatory isolation for those who test positive. Notwithstanding this, SA Health encourages anyone with symptoms to get tested and stay home until symptoms have cleared (usually five to seven days).

As there is no longer a set COVID isolation period, you must notify the School each day your child will be absent, or provide the expected period of absence.

Please notify us via email or text:

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

The School is no longer required to record details of COVID-19 cases for SA Health; however, there is still a requirement for South Australians who test positive using a RAT to report their result to SA Health online.

Close contacts should continue to monitor for symptoms, get tested and stay home until symptoms have cleared.

For more information, click here.

As always, we will keep you informed of any updated advice.

Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.

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来自黄老师的信息

亲爱的家人，

我们欢迎大家回到 ELC，因为我们直接进入 2022 年第 4 学期！

我们想花点时间感谢我们出色的假期护理团队，他们在 ELC 领导了另一个令人惊叹的两周时间。学习社区 1 的孩子们喜欢放慢脚步，与他们的空间建立更牢固的联系，参与种植我们的新药草园区域，并享受我们团队的户外改造。

学习社区 2 反映了我们在假期护理方面所拥有的空间和时间，并参与了一项团队范围内的研究，以了解长时间不间断游戏对儿童的好处。在两周的时间里，孩子们完全投入到我们在弗格森房间设置的大型游戏场景中，在那里他们能够不断地在游戏的基础上发展并发展他们的执行功能技能和情绪自我调节——这两个至关重要的 ’20 -第一世纪的技能，主要是从长期的社交游戏中发展而来的。孩子们还喜欢在春季重新种植我们的 ELC 社区花园，并通过使用回收材料制造机器人来测试他们的工程和技术技能。

Caterina 和我期待与大家一起度过这个欢乐而激动人心的学期，我们想在下面的“保存日期”部分中指出一些特殊事件。本周五，我们也欢迎我们的新朋友 ELC 会议小组，我们邀请你们每个人加入我们，该小组位于 ELC 旁边的学校教堂，时间为上午 8 点至 9 点。

我们第 4 学期的中心思想是：“欢迎传统、仪式和历史可以建立在知识之上”。这个中心思想将作为共同庆祝的工具，同时支持孩子们了解 ELC 的历史、地方的故事、我们的仪式和庆祝活动。如果您有任何特殊的仪式或庆祝活动要与我们分享，我们邀请家庭与他们孩子的老师取得联系，因为我们很想了解更多关于他们的信息。

谢谢，

Henrietta Balnaves (ELC Manager) and Caterina Pennestri (ELC Educational Leader)

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.

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News from Learning Community 1

As we embark upon a new term, our educators take time to reflect on children’s knowledge and understandings and consider what it is that we want them to learn. This term, as we lead into the festive season, we are investigating the central idea, ‘Welcoming traditions, rituals and histories can build our knowledge’.

As we delve into this inquiry, we want the children to:

• Develop their understanding that everyone has different traditions, rituals and histories that reflect their lives and culture every day
• Research the symbolism of traditions and rituals within celebrations
• Explore the histories, traditions and stories of the ELC, of each other and of our families.

In the first few weeks of a new inquiry, we offer provocations for children to explore and engage with. This allows us to observe and document their current understandings and knowledge, their interests and their questions. We reflect on this gathered data and further refine the scope and direction of our inquiry. 

We have launched this current inquiry by sharing rituals within the Learning Community, investigating the history and stories of spaces within the ELC, and engaging in shared celebrations and traditions. We invite families to share any of their family stories, celebrations and rituals on the display boards outside the classroom or by emailing your child’s teacher. 

Jessica Guimaraes and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

Welcome to Term 4 in Learning Community 2. This term, we have a large number of children across our Learning Community preparing for their transition to school. To continue to best support them and to build on all of our children’s confidence and knowledge, we have a strong focus on offering them a wide range of play-based literacy experiences.  

Our enriching learning spaces offer playful invitations for the children to explore letters, letter names, letter formation and foundational phonological awareness. It is important for the children to have the opportunity to revisit intentional learning experiences in their own time and to be able to play and explore with their peers. Learning should be enjoyable and fun, and it is important that all children build their knowledge, test their ideas, and ‘have a go’ in a safe and supportive environment. We have engaged with a wide range of children’s books to further support this focus and the playful language that comes from stories.

Many of the children have been observed engaging in the following:

• Conversations with their peers about the letters they know and that are in their names
• Exploring their locker tags and comparing letters with each other
• Testing their own emerging writing skills by labelling their work with their names, and names of their family members and friends
• Letter writing and posting letters in the ELC mailbox

These early years of a child’s life lay the foundation for their future capacity for learning, and we want this time to be exciting for our children and for them to develop their love of learning in a safe and supportive environment.

Nell Tierney, Kathy McCabe and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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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. 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.

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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.

Text: 0428 601 957

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Phone: 8334 2200

ELC Room Contacts:

• Stonyfell – 8155 5778
• Bell Yett – 8155 5777
• Ferguson – 8155 5776
• Hallett – 8155 5775

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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

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Dear Families

I can’t believe we are wrapping up another term already!

Term 3 at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC has been full of wonder and excitement. We started by hosting two community events: one to welcome our new families into the Centre, and another to celebrate the fathers and treasured friends in our children’s lives. These two events created such a buzz within the ELC, and the children adored sharing their learning spaces with their families and close friends.

Our children have continued their engagement in the concept of transformation, with the children in Learning Community 1 exploring emotions and how they can feel across their day, whilst the children in Learning Community 2 have been fully immersed in their research and classifications of the fungi they have found in Ferguson Park.

We have thoroughly enjoyed sharing our transformation of learning with our wider community across the term, whether it be through newsletter articles, myLink updates, in-room documentation, or through children’s individual portfolios which were shared during our recent Parent-Teacher Conversations. We also hope you enjoyed our deeper insights into the way we value and embed literacy, numeracy, gross motor skills and mathematics into our everyday experiences here at the ELC, which were showcased as highlight videos in these fortnightly newsletters. If you want to revisit any of our previous ELC newsletters, you can view them via: www.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au/elcnews/

This term offered us a time to reflect, as we reimagined the way we conduct our Friends of the ELC group to be a more inviting and accessible opportunity for families to get together. Our new meeting structure will follow a once-per-term morning get-together in the School Chapel on Friday of Week 2 of each term. We invite you to pop this date in your calendar and join us for our first meeting at 9am on Friday 28 October.

We look forward to our upcoming Vacation Care period (October 4 – 14) and are eager to continue the wonderful and rich learning. We appreciate those who booked their sessions as bookings have now closed.

Thank you everyone for such a great term. Have a fabulous break and we will see you all in Term 4!

Ngaitalya (Kaurna for ‘Respect’)

Henrietta Balnaves (ELC Manager) and Caterina Pennestri (ELC Educational Leader)

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Important Dates

Monday October 3: Public Holiday (ELC Closed)
October 4 – 14: Vacation Care
Monday 17 October: Term 4 Begins
Friday 28 October: Friends of the ELC Meeting, 8–9.30am
Monday 14 November: Reception Transition Visits Commence

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Vacation Care – Bookings Closed

Bookings are now closed for ELC Vacation Care. Please note Monday 3 October is a public holiday and the ELC will be closed.

Due to staffing requirements, cancellations will incur the full day’s fee.

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Introducing Our Reimagined Friends of the ELC Group

Are you a parent/family member looking to be a part of our Friends of the ELC, connecting with other families and helping organise our ELC community events?  

Our Friends of the ELC group previously held fortnightly meetings at a local coffee shop. As we juggle the reality of our busy lives, we have reimagined what this community group will look like, and how it can best support our ELC events and our wonderful community. We know there is nothing more important than building community around our children and offering a chance for families to engage, and so we have reflected upon the nature of these meetings.

Moving forward, the Friends of the ELC will hold casual get-togethers on Friday of Week 2 each term, from 8 – 9.30am, in the School Chapel. The meetings will enable families to connect while we will discuss the volunteering opportunities for the term ahead, organise helpers for our upcoming ELC events, and ensure we continue to give value and voice to our parents, families and other community members.

If you’re interested in joining our reimagined Friends of the ELC, there will be no ‘lock-in contracts’ – just an opportunity to further engage with one another and the ELC. Morning tea and coffee will be provided. We welcome all help and participation from our community however it fits into your busy schedules.

If you’re interested in coming along to our first meeting on Friday 28 October (Week 2, Term 4), please email me via hbalnaves@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager

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Our Sustainability Journey

As we enjoy the season of spring, we have been keenly observing the colour changes and transformation of our natural surroundings and embracing any chance to get outdoors. This week, we held our ELC Playgroup sessions out in our neighbouring Ferguson Park, where I had the wonderful opportunity to introduce some of our youngest learners to a space they will soon frequently connect with when they begin their ELC journey.

At St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, we strive to foster in children an ecological identity by deeply connecting with our natural surroundings in the hope that a love and connection to Earth is born in a particular place, making possible this love for other places. As Ann Pelo describes, ‘An ecological identity allows us to experience Earth as our home ground, and leaves us determined to live in honourable relationship with our planet.’

Spring in Ferguson Park is a magical experience as it brings beautiful flowers into bloom, which are technically weeds in this native area. This means the children are able to pick these flowers – simultaneously caring for our surroundings and discovering beauty and joy in their environment.

Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager

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2023 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.

Please notify me ASAP via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require an amendment to your days moving forward in 2023, or if you are leaving the Centre at the end of this year.

Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer

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Staff Spotlight

Alexandra, another of our fantastically friendly faces in Learning Community 2, has recently graduated from the University of South Australia with a Master in Early Childhood Education. She is passionate about the Reggio Emilia approach to early learning and brings this dedication into her daily lessons with the children.

What is your favourite part of working in the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?

Ferguson Park is a highlight of our beautiful ELC; having the opportunity to engage with the children in exploring local flora and fauna is a real privilege. The park is a wonderful place for the children to develop a range of learning dispositions, such as curiosity and cooperation skills, whilst also being a calming place for them to connect with nature and learn about Kaurna culture. 

The talented, diverse and dedicated staff make St Peter’s Girls a special place to both work and grow for professionals and children alike. I continue to learn daily from my accomplished and knowledgeable colleagues, as I watch them support the growth of all our students.

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Important Reminders

Please carefully read the following important reminders:

• Please close all doors and safety gates behind you when entering and exiting the ELC. Whilst we appreciate the kind gesture, please refrain from holding open entry/exit doors or gates for other children unless they are accompanied by an adult.
• We ask families to bring your entry key fobs to ELC each day. If you need to order a new fob and/or report a lost one, email selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
• Please ensure children wear appropriate shoes and clothing for our indoor and outdoor activities; this includes no dress ups or long necklaces.
• The School has received reports of concerning driver behaviour on Hallett Road. This includes holding up traffic while waiting for cars to leave in order to park near the ELC, performing risky u-turns and parking in bus zones. As our staff have no jurisdiction over public roads, the School will be asking the police to conduct regular patrols at peak times. We implore all of our community members to support road safety and show courtesy to others.

The welfare of all children in our community is our utmost priority and we appreciate your cooperation.

Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager

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COVID-19 Information

If your child tests positive to COVID-19, notify us immediately. Please also advise the type of test (RAT/PCR), the date your child’s test was taken and the date symptoms started (if no symptoms, note ‘asymptomatic’).

Please notify us via email or text:

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)

If you need to notify us over the phone, please call the Front Office on 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

Should your child develop any symptoms, even mild ones, they must not attend ELC and should be tested for COVID-19. Those with symptoms who test negative using a RAT must undertake a PCR test to confirm that result. Students who have previously tested positive and have completed isolation in the past 28 days do not need to undertake testing.

Under SA Health protocols, asymptomatic children who are close contacts can attend ELC, provided they undertake 5 Rapid Antigen Tests over 7 days and receive negative results.

Please also note that face masks are strongly recommended indoors for adults, including visitors, except if it impedes the ability to teach or interact with children.

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来自黄老师的信息

亲爱的家长朋友们，

真不敢相信又迎来了这个学期的尾声!

在圣彼得女校ELC的第三学期充满了惊奇和令人激动的时刻。本学期开始，我们举办了两场社区活动;一个是欢迎我们新家庭的到来，另一个是庆祝父亲节以及与他们生活息息相关的“珍贵的朋友们“。这两件事在ELC中引起了很大的反响，孩子们很喜欢与家人和亲密朋友分享他们的学习空间。

我们的孩子们继续参与到“转变”这一概念的学习中去。学习社区1的孩子们探索情感和他们每天的感受，而学习社区2的孩子们则完全沉浸在他们在弗格森公园发现的菌类的研究和分类中。

我们非常高兴在整个学期间与更广泛的社区分享我们的学习转变。无论是通过每两周简讯的文章、myLink的更新以及教室里的学习记录，还是通过在最近的“家长-教师一对一对话”中与您分享的孩子们的个人学习文档。我们也希望大家感受到我们在ELC对孩子们学习更深入的理解，包括我们如何重视并将读写能力、算术能力、大运动技能和数学嵌入到我们的日常学习体验中去。同样地，在这些两周简讯中也有相关精彩视频的展示。如果您想重温以前的ELC简讯，您可以通过登陆www.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au/elcnews/ 来查看内容。

这个学期为我们提供了一个反思的机会，我们重新设想了我们组织“ELC之友”小组的方式，使之成为一个更有吸引力、更容易让家庭成员聚在一起的机会。我们新的会议结构将遵循每学期第2周的周五在学校礼拜堂举行的一次晨会。我们邀请您将这一天加入我们的第一次会议，时间是10月28日(星期五)上午9点。

我们期待即将到来的假期日托班(10月4日- 10月14日)，期待着继续精彩丰富的学习。我们感谢那些预订了日托班的家长们，现在预定已经结束。

谢谢大家对这个学期的积极参与。预祝大家渡过一个愉快的两周假期，我们将在第四学期再见!

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.

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News from Learning Community 1

In Learning Community 1, we are celebrating all feelings and emotions, and the development of children’s emotional intelligence, resilience and empathy.

As we explored a variety of picture books during this term, we started labelling a range of feelings displayed by the characters in the stories, also paying close attention to the facial expressions that would support us identifying these feelings. We talked with the children about the importance of all different emotions, acknowledging all feelings we may experience throughout our days – anger, sadness, joy, frustration and more.

An important aspect of children’s emotional intelligence – empathy – has been evident in many conversations between peers and educators. As we progressed in our unit of inquiry, children started to transfer their knowledge and use some strategies to support themselves and each other. We witnessed spontaneous moments when children would share how they were feeling, demonstrate concern for others and give support to them during transitions and rituals:

• A girl told an educator, ‘I think she is missing her Daddy’, when she saw a friend crying quietly. She then offered her peer a drink of water as a supporting strategy to calming down – ‘Here, do you need your water?’
• A boy saw a friend trying to open the bin lid: ‘Push the grey’ – pushing the lid and holding it open for his peer.
• During group time, one child responded to the educator, ‘I am kuku’ai today’, showing thumbs down. Another peer turned and said, ‘It is ok, Mummy and Daddy will come soon.’

Jessica Guimaraes and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

As we quickly approach the end of another exciting term in Learning Community 2, we reflect as a group upon the wonderful ways in which our knowledge of the world around us has been transformed. The children in the Learning Community 2 have acquired, through our inquiry, a vast amount of new knowledge about Ferguson Park, our community garden and changes in the weather.

We began the term with the children first exploring the changes they noticed in Ferguson Park using all their senses to discover any transformation. Soon, we began to look not just ahead and up into the trees, but also down to discover the unique changes that were occurring under our feet as well. Through listening to the children and then delving deeper into what we noticed was changing to the floor of our local conservation park, we discovered a whole new world that was growing and ever-changing. It was fungi!  

In this way, the children moved from being botanists and researching native plants to becoming mycologists and discovering the important links between fungi and the wider world of nature. There was a heightened amount of daily energy as we all discovered more and more fungi, how it grows, how it germinates, naming the parts of the fungi and how we can identify different types of fungi.

Through this inquiry, educators and children worked alongside each other discovering the new information together. This approach is true to the Reggio Emilia style of learning as it is a collaborative learning process where each child is an active agent in their gaining of knowledge. This process of teaching and learning alongside the child engages all learners in a more in-depth higher-order way of thinking where authentic questions and true scientific research can occur. The teachers were just as excited as the children in their discovery of new facts about fungi and in the daily transfer of this knowledge to others such as families or friends!

We hope you are able to take a stroll through Ferguson Park someday too, and make your own discoveries along the way!

Nell Tierney, Kathy McCabe and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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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. 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.

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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. The School requires a reason for the absence for government reporting purposes.

Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au (If emailing, please ‘CC’ the teacher of the Room as well)

ELC Room Contacts:

• Stonyfell – 8155 5778
• Bell Yett – 8155 5777
• Ferguson – 8155 5776
• Hallett – 8155 5775

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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

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Dear Families

Our young learners need to be surrounded with mathematical language and concepts in both playful and intentional ways, and demonstrating a positive attitude to mathematics is key to their learning.

Every day, we engage with the children in mathematical experiences such as:

• Identifying a number before and after a given number
• Recognising numbers in the environment
• Making connections between number names, numerals, and quantities up to 10

This term, we have been especially focusing on data classification and geometry. We have provided a range of provocations within the Learning Communities for the children to explore these themes, thinking like mathematicians.

Classification is the skill of sorting or grouping items by similar characteristics, such as colours, shapes or sizes. The Learning Community 2 children have been studying and classifying fungi from their walks through Ferguson Park. By using descriptive language, they created data displays and refined their classification skills. Understanding classification is important for young children as it supports the development of scientific concepts, for example that things can belong to and be organised into different groups. Children naturally classify their knowledge to make sense of their world, and it is especially meaningful and inspiring to associate their innate need to organise things and concepts with a mathematical skill.

To share their discoveries with families and peers, we invited the children to create maps of Ferguson Park indicating where they found each type of fungi. Using positional language, the children learnt how to express where things are located or where they appear in relation to other things. Learning about directions and position is a fundamental skill to support their understanding of geometry.

As educators, we highlight when they use mathematics during their daily experiences and we provide playful experiences to explore the world around them with a mathematical lens. This will assist in building a curiosity around mathematics and encourage children to develop a stronger interest in STEM subjects as they progress through their educational journey at St Peter’s Girls’ School.

Caterina Pennestri
ELC Educational Leader  

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Important Dates

September 19, 20, 26: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Thursday September 22: Public Holiday (ELC Closed)
Monday October 3: Public Holiday (ELC Closed)
October 4 – 14: Vacation Care
Monday 17 October: Term 4 Begins

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Vacation Care – Bookings Closing Soon

Vacation Care will run from Tuesday 4 to Friday 14 October. Please note Monday 3 October is a public holiday and the ELC will be closed.

Bookings close next Wednesday 21 September at 5pm.

Book your spot via www.trybooking.com/CCNLQ

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Introducing Our Reimagined Friends of the ELC Group

Are you a parent/family member looking to be a part of our Friends of the ELC, connecting with other families and helping organise our ELC community events?  

Our Friends of the ELC group previously held fortnightly meetings at a local coffee shop. As we juggle the reality of our busy lives, we have reimagined what this community group will look like, and how it can best support our ELC events and our wonderful community. We know there is nothing more important than building community around our children and offering a chance for families to engage, and so we have reflected upon the nature of these meetings. 

Moving forward, the Friends of the ELC will hold casual get-togethers on Friday of Week 2 each term, from 8 – 9.30am, in the School’s Chapel. The meetings will enable families to connect while we will discuss the volunteering opportunities for the term ahead, organise helpers for our upcoming ELC events, and ensure we continue to give value and voice to our parents, families and other community members.

If you’re interested in joining our reimagined Friends of the ELC, there will be no ‘lock-in contracts’ – just an opportunity to further engage with one another and the ELC. Morning tea and coffee will be provided. We welcome all help and participation from our community however it fits into your busy schedules.

If you’re interested in coming along to our first meeting on Friday 28 October (Week 2, Term 4), please email me via hbalnaves@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager

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Our Sustainability Journey

Spring has sprung and our ELC Community Garden is ready for replanting! The children have shared a very keen interest in gardening, with Learning Community 1 exploring fresh produce and the possibilities within the kitchen, and Learning Community 2 investigating the lifecycle of seeds and growing their own broad beans. They have also spent time with their hands in the dirt ripping out all our old winter vegetable plants to make way for the new.

As educators, we have a responsibility to ensure children are learning 21^st century skills. Our ELC Community Garden is a fantastic environment where children can build innovation and collaboration, develop their social skills through democratic practices and group decisions, and learn to become responsible global citizens.

We are hoping to fill each of our garden beds with fresh spring produce, whether it be from seeds, seedlings or established plants. We are extending this opportunity to all of our families and community to share any ideas, seeds and/or gardening tips so we can begin planting in Week 10.

We invite you to share your suggestions with us on the board in the ELC Foyer over the next week.

By gathering this data from our families and our wider community, the children can collate the suggestions and engage in creative ways of voting, enabling them to feel connected to the process and have a say in what they care for. This process acts as a magnet of connection and responsibility to our ELC Community Garden.

Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager

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2023 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.

Please notify me ASAP via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require an amendment to your days moving forward in 2023, or if you are leaving the Centre at the end of this year.

Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer

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Staff Spotlight

Saints Girls’ Old Scholar Juliana (Selwyn 2000) holds a Bachelor of Education (Early Years) and has a breadth of early years teaching experience, having taught in London, Singapore, Vietnam and Italy, as well as here in Adelaide. She has a passion for working with the youngest members of our School community, helping them to feel that sense of belonging which is so important in the early years.

Why are you passionate about working with children?

Young children are such open-minded and creative thinkers. They always have their eyes and hearts open to the wonder of the world. I hope that through my practice with young children, this natural instinct of children is nurtured. As an early childhood teacher, it is my responsibility to guide, encourage and support students to develop a love of learning and to help them to feel the success that ultimately leads to further success. I believe that the experiences of an individual’s early education set the foundation for later academic and social-emotional development. 

What makes St Peter’s Girls’ ELC special?

The opportunities available to the children are what make our ELC special. There is something for every child to feel success in and to explore their ‘Hundred Languages’. The children have opportunities to explore the great outdoors in Ferguson Park or the grounds of the School, Visual Arts with Ms Caterina, music, languages and gross motor sessions. There is something available for every child to feel successful and find their voice. 

What does a typical day look like in Learning Community 2?

Plenty of self-directed play in spaces that are focused on our current area of inquiry. Indoor and outdoor play is a must for helping develop strong relationships between the children as they negotiate, share and co-construct their play. There is always a lot of busy noise and chat in the LC2 spaces as the children explore in beautiful language-rich environments. We also have lots of small group learning experiences where we are able to delve more deeply into our inquiries with teacher-led learning. Groups may go off to the Library, gross motor activities, music sessions or explore Ferguson Park. Some of our older girls may also go and visit the Reception classes to help ensure a smooth transition to school.

What is your favourite memory from the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?

The joy the children have shown when discovering the fungi in Ferguson Park and learning the funny names they have such as Green skinhead and Jelly babies. This joy and amusement is why I am so passionate about working with young children.

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Important Reminders

Please carefully read the following important reminders:

• Please close all doors and safety gates behind you when entering and exiting the ELC. Whilst we appreciate the kind gesture, please refrain from holding open entry/exit doors or gates for other children unless they are accompanied by an adult.
• We ask families to bring your entry key fobs to ELC each day. If you need to order a new fob and/or report a lost one, email selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
• Please ensure children wear appropriate shoes and clothing for our indoor and outdoor activities; this includes no dress ups or long necklaces.
• The School has received reports of concerning driver behaviour on Hallett Road. This includes holding up traffic while waiting for cars to leave in order to park near the ELC, performing risky u-turns and parking in bus zones. As our staff have no jurisdiction over public roads, the School will be asking the police to conduct regular patrols at peak times. We implore all of our community members to support road safety and show courtesy to others.

The welfare of all children in our community is our utmost priority and we appreciate your cooperation.

Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager

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COVID-19 Information

If your child tests positive to COVID-19, notify us immediately. Please also advise the type of test (RAT/PCR), the date your child’s test was taken and the date symptoms started (if no symptoms, note ‘asymptomatic’).

Please notify us via email or text:

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)

If you need to notify us over the phone, please call the Front Office on 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

Should your child develop any symptoms, even mild ones, they must not attend ELC and should be tested for COVID-19. Those with symptoms who test negative using a RAT must undertake a PCR test to confirm that result. Students who have previously tested positive and have completed isolation in the past 28 days do not need to undertake testing. Under SA Health protocols, asymptomatic children who are close contacts can attend ELC, provided they undertake 5 Rapid Antigen Tests over 7 days and receive negative results. Please also note that face masks are strongly recommended indoors for adults, including visitors, except if it impedes the ability to teach or interact with children.

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来自黄老师的信息

亲爱的家长朋友们，

我们年轻的学习者们需要被既好玩又有意义的数学语言和概念包围着，同样展示积极的态度是他们学习的关键所在。

每一天我们鼓励孩子们参与到各种数学活动中去，比如：

• 在给出一个数字的前一个和后一个数字下，标识出这个数字
• 在环境中辨别数字
• 在十以内的数字中以数字的名字，数字和数量之间建立联接

在这个学期里我们特别关注数据的分类和几何。在学习社区中，我们提供给孩子们一系列的挑战去探索这些主题，如同数学家一样思考。

分类是把事物按照不同的相似的特征（比如按照颜色、形状以及尺寸大小）进行分类分组的技巧。学习二社区的孩子们通过弗格森公园的探索之路，对菌类进行学习和分类。通过描述性的语言，他们创作的数据展示了他们对分类技能更好的完善。理解如何分类对幼儿学习是十分重要的。它帮助了对于科学概念的形成发展，比如事物属于并可以被分为不同的的类别。孩子们自然地将他们的知识分类，对此来理解世界。这是特别有意义和鼓舞人心的，以他们内在的学习需要，并通过数学的技能来联系他们对组织事物以及事物的概念。

为了与家人和小伙伴们分享他们的发现，我们邀请孩子们来制作弗格森公园的地图，指出他们在哪里发现的每一种菌类。通过使用地理位置的语言，孩子们学会了如何表达事物的位置或在那个地方与它相关的其他事物。学习方向和位置是帮助他们理解几何的基本技能。

作为教育工作者，我们希望提高他们在日常生活中对数学的运用。我们提供有趣的体验，让他们有机会用数学的视角探索周围的世界。这将有助于建立对数学的好奇心，并鼓励孩子们在圣彼得女校的教育旅程中对STEM学科产生更强烈的兴趣。

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.

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News from Learning Community 1

An ability to recognise feelings and emotions in ourselves and others, known as emotional awareness, is important for the development of children’s wellbeing. In order to develop their emotional awareness, children need to experience the range of emotions in a safe and supportive environment. They need to feel connected to others to nurture their emotional wellbeing and be able to explore ways to express how they are feeling. 

We embrace opportunities to name emotions and support the development of strategies children can use to recognise, manage and express different feelings in appropriate ways. Through this term’s unit of inquiry, ‘Welcoming transformation can support wellbeing’, we have been exploring the concept of transformation of our emotions. Children have been supported to develop their understanding of their feelings and those of others.

We have provided opportunities for children to explore how emotions can be represented through different facial expressions and body language, and to recognise how emotions feel in their bodies. We have begun discussions around how feelings and emotions are natural reactions to different situations and that there are appropriate ways to express all emotions. We have also been exploring strategies we can use to make ourselves feel better if we are feeling sad or angry. 

The children have begun spontaneously recognising and naming their own feelings and those of others in social play and interactions. They have been supporting each other through connection and comfort to work through the range of emotions. 

Jessica Guimaraes and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

In recent weeks, the children and educators of Learning Community 2 have been exploring, investigating, classifying and documenting the fungi in Ferguson Park. We have become mycologists, or fungi experts! We wanted to find out more and were able to reach out to an old friend. Professor Geoffrey Bishop runs the Friends of Ferguson Park, a volunteer group that looks after and cares for the park. He has supported us in the past to identify various plants that can be found in the park, and along with his knowledge of Botany, he is also a mycologist.  

Professor Bishop visited us in the Centre and shared that there are over 50 different species of fungi that can be found in Ferguson Park. He showed us photos that he has taken of various fungi from both the park and around his home in the Adelaide Hills. We then went into the park to see if we could find and share some of the fungi we have been noticing.  

Along with our scientific focus, Miss Caterina has been supporting the children in the Atelier to explore creative ways we can document and represent fungi. The children have been introduced to Yayoi Kusama, a Japanese artist who makes different types of art – paintings, sculptures, performances and installations – they have one thing in common, DOTS!

She produced a series of colourful paintings of mushrooms covered in dots, illustrating fungi in different shapes, sizes and colours. We invited the children to use their imagination to create their own mushroom artworks inspired by Yayoi’s experience, harnessing a variety of graphic materials and paper.

Through the lens of our inquiry, these are just two examples of how our learning is transdisciplinary. Our curriculum areas are merged through creativity, wonder and curiosity. For children, learning isn’t compartmentalised, it is holistic, and this is why it is important that we offer our children multiple and varied opportunities for exploring and investigating the world around them.

Nell Tierney, Kathy McCabe and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2

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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. 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.

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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. The School requires a reason for the absence for government reporting purposes.

Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)

Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au (If emailing, please ‘CC’ the teacher of the Room as well)

ELC Room Contacts:

• Stonyfell – 8155 5778
• Bell Yett – 8155 5777
• Ferguson – 8155 5776
• Hallett – 8155 5775

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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

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