Dear Families
As we reach the end of Term 3 and complete our Parent-Teacher Conversations, it is a time to reflect and celebrate the progress we have made. Many of our children have just completed their first term, either of ELC or in a new Learning Community.
Recognising that change can create a few minor obstacles, we should feel proud of how well everyone has done. Our Parent-Teacher Conversations enable us to reflect on the data we have collected and to look closely at the progress each student has made against our learning outcomes. I have loved hearing more about this through the sharing from the teachers as we analyse each child’s portfolios and can see areas of strength across the Centre. We are also able to see areas that require greater attention as we move into the last term of the school year. For many, it will be the last term at ELC as school becomes the next chapter, so it will be a term of celebration and accomplishment of their ELC journey.
We hope you have appreciated the way in which your child’s learning has been shared with you, as well as the holistic evidence that supports your child’s overall development and wellbeing. The social and emotional contexts are as important in terms of each child and their ability to participate, belong and enjoy daily life at ELC.
Spring has added joy to our days over the past fortnight with outdoor picnics, increased time outdoors and our wonderful new play space. The happiness we experience alongside the children during these times is so precious. We look forward to more time outdoors, freeing ourselves of the colder months, and welcoming pockets of sunshine and the changes in our garden and neighbouring park.
Enjoy the next fortnight, whether it be through our Vacation Care program or being able to get away for a few days. We hope this time rejuvenates us ready for a magical Term 4.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Important Dates
Friday 24 September: Last day of Term 3
Monday 27 September – Friday 8 October: Vacation Care
Monday 4 October: Public holiday (ELC Closed)
Monday 11 October: Term 4 commences
Thursday 21 October: ELC Garden Grand Opening
Keeping Sun Safe in the ELC
As the weather warms up, we ask families to please bring their children to ELC with sunscreen and a named, broad-brimmed hat.
When the daily UV Index level reads 3 and above, staff ensure children wear their hat and have applied sunscreen before they go out to play.
Save the Date for Our Garden Grand Opening!
We are planning to hold a grand opening of our new ELC Garden where families can experience the joy of this breathtaking space, and hope you can save the date of Thursday 21 October at 9.30am.
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长朋友们，
第三学期已经接近尾声，我们完成了家长与老师一对一的交流会。此时此刻，孩子们的进步值得我们深思和庆祝。许多孩子在ELC刚刚完成他们的第一个学期，也刚刚熟悉了一个新的学习社区。我们意识到一些改变可能会带来一些小挫折，我们应该为每个人都适应得这么好而感到骄傲。我们的家长教师对话使我们能够更深刻地思考我们收集的数据，并密切关注每个孩子在学习成果上取得的进步。
当我们分析每个孩子的学习文档时，我们喜欢从老师那里听到更多关于这方面的信息，可以看到整个中心的优势所在。随着这一年最后一个学期的到来，我们也能看到那些需要更多关注的地方。对于许多孩子来说，那将成为他们在ELC的最后一个学期。因为从“幼升小”将成为他们的下一个篇章，所以这个学期值得庆祝和完成他们在ELC学习之旅。
我们希望您能理解，我们采用这种方式，来同您分享的您·孩子学习方式以及如何支持孩子全面发展和身心健康发展。每个孩子参与，归属，享受ELC的日常生活的能力不同，同样，社交和情绪管理的环境也非常重要。
在过去的两周里，春天的氛围给我们的日常生活增添了欢乐，增加了我们户外野餐、户外活动时间，以及体验我们美妙的新活动空间。在这段时间里，我们和孩子们一起经历的幸福和快乐是如此珍贵。我们期待更多的户外时间，让自己从寒冷的月份中解放出来，享受阳光，以及在我们的花园和邻近公园里感受每个季节的变化。
预祝大家好好享受接下来两周的假期，无论是来到我们的假期日托班，还是有幸能外出游玩。我们期待在这段时间让我们恢复活力，为不可思议的第4学期做好准备。
园长
Kate Mount
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
Sustainability in the ELC
Spring has sprung in our ELC Community Garden with the children in Learning Community 2 learning about the process of seasonal planting.
After using all of our spinach in our recent cooking experiences, the children followed by pulling the old plants out and preparing the soil so we could begin planting again. Our local plant store made our spring vegetable decisions for us this time with the only seedlings available being corn, pumpkin, lettuce and cucumber. Some children were quick to draw and plan where they were going to plant these new seedlings; the others jumped straight into the planting stage.
‘We have pumpkin, corn, cucumber and three lettuces to plant. The sun is the hottest day.’ – Jess
The children in the Ferguson Room decided that we needed a plan to plant our seedlings, and so together, they came up with a step-by-step process they all agreed upon for everyone to follow in our ELC Community Garden!
- Plan where you want to plant
- Dig a hole with a shovel
- Put the seedling in – gently!
- Use your hands to cover it up and tuck it in
- Cover the area with hay
- Water it!
Our group of green thumbs then put this process into action:
‘The pumpkin will grow really big!’ – Mila
We cannot wait to see what happens over the next few months as observing, experiencing and embracing our garden is what connects the children so strongly. It is what transforms the garden from a ‘space’ into a ‘place’. We welcome families to join us in our garden!
Henrietta Balnaves
News from Learning Community 1
At 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 focused on the central idea, ‘Our identity can be constructed by ourselves and others.’ This has provided children with opportunities to further explore the key concepts of connection and responsibility as they develop their self-awareness and understanding of themselves as an individual within a community of learners.
In the early years, children are constantly exploring and developing their sense of identity and belonging as they engage and interact. Throughout our lives, our identity is shaped by our connections with people, experiences and our environment. The children’s awareness of themselves and how they interact with others and their environment was observed, in order to determine the direction of our inquiry. Through interpretation of these observations, we identified four key lines of inquiry to delve deeper into with the children:
- Identity through portraiture
Some of the earliest conceptions children form of their identity and that of others is through recognising the different physical features of the face. They begin to recognise that the face can communicate emotion, offering an invitation for connection with those around them. Children were offered opportunities to use a range of creative ways to represent themselves and others, exploring feelings and increasingly adding details to their portraiture. - Identity through mark-making and symbols
A significant part of children’s identity and individuality is linked to their name and representations of themselves. Throughout the day at ELC, children were provided with opportunities to represent themselves as individuals and as part of a group. - Identity through connection
We have focused on the development of connections with educators and with other children, as well as developing children’s connections to the land and Kaurna culture, which are a major part of ELC’s identity. - Identity through movement
As young children grow and begin to develop spoken language skills, they depend on the use of their bodies as a way to communicate and express their thoughts and emotions. Children engage in many gross motor skills to connect and play with their peers and develop their body awareness.
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 past two weeks and we look forward to adding this documentation of your child’s learning to their individual portfolios.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
Term 3 has become a term to remember! Day one, and we went straight into a week of lockdown…it was quite the way to begin, but something we can be truly thankful for is our community and the support we can all offer each other in times of difficulty and challenge. We were able to provide learning online and received some wonderful participation and feedback from our children and families.
We jumped straight into our intentional learning alongside the children in Week 2 and have spent the term exploring and developing our social skills and ability to manage conflict in play. The children have expressed their passion for this topic and have found the play-based nature of this term’s learning supportive and beneficial. We are beginning to observe the children testing their newly-developed skills through their interactions with their peers. The teachers have delighted in sharing each child’s individual participation in the inquiry over the past few weeks in our Parent-Teacher Conversations.
This term, we have also spent time watching our beloved Hallett Garden transform into an amazing and beautiful play space complete with embedded connections to Kaurna culture. The children and educators have delighted in reconnecting with this space, and we have enjoyed discovering the endless possibilities for play.
As we look forward now to Term 4, a term full of change and transition, many children are preparing for the next step in their learning journey. We have begun the conversations with families about school enrolments, transition visits and supporting their children to prepare for this time. We aim to make the most of our time together and look forward to the possibilities that this new term will bring.
Nell Tierney, Laura Reiters and Kirsty Porplycia
Learning Community 2
Find Out What Happens Throughout
the Day at ELC
The ELC Learning Community Home Page is a dynamic online sharing space that invites you to participate in the communities’ learning as it happens. We use this tool to communicate important information with families and provide a window into the children’s life at the ELC, as educators share documentation of teaching, specialist lessons and spontaneous moments.
Accessing myLink for the first time:
- Visit https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
- To set your password, click the link located below the sign in section
- Your user name was emailed to you upon your child’s commencement (see Helpdesk contact details below if you cannot source your user name)
- Enter your unique user name, click ‘Next’
- Enter the security code sent to your mobile
- Enter the password you would like to use and press submit
- Return to the login screen at https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au to access myLink
- Several instructional videos are available via the Welcome page if you click on the ‘HELP’ menu tab
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 the IT Helpdesk via helpdesk@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au or 8334 2227.
ELC’s Online Etiquette Policy:
Please note that the ELC Learning Community Home Page and ELC News contain images and videos of other children. We therefore ask that you do not copy or share images or videos, especially on social media, if they contain other children.
Absences in the ELC
Student Absences
Please notify the School via one of the following methods for late arrivals/early departures and absences, ensuring a reason for the absence is included.
Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)
Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Phone: 8334 2200 or phone the relevant room as per the contact list below.
Please include the relevant room teacher when sending via email.
ELC Room Contacts:
Bell Yett – 8155 5777
Ferguson – 8155 5776
Hallett – 8155 5775
Stonyfell – 8155 5778
ELC Immunisation Policy
Under the Government’s No Jab No Play policy, families must meet immunisation requirements to attend the ELC and receive the Child Care Subsidy. Families are required to provide all approved immunisation records to the ELC. Further information is available by clicking here.
Children who are suffering from illnesses such as those listed below must be excluded from ELC in line with our Exclusion Policy:
- Influenza
- Chicken Pox
- Conjunctivitis
- Diarrhoea
- Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease
- High Temperature
- Infectious Hepatitis
- Measles
- Meningitis
- Mumps
- Rubella (German Measles)
- Scabies
- Scarlet Fever
- School Sores (Impetigo)
- Upper Respiratory Tract Infection
- Vomiting
- Whooping Cough