Dear Families
Our celebration on the lawns was such a delight. The joy on all of the faces was a testimony to the opportunity to come together – at last – as a whole community. We celebrated with such happiness, the songs provided cheerful engagement for one and all, and were inclusive of all our ages at ELC. It was just as it should be from my perspective for an end of year event! I could not have wished for more.
This is the last ELC News for the school year. Next week, Vacation Care commences. We wish all our families who are leaving the Centre all the best for their next chapter. Most are leaving to go to school, and a few are travelling interstate. We hope that your time with us will be remembered as a very special period in your lives.
I would like to thank all of my hard-working team for a fabulous year. They are an exceptional group of educators who make coming to work a joy! We farewell Ms Haylee Hunt, Ms Courtney Sandford, Ms Alannah Commegno and Ms Natalie Moschakis at the end of term as they move into the next chapters of their lives. We thank them for all they have contributed to our Centre. We will be wishing Mrs Kirsty Porplycia all the best as she will commence maternity leave in the first week back to school in February 2022. You will have the chance to wish her well upon your return. We will welcome a few new staff members to the team in the new year.
We wish you all a very special period over the festive season and some quality family time. We know how important this time is to reflect on the year we have had and make plans for the year ahead. I would like to thank you all for the amazing year we have shared together. Despite COVID, we have managed to host most of our special activities and share many wonderful memories together. Enjoy the portfolios that come home at the end of the term as a reminder of all the learning that has occurred in 2021.
Warmest wishes
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
A Good Goodbye!
I conclude the year with you all on such a special note as I reflect deeply on all that I have learnt alongside this wonderful community. My 16 years here has taught me how to lead to ensure the very best outcomes for students in their early years’ education, providing them with the highest quality educators, teaching cutting-edge pedagogy in such a strong environment nurturing childhood.
It has taught me that community is pivotal as, together, we work in partnership for all of our students. At the centre is the child and the relationships we have formed together that have offered trust, respect and security. I am very proud for upholding my values and using them as a compass for all the decisions I have made along the way.
I wish the Centre the very best for the future. It is in extremely capable hands and I know the staff will continue to uphold the Centre’s mission in the years to come. Thank you to each of you for the role you have played in our community whether as an educator, parent or community member. There is no member more important than the other, we are all here for the same reasons!
May the joys of childhood live on at St Peter’s Girls’ Early Learners’ Centre.
Thank you for everything.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
From Our Principal
This morning, it was delightful to see the School community pay tribute to and formally farewell our outgoing Director of Early Learning Kate Mount.
Kate has served St Peter’s Girls with pride and distinction for 16 years, leading a number of early childhood initiatives with impact on local, national and international scales. Her achievements include trailblazing work in Reggio Emilia, technology, The Arts, sustainability, service learning and reconciliation education, the latter of which was recently acknowledged with a national honour. She has been a dedicated mentor to our ELC staff, constantly striving for best practice, continuous improvement and teamwork of the highest calibre. Most crucially, she has always put the children at the heart of everything she does, and we thank her for the enormous contribution she has made during her time at Stonyfell.
At the helm in 2022 will be some very familiar faces in our ELC community: Caterina Pennestri and Henrietta Balnaves. Caterina will be our Educational Leader responsible for the oversight, strategy and consistent delivery of our exceptional teaching and learning programs across the Centre. Caterina’s academic and professional credentials are world-class, with a Master of Art Education, Pedagogical and Evaluative Studies, and prestigious postgraduate training at Reggio Emilia in Italy, studying the philosophy that guides our teaching and learning. Henrietta will be our ELC Manager, leading the day-to-day operations of the Centre including staffing, logistics and compliance. She is perfectly placed for the role having spent 2021 working closely alongside Kate as ELC Coordinator. She will also continue to lead our wonderful Vacation Care program. To further strengthen our programs and practices, and the vital transition of our girls from ELC to school, the Centre will now fall under the stewardship of our Head of Junior School Suzanne Haddy, and we look forward to harnessing her extensive expertise.
For day-to-day matters, the first port of call for parents will continue to be your child’s key teacher. Matters relating to invoices, day allocations and the like will continue to be managed by our ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer Sarah Elliott.
We are looking forward to another tremendous year at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC in 2022 and, once again, we thank Kate for her significant contribution and wish her all the best for the next chapter.
Julia Shea
Principal
Farewell Mrs Mount!
Thank you to everyone who attended the Farewell Morning Tea on Chiverton Lawns this morning. It was humbling to see so many children and families who have been a part of my journey, and a special way to conclude my time in the St Peter’s Girls’ community. I will treasure the memories from this morning dearly.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Our ELC Hat Ceremony – A Treasured Tradition
A very special tradition for our ELC girls transitioning to Reception at St Peter’s Girls’ School is the Hat Ceremony. This tradition was founded some years ago now and is one that is looked forward to by many. The ELC children are formally welcomed into the St Peter’s Girls’ School community at a School Assembly where they are presented with their School hat and bag by Head of Junior School Suzanne Haddy and the Prefects. When communicating with parents and families of children involved in this presentation, they have placed high importance on the sense of community and belonging that this gives the children when entering a new environment. Children and families’ sense of belonging in a setting is strengthened by the transition practices that identify and place the child at the forefront.
On Monday, we were thrilled to share this special moment with the girls, and as you can see in the video, the children were beaming with pride. We wish all girls a wonderful start to school next year and look forward to hearing more about their continued journey at St Peter’s Girls’ School.
Kirsty Porplycia
Festive Joy at Our End of Year Celebration!
Our ELC End of Year Celebration was a truly delightful occasion as our youngest children performed some of their favourite Christmas songs for their families on Chiverton Lawns. Thank you to all of our fabulous families who joined in the festivities. Watch our video to see the joy!
Farewell to Our LC2 Friends Transitioning to School
‘Congratulations! Today is your day.
You’re off to great places! You’re off and away!’
– Dr Seuss
At St Peter’s Girls’ Early Learners’ Centre, we are committed to ensuring that any student leaving our community has a smooth transition to their new environment. We feel this is an essential part of a child’s foundation to their education. We aim to work in partnership with the new educational setting where information is communicated to the educators to provide a seamless transition for both the child and their family.
At the end of this year, we farewell a large group of children in Learning Community 2 who are transitioning to school. Many of these children have been a part of the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC community since they were in Playgroup, and others who have only just recently joined us. Either way, each child has played an important role within our community, and one that we will treasure.
Over the past few weeks, the children and teachers have been reminiscing about the special times that they have had throughout their time at the ELC and the special friendships that they have made along the way. We wish them all the very best for the next chapter of their educational journey.
Kirsty Porplycia
Final Days for ELC Christmas Giving Tree
Our ELC Christmas Giving Tree is a treasured tradition for our ELC community and is part of our ELC – 12 Service Learning program.
In 2021, we are partnering with AnglicareSA, and families are invited to donate a gift to a child less fortunate. Gifts could include books, board games, craft sets, push and pull toys, footballs and soccer balls, toy cars and dolls. Please refer to the poster in the ELC foyer for further ideas.
Please note, all items must be new, not wrapped and delivered to the ELC by 10am on Thursday 9 December.
We thank you for your participation in this special giving tradition.
ELC Leavers: Please Return Your Fob Keys
As we come to the end of another busy year in the ELC, we ask you to return all ELC Fob Keys you have been issued. We would appreciate it if you could drop them into either the ELC or the School’s Front Office, both of which are open between 9am and 4pm until Friday 17 December.
If your child is attending our Vacation Care program, please return them at the completion of their time in Vacation Care.
If you have any queries, please contact me via 8334 2271 or selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au and I’ll be happy to assist.
I wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a wonderful holiday break.
Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长们，
我们在草坪上的庆祝活动真是太令人愉快了。所有人的脸上都洋溢着喜悦，我们终于有机会聚集在一起，作为一个完整的社区。我们在如此快乐的气氛中庆祝，音乐让每个人都参与进来，无论年龄。对我们来说，正是这一年的尾声，也正如我们所期待的。
这将是本学年最后一期简报。下周假期日托班开始。我们祝愿所有即将离开ELC的家庭在他们的下一个新篇章中一切顺利。大部分孩子要离开ELC去上学，小部分会去到州际旅行。希望你们与我们在一起的时光将被铭记。
我想要感谢所有努力工作的团队老师们给我带来了如此美好的一年。他们是一群出类拔萃的教育工作者，他们让工作成为一种乐趣。 学期结束时，我们先后告别了Ms Haylee Hunt, Ms Courtney Sandford, Ms Alannah Commegno 和 Ms Natalie Moschakis，她们将进入人生的下一个篇章。我们感谢他们为我们ELC所做的贡献。我们祝愿Kirsty Porplycia老师一切顺利，因为她将在2022年2月开学的第一周开始休产假。假期归来时，大家也有机会一同祝福她。在新的一年里，我们将欢迎几位新教师加入到我们的团队。
我们预祝大家渡过一个美好的家庭节日时光。我们知道，这个时候看看这过去一学年所做的以及为未来一年制定计划是多么重要。感谢大家共同渡过的美好一年，尽管疫情肆虐，我们还是成功举办了大部分特别的活动，共同分享了许多美好回忆。享受学期结束时带回家的学习文档，来回顾2021年孩子们的学习成果。
园长 Kate Mount
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
This Year in Learning Community 1
As the school year draws to a close, the teaching team has taken time to reflect and celebrate the journey we have been on with your children. Through our units of inquiry, the children have grown, learnt and developed both as individuals and a community of learners, developing fundamental skills and knowledge, and forming connections with educators and peers.
This term, we have explored our central idea, ‘Knowledge can be shared through storytelling’, providing opportunities for children to use different creative languages to retell and share stories. Storytelling is a vehicle to develop children’s communication skills and confidence to share their ideas and understandings. With the festive season in full swing, we have engaged children in opportunities to share Christmas stories, reflect on the year and celebrate being together.
Thank you to each and every one of our families who have been part of our Learning Community this year. We place such emphasis on the development of relationships and have been honoured to work in partnership with you all as your children grow and learn with us. For those children and families transitioning out of Learning Community 1 next year, we wish you all the best for the next stage of the educational journey. For those remaining with us, we look forward to continuing our journey together in the new year. Best wishes to you all for a safe and happy festive season.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
This Year in Learning Community 2
At the end of every year, we are met with mixed emotions. We are thrilled to be sharing the transition to school experiences with the children, and building their confidence and excitement for the next step in their educational journey. And yet, we are sad that we are going to be farewelling these students, many of whom have been a part of our community for 18 months or more.
As we look back on the 2021 ELC year, we have been thrilled with the units of inquiry we have engaged in with your children. They have been involved in a variety of rich and meaningful inquiry-based experiences where we have seen their confidence grow and commitment to projects deepen. This time of year, the teachers are busy preparing portfolios, end of term summaries and reports, and when we are doing these tasks, we stop to take the time to reflect on each child’s individual progress and growth.
We feel such a strong sense of pride and happiness towards the children’s journeys this year, whether it has been for the full year or for six months. We are so blessed to have had the opportunity to work with your children each and every day, and we thank you for sharing them and their childhood with us.
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:
You have an individual user name to access our myLink Parent Portal which has been provided to you. To set up your myLink access you will need your user name and access to your mobile phone to setup your recovery details. Please note that your user name requires your ID number followed by @stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
- Visit https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
- To set your password, click the link provided
- Enter your user name and click ‘Next’
- Click on ‘Forgot my password’ in blue under the password field
- Enter the characters in the picture and click and click the blue ‘Next’ button
- Select ‘Text my mobile phone’ radial button
- Enter your phone number in the following format +61 0400 000 000 (if you are in another country, please use the correct country code) and click the Blue ‘Text’ button
- You will be texted a code
- Enter the code and click the Blue ‘Next’ button
- You will then be taken to a screen to set a new password for your parent account
Please note: If you forget your password in the future, you can use this method to reset it. Please return to the login screen at https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au to access myLink and use the username from above with the password you just set up.
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