From the Director of Early Learning
Dear Families,
I began the year with the idea of reimagining our ELC teaching and learning. With such success over the past two years it would be easy to sit back and deliver the same recipe as we have done in the past. However, the significance of last year, in particular our visit in October from Professor Carla Rinaldi from Reggio Emilia, left us with some challenging questions which I have spent much of my break pondering. Whilst we know our practice is exemplary we can always strive to do better. With an expanded team, and a new set of expertise, we are entering 2017 with wide eyes and on some slightly new ground.
This year, I would like to focus on the idea of forever learning for without this we would become a stagnant model that others could copy. Our individual approach is unique and it certainly shone through in Week 1 with the inviting environment families were welcomed into, the exceptional level of care and communications demonstrated by the educators. We have, after all, entered a shared journey together which will be treasured.
The depth of our growth as a team of dedicated educators can be measured by the solid foundation that has been laid. I referred to this with my team as the roots of a tree with well fertilised soil as I believe that we have created this over the past few years. We will continue to fertilise the soil with quality educators, ongoing professional learning provided both in house and externally. We read widely and engage in deep discussions about how children best learn. We then watch our tree grow. It has a very strong trunk, anchored to St Peter’s Girls’ School – one of Adelaide’s leading ELC to Year 12 schools. Our School is positioned in a unique environment on a beautiful conservation park and attended by students who have such a strong desire to learn.
This year we will watch the directions of our branches as they grow new shoots and perhaps change shape and colour as the year progresses. This is a visual that I am using to offer my team and our families to better see growth and change in a positive light so that nothing ever stays the same. I look forward to presenting my ideas to you at our upcoming Parent Information Night as we launch our thinking and commence your journey with us.
Wishing our ELC families a wonderful academic year and look forward to meeting you all in the next few weeks,
Kind regards,
Kate Mount
欢迎加入圣彼得女校ELC 2017
新的一年，圣彼得女校ELC欢迎大家回来，同时我们也欢迎新家庭的加入！值此中国新年之际，所有ELC的员工祝大家新年快乐！
我们希望您度过了一个愉快的假期和新年，如果您愿意，老师们非常乐意您和孩子跟大家一起分享你们的春节故事或者照片。
以下是近期的一些重要活动，我们期待您能参加：
- 本周五（2月10日）上午9:00，我们准备了Welcome Morning Tea，地点： Chiverton Lawns
- 本周五（2月10日）下午6:30，Welcoming Drinks，
地点： Chiverton Lawns - 下周三 （2月15日）下午7:00，Parent Information Night / 家长会，地点：ELC
届时我们的中文老师Ms Qian会在现场协助。 - 我们为每一个家庭准备了ELC重要日期日历，各班老师会陆续发给大家，如果您有任何疑问或者需要任何帮助，请联系我们的中文老师Ms Qian（Stonyfell Room）, 或者发邮件到qpu@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
最后，圣彼得女校ELC祝您身体健康，万事如意！
News from Friends of ELC
The Friends of ELC welcome all families to the 2017 school year and we hope to see many of you at our upcoming events. The Friends of ELC is a volunteer group that diligently works at supporting our community. Meeting fortnightly, they plan ELC events throughout the year and give visibility to the importance of community, particularly when working side by side with families of young children.
Christmas Giving Tree
At the conclusion of 2016 it was decided again to use our special ELC Christmas Tree as a giving tree. Families were invited to bring in toys, clothes or food to contribute. Our two 
charities were the Backpacks for SA Kids and the Salvation Army. Backpack for SA Kids is an organisation that provides clothes and supplies for children placed in emergency foster care, kinship and domestic violence shelters. In these situations children have been removed from their families without being able to take their personal belongings with them. Most of our children’s packages under the tree were taken to this organisation.
We were overwhelmed by the generosity of all families who gave and the understandings the children had in giving to others. Our gifts were so gratefully received and made a significant difference to many families at Christmas. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who participated in this significant act of giving.
Drinks on the Lawns
The St Peter’s Girls Parents’ and Friends’ Association would like to extend an invitation to all parents to welcome in the new school year at the traditional Drinks on the Lawns.
This annual, adults-only event is a great way for new parents to meet and socialise with existing parents, teachers and school staff in an informal atmosphere.
Please feel free to seek out our P&F Committee Members attending on the night to find out about the great benefits of volunteering at your daughter’s school.
Friday 10 February, 6.30 – 8.30pm
Chiverton Lawns, St Peter’s Girls’ School
Save the Date
- 10 February : Welcome Morning Tea, Chiverton Lawns at 9am
- 10 February : Parents and Friends Drinks on the Lawn, Chiverton Lawns at 6.30pm
- 15 February : Parent Information Night, ELC at 7pm
- 10 March : ELC Twilight Picnic from 5pm
- 3 – 5 April : ELC Photos in the mornings
- 3 – 5 April : ELC Parent Teacher Conversations
- 14 April : Easter and School holidays
- 18 – 28 April : Vacation Care Program
We trust that all families have collected their 2017 Key Dates Fridge Magnet from your room.
News from the Stonyfell Room
Welcome to 2017 in the Stonyfell Room, we would like to take this opportunity to welcome all existing families into the Stonyfell Room. We have had a wonderful first week, with everyone settling into their new room.
During this first week, we have been taking the time to support our children with making connections and creating a sense of belonging to the ELC. Together we are becoming a new ‘group’. This concept of group is at the heart of our teaching and learning this year.
Each team in the ELC is working on a research project with a strong ‘group’ focus. Our overarching question is examining how we function together. Our beginning point is examining how a group forms. Inspired by the Reggio Emilia Philosophy, high value is given to groups within the learning community. We are wanting to ensure we are looking beyond just the learning of the individual.
Our everyday practice places great value in group work, constructing knowledge and sharing ideas from each other. These early days are pivotal in the development of our group. We can view it as the beginning of our story; together we are telling a story, our story! In order to further support the development of ‘group’, we must understand what it means to be part of one. Through the use of the PYP (Primary Years Programme) we are able to specifically focus on a set of skills to support our learning. This term we are focusing on our social skills. Through this curriculum framework we can support and plan for our children to build on their ability to respect others and cooperate. These skills are needed in order to be part of and function in a group. We see these as essential life skills.
The Stonyfell team and I are excited to share our research over the coming months and are hoping to be able to have your voice reflected in our work. We are looking at constructing a parent focus group to assist us in our process. I hope to share more of this and of our research with you during our Parent Information Night on Wednesday, 15 February at 7pm.
Laura Reiters
Stonyfell Room
News from the Bell Yett Room
Welcome to the Bell Yett Room in 2017. We are delighted to have many returning families who have transitioned from the Stonyfell Room, as well as some new families we welcome to our ELC. We look forward to this precious time we have with you and your children.
We are thrilled with the smooth start to the year. We have observed the children reconnecting with established friends, as well as being open to new relationships with both children and educators. One way that we can support the development of these relationships is through a family photo. We invite you to either bring in or email us a photo of your family that we can keep in the room. The children enjoy accessing their photos throughout the day and they provide a great starting point for conversations.
In the Bell Yett Room, we support your children in growing their independence. One way of doing this is by encouraging the children to keep their hats and drink bottles in their lockers. Ensuring these are clearly named will help your child identify and manage their belongings.
We are beginning the year by investigating how belonging to groups can shape our identity. Many of our learning experiences invite the children to reflect on and express their uniqueness. We are using play dough, mark making materials, light and shadow, and photography as ‘languages’ for the children to share their thoughts and theories. However, our learning environments have been purposefully created to be open-ended, enabling the children to be creators of their learning. We know that children bring endless possibilities with them and we look forward to carefully observing and engaging with your children to uncover their potential.
We look forward to seeing you at our Parent Information Night on Wednesday, 15 February at 7pm.
Leanne Williams & Nell Tierney
Bell Yett Team
News from the Ferguson Room
During the past two weeks, the children, families and educators have been working on getting to know each other. Developing trusting relationships is the foundation for successful learning and so we have concentrated our efforts on ensuring that each of the children feels safe, supported and recognised for the unique and special person that they are. It is also important for the children to see their families and teachers interacting with warmth and respect, as this adds to their sense of security and wellbeing when they are at school. A focus on wellbeing is at the forefront of everything we do at St Peter’s Girls’ School, not only now but throughout the whole year. This extends to our families and our staff, because this is what helps us to learn, work and flourish together.
“I am a Ferguson friend” declared one of the children after a Morning Meeting last week. This was a significant moment as we begin to immerse ourselves in our Unit of Inquiry for Term 1, ‘Who We Are’. Our Central Idea is that ‘Belonging to groups can help shape our identity’ and so the experiences we offer and planning for possible investigations are intended to provoke children’s thinking about their own identity and the groups to which they belong. Children naturally have enthusiasm for these questions and have displayed rich evidence of their knowledge. In particular, their love for their family is uppermost in their minds and is conveyed in many ways, including their drawing and painting, conversations and contributions to Morning Meeting.
Throughout the week, the children will have opportunities for specialist lessons in Music, Japanese, Chinese, Soccer, PE and Art, as well as visiting the School Library. A timetable for these lessons can be found in our room along with our ‘Planning for the Possible’ and our PYP Unit of Inquiry documentation. All of these experiences will contribute to our collective research on what it means to be a Ferguson friend and a member of the wider learning community at St Peter’s Girls’ School.
Mel Angel
Ferguson Room
News from the Hallett Room
Welcome families to the start of Term 1. As we begin establishing a new Hallett Room group, with new friendships forming and existing friendships inviting others in, we are actively questioning children on the importance of having an awareness of others. Do they realise their impact on others? How can we support one another to become more aware of this impact? As we move towards an Essential Agreement, we have heard the children passionately expressing their thoughts about what is important to them in their room.
“We didn’t know whose craft was whose. We need to make stop signs.”
“If we play with balls in the Hallett Garden they might go over the fence and get popped.”
“I was talking and you weren’t listening. It’s important to listen.”
Because the Hallett Room is “everyone’s room”, children are aware of sharing the information with those who aren’t there every day.
“We need to send a message to them. We could put it on paper and put it in their pigeon hole.”
“Or in their mailbox.”
“We can draw pictures to help them remember.”
As we begin to research the skills children need to function as a group, the children have already shown some excellent problem-solving skills. For instance, not using the Hallett Room quiet corner cushions at rest-time has resulted in children suggesting that they can bring their own small pillow from home if they would like to lie on one! (Please pop one in their bag if they ask!)
As this learning unfolds, we will document the children’s ideas and our planning for the possible. Please spend some time looking at the planning wall (above the lockers, next to the sliding door) where will we aim to make the learning of the children visible. We have also included a space on one of the walls to put their suggestions about what happens in the room. The aim of this is to introduce the democracy of the Hallett Room, to develop those skills needed as citizens to work collaboratively, to cooperate and to make decisions together. Our PYP this term focusses on these skills. We look forward to seeing our citizens develop and grow throughout the term.
Pam Reid
Hallett Room