Dear Families
As we commence a new school year, we recognise the myriad of emotions that accompany this time. There has been a zest of excitement and anticipation, a confidence in the familiar and, of course, uncertainty as change can seem daunting.
As a team, the ELC educators have invested in considering how we can best welcome every family, new or returning, to assist with the transition from holidays to daily life in the ELC and embed strategies that will support everyone. Prior to Term 1 commencing, we engaged with an Early Childhood Consultant to unpack the language of welcome at a deeper level, understanding it is more than just an action but an ongoing philosophy that underpins our Centre’s community. Our desire is to work in close collaboration with families to support and deepen the wellbeing and learning opportunities for all children and families.
We hope that you have received a warm welcome from our staff and you are feeling confident in the relationships that are being formed within our Centre. Our community events, such as this Friday’s Welcome Morning Tea, will act as an extension of this welcome. In addition, families are invited to an Information Evening next week where our educators will be outlining the curriculum and daily life in the ELC, and we see this as another way of welcoming you into our ELC community.
Our goal is for the language of welcome to be visible in every action throughout the year or, in fact, at any time of day. We recognise that our spaces provide comfort and a sense of belonging for everyone in our community, but we must also ensure we are present for everyone, in every conversation and at every event. We look forward to the year ahead and building our collaborative partnerships with you.
Kind regards
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Professional Learning in the ELC
At St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, we seek to continuously expand on our professional learning throughout each year. We began 2020 with a dynamic session from leading Early Childhood Consultant Kirsty Liljegren. During our rigorous workshop with Kirsty, she urged us to expand our thinking and dialogue on the value and importance of welcome. We were provoked to deeply consider how our diversity strengthens our work together, and what it means when we consider the notion of belonging.
With 20 of our ELC educators present, Kirsty enabled us to develop a shared understanding of terminology and purpose around the language of welcome and how we can develop this over the year through a research-inspired pedagogy. We are excited to begin this year with a declaration of intent and accompanying strategies on the language of welcome. We finished the workshop with a profound sense of commitment and purpose as an ELC team, and we look forward to sharing our journey of learning with our community over the coming year.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Save the Date
Friday February 7: Friends of the ELC Morning Tea at 9am
– Parents’ and Friends’ Association – Welcome Drinks on the Lawns from 7pm
Tuesday February 11: ELC Information Evening at 7pm
Monday March 9: Public Holiday (ELC Closed)
Friday March 13: ELC Twilight Family Picnic at 5pm
Monday March 23 – 25: ELC Photos
Sunday March 29: Parents’ and Friends’ Association – ‘Garden of Saintly Delights Fair’
Thursday April 9: Hot Cross Bun Morning Tea at 8.45am
Friday April 10 – 11: Easter (ELC Closed)
Tuesday April 14 – 24: Vacation Care
This Friday – Friends of the ELC Morning Tea
The Friends of the ELC and ELC staff invite you to a welcome morning hosted by the Friends of the ELC. We look forward to welcoming new families into our community and strengthening our connections with current ELC families.
Friday 7 February at 9am
Chiverton Lawns
Coffee and tea will be provided along with a light morning tea.
Information Evening
You are invited to our Information Evening to learn about daily life within our two new Learning Communities.
Hear about the teaching and learning strategies for the year, with a focus on the rich experiences offered throughout a day and the purposeful intentions behind each of these.
欢迎来到我们的ELC
Welcome to our Newest ELC Staff
It is with great delight that we introduce you to the newest members of our ELC staff team.
In Learning Community 1, we welcome Mrs Ellen Shuman, Mrs Elina Qian, Ms Bethany Rix and Ms Georgia Lyng.
In Learning Community 2, we welcome Ms Ruby Kilpatrick and Ms Ziqi Li (Lily).
We also welcome Ms Courtney Sandford as our new ELC Music Teacher.
Staff Spotlight
As part of this years’ focus on the language of welcome, we will be shining a light on our talented staff members in each ELC eNews edition to allow our families to get to know them better.
Eva Simitsis (also known as ‘Miss Sims’ by the ELC friends) is a valued member of our Symphony of Languages (SOL) team. Eva is a qualified Dance teacher and has been dancing from a very young age. She continues to perform and has been recognised for her dancing abilities in recent competitions. Eva brings her passion for dance to the SOL team and enriches the children’s explorations through the languages of music and movement.
What excites you about working in the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?
I get to work in a place that I love. Our ELC is made incredible by all of the wonderful educators and relationships formed with the families and children. Everything about you is valued and genuine care for the staff and families pulses through the Centre.
What is your background?
Before coming to work for St Peter’s Girls’ ELC in 2016, I studied a Bachelor of Education in Early Childhood, and relief-taught for one year in various centres and schools. Dance is a passion I’ve brought to the ELC, as another language for the children to immerse themselves in. I have been a dancer since I was 2 years old and have taught dance for 10 years, as well as pursuing my own passion for dancing in that time.
What are you most looking forward to this year in the ELC?
Exciting new challenges and learning opportunities, working with the children, welcoming new families and children to the ELC community and reconnecting with current families.
Sun Safety in the ELC
Please can your child bring to ELC, each day that they attend, a broad brimmed hat. If you do not have an ELC uniform hat, we ask that you pack another broad brimmed hat for your child to wear at ELC. 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.
Please note that sun cream application is also being undertaken regularly at the ELC; if your child requires an alternative sun cream, 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 the shoulders are exposed. Appropriate footwear is also required and we ask that children wear sneakers or sandals that have a backing to them.
Children’s Lunch Boxes
With the weather warming up, it is important that your child’s lunches are prepared and stored safely to avoid the risk of food poisoning. Keep pre-made lunch boxes in the fridge until they are ready to be packed into your child’s bag. We ask that you pack a frozen ice block/ice pack in your child’s lunch box to keep food cold. Please consider healthy, safe lunch box alternatives such as fruits and vegetables, and please ensure your child has a drink bottle filled with water each day they attend ELC. The staff can refill the bottles if required throughout the day.
ELC Immunisation Policy
Under the Government’s No Jab No Pay policy, families must meet immunisation requirements to receive the Child Care Subsidy. Further information is available from the Department of Health by clicking here.
Children with high risk conditions, as well as children who are not immunised against them, may be excluded from the ELC in accordance with the ‘Staying Healthy: Preventing infectious diseases in early childhood education and care services’ guidelines. Please refer to our Exclusion Policy for further information.
Common illnesses requiring exclusion include:
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
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
Feel free to also 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
News from Learning Community 1
Welcome to our new families who are embarking on their journey with us at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, and welcome back to our families continuing with us in both the Bell Yett and Stonyfell Rooms. We begin the year in Learning Community 1 with a buzz and excitement for what 2020 has in store for our community of learners.
The Christmas break has given us time to consider the year ahead and the wonderful learning possibilities we can create together. Cinzia Innerti, an early childhood teacher from Reggio Emilia in Italy, tells us that arriving in a new place is complex; you need to take a moment to consider your heart and mind. As we begin this new year, we acknowledge the wide range of emotions our new families will be experiencing as they go through many ‘firsts’; the first goodbye, the first full day apart, the first time in a brand new space.
A strong sense of community underpins every aspect of daily life in our ELC, and ensuring a sense of belonging is felt by everyone in our community remains at the forefront of our practice as we welcome young children and their families into our community. We treasure that school and our ELC is a place where people live a portion of their lives together.
A sense of welcome comes naturally to our youngest learners. In our early weeks, we have already witnessed our returning children approach, invite, share and play with our new children with no reservations, helping to form the sense of comfort we consider so important within our spaces.
Please have a chat with the educators within the Stonyfell and Bell Yett Rooms, and visit Learning Community 1’s online Canvas page to keep up-to-date with the special events we hold as a School community, as well as other opportunities for participation around the ELC.
Mel Angel and Annabelle Redmond
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
Naa marni, marni naa pudni.
Hello and welcome, good you came.
As our ELC’s Kaurna elder and friend Tamaru welcomes us onto Kaurna land with the words “Good you came” over the past week, we have had the joy and privilege of welcoming you, your children and extended families into Learning Community 2. For us, this time has felt like a celebration as we have reconnected with old friends and experienced the delight that comes with creating new relationships.
As a Centre, we have spent time researching and unpacking the concept of welcome and what it means. How can we ensure children and their families feel welcome at our ELC, not only on their first day but every day? What are the principles, values and rights that underpin ‘welcome’?
Prior to the start of Term 1, the educators of Learning Community 2 spent many days together planning this welcome. This included designing the environment and experiences we are offering the children. To do this, we shared the children’s learning across the Centre from the previous year and Vacation Care, with the intention of finding a common curiosity that we could propose back to the children.
Through the children’s ongoing investigations of the ELC Community Garden, Ferguson Park, Kaurna culture and our community, we discovered a common theme in the children’s desire to explore food in many forms. As educators, we agreed that food is a universal language that can provide a welcoming entry point for all of our children.
We devised the central idea that, ‘Creating and sharing memories (of food) can welcome people in our communities’, as a vehicle for exploring our values, relationships, cultures and communities, and the rights and responsibilities that come with these. As we research alongside the children, we will focus on enhancing social and communication skills while developing a solid foundation of early Literacy and Numeracy concepts and capabilities.
We look forward to developing positive relationships with you, your children and families throughout the year and hope to see many of you at our upcoming events.
Leanne Williams, Nell Tierney and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2