From the Director of Early Learning
Dear Families
Welcome to Term 2 , an exciting term for us as we experience the sense of belonging to our Centre, enabling us to be involved in deep learning. Term 2 offers us a sense of stability and establishment for the children. Stability in the sense that we are no longer new, our rituals are established and faces are familiar. Establishment is meant in the sense of deeply establishing the culture of learning and provocation as we reap the benefits of stability. I look forward to sharing it with you.
Recognition of a Journey
Last week, we were honoured with two international visitors from Reggio Children: experienced Reggio Pedagogista, Paola, and the President of Reggio Children, Claudia, who came from Italy to view our ELC and make recommendations on how we can further enhance our program to benefit the children.
These visits don’t just happen – they are a result of our strong position in leading teaching and learning based on the Reggio Emilia principles. We were recipients of a significant grant and are now one of a few selected South Australian schools in a special initiative, Project Quattro, which is part of the South Australian Collaborative Childhood Project sponsored by the State Government. The aim is to engage in ongoing research into how childhood can inspire cultural, educational, philosophical and economic change for South Australia, and challenge current perceptions of childhood.
It seems timely that at this point we highlight the importance of the Reggio Emilia influence on our ELC. I began here in 2006, bringing with me the desire to learn more about the progression of early years practice. Reggio Emilia was introduced to me as a place of deep research; one that has had ongoing impact on worldwide learning. Who would have believed the town in northern Italy would or could change our lives so significantly. I was indeed a pioneer of this thinking in our School, and with this desire have grown the ELC to be a place of research, a place where the child is viewed as a citizen, and that learning could be so sustained – so intentional but also so creative – embedded with strong ethical and global values.
Unlike other visits where we show people around our Centre, these visits were ones of deep discussion and offered us the chance to have our work critiqued and shared provocations discussed. We have at least a year’s work moving forwards from what was shared in these two days, and feel a sense of motivation and inspiration to begin unpacking everything that was discussed.
I am extremely proud of our journey and the fact that our Centre is so highly recognised. The serenity of the ELC, the deep learning, the rich history and the high quality staff were all things that captured the attention of our visitors. The environment was also extremely appealing, with Paola saying she would love to pick up our Centre and put it in the middle of Reggio Emilia.
It is important for me to give our community visibility into our work, our journey and our future. We must not just assume that this is who we are; we must reflect on a strong message of belief, passion and determination, for these ingredients allow us to make a dream become a reality. It is wonderful to be able to share it with you all and for the children to bring life and joy to our lives every day.
For a quick recap of the visit, please watch the video below.
Kind regards
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Golden Opportunity to Support our ELC!
The wonderful Drakes Community Dollars program is now supporting our ELC.
Recently, you should have received a special keytag to present every time you shop at Drakes. We will be credited 1c for every $2 spent by our community members at any Drakes Supermarket in SA. All funds raised will go directly back to our ELC. We will inform our community about the total money raised at the end of the year.
Extra keytags are available in the foyer if you wish to pass them on to other family members or friends who regularly shop at Drakes.
So please get behind this important push to support our ELC!
The Friends of the ELC
Mother’s Day Tea Party
This Friday 11 May, we are celebrating all mums with an afternoon tea in the ELC gardens from 2pm. Mothers and grandmothers are welcome to join us for tea and delicious scones.
We hope you can be part of this special event!
A Message from Mrs Yu
亲爱的家长朋友们，
欢迎回来我们本年的第二学期！ 母亲节快到了。在此，我们诚邀您参加本周五的母亲节下午茶，从下午的两点开始。我们非常期待各位的到来！
母亲节下午茶：11/05/18 下午2点开始。
我的邮箱：syu@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Sophie Yu
Celebrating a New Term of Playgroup!
As we begin a new term we also welcome new friends to our Playgroup. On Tuesday some of our Playgroup friends enjoyed an Autumn walk, and of particular interest was a big, beautiful tree.
The children enjoyed playing around the tree and making discoveries in nature.
News from the Stonyfell Room
Exploring the language of mark making in the Stonyfell Room
Over the course of the term break, the Stonyfell educators have been working on developing and introducing a particular creative language to our children. We decided on the language of mark making (drawing). The role that mark making has in our children’s development is pivotal. It supports children in developing their future writing skills as well as building on their fine motor skills.
Behind this creative expression there is a direct link to our children’s emerging cognitive function. Mark making allows children to creatively express their internal ideas as well as their internal narrative.
The children have been offered a wide range of materials and resources to begin their explorations. The educators have been working closely to observe the children during these early encounters and have been focusing on the items that they have selected to work with. Materials such as pens, textas and oil pastels have all been chosen specifically, as well as the paper and card that is on offer. The children have also been offered paper and card in many sizes and various thicknesses. We are curious to see if, over the course of the term, these qualities will impact the children’s work as well as their intentions.
Laura Reiters
News from the Bell Yett Room
The children and educators have had a very enjoyable start to Term 2. During the week, they excitedly returned to the Bell Yett Room, eager to meet with their friends and explore the learning invitations available. They discovered an intimate area in the room where small groups of children and educators could meet to share their thinking. On Monday, during our first meeting, we had a surprise visit from Tamaru. He shared with us the Kaurna name for such a place, and we are now lucky to have a Palti Circle in the Bell Yett Room.
During our meetings in the Palti Circle we have been remembering Ferguson Park and wondering what we might see this term. Will it be the ‘pom pom flowers’, the golden honey or something else? The children came up with many ideas, so we thought we would visit the park and put their theories to the test.
While the children are researching the park, we are researching how the children learn. This term, we are offering the children a new tool to support their learning; equipped with iPads, we entered the park with the ability to capture our observations through photographs.
The educators are wondering, will the use of photography:
- enrich the children’s observations
- enhance the children’s graphic representations, and
- support the development of the skills needed to work in a group?
We are looking forward to learning alongside your children and sharing these adventures with you. You can see some of our first photographs on our Bell Yett Canvas page.
Leanne Williams and Nell Tierney
News from the Ferguson Room
Welcome back to Term 2. It has been a fantastic experience to see the children returning with confidence and a strong sense of belonging to the community and to the Ferguson Room. This has enabled us to begin our inquiry immediately. We have begun with the question, “Do you think Ferguson Park will be the same or different as it was last term?” The children had time to express their theories. Some of them believed it would be exactly the same, while others predicted it had changed. All of the children expressed huge excitement when they noticed the transformation of the landscape.
“It looks different. There is some green grass!” – Imogen
“Long wavy grass.” – Madison
“There are flowers as well now.” – Parker
“How did Ferguson Park change?” – Poppy
Of particular interest was that grass has grown on top of the hay bales in the park. The children formed a theory that someone must have stuck it there, using glue. It was an amazing revelation when Grace shouted, “The grass is real! When you pull it up, it is real!” This discovery has many possibilities for future investigation.
Given the opportunity, children are capable of making discoveries that will inform their understanding of the world around them, and the many joys there are to be had from noticing even the tiniest things that are happening on the earth. We can use many disciplines to explore further including science, art, dance, mathematics and language. How very fortunate we are to have this beautiful outdoor classroom in which to live and learn together.
Mel Angel
News from the Hallett Room
On the first day of Term 2, the children were welcomed back to the ELC with a visit from Tamaru. They were thrilled to see him and were eager to engage in conversation and talk about his pet snake. Tamaru has played a significant role in the children’s connection to the land through their time spent together in Ferguson Park. Tamaru has shared stories about his culture, family and ancestors. These stories have captured the attention of the children and encouraged them to ask questions to seek further understandings. The visit from Tamaru sparked conversation about Reconciliation Week which is in Week 5 of this term. When this was explained to the children, they were eager to share their ideas of what we could do during that week, together as a group.
The communication of ideas in a meeting format began this collaborative process. Children are starting to recognise the obstacles that can arise when making decisions as a group. As ideas are presented, some are listened to and some are challenged – something that can be a new experience for some children!
This focus enhances the spirit of community in the same process, as well as creating a connection with the Aboriginal people and their history. The children have recognised the need to share the Reconciliation Story with others:
“It’s important for everyone to know the story. It’s important for the Kaurna people. It’s their story, they were here first”. – Poppy
Pam Reid