Dear Families
Welcome to Term 2, we hope you have had some lovely family time during the recent long weekend. We certainly took no time at all settling into the term, and the children quickly adjusted back into their ELC routines with delight on everyone’s faces. It was such a seamless transition!
It has been wonderful welcoming back Mrs Kirsty Porplycia into Learning Community 2. She has missed the children and there was great excitement when everyone was reunited! We were also very happy to hear the news of Maddy Sayers marrying her partner Neil in the holidays. Maddy is now Mrs Maddy Turner; congratulations is extended from our ELC and School community to Maddy and Neil at this exciting time in their lives.
My feature article this week sits just below this welcome letter and includes details of our Mathematics Session for families which we held last week. I do hope you enjoy reading about it.
Next week on Friday 7 May, we will be hosting a Special Friends’ Breakfast at 8am. You will see posters and invitations for this. Please come along and join us for an early morning coffee and croissant! It is our special way of celebrating the inspirational people in our children’s lives including mothers, grandmothers and aunties.
Finally, I would like to remind you about our Parent-Teacher Conversations that commence next week on Monday 3 May. These 15-minute time slots give each family the opportunity to engage in dialogue about your child’s learning progress this year. Bookings are now closed, however we look forward to meeting with families and engaging in some wonderful dialogue about each child’s learning journey.
Wishing you all a wonderful Term 2; may it be filled with wonder and excitement as we continue our learning journey together at ELC.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Important Dates
Friday 7 May: Special Friends’ Breakfast, 8am
May 3, 4, 10: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Monday 31 May: Mid-Year Reception Transition Visits commence
Every Child can be a Powerful Mathematician!
Partnering with families and educators to form a shared understanding about learning is an ongoing priority in the Early Learners’ Centre. We invited Mathematics Consultant Lisa-Jane O’Connor (pictured above) to facilitate a session for families at the beginning of Term 2. This is a key part of our strategic approach to continuously improve the teaching and learning opportunities for all children and to provide a consistent pathway from ELC to Reception.
This session provided us with a richer understanding of the importance to believe that all children can be and already are powerful mathematicians. It is very important to emphasise our language about mathematics with children. These are such powerful conversations. Learning to understand the science of patterns, rules and relationships is complex. Lisa-Jane was pivotal in ensuring families understand that, from birth, children are already engaging in mathematics. Pattern is an example of this, as a newborn baby is able to communicate the difference between familiar and unfamiliar adults (sorting and classifying). From eight months of age, babies are entering their world of numbers. As adults, we can be great leaders of this mathematical language, and we should strive to notice and name when children are acting like a mathematician.
Demonstrating a positive attitude towards mathematics is key to all of this. Our young learners need to be surrounded with mathematical language in both playful and intentional ways. We need to be highlighting where they use mathematics in their lives and looking at play with a mathematical lens. This will assist in building a curiosity around mathematics and encouraging children to develop a stronger interest.
Lisa-Jane works with the teachers and children in the ELC twice each term. The work that we have been doing alongside her has transformed the language and intention we use in the area of mathematics. There is a confidence and consistency now about how we can engage with the five mathematical drawers: Algebra, Geometry, Measurement, Data and Number. Our children have become pattern seekers and pattern resolvers!
When families were asked why they came to the session, they were quick to articulate their desire to be able to support their child, to learn alongside them and to work alongside the educators. Lisa-Jane shared that, in her home, a mathematical book (that is a story book with a focus on mathematics) is read regularly, and a page of a mathematical dictionary is included in the bedtime ritual. Giving emphasis to this area ensures we are embedding mathematical concepts and language from birth, and not just placing focus on whether or not your children can write and count 1 to 20.
Everyone left the session feeling invigorated, and the educators were so thrilled to have families come along and want to be part of these collaborative sessions with such a strong curriculum focus. We will definitely run another session in the future to continue our mathematical learning journey together.
Here are some resources for families, provided by Lisa-Jane O’Connor:
- Helping your child become an effective patterner
- Picture Books to explore space and place in Preschool
- Picture Books to explore Size in Preschool Settings
- Picture books to explore Quantity in Preschool Settings
- Picture Books to explore noticing and pattern with Early Years children
- Picture Books to explore data in Preschool Settings
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
You’re Invited to Our Special Friends’ Breakfast
You are invited to a breakfast on Friday 7 May from 8am in the ELC Garden. We will be celebrating the inspirational people in the children’s lives including mothers, grandmothers and aunties.
We look forward to strengthening the special connections we have with our ELC families.
ELC Enrolment Requirements
Thank you to those families who have let us know your requirement for days of enrolment moving forward. We are currently preparing our 2021 mid-year intake offers and need to ensure our current families have their allocated days in place.
Please notify me via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require additional days moving forward in 2021.
Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长朋友们，
欢迎来到第二学期，希望您和您的家人们渡过了一个美好的长假。这个学期刚开始，我们和孩子们很快就适应了ELC的生活，每个人的脸上都洋溢着喜悦的笑容。
我们欢迎Kirsty Porplycia老师回到学习二社区。Kirsty老师非常想念孩子们，能和大家再次团聚在一起，她感到特别开心。另外，我们也很高兴听到Maddy Sayers老师和她的伴侣Neil在假期里举行了婚礼。Miss Sayers现在是Mrs Maddy Turner，在Maddy和Neil生命中这个激动人心的时刻，我们的ELC和学校恭贺他们新婚大喜，为他们高兴。
在这封欢迎信的下面，是我们园长写的关于这周的专题文章，包括了我们上周为家长们举办的数学专题讲座的细节。我们希望您能喜欢。5月7日下星期五早上8点，我们ELC为家长朋友们准备了“特别的早餐会”。您将看到相关的海报和邀请函。欢迎大家和我们一起喝咖啡品尝可颂面包! 这是我们为感谢生命中重要之人所举办的特别的庆祝方式!
最后，提醒家长朋友们，我们的老师和家长的一对一家长会将于下周一(5月3日)开始。这些15分钟的谈话时间让每个家庭都有机会参与对话，讨论你的孩子今年的学习进展。请参阅下面的链接进行预约。myLink。
祝所有人度过一个美好的学期，在我们继续在ELC之旅的同时，也希望这学期充满惊奇和兴奋。
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
Staff Spotlight
We’d like to extend a big congratulations to Maddy Sayers, who recently became Maddy Turner! Although Maddy has worked at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC for several years and is a valued member of the Learning Community 2 team, we thought our families would like to reacquaint themselves with the new Mrs Turner.
What is your teaching background?
I have a Diploma in Early Childhood Education and I am currently studying a Bachelor of Early Childhood Education at the University of South Australia.
What is your favourite part of working in St Peter’s Girls’ ELC?
The ELC is a unique environment where the children are at the forefront of the learning. This is supported by our underpinned knowledge of the Reggio Emilia principles embedded in our everyday practice. In turn, our thriving community are active participants with both children and educators learning side-by-side each and every day together.
Why are you passionate about working with children?
I am passionate about working with children with additional needs, as well as developing relationships with children and families to build a strong, passionate community of learners.
What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?
Mother’s Day Virtual Stall
The Friends of the ELC are holding a Mother’s Day Virtual Gift Stall where all of our students from ELC to Year 12 are able to purchase gifts online for mums, grandmothers, aunts or treasured friends in their lives.
We have a variety of wonderful gifts available for $5 each. They will be wrapped and delivered to class teachers on Thursday 6 May.
To order gifts, visit http://www.trybooking.com/BQFGA. Purchases close at 5pm on Tuesday 4 May.
If you have any queries, please contact Fiona McGregor in the Community Relations Office via fmcgregor@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
Family Yum Cha Lunch – Bookings Open!
You are invited to a family yum cha lunch hosted by the Friends of The ELC on Sunday 6 June from 10am – 12pm at Chef Dong, 3/103 Payneham Road, St Peters. Bookings are essential via www.trybooking.com/BQOXX as spots are limited.
We look forward to seeing you at this fantastic community event.
The Friends of the ELC
Enjoy a Ladies’ Night Out
The Saints Girls’ community presents: Ladies’ Night Out!
Join us on Friday 7 May from 7pm at the Feathers Hotel. Tickets are $50 each and include gourmet finger food and a drink on arrival.
Bookings will close COB 5pm Monday 3 May.
Book via www.trybooking.com/BPUEM
A fundraising raffle will be drawn on the night; tickets can be purchased online or with cash at the event.
For more information, contact Melissa Westgate on 0407 394 183.
Supported by the Friends of The Arts
Sustainability in the ELC
On Thursday of Week 1, we had the pleasure of welcoming a special guest and friend to the ELC, Charlie Aykroyd (Kennion 2010). Charlie is a St Peter’s Girls’ Old Scholar and the General Manager at Australian Green Clean, a waste management service that supports events and businesses.
Charlie is an expert in waste… so we invited her into the ELC to share what we know about sustainability, learn more about our waste management and ask, ‘Which bin is the right bin?’
‘Sustainable means putting rubbish in the right bin.’ – Amelie, LC2
‘If you put things in the landfill bin, it will go into a smelly pile and it won’t do anything.’ – Marissa, LC2
‘Orange peels go in the green bin!’ – Daisy, LC1
‘Put dirty things in the bin.’ – Abby, LC1
‘The green bit on the strawberry goes in the green bin.’ – Archer, LC1
In Learning Community 1, the children shared with Charlie the bins they are using in the classrooms. These include our green ‘organics’ bin, our red ‘landfill’ bin, and our yellow ‘recycling’ bin. We spoke with Charlie about what can actually go in these different bins too, and discovered different plastics and materials with our hands.
What bins do you have at your home?
Charlie also shared with us a great saying – ‘Anything that grows, goes into the organics bin’, which is something we hope helps families at home too!
In Learning Community 2, the children took their discussions deeper with Charlie as she shared the life of our waste after we throw it in the bin, where our recycling ends up and where our landfill goes. Some children eagerly had questions to ask about which bin specific lunchbox waste should go in and we learnt many new concepts…
Did you know that you can’t recycle any plastic smaller than your fists?
But you CAN place these small yoghurt lids, carton lids and pieces of plastic into a large plastic milk jug to recycle it all together!
At St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, our sustainability journey is ongoing and constantly evolving. Children are citizens of their world, and therefore should be empowered to take responsibility for their waste and have the opportunity to understand the impact their actions have on their environment.
Henrietta Balnaves
News from Learning Community 1
Often as adults in the lives of young children, we make the misconception that recognising numbers and being able to count to 10 is the first grasp children display of mathematical understanding. Children have, in fact, begun to use mathematical concepts from their very first months to make sense of the world around them. We understand that the ability to make comparisons between aspects of their environment emerges at eight months of age, beginning with noticing the differences in face shape of family members.
One of the earliest skills children develop in mathematics is to notice. To be able to make comparisons, children must be able to notice differences and similarities in their environment. It is widely recognised that the ability to notice size, space and quantity lays the foundation for the development of all mathematics skills to follow. Once these are mastered, children are able to sort and classify and begin to make patterns.
Since the beginning of the year, the educators in Learning Community 1 have been observing closely to identify what children are already noticing in the spaces around the ELC. Are they noticing the difference between the size of our materials, the size of their creations, the colour that is present, how something fits into a space and how many of something they may have? These observations tell us what to put into our environment for the children to explore and work with. The complexity of what children in the Learning Community are able to notice develops with age and experience. Educators differentiate within intentional experiences across the Learning Community, working with small groups to scaffold their understandings of noticing similarities and differences.
This term, as we continue to learn how we are responsible for waste management, the children in Learning Community 1 have begun to explore what happens when plastic is left on the land and in the sea. In the atelier of loose parts, children have demonstrated their ability to notice and, without prompt, have begun to separate the natural materials from the plastic materials based on what they’ve noticed about their features.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
Empowering Mathematical Thinking in Early Childhood
Are you Thinking like a Mathematician?
This statement is becoming commonly said across our Learning Community, and can be used to help our children focus on the importance and relevance of mathematics in our everyday lives. By participating in regular professional learning with Mathematics Consultant Lisa-Jane O’Connor, we have been able to delve deeper into our mathematics curriculum within our Learning Community, recognising and embracing a wider variety of mathematical teaching moments. We, as educators and parents, need to empower our children by demonstrating a positive attitude towards mathematics and its role in shaping the world.
In our everyday context, we are continuously developing ways to embed mathematics in genuine and meaningful ways, as well as role modelling language to further enhance experiences. Some examples include:
- Gathering data in Ban Ban Balyas
- Exploring the concepts of quantifying and subitising in play-based experiences
- Exploring measurement in play spaces such as the sandpit and block area
- Using data displays to explore decision-making
- Discovering locations and negotiating direction in Ferguson Park
- Following the pattern of our day
- Playing board games
As we move further through our journey of reimagining mathematics in our learning context, we often find we are faced with challenges. As we are supporting our children to become lifelong mathematicians, we hope to shift the attitude of our community and realise mathematics is everywhere!
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