Dear Families
Welcome to Term 3. It certainly has been a strange beginning, but we are all looking forward to reconnecting with our ELC families and friends. Thank you for your ongoing support and engagement, particularly through these past couple of weeks.
The Canvas Home Pages created plenty of interest from home. It is amazing how we can create connections through these pages and give the children access to ELC learning at home and vice versa. The teachers had a lot of fun putting these experiences together and we thank you for engaging in them. We loved receiving your photos and feedback, so thank you to all families who contributed. It has provided children with many key aspects of our daily rituals.
If you are new to the Centre, we hope you are feeling a sense of our community spirit even if it has been remotely. We pride ourselves on building strong connections in the ELC. It assists the children to build trust between the home and ELC which, in turn, supports the learning and wellbeing for all children in our care.
We are looking forward to some face-to-face opportunities to come together when things settle down. Our Welcome Morning Tea has unfortunately been cancelled. We have created a video presentation for each Learning Community to replace the ELC Information Evening which was scheduled for next Monday 2 August. This will be emailed to you during Week 4 for you to view in your own time. We hope this video will support you to further understand the teaching and learning that occurs each day in your child’s Learning Community.
Families would have received an email about the ELC reopening arrangements, however I feel I must reiterate our stringent Covid Safe practices. Family visitor access to the Centre is restricted to the ELC foyer at this time. We will reopen the Centre to families once we can.
Drop-Off and Collection
- Access to the Centre via Hallett Road has been reinstated and will be the only entry/exit point
- In line with new government directives, adult visitors should wear a face mask unless an individual exemption applies (please note, early childhood staff are exempt)
- Please scan the SA Health QR code as you arrive at the front door
- Ring the doorbell to announce your arrival
- Check the number of adults in the foyer (maximum of 4)
- If fewer than 4 adults, one adult per family can enter the foyer with their child and use the hand sanitiser provider
- Sign in using the iPad check-in and a staff member will be on hand to greet you
- Say goodbye to your child and we will escort them to their room to transition them into the day
- When collecting, please give our staff your child’s name and room and we will bring them to the foyer
- If your child presents with any symptoms of being unwell, we will phone you immediately and ask you to collect them
- If you have specific information to give your teacher, please email them directly using the emails from the ELC Handbook; alternatively, you can email me via kmount@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Please stay safe. Reach out to us if you need anything, and remember, we are a community who are here to support one another.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
The Value of Home Learning
With only a few hours’ notice, our teaching team sprang into action to organise home learning for our ELC children. Plans were made with a quick conversation about what worked well last time and what we could quickly record at ELC before going into lockdown. We had a great system ready to roll out from 2020, so the pages were quickly established. Discussions were had about what the children might enjoy engaging with at home, what they could teach and engage in with their families, and how we could connect the work from ELC into online learning.
It was clear that a daily ritual might help, so we decided to begin with our Acknowledgement of Country. This was then followed by other engaging experiences that would encourage some engagement from each household. We invited families to send us their photos from home and these began coming in on the first day of lockdown.
We know that not everyone could participate for various reasons, but we do invite you to visit the Canvas Home Pages (via myLink; instructions below) and have a look to see what was on offer. We ask that you are prepared for this just in case this situation may occur again. We know our older students in the School navigated their learning from home with the experiences of 2020.
We are so proud of our ELC friends for their participation and thank families for taking the time to share in this form of connection. I thank my teaching team for the high quality of experiences on offer.
Kate Mount and the ELC Teaching Team
Our ELC is a Top 3 Finalist!
We couldn’t be prouder to announce our ELC is a top 3 finalist in Early Learning category for the Narragunnawali Awards 2021! The judging panel were looking for ways in which the school or early learning service strengthen relationships, build respect, and provide meaningful opportunities in the classroom and within the community.
As the only SA school amongst the finalists, we’re honoured to be recognised for leading the way in reconciliation education. Our Centre will be a hive of activity on Wednesday 25 August when the judging panel conducts their visit. We hope to share more good news when the awards ceremony is held in November.
Kate Mount
Welcome Morning Tea
Due to COVID restrictions, we had to cancel our Welcome Morning Tea. However, we are looking forward to rescheduling this wonderful community event, and will keep families informed once we have more information.
Friends of the ELC
Enrolment Requirements for 2022
Thank you to those families who have let us know your requirement for days of enrolment moving forward. We are currently preparing our 2022 intake offers and need to ensure our current families have their allocated days in place.
Please notify me by Friday 13 August via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require additional days moving forward in 2022, or if you are leaving the Centre.
Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments and Finance Officer
Information Evening – Now Online
In an exciting and innovative turn of events, we are taking our ELC Information Evening online this semester!
An email will be sent to families in each Learning Community which includes a presentation from the ELC educators detailing the significant elements of the teaching and learning strategies for the semester ahead. The video can be viewed in your own time over the coming weeks, and we invite families to email the teachers with any questions they might have. We highly value this open dialogue between families and our educators.
We look forward to having families back in the Centre in the near future, but in the meantime, we are pleased to create this informative alternative for you.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
ELC Garden Redevelopment Update
The ELC Garden was a hive of activity over the Vacation Care period, with the redevelopment project now well underway. We thank families for their patience during the works and look forward to an exciting reveal event later in the year.
Families are now able to access the Centre from the Hallett Road gate and use the main foyer, however will need to follow our stringent COVID-Safe practices.
A small number of car parks are still off limits, with other parking available further along Hallett Road and surrounding streets. Keeping children’s safety in mind, we ask families to avoid walking on Hallett Road and instead use the footpaths.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Dressing Warm this Winter
With our wintery weather, we request that families please send their children to ELC prepared to be outdoors for part of the day. Even in the colder months, we still promote being outdoors.
We ask that the children have the following named items in their bag:
- A warm and waterproof jacket
- A beanie
- Closed shoes or gumboots
Having these items ensures they have access to the outdoors throughout the year, supporting their wellbeing and opportunities for extended learning experiences such as walks in Ferguson Park.
ELC Teaching Team
Experience Our New Virtual Tour
While we missed being together at Stonyfell, as fate would have it, we’ve just put the finishing touches on our new cutting-edge Virtual Tour.
Saints Girls is the first school in SA to harness this amazing platform which features captivating fly-through video and advanced 360 degree imagery. We’re so proud to showcase our stunning spaces and facilities which have undergone a remarkable transformation in recent years, and we thank our students and staff for taking part in filming at the start of the year.
Have a look at highlights in the video below, and take the tour for yourself via: https://stpetersgirls.youtour.com.au/
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长朋友们，
欢迎来到第三学期，这确实是一个不一般的学期开始，但我们都期待着在限制放宽以后见到我们的ELC家人和朋友。感谢你们在过去几周的支持，你们帮助我们渡过了一个充满挑战的时刻。
当我们封城在家时，Canvas主页给我们带了许多乐趣。令人惊讶的是，我们可以通过这些页面建立联系，让孩子们像在ELC一样在家里学习，反之亦然。我们的老师们很高兴把这些经历放在一起，感谢大家在家里参与其中。我们喜欢收到你们的照片和反馈，我们感谢所有做出贡献的家庭。这为孩子们日常学习仪式感起到了十分关键作用。
如果您是新来到我们的ELC，尽管我们彼此相隔，希望您能感受到我们的社区精神。我们为自己在ELC建立牢固的联系而自豪，它帮助孩子们在家庭和ELC之间建立信任，从而支持我们孩子们的学习和身心健康的发展。
当疫情稳定时，我们期待与您面对面的见面。很不幸，我们的欢迎早茶会取消了。我们已经为每个学习社区制作了一个视频演示，来取代原定于下周一(8月2日)举行的ELC信息之夜。这个视频将很快通过电子邮件发给你，以便你在空闲时查看。我们希望这段视频能帮助您进一步了解孩子学习社区中每天发生的教学。
我们感谢您支持我们的接送流程。，这一流程是短时的，也在去年实施过，我们知道它是有效的，孩子们也能很快适应。我们会尽快向大家开放我们的社区。
请大家确保疫情期间的安全。如果您有任何需要，请联系我们。请记住，我们是一个互相支持的社区大家庭。
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
Sustainability in the ELC
Whilst our ELC Community Garden is tucked away behind our exciting Hallett Garden redevelopment for the time being, we have taken this opportunity to give our attention to the waste systems we use across the ELC.
What exactly is our ‘organics for compost’ bin? And what goes in it beyond fruit scraps?
‘Did you know you can put hair in there?’ – Margot, Ferguson Room
‘And crackers… from snack time.’ – Ashwin, Hallett Room
‘Cucumber!’ – Scarlett, Stonyfell Room
‘Yuck! Tissues!’ – Victoria, Ferguson Room
‘Strawberries.’ – Thomas, Bell Yett Room
With a small number of children still attending the ELC throughout the lockdown period, we brainstormed together the different items we use in our day-to-day life that can go into the green organics for compost bin we have here at ELC.
As we are continually welcoming family participation and looking to extend our learning in your home, here are some questions for reflection:
Do you have an organics for compost bin at home?
Can you come up with anything we’ve missed that we might use regularly?
Do you know why it is important to use your green compost bin instead of diverting your waste to landfill?
Henrietta Balnaves
News from Learning Community 1
With Term 3 underway, we would like to extend a warm welcome to our new children and their families joining Learning Community 1 this semester, as well as welcoming back our continuing children and families. It certainly has been an interesting start to Term 3 and we are thankful that we have been able to stay connected with you through our home learning. We hope that the resources on offer via our Home Page have been useful in providing you with links to our unit of inquiry and rituals, and have allowed you and your child to stay connected to our Learning Community despite being distanced.
At this unprecedented time, developing our sense of self, and connection to others, is even more important than ever. The early years are a fundamental time when children are developing their understanding of who they are, as they explore their identity and their rights and responsibilities, and develop their connections to others. Inevitably as children engage and interact with others, their identities are influenced by their surroundings and the relationships they form.
Our unit of inquiry for this term is, ‘Our identity can be constructed by ourselves and others.’ Through this unit, we aim to develop children’s awareness of their physical selves, examining our features in detail, and beginning to explore similarities and differences in people. Through small group play and interactions, we will support children to develop their awareness of others and explore different ways to engage, collaborate and problem-solve with peers. During last term, we explored our rights and responsibilities as a member of our community. We will continue to explore these ideas and extend them further this term, delving deeper into the concepts of care and taking action as part of a Learning Community.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
As many of you would know, a lot of time, energy and planning goes into the beginning of a term. As your children’s teachers, we spend a great deal of time thinking about the children, their needs, their passions, and what we can create and prepare to best guide and support their time at ELC. Our preparation for Term 3 has been no different as we met many times over the school holiday period preparing, discussing and thinking. We have been excited by the endless possibilities that may occur, and we have spent time hypothesising and predicting the direction the term will take.
It was with great excitement that we welcomed many new faces into our Learning Community. During Vacation Care, many children were able to experience the changing landscape of the ELC Garden, watching the trucks come and go, navigating large stones and logs, and digging many new spaces for the children to explore. These observations have enabled children to be ‘experts’ on the garden works, enthusiastically sharing their theories and thoughts with the teachers who were absent during Vacation Care.
‘Mrs Tierney, we missed you, you missed all the trucks and diggers.’ – Caleb
Our inquiry groups began on Tuesday as we read the book, ‘Our House’. The children engaged in much discussion around sharing, kindness and inclusion of others. We will be sharing this story with you on our Home Page next Monday, so please keep checking in! We are eager to build upon our inquiries last term into positive group function, and developing our toolkits for problem-solving and conflict resolution.
We hope you have been able to access our Learning Community Home Page via myLink (instructions below), in particular, the ELC Home Learning 2021 tab. This has been a great way for us to keep in contact during lockdown. We hope you have found this helpful and that you have been able to support your child by engaging with the resources we have made available. We are very grateful to have the children back on site and we are looking forward to the rest of the term.
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