From the Director of Early Learning
Dear Families
Thank you for the very warm welcomes that have been extended to me since my return from long service leave. One of the benefits of leave is time to rest and re-energise, and I certainly achieved this in the five weeks of caravanning with my husband Sandy around the east coast of Australia. Despite being continually beaten at cards almost every night, we had the most breathtaking trip exploring a very special part of our amazing country.
I have returned to plenty of beautiful welcome backs from all of my ELC friends, and am feeling an overwhelming sense of being at home as I return to work life. I thank Kirsty Porplycia and the ELC team for doing such a terrific job in my absence.
Term 4 is certainly shaping up to be a busy one. We have Parent Information evenings, a new iCheck-In system being introduced, our Christmas Carols on the Lawns and ELC Community Picnic, plus the end of year excitement of Reception Hat Ceremony and ELC students preparing for school next year. I look forward to supporting all of these events and sharing these moments with you.
Please check the dates listed in this newsletter to ensure you have them in your calendar.
Warm wishes for a wonderful Term 4.
Kind regards
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Welcome to Term 4!
Welcome to the last term for 2018. Hear from our Principal Julia Shea as we reflect on the successes of Term 3 and look ahead to some very exciting developments:
Save the Date
Monday 29 October: iCheck-In begins in ELC
Wednesday 31 October: Parent Information Session for Continuing Families in Arts Centre (Session 1 – 5pm / Session 2 – 6.30pm)
Monday 5 November: New Parent 2019 Evening, 7pm ELC
Monday 12 November: Reception transition visits begin (three weeks)
Friday 23 November: ELC Carols on the Lawns and Family Picnic, 5pm
Monday 3 December: ELC Hat Ceremony, 12.15pm
Friday 7 December: Last day of Term 4
Monday 10-21 December: Vacation Care
Monday 7 January 2019: Vacation Care re-commences
A Message from Mrs Yu
亲爱的家长们，欢迎回来我们最后一个学期！ 这将会是一个非常忙碌的学期。我们有家长信息晚会，一个新的ICheck系统介绍，我们的草坪圣诞颂歌和ELC野餐加上年终激动的入学戴帽仪式和ELC学生升入小学。
请查看本简报中列出的日期，以确保您的日历中包含这些重要的日子。请随时与您的老师交谈以获取更多详细信息。
感谢周日女士节前来的所有家长！我们一起度过了多么美好的一天。
Mrs Sophie Yu
ELC Ladies Enjoy a Day Out
Our annual Ladies’ Day Out was a huge success on Sunday. The weather was perfect as a group of nearly 50 parents and staff journeyed to SC Pannell for a delicious lunch overlooking the lovely McLaren Vale vineyards.
We would like to thank The Friends of the ELC for organising a wonderful, relaxing day where members of our community could come together. It was also a great opportunity for families to connect with our wider School community, with Ms Shea and Ms Haddy both attending.
The raffle winners went home with big smiles and lovely prizes. Thank you to our very generous donors for these prizes. Harry and Lucy played for us during the lunch, providing a gorgeous ambiance to our event. Thank you also to our bus drivers for transporting us all safely to and from school. What a beautiful way to begin Term 4!
Kate Mount and Kirsty Porplycia
Parent Information Evening
All parents returning to the ELC in 2019 are encouraged to attend this very important information evening. We will be outlining our new organisational structures for next year and explaining the research supporting these innovations.
Wednesday 31 October
Session 1 – 5pm / Session 2 – 6.30pm
Arts Centre
Bookings are not essential. We look forward to seeing you there.
Simple Steps for iCheck-In
As you are aware, St Peter’s Girls’ Early Learners’ Centre is excited to be introducing iCheck-In – new easy-to-use software that will enable you to digitally sign in and out of our ELC, bringing us in line with updated Government regulations.
Once this system begins next week, you will need to sign in on the iPad provided in your child’s room. On your first login, you will be asked to enter your mobile phone number and a password will be sent via SMS which you will need to use each time you sign your child in or out of the ELC. Each family member will need to enter their own phone number and password when signing in/out, so please do not give your password to others.
Please refer to this instructional poster to familiarise yourself with the new procedure. This will also be on display next to the iPad when you sign your child in and out.
If you have any queries, please contact Sarah Elliott via 8334 2271 or selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
News from the Stonyfell Room
Connection and Togetherness – Exploring Rituals in the Stonyfell Room
Welcome back everyone to Term 4. This term is a short one as we only have eight weeks together. The Stonyfell team is excited about our inquiry focus and we have been working collaboratively to prepare and plan for the weeks ahead.
Our central idea is:
Participating in rituals can be a way of expressing ourselves and our values.
Over the course of the year, our Centre has been moving away from the term “routine” and we have been exploring the term “ritual”.
Through our research, we have found a routine can:
- Be tedious and meaningless
- Lack our attention and can be mindless
- Often have a focus on completing the task and not the task itself
A ritual, however, can:
- Be meaningful
- Build relationships and connections
- Allow us to be active and involved
- Require our full attention and is mindful
Through our learning journey this term, we will be continuing to build our room’s rituals. These have included times of transition, morning welcome, meal times, sleep/rest time, the application of sunscreen as well as connecting with Ferguson Park. Many of these rituals form our daily lives in the Stonyfell Room and we believe that every moment is full of potential, possibility and connection.
Over the coming weeks, we will be sharing with you our work via this newsletter, our Canvas page and the documentation in the room.
As educators we are asking ourselves:
How can I be more present in our daily life?
I look forward to hearing your thoughts and ideas about this inquiry and invite you to engage with us in conversation:
What are your family rituals? What impact do these rituals have on your family?
Laura Reiters
News from the Bell Yett Room
The children have settled in to the new term with ease and are already enthusiastically engaging with our inquiry: Participating in rituals can be a way of expressing ourselves and our values.
We value every part of the day and rituals have enriched our learning experiences and supported our sense of wellbeing.
“When we create beautiful rituals for children, we are giving them an irresistible invitation to participate in something meaningful and to engage and connect with others.”
– Toni Christie
This week, we have been following on with our ritual from last term of learning alongside the friends and educators in the Ferguson Room. The children are enthusiastic as they engage with the group of older children and reconnect their friendships. The Bell Yett friends are always delighted to share their knowledge and theories and thoughtfully listen to those of the Ferguson friends.
Together we have been observing and learning to care for “Lizzie” the lizard that is visiting the Ferguson Room for two weeks.
“It is not the same lizard we saw in Ferguson Park.” – Rupert
“Look, it has a tongue.” – Poppy
“The light is to keep it warm.” – Holly M
“It eats bugs in Ferguson Park.” – Emily D
Working with mixed age groups benefits the younger children as they are influenced by positive role models often inspiring to their own capability. The older children rise to the expectations and flourish at being responsible and having the opportunity to lead and use their expertise.
You can follow our learning journey via our Canvas Page, these newsletters and the documentation in the room.
Nell Tierney and Jess Ash
News from the Ferguson Room
Rituals can be associated with a special occasion, or simply the things that we do every day.
In Term 4 in the Ferguson Room, we are exploring rituals as a way of recognising what we consider to be important in life. How we engage in rituals is also an expression of our values.
There are many rituals during the day at the ELC. Rituals include the way in which children arrive in the room, sign in and put their bag away, and the way they say goodbye to their parents. As a community of learners, we join together for Morning Meeting around a candle, holding hands and making an Acknowledgement to Country. At meal times and rest times, we create centrepieces with the children to add an element of care and beauty to the act of eating together. It is these gestures of care that transform a routine into a ritual, enriching our lives in the process.
Many parents tell us that their children hold a Morning Meeting with their toys at home. This is an example of how children deeply appreciate the rituals they experience at the ELC; it informs us that they too want to create special encounters that connect their school life with their home life.
Other rituals we have established include:
- A morning walk to Ferguson Park with the Bell Yett friends
- Tending a small herb garden together with our Stonyfell friends each morning
- Writing and posting letters to our friends and families
- Caring for our pet lizard each day
- Setting our tables for lunch with vases of flowers
- Sitting around a centrepiece at rest time, placing petals in a bowl of water as we listen to soft music, calming our bodies and our minds
We are also learning about the rituals that are special to others. Miss Caterina is sharing the Italian ritual of making coffee in a little pot, served in tiny cups. We have introduced a tea party scene to the room, where children can select a pot, cups and jugs and explore this delightful ritual that is common to all cultures: that of sitting together and chatting over tea. As Christmas approaches, we look forward to exploring the traditions and rituals that families enjoy at this festive time of year.
We invite you to share with us a special ritual of yours. Please talk to us about a time you could do this. The educators and children will be so happy to learn from you and develop our awareness of the special things that others do to create beautiful memories for one another.
Mel Angel
News from the Hallett Room
We are truly inspired by our inquiry this term and we invite you to join us as we explore how participating in rituals can be a way of expressing ourselves and our values.
When we engage in rituals, we celebrate the important aspects of our daily rhythm in a mindful way, eliminating the business and distractions of day-to-day life. Our rituals in the Hallett Room grow from our image of the child, honouring their agency, participation and capacity for empathy and respect. Rituals are a part of our daily life that, with our values at their heart, enhance the culture of our learning community.
Before beginning the term, we reflected on our current rituals. We recognised that participation was the foundation of all rituals and that the ability to be mindful is essential to this. We have begun exploring the concept of mindfulness with the children through our Morning Meetings. By creating a centerpiece together, we are giving ourselves something beautiful to focus our attention on. Using our senses of sight, touch, hearing and smell, we are engaged in the moment. We have begun sharing a mindful moment with the children, drawing their awareness to our learning intentions and values through thoughtful contemplations.
We invite you and your children to engage with the welcoming rituals we have created. As you enter the Hallett Room, please take a moment to read the letter on our easel and sprinkle some Kaurna Yerta (Kaurna soil) to celebrate your arrival. The traditional morning responsibilities of finding a locker and signing in help recognise children’s actions and creativity as we invite them to personalise their locker with their name tag and sign our special book, alongside their friends, family and teachers. We hope by taking the time to celebrate these important aspects of our day, we are setting the scene for a joyful transition from home to ELC.
Throughout the term, we will be sharing the evolution of our rituals with you on our Wonder Wall in the Hallett Room and our Canvas page. We invite you to engage in our rituals alongside your child and we value any feedback you might have for us.
Rituals sustain (and grow from) a community’s wellbeing,
its integrity and its alignment with the values at its heart.
Leanne Williams and Natalie Lockwood