From the Director of Early Learning
Dear Families
Thank you to all who took the time to attend our ELC Information Evening last Wednesday, as we outlined our new model for 2019 and beyond. Please read below in the article following this to find out more about our improvements. We are extremely excited about the potential of this new model next year.
You have all been wonderful in embracing our new iCheck-In system. Please let us know if you have experienced any difficulties.
We ask that families contact us if your child is going to be absent or arriving late. These notifications can be made by texting 0428 601 957 or emailing attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au.
If your child is signed in or out by an ELC staff member, please confirm this on the system the next time you sign in.
You will have heard the beginnings of Christmas cheer entering the ELC. In only a few weeks. we will come together for a special celebration as a community. We are really looking forward to this event; it is an invitation for you and your families to share the evening together with a family picnic, ELC barbecue and, of course, carols.
Your invitation will be coming home soon; please do not miss our special Christmas celebration:
Friday 23 November
5pm
Chiverton Lawns
Wishing you all a wonderful week.
Kind regards
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
2019 ELC Model: Research and Progression
In the Early Learners’ Centre, we recognise we are one of the first steps in a child’s lifelong educational journey, and as such, we have a strong commitment to ensuring this journey is as rich and nourishing as possible.
Recently, we developed a renewed model and organisational structure for our Centre which will roll out from 2019. Underpinned by more than three years’ research, both academic and action-based, we are restructuring the Centre to enhance opportunities for children’s relationships to be enriched through longer periods of time in one space.
With our global mindset around early childhood, our goal is to allow children to share their knowledge and build stronger relationships, together. The purpose of this new model is to provide a high-quality curriculum combined with a supportive learning environment, minimising the amount of fragmentation in each child’s life.
Moving forward, rather than splitting the Centre into four rooms based on age, our ELC will be comprised of two learning communities: one for the Stonyfell and Bell Yett rooms (children aged 2 – 3.5 years), and another for the Ferguson and Hallett rooms (children aged 3.5 – 5 years).
The rooms will maintain their current names and will continue to be led by a teacher who will have their own responsibilities. By combining rooms into learning communities, we will see one of the greatest benefits of this renewed approach: the opportunity to further enhance collaboration between the teachers and the children. This model will give children up to 18 months in the one room without change.
Families will be notified by email during Week 5 which Learning Community, room and teacher their child will have for 2019.
It has always been our intention to have educators of the highest calibre, who enable every student to see the significance and relevance of their learning; who recognise the different developmental stages of children and that they develop at different rates across different areas, therefore requiring a well-planned and well-differentiated learning environment.
We are also committed to ensuring students have a smooth transition to their school environment. We feel this is an essential part of a child’s foundation to their education. We will deliver further connections to the School campus where children will have regular contact by using the learning spaces and resources to enrich their inquiries. We believe it is our responsibility to support students in developing a strong connection with our School community, encouraging them to become adults who have an appreciation and a responsibility for our wider community.
Last week, we had the opportunity to present the new model to the majority of our families, explaining the benefits of less fragmentation in their child’s life. We illustrated what the new model will look like and spent time answering questions from the audience. We received wonderful feedback from those who attended.
We look forward to the journey ahead and the rich learning that will occur in our new learning communities.
Simple Steps for iCheck-In
As you are aware, St Peter’s Girls’ Early Learners’ Centre has introduced 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.
You will now need to sign in on the iPad provided in your child’s room each day. 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.
Save the Date
Monday 12 November: Reception transition visits begin (three weeks)
Friday 23 November: ELC Carols on the Lawn and Family Picnic, 5pm
Monday 3 December: ELC Hat Ceremony, 12.15pm
Tuesday 4 December: Hallett and Ferguson Farewell Picnic, 2–3.30pm
Friday 7 December: Last day of Term 4
Monday 10-21 December: Vacation Care
Monday 7 January 2019: Vacation Care re-commences
Join us for ELC Carols on the Lawn
You’re invited to join us for ELC Carols on the Lawn, Friday 23 November at 5pm. The official welcome commences at 5.30pm on Chiverton Lawns.
Each class group will share a Christmas song. Children are to come dressed
in their Christmas party clothes.
Bring your own picnic basket, rug and nibbles. The Friends of the ELC will be selling food and drinks. We look forward to seeing you there!
A Message from Mrs Yu
亲爱的家长朋友们，
感谢所有花时间参加上周ELC信息晚会的家长朋友们 ，感谢你们了解我们的新模式。我们对明年这新的模式的潜力感到非常兴奋。
感谢大家接受我们新的iCheck-In系统。如果您遇到任何困难，请告诉我们。我们需要家长们告诉我们您孩子的情况，特别是
1.缺席
2.迟到
如果您的孩子由班里的老师登入或登出，请您在下次登录时在系统上确认。
在短短几周内，作为一个社区，我们将一起来参加一个特殊的圣诞节庆祝活动。我们非常期待这次活动！在此，我们邀请您和您的家人一起来野餐，ELC烧烤，参加颂歌共享晚会。您的邀请将很快到您手上，请不要错过我们特别的圣诞节庆祝活动！我们期待您的参与！
时间：周五23点，下午5点
地点：学校草坪
谁：您的家人
祝大家愉快，
Mrs Sophie Yu
News from the Stonyfell Room
How does being involved in our rituals make us feel?
“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. The thoughtfulness of a ritual created by the head, heart and hands resonates with all that it is to be human – moving us to revisit this joyful familiarity again and again.”
This quote from Toni Christie resonates deeply with me and the work that many of the Stonyfell children have been engaging with in relation to the children’s book Stickman, written by Axle Donaldson. This book has provided us with many provocations from the past term and the children have been working for some time now on exploring many elements of this story. The book has been the driving force behind much of our daily lives and has allowed us to not only become familiar with the story, but utilise Ferguson Park as an extension of our learning environment.
Children have worked collaboratively to retell the story in the park and create their own stick people, discovering the joy of imaginary play and the power of their own imagination to transform an ordinary stick into something else. They have been involved in group decision-making to identify certain locations in Ferguson Park that correlate with the story. One example of this has been the decision of which tree in the park could be a possible home for the stickman and his family; the book refers to this tree as the ‘family tree’. The children decided on a pine as its low, leafy branches could support the array of stickmen created by the children.
The motivation behind the children’s participation and the longevity of this project relates directly back to the irresistible invitations that have been and continue to be on offer to them on a daily basis. These invitations can be viewed as rituals and the active participation by both educator and child has been meaningful and thoughtful.
The educators have been working in collaboration to continue to plan and implement experiences for the children that will continue the life of this project as we move closer and closer toward Christmas. We have now been given the opportunity to curate our atelier with these and we invite you to look at the documentation that will begin to be on display in the room.
Laura Reiters
News from the Bell Yett Room
“Rituals are a careful set of actions that honour the importance of daily actions and allow us to connect to a particular time, place or cultural object.” – Toni Christie
Each day, the Bell Yett and Ferguson children continue to connect to place through visiting Ferguson Park together to explore their natural world. The friends are constantly thinking like botanists and researchers as they discover changes in native plants from Term 3, and new interests and curiosities around current findings of birds’ nests and ant holes.
Both educators and children are constantly strengthening and nurturing their ecological identities by being present and acknowledging nature’s beauty. The children are also learning ways to question their observations, and listen to and value other’s opinions through ongoing multi-age experiences and interactions.
“A kookaburra could live in that hole.” – Roslyn
“Maybe an owl could live there.” – Olivia
“The magpie is looking for food.” – Ellie
“After it gets food, maybe it will go to sleep.” – Olivia
“It is a nest because it has sticks in it.’ – Emily C
“It is a nest because it has eggs.” – Jonathon
“What is the fluff in the nest?” – Scarlet
In conjunction with daily Ferguson Park rituals, the Bell Yett friends have also been exploring rituals that are special to others. Bell Yett educators have been bringing in objects that are significant to them and sharing the meaning behind these objects with the friends. The children are learning that participating in rituals can be a way of expressing oneself and one’s values.
Ms Tierney has brought in a special plate that she uses to celebrate family birthdays. Ms Brown has shared her special birthday cup that was given to her by her daughter. Ms Caterina has visited the Bell Yett room and shared her Italian ritual of making coffee, and Ms Samuels will be making a traditional Indian dish called Roti with the friends every morning next week.
Rituals like these encourage children to ask and pose questions, stimulate curiosity and shift child perspective. They not only foster inclusion and mutual respect, but also the nature of conversation and the process of togetherness.
The Bell Yett children and educators openly invite you to share with us any special home, cultural or celebratory rituals that are meaningful to you and your families.
Nell Tierney and Jess Ash
News from the Ferguson Room
Giving thanks is an important ritual. All societies position expressions of gratitude at their core; it is essential to our spiritual wellbeing. Currently, the children and the educators in the Ferguson Room have had our lives greatly enriched by practising rituals of gratitude. In particular, we have found our rest time in the middle of the day an opportunity for deep reflection.
We are grateful to Miss Jaye Bessell for creating a time and space for us all to relax and be mindful, to listen and to reflect on what we value and appreciate in our lives. We have observed how quietly joyful the children and adults become when making these affirmations, knowing they are being listened to and recognised for their feelings and values.
Our Expressions of Gratitude:
“I want to say thank you to my brother and mum and daddy, because they care about me and cuddle me.” – Lucy
“I want say thank you to my daddy and mummy because they like me and play with me, and I like them too.” – Audrey
“Thank you Emma for playing with me today.” – Torrence
“Thank you for mummy for loving me.” – Eric
“Thank you to Sophia for playing with me when Arabella wasn’t here.” – Jessie
“I want to say thank you to my mummy, brother and daddy for looking after me and I love my mummy and daddy.” – Elsa
“I want to say thank you to Sophie.” – Lucie
“I want to say thank you to Lucie.” – Sophie
“I would like to say thank you to Erica, because Erica shared the Lantern Festival with me.” – Lana
“I would like to say thank you to Arabella and Jonathan because they made me some special drawings.” – Ms Angel
“I want to say thank you to Sophia because she asked me ‘Are you ok?’ when I came back from the Nurse.” – Arabella
“Thank you to the Tuck Shop ladies for making our snacks.” – Erica
We thank Ms Haiyan Ji who has been an outstanding support to us in her role as Student Teacher this semester.
The team would also like to express gratitude to the families who have participated in the sharing of a ritual with us this term including Jackie, Debbie and Alyssa, parents of Erica, Jonathan and Willow respectively. These moments have created a deeper connection between us and gifted us treasured memories of our time of learning together.
Mel Angel
News from the Hallett Room
As we began the term with a new Central Idea, ‘Participating in rituals can be a way of expressing ourselves and our values’, we were fortunate to be part of a very special ritual at St Peter’s Girls’ School. Together with the School community, we lined the path and cheered the Year 12 girls as they entered the Chapel for their last time.
We went for a walk around the School to see some of the ways they celebrated their last day at school. The ELC children were immersed in this important ritual and could see how it was an opportunity for the School community to express itself and its values.
We discussed, as a Hallett learning community, some of our rituals. I shared my own ritual of hosting dinner parties. During this ritual, I send out invitations, set the table with beautiful tableware and decorations, share a meal and enjoy the company of loved ones. I wondered, would the children like to join me for a ‘lunch party’? An invitation was shared, and a new ritual has been born.
As educators, we feel privileged to spend this time with a small group of our friends. Our Lunch Time Party ritual is enhancing our relationships with the children. We have been delighted to be part of their conversations which, in this nurturing environment, support their personalities to shine. Some of these exchanges have included:
“How is the Lunch Party going?” – Mikayla
“Your Lunch Party looks lovely.” – Lucy
“You can join us if you like.” – Mia to Mrs Mount
“This party is amazing!” – Molly
“It’s like a picnic at the table.” – Olivia R
“This is pretty good.” – Crystal
“I love it!” – Harper
“I like all of it at the same time.” – Olivia R
“I like this party. I like everything about it.” – Scarlett
“I like the candle and the glitter. There are flowers also. They are white.” – Lachlan
“I went to a party last night. It was a different kind of party. I like this party. I liked talking about things with my friends.” – Harry
Initially, we were unsure if the children would connect to this experience, and whether it would evolve into a meaningful ritual for our Hallett Room community. As we observe the children enthusiastically checking the invitation displayed at the entrance to the Hallett Room and excitedly sharing with their friends whose turn it is today, we believe that it has been successful. Most importantly, when we hear from families their children’s sharing of the Lunch Time Party at home, we begin to feel certain that this ritual will become an important part of life in the Hallett Room. We know our intention has been met when we hear the words of Lachlan:
“It is a party to celebrate ourselves.”
You can read more about our Lunch Time Parties on our Hallett Room Canvas Page.
Leanne Williams