Dear Families
Term 4 at St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is a time to celebrate the spirit of our community of learners.
Our central idea this term is, ‘Welcoming traditions, rituals and histories can build on knowledge’. We aim for the children to reflect on why we celebrate and have rituals and traditions, and to also reflect on their personal history with a focus on their time at ELC. 
Soon, we will be immersed in the festive celebrations, but before the exciting events ahead, we want to highlight and celebrate our children’s learning journey, their growth, their skills and their participation in the life of the ELC.
In Week 3, we proudly shared our children’s learning portfolios with their families and treasured friends through our new event, ‘Celebrate our Learning Week’. We have been amazed by the capacity of the children to articulate their learning experiences and knowledge with their loved ones, and their ability to revisit concepts and meaningful moments at the ELC. This has been a valuable opportunity to share our history and stories, and celebrate how far we have come, how we have changed and how much we have learnt together.
Each portfolio is a custodian of pedagogical documentation, precious works of art, literacy and numeracy experiences, theories, interpretations and photographs of the children engaged in their learning environments. The portfolios are individual and as unique as each child, but they also tell the story of each child as a community member and their participation in the inquiry amongst a group of peers.
As educators and researchers, we feel the need to make more visible our children’s learning and to find more opportunities to share information about their daily life, goals and achievements. We have been so proud to share our children’s portfolios with you and we hope that ‘Celebrate our Learning Week’ can become a new tradition for our ELC.
Caterina Pennestri
ELC Educational Leader and Atelierista
Important Dates
Monday 14 November: Reception Transition Visits Commence
Friday 25 November: ELC End of Year Celebration
Monday 5 December: ELC Hat Ceremony
Friday 9 December: Last day of Term 4
December 12 – 23: Vacation Care
The Joy of Storytelling in Our ELC
Storytelling is the earliest form of literacy for our youngest learners. By engaging in early storytelling experiences, they are developing key literacy awareness that prepares the foundation for future reading and writing skills and learning. Through storytelling, children create a sense of wonder as they use their imagination. They are developing their listening and communication skills, enhancing their vocabulary, and making important links between the written and spoken word.
Watch our video below to see how we embed literacy in our every day here in Learning Community 1.
You’re Invited to Our ELC End of Year Celebration
Join us for our ELC End of Year Celebration on Friday 25 November at 5.30pm on Chiverton Lawns. Singing will commence from 5.45pm.
We encourage families to bring a picnic basket and rug, and set up your space on the lawns (see map below for optimal viewing positions). Families can also pre-order pizza, paella and beverages up until Friday 18 November via www.trybooking.com/CDXOG
Children are invited to wear their Christmas party clothes. We can’t wait to see you there!
Exciting New ELC Uniforms
We are excited to announce our ELC will be rolling out a new custom-designed uniform from mid-December 2022. This beautiful new range takes into consideration the unique sizes, proportions and needs of our youngest community members, giving our ELC children a smart, cohesive look, and simplifying the routine of getting dressed in the morning.
2023 will be a phasing-out period, where children can continue to wear pieces of the old ELC uniform to supplement their outfits, giving families time to purchase the new garments.
From 2024, the new ELC uniform will be compulsory for all children to wear during their time at the ELC. Children will need to wear both the top and bottom pieces (t-shirt; shorts; long sleeve top; long pants). A plain navy-coloured long sleeve top will be permitted to be worn underneath the t-shirt. For summer and high UV periods, children will wear the new ELC bucket hat, and for cooler periods, there will be new ELC vest and jacket options to replace non-ELC jackets, jumpers and vests.
These new items will be available for purchase from our School Shop in mid-December, and we look forward to seeing the children proudly wear their new ELC attire.
Suzanne Haddy
Head of Junior School
Vacation Care Bookings Now Open!
Vacation Care bookings are now open and will close at 5pm on Monday 28 November. Families can book via www.trybooking.com/CEEME. Please note: Due to staffing requirements, any changes made after the booking closing date will incur the full day’s fee.
Vacation Care will run from Monday 12 to Friday 23 December, and will be closed from Monday 26 December. Vacation Care will reopen on Monday 9 January to Friday 27 January, with Term 1 beginning on Monday 30 January. Please note: Thursday 26 January is a public holiday and the ELC will be closed.
ELC Giving Tree
In a special ELC tradition, and as part of the Saints Girls’ Anglicare Christmas Appeal, we are once again partnering with Anglicare SA for our annual ELC Giving Tree.
ELC families are invited to bring a gift from Monday 21 November to place under the ELC Giving Tree for a child less fortunate.
Gifts could include books, board games, craft sets, Lego, musical instruments, footballs and soccer balls, toy cars and dolls.
Please note, all items must be new, not wrapped and placed under the ELC Giving Tree by
Monday 5 December.
Thank you for your participation in this special giving tradition.
Sun Safety in the ELC
As the weather starts to warm up, please ensure your child brings a broad-brimmed hat each day they attend ELC. If you do not have an ELC uniform hat, we ask that you pack another broad-brimmed hat for your child to wear. As we move into the warmer months, it is extremely important that we adhere to our policies and procedures. If your child does not have a hat, they will be asked to play under the shaded areas or indoors.
We encourage you to apply sunscreen on your child prior to arriving at the ELC so they are ready for the day. Sunscreen application is undertaken regularly at the ELC; if your child requires an alternative sunscreen, please provide this to your child’s teacher.
We also ask that your child wears their correct ELC uniform, and refrains from wearing dresses or singlets where their shoulders are exposed. Appropriate footwear is also required and we ask that children wear sneakers or sandals that have a backing to them. For visits into Ferguson Park, long pants and closed-toed shoes are required.
2023 ELC Enrolment Requirements
We are working through our intake offers for next year and need to ensure our current families have their allocated days in place.
Please notify me ASAP via selliott@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au if you require an amendment to your days moving forward in 2023, or if you are leaving the Centre at the end of this year.
We understand that families may need to take extended periods of time off throughout an ELC year for special circumstances. We do still charge for any booked days when your child is enrolled in the ELC. In line with the Child Care Subsidy (CCS) service, children are allowed 42 CCS ‘absent’ days per year, with any number of days following this incurring the standard daily rate of ELC without subsidy. Please keep this in mind and let me know if you intend to be absent for an extended period of time.
Sarah Elliott
ELC Enrolments Manager
COVID-19 Information
As you may be aware, a number of COVID-19 requirements have been lifted including mandatory isolation for those who test positive. Notwithstanding this, SA Health encourages anyone with symptoms to get tested and stay home until symptoms have cleared (usually five to seven days).
As there is no longer a set COVID isolation period, you must notify the School each day your child will be absent, or provide the expected period of absence.
Please notify us via email or text:
Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Text: 0428 601 957 (save to phone contacts as SPGS)
Phone: 8334 2200
If children are displaying symptoms, it is mandatory that we send them home. SA Health guidelines advise that symptoms include:
- Fever (a temperature of 37.5˚C or higher) or chills
- Cough
- Loss of taste or smell
- Sore throat
- Tiredness (fatigue)
- Runny or blocked nose
- Shortness of breath (difficulty breathing)
- Nausea, vomiting or diarrhoea
- Headache
- Muscle or joint pain
- Loss of appetite
The School is no longer required to record details of COVID-19 cases for SA Health; however, there is still a requirement for South Australians who test positive using a RAT to report their result to SA Health online.
Close contacts should continue to monitor for symptoms, get tested and stay home until symptoms have cleared.
For more information, click here.
As always, we will keep you informed of any updated advice.
Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家人
圣彼得女子 ELC 的第 4 学期是庆祝我们学习者社区精神的时刻。
我们这个术语的中心思想是，“欢迎传统、仪式和历史可以建立在知识之上”。我们的目标是让孩子们反思我们为什么庆祝并拥有仪式和传统，并反思他们的个人历史，重点关注他们在 ELC 的时间。
很快，我们将沉浸在节日庆典中，但在接下来的激动人心的活动之前，我们想强调和庆祝我们孩子的学习之旅、他们的成长、他们的技能以及他们对 ELC 生活的参与。
在第 3 周，我们通过我们的新活动“庆祝我们的学习周”自豪地与他们的家人和珍贵的朋友分享了孩子们的学习档案。我们对孩子们与亲人表达他们的学习经历和知识的能力，以及他们在 ELC 重温概念和有意义的时刻的能力感到惊讶。这是一个宝贵的机会，可以分享我们的历史和故事，并庆祝我们已经走了多远，我们发生了怎样的变化，以及我们一起学到了多少。
每个作品集都是教学文献、珍贵的艺术作品、识字和算术经验、理论、解释和儿童在学习环境中的照片的保管人。这些作品集是个人的，与每个孩子一样独特，但它们也讲述了每个孩子作为社区成员的故事，以及他们在一群同龄人中参与调查的过程。
作为教育工作者和研究人员，我们认为有必要让孩子们的学习更加明显，并寻找更多机会分享有关他们的日常生活、目标和成就的信息。我们很自豪能与您分享我们孩子的作品集，我们希望“庆祝我们的学习周”能够成为我们 ELC 的新传统。
Caterina Pennestri
ELC Educational Leader and Atelierista
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 1 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
News from Learning Community 1
As we shared our histories and background with the children, we provided opportunities for them to immerse themselves in a variety of cultural rituals and traditions through the languages of loose parts, music and food.
Most importantly, children experienced these by engaging in pretend play, which provides opportunities for young learners to start developing social skills in a safe and enjoyable way. Pretend play enables children to experiment with other social roles, make sense of real-world situations, and understand social rules and boundaries while interacting with peers and educators.
In the past two weeks, children have experienced:
- A traditional Italian Sunday lunch – through the language of loose parts, children pretended to cook lasagne, pasta and meatballs. They heard the story of Queen Margherita and cooked margherita pizzas.
- The Diwali festival – children learnt about the story behind this festival and designed and decorated the Centre with rangolis. They were also able to cook some traditional foods from India.
In the coming weeks, children will explore and investigate more about Chinese culture as we share stories and meals and experiment with traditional cooking tools. Further to that, children will share their own rituals around birthday celebrations and how their families make these moments unique.
Jessica Guimaraes and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
This term as we investigate our central idea, ‘Welcoming traditions, rituals and histories can build on knowledge’, the children have been introduced to many rich stories and traditions that are celebrated all over the world.
Over the past few weeks, Ms Fernandes shared how her family celebrates Diwali, immersing the children in the story of why it is such as important tradition for the Hindu people and how it all began. The children were so enthusiastic to experience creating sand and chalk patterned lanterns and designing intricate patterns to cover their hands as done with Henna to commemorate the celebrations.
By introducing children to traditions and rituals from many countries, it enables them to be aware of and respect others’ perspectives, to explore different identities, and to develop strong foundations in their own culture and those of others. We want to promote in all children a strong sense of who they are and to show respect for diversity, acknowledging the varying approaches of children, families, communities and cultures.
Our ELC spaces and places are full of history, all with a memorable story attached. We have created many pieces of documentation to support this, all of which were developed alongside the children. As many of our children are transitioning to school next year, they are part of our ELC history and all share a similar narrative that we hope will travel with them and leave a trace forever in their personal history.
The spaces we will be exploring are the ELC Community Garden, the Path, the Hallett Garden and the Friendship Garden. We invite you to ask the children to share their knowledge with you:
- Why was the ELC Community Garden created?
- What do all the symbols of the Path represent?
- What does the stone circle in the middle of the Friendship Garden represent?
- Can you identify all the areas in the Hallett Garden and what they are called?
All of these exciting pieces of history will be revealed this term. Please come into the Hallett Room or Ferguson Room to read the documentation and understand our valuable history.
Nell Tierney, Kathy McCabe and Laura Reiters
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:
Each parent has an individual username to access our myLink Parent Portal. Please note that the username is your ID number followed by @stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au Your ID number has been provided to you in an email from the School If you have not accessed myLink before or have forgotten your password, please follow these steps:
- Visit https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
- Sign in with your parent username
- Click on ‘Forgot my password’
- Make sure the ‘email’ address is your parent username, type in the code, then click the blue ‘Next’ button
- Enter your mobile number registered with the School, with the area code (Australia is +61), dropping the 0 at the beginning (e.g. +61 400000000). Then select ‘Text’
- Enter the security code sent to your mobile number
- Enter the password you would like to use and click ‘Finish’
- Return to the login screen at https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au to access myLink
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 our IT Hub 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
If your child will not be attending ELC due to illness or otherwise, please notify the School via one of the following methods and include the name of the ELC Room.
If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher/s of the room as well.
Please also provide a reason for the absence as the School requires this for government reporting purposes.
Text: 0428 601 957
Email: attendance@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Phone: 8334 2200
ELC Room Contacts:
- Stonyfell – 8155 5778
- Bell Yett – 8155 5777
- Ferguson – 8155 5776
- Hallett – 8155 5775
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