Dear Families
St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is a vibrant and unique early learning environment with a team of educators who have a deep understanding of the Reggio Emilia Educational Project, specifically focusing on the Hundred Languages theory.
The Hundred Languages is a key principle of the Reggio Emilia approach and refers to the importance of providing children with multiple ways to share their thinking of the world around them. The Hundred Languages also represents the infinite amount of potential each child naturally has and the endless capacities children have to express their ideas and understandings. We know children learn in a variety of different ways and by exposing them to many creative languages, we are extending and enriching their educational journey.
The languages are as endless as the child’s potential and can include not only verbal or written communication, but also acting, dancing, drawing, painting, mark-making, singing, the use of natural materials, loose parts and so much more.
Watch our video to see how we have been exploring the Hundred Languages in Learning Community 1.
The presence of an Atelierista (Art Educator) working across St Peter’s Girls’ ELC provides constant inspiration and support to the children and educators during the creative phases including planning, organising and curating the learning environment. The research behind materials and artistic techniques offers children the opportunity to be exposed to a wide variety of expressive languages.
The ELC’s Atelier (creative space) has become a laboratory where children can explore, play with and master the Hundred Languages. It is the place where materials support and nurture children’s ideas, theories and creativity.
In my role as Atelierista, I have the responsibility to inspire and nourish creativity, listening and identifying the variety of languages chosen and conveyed by the children. I believe creativity is not only a gift but a quality of thinking that we can constantly exercise and promote. As Professor Carla Rinaldi (President of The Foundation Reggio Children Centro Loris Malaguzzi) says: ‘Not everyone can be an artist but everyone can be creative.’
We feel blessed to be able to listen to and inspire the endless ways children express themselves, and we look forward to sharing with you the beauty and complexity of their perspectives.
Caterina Pennestri
ELC Educational Leader and Atelierista
Drinks on the Lawns – Tonight!
As our ELC continues to explore the art of welcome, tonight is a terrific opportunity for parents to socially meet up with other parents and teachers/staff on Chiverton Lawns. Food and drinks will be provided at this adults-only event.
Chat with our parent group representatives and our Community Relations staff to learn about our volunteering opportunities and the social and community events we are planning in 2022.
Celebrating the Power of Girls’ Education
As Saints Girls proudly marks International Women’s Day this week, it is also a fitting opportunity to celebrate the power of an all-girls’ education.
Research from around the world continues to show girls in single-sex schools are more confident in their studies, and their wellbeing is far greater.
It is in their learning, confidence and social-emotional outcomes that they reap the benefits of single-sex education, cementing our School as a place for girls to flourish.
Important Dates
Monday 14 March: Public Holiday (ELC closed)
Friday 18 March: ELC Twilight Family Picnic
April 4, 5, 11: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Thursday 14 April: End of Term Morning Tea (TBC)
ELC Twilight Family Picnic
We are excited to hold our Twilight Family Picnic on Chiverton Lawns on Friday 18 March from 5 to 7pm, hosted by the Friends of the ELC.
Families are encouraged to bring a picnic basket and rug for this family-friendly event. A pizza truck will be available on the night, however we recommend pre-ordering.
BYO drinks – no glass please.
Families are encouraged to pre-order their pizza for the picnic via www.trybooking.com/BXZTP as there will be limited availability for purchasing on the night.
The Twilight Family Picnic is an ELC community event and a wonderful opportunity to meet other families and chat to the ELC educators.
We look forward to seeing you there!
Vacation Care Bookings Now Open
ELC Vacation Care bookings are now open online. Bookings can be made until 5pm, Friday 1 April via www.trybooking.com/BXZGS
Please note: the ELC will be closed for public holidays on Monday 18 April and Monday 25 April.
Henrietta Balnaves and Danniella Capaldo
Extended Hours Care Team
Sustainability in the ELC
Sustainability at ELC goes far beyond our coloured bin systems and a thriving garden full of organic produce. When we think of the word sustainability, we think long-term, to the future of our children, and to the world they will inherit from us. We have the responsibility to not only care for our world today, but to teach this powerful value to the children in our care. We strive to foster a love and respect for the land in all children at a young age so that they have a positive relationship with their natural environment.
We believe that for our educators and children to care and take responsibility for a place, we need to first build a relationship with it. We are so fortunate to be situated next to Ferguson Conservation Park; a small pocket of native bush right at our doorstep where we can regularly build this relationship.
Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager
Can You Lend a Helping Hand in the ELC?
If you have an afternoon or morning spare, we would love more volunteers to join us as we explore Ferguson Conservation Park. We try to get out to Ferguson Park as much as possible to provide the children with rich learning experiences; however, this is deemed an excursion and requires higher ratios of adults to children.
Volunteering at the ELC is a fantastic opportunity to connect with the ELC community, and our treasured walks in Ferguson Park allow the children to deepen their relationship with their natural environment.
To be an ELC volunteer, we require a copy of a Working With Children Check (which can be processed free of charge through the School) and proof of COVID-19 vaccinations. If you would like to get involved, or have any other queries, please email me via hbalnaves@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
We look forward to seeing you at the ELC!
Henrietta Balnaves
ELC Manager
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长们，
圣彼得女校早教中心拥有独特的、充满生机的早教环境。我们的老师们对Reggio Emilia教育项目非常了解，该项目以“百种语言”理论作为核心。
“百种语言”理论是Reggio Emilia教学法的关键理论。“百种语言”意指给孩子们提供多种方式来分享他们对周围事物的看法。“百种语言”也意指每个孩子天生拥有无限潜能，能用无数种方式来表达她们的想法和对事物的理解。我们知道，孩子们可以有很多种不同的学习方式。让她们沉浸于众多创作性的语言环境中，我们可以使她们的学习经历更加广泛和丰富。
如同孩子们的潜力一样，语言也无止境，不仅包括口头或书面沟通，也包括动作、舞蹈、素描、油画、记号、歌唱，使用自然材料、零件等等……我们的学习共同体1提供了探索“百种语言”的各种方式，请欣赏上面的视频短片。
圣彼得女校早教中心有一名专门的Atelierista（艺术导师），在创造性教育方面可以持续为孩子们和老师们提供创意灵感和专业支持，包括规划、组织以及管理学习环境。我们不仅提供各种材料和技术，还开展了广泛的研究来为孩子们提供各种各样的机会，让她们能够接触各种各样的语言表达方式。
早教中心的创意室已经成为孩子们在玩耍中探索和掌握“百种语言”的一个实验室。在这里，各种材料持续地激发孩子们的想法、理论和创造力。
作为一名Atelierista，我的责任是激发和培养孩子们的创造力，倾听孩子们的声音，识别孩子们选择和传递的各种语言。我认为，创造力不仅是一种天赋，而且是可以不断练习并提高的一种素质。如Carla Rinaldi教授（Reggio Children Centro Loris Malaguzzi基金会总裁）所说：“不是每个人都可以成为艺术家，但是每个人都可以有创造力。”
我们能够倾听孩子们各种不同的表达，激发她们的无限创造力，对此我们深感欣慰。我们也希望能跟家长们一起分享孩子们丰富而美丽的独特视角。
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
News from Learning Community 1
When young children begin in a formal education setting, they encounter many firsts. Their first interactions with new adults, other children, different spaces and routines in their day. Often, it may be their first encounter with a range of new materials and resources for exploration. Upon being welcomed into this new environment, suddenly textas, pencils, scissors, glue, paper and natural resources have become familiar additions to the day.
In Learning Community 1, educators work closely with Atelierista Ms Caterina to design rich and inviting experiences with these materials, suitable for all abilities. In the Reggio Emilia Approach, these materials and resources and the engagement they encourage are referred to as ‘languages’. When we explore a new topic within the Learning Community, a wide range of languages are offered to the children to engage in at differing abilities, supporting their developing understandings. Currently, whilst we have been exploring the lifecycle of the butterfly and the sunflower, we have been using the languages of:
- Collage
- Watercolour painting
- Observational drawing
- Clay work
- Exploration of light
Children have been provided with the space and time to revisit these experiences, building key early development skills in concentration, persistence, conversation, and the early fine motor skills that support later drawing and writing. There are multiple ways across the Learning Community for children to engage in and express their learning.
As children progress through the Learning Community, educators incorporate these skills into Literacy and Numeracy experiences, where children begin to use a combination of mark-making skills and conversation skills to communicate understanding. The confidence to use an expressive language to share learning becomes strong.
Engaging with multiple languages promotes and celebrates creativity. It helps to form a love for expressive art that we hope children carry with them beyond ELC.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
In Learning Community 2, we are continuing our inquiry into ‘A Welcoming community can strengthen connections’. We are beginning to have a better understanding of what a welcoming community looks like, how we might feel to be welcomed and how it sounds to welcome someone.
Over the past few weeks, we have investigated different ways of welcome; for example, how the Kaurna and other cultures welcome new people, how we use our body to welcome someone without words and how working as a community to welcome new faces is also important. We are working hard to expand our understanding of what it is to ‘welcome’ someone and how, as a Learning Community, we can help others feel comfortable in our play space.
Our investigation into feeling welcomed brought us to focus next on emotions. We encourage the children to recognise their own emotions and to learn to label and verbalise them. We know there are more than four emotions and so we have investigated what the other emotions might be through role playing, stories and drawings. Along with reading together, we are using Kimochis as a learning tool. These are small toys which help young children connect with the language of feelings and, through their use, children can understand how feelings or emotions can be represented by a colour. We are also attempting to unpack the idea that we can have many feelings all at the same time!
In this way, children, by recognising their emotions and labelling them, are beginning a journey to self-regulation. This, in turn, allows everyone at ELC to appreciate the importance self-regulation has on our wellbeing, and how it strengthens our connections with each other, especially with those new to ELC. To have the ability to understand your own emotions first, next to articulate them and then to finally manage your reaction is a huge developmental step!
It’s important for families to remember that even on bad days, we welcome you to ELC. Even on excited days, we welcome you to ELC. Even on happy and nervous days, we welcome you to ELC. We welcome you!
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.
Your username is {ID+}@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
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
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