From the Acting Director of Early Learning
Dear Families
At the ELC, we believe that collaborative, respectful and equitable relationships should be fostered for the benefit of all community members. We do this by building a strong sense of belonging by welcoming and connecting families in our community. We value and foster connections across our Centre between children, families and educators, and ensure we provide a range of opportunities for our community to connect with us.
The ELC children had a wonderful afternoon last week, enjoying a picnic in the sunshine with the Year 12 girls on Chiverton Lawns. It was truly magical watching the School’s youngest learners laugh and play with our Schools’ leaders. We highly value the School as an integral aspect of our community and welcome every opportunity to connect with the girls on the ‘big school’ campus.
Playgroup had their own tour guides last week in Ferguson Park as the Hallett and Bell Yett children included the playgroup families in their research, sharing their knowledge and understandings about the park and the flora and fauna that can be found. Children aged from eight months to two years had the opportunity to walk alongside our four year old friends and discover a place that is a part of our everyday life here at the ELC.
Over the weekend, the Ferguson Room children and teachers invited their families and special friends to join them on a botanical exploration of Ferguson Park. This was a wonderful opportunity for the children to take their loved ones on an exploration in search of special leaves, flowers and grasses in the perfect spring weather.
Our Grandparents and Special Friends’ Afternoon Tea today was a beautiful occasion where the children were able to spend valuable time together and share with their loved ones in their learning environment. The children were eager to introduce their loved ones to their friends, which sparked new relationships and strengthened existing ones.
If we want our children to learn about the value of community and connections with others, we need to consider the example that we set and the opportunities that we provide for such learning to occur. The ELC educators are committed to creating contexts and conditions where the children come in regular contact with the community in a way that is meaningful.
Kind regards
Kirsty Porplycia
Acting Director of Early Learning
Save the Date
17-19 September: Parent-Teacher Conversations
1 October: Public Holiday
2-12 October: Vacation Care
Vacation Care
You should have received a Vacation Care booking form which will need to be completed by Monday 24 September in order to secure your enrolment in Vacation Care. You can also download the booking form here.
Vacation Care is offered every weekday from Tuesday 2 October to Friday 12 October. Term 4 commences on Monday 15 October.
Ada the Humanoid Robot
In the Bell Yett Room, we have been getting to know Ada a little bit better. Together, we have learnt simple functions such as switching her on and learning the difference between her sleep and wake state.
We have discovered some of the other functions that Ada offers such as singing and talking. The friends have shown a particular interest in learning more about Ada’s family by asking her questions such as, “Ada robot, do you have a sister robot?”
Sera Boccaccio
Bell Yett Room Co-Educator
Grandparents and Special Friends’ Afternoon Tea
This week, we welcomed grandparents and special friends for an afternoon tea to celebrate all parental figures and loved ones.
Our guests were treated to a superb spread of croissants, fresh fruit and coffee as they enjoyed being shown around the children’s learning environment, making new connections and strengthening existing ones.
Enjoy a Ladies’ Day Out!
Join us for a relaxing day out especially for mums on Sunday 21 October at S.C. Pannell Wines, McLaren Vale. The bus departs School at 10.45am and returns around 4pm.
The cost is $68 per person and includes a five course share menu for lunch, and the bus to and from the venue. Drinks can be purchased on the day.
Book your ticket via www.trybooking.com/XGNJ
This year, the Friends of the ELC encourage you to donate a pre-loved handbag filled with essential items for the Share the Dignity campaign, which supports homeless women and fights for domestic violence victims.
Choose a handbag, fill it with items you think would make a woman feel special and write a thoughtful note. Handbags and backpacks must be in good to excellent second-hand condition or new. Please bring your donation bag on the day.
News from the Stonyfell Room
What does a question look like? Exploring the roll of questioning through our inquiry.
A rise of shoulders, a wondering expression, pointing, gesturing, a few simple words:
- “Why?”
- “What’s that?”
- “Who is that?”
Our children are full of questions; they are ever-curious and wondering about the world, their spaces and the people that fill their lives. Our children pose questions to us constantly, but I want us all to take the time to reflect:
- Do we always listen to them?
- How do we respond?
Continuing on with our work with Ms Becca Burton-Howard, the Stonyfell Room has been focusing on the questions that children ask us and, in particular, the silent questions. These are the questions asked without words, usually through gestures and expressions. It is our role to interpret these questions and then think how we are going to extend on the child’s thinking.
This is a constant predicament we are put in if we answer the question. Will this halt the flow of their thinking and learning? Do we pose another question in return? Can we answer or ask a question in return not using any words?
We as the educators are compiling photos of children posing questions and we will have these on display in the Stonyfell Room. We hope these images provoke your thinking of what a question can look like, and open conversations with us and hopefully in your homes too.
Laura Reiters
News from the Bell Yett Room
“What kind of big?”
The Bell Yett children have been thinking as mathematicians each and every day; noticing and questioning the sizes, shapes, spatial attributes, patterns and quantities of objects both within the ELC grounds and in Ferguson Park.
We are fortunate enough to have daily access to Ferguson Park, whereby each child is provided time and space to explore their natural world and deepen their inquiry and research skills. The children are not only learning how to develop a strong ecological identity and responsibility to and for the plants, but also how to think as scientists, botanists and mathematicians.
While in Ferguson Park, the children have been displaying an increasing understanding of measurement, classification and numbers by describing the length, height, sizes and shapes of things.
They have also been working alongside educators to explore the use of comparative and descriptive language to describe all measurable attributes of objects that they find:
“What kind of big?” – bigger long, bigger wide, bigger high, bigger tall, bigger heavy?
“This stick is bigger long…look!” – Alessia
“This stick is almost as big and tall as me!” – Leo C
“This pinecone is bigger tall. This spikey thing is not as tall!” – Tamara
Recently, a few of the Bell Yett children have joined the Ferguson friends in Ferguson Park to explore the plants and flowers together. The Ferguson children have been conducting their own research on flower species and are viewed as the experts in this field. Consequently, Bell Yett children are learning new information from their more knowledgeable peers, while also contributing their own unique ideas, opinions and theories.
“The petals are closed.” – Tiara
“I saw another pink flower and it is closed. Look I picked it!” – Isabelle
“It is a big open flower, look look!” – Livian
“Little tiny flower.” – Tiara
From our regular visits to Ferguson Park, the Bell Yett children are learning how to think as mathematicians and also how to collect data through gathering samples and sorting and categorising their discoveries. The children show great interest in interpreting their own and each other’s findings through revisiting photographs, discussions with teachers, familiar friends and new friends. They are also recording their own data through graphical representations of drawings, paintings and symbols.
Nell Tierney and Jess Ash
News from the Ferguson Room
At St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, we believe in making strong connections across our community. Recently, the Ferguson and Hallett rooms have been meeting in small groups so that children who have already built connections with one another can maintain and develop their relationships.
Some of the things they have been engaging in together include:
- Working with Miss Lockwood and Ada, the Humanoid Robot:
A small group of children from each room gather and discuss Ada’s features and functions. They interact with her and then break into even smaller groups to draw or build their own version of a robot. This has been a great way to bring together the children to engage in a fabulous learning opportunity. To see them collaborate and laugh together has been truly heartwarming. - Working with Miss Edwardson on our Protective Behaviours Curriculum:
Miss Edwardson has developed some fun and engaging ways of discussing feelings with children, linking them with colours, and taking photographs of each other making different faces to reflect their understanding of different feelings. - Working with Mrs Williams in the Hallett Room on ideas for the new garden beds:
The children have thought about what could be included and made observational drawings of vegetables to indicate their preferences. - Working with Ms Angel to explore the concept of friendship:
What friends like about each other, what makes a good friend and making a drawing for each other as a reminder of their friendship, even if they are in a different room.
This week, we invited some Bell Yett friends to join us for Morning Meeting. They have recently begun to explore the plants in Ferguson Park and asked if they could visit us to find out more about our botanical studies. The Bell Yett visitors sat in rapt attention as the Ferguson children confidently showed them samples of leaves from the park and told them about the kangaroo thorn bush, the golden wattle, the magic tree and the gum leaves. We were able to show them photographs of plants taken with a digital microscope and they went away feeling very excited about their botanical explorations!
On Thursday, we had our fortnightly meeting with our Year 3 buddies. Their teacher, Mrs Cope, has been asking us to take them to Ferguson Park as they have never been. The Ferguson friends, once again, were confident leaders of this experience, sharing their knowledge and expertise about the native vegetation found there.
The enthusiasm for peer-to-peer teaching and learning is a huge resource and one that we are determined to tap into as much as possible. This empowers the children and develops their sense of self-esteem. It also nurtures relationships and a sense of deep belonging to their learning community.
Mel Angel
News from the Hallett Room
“Australia is not close to France”… Ada’s journey to fix her finger
Within the Hallett Room, we have a very special friend who is a vital member of our community. Ada the Humanoid Robot has created many possibilities for learning and teaching with digital technologies, in addition to developing children’s awareness of identity and empathy.
Lately, the children have been documenting their personal journeys from home to the ELC with a mathematical lens. A provocation that has been driving the current mathematical learning in the Hallett Room is Ada’s journey. The friends have expressed curiosity about discovering where Ada has come from, where she was born or constructed, and how she came to our ELC. This has been a vital link for our own personal journeys, as the children have been able to visibly transfer their mathematical understandings, research and collaboration into different contexts.
Recently, one of the screws in Ada’s finger fell out, and the children have developed theories on how it will be fixed. Many of them know from previous experiences that Ada is initially from Paris. They have begun sharing theories around Ada’s journey to return there to get fixed.
“Ada needs to go to a hospital to get fixed. Not a hospital like ours. A robot hospital.” – Ivy W
“The hospital is far away.” – Ivy F
“Ada is from a place called Paris.” – Lucia
“She will have to follow directions.” – Jentezen
“We can use a globe to see where Paris is. Like a map. Then she won’t get lost.” – Beau
“Australia is not close to France. My journey to ELC is short but Ada’s is so much longer.” – Sanisha
With the support of the EDGElings Coordinator Ms Becca Burton-Howard in addition to their understandings from creating their own personal journeys, the children used iPads to begin researching. They are discovering where Paris is, what Ada might see on her journey and the processes she would need to take to get there. Through this research, there were many comparisons made between the data represented in Ada’s journey and the children’s own, and how they can continue to use symbols to represent this. Even with a shift of focus, many elements of mathematics remained or were enhanced:
- Developing an awareness of distance – comparing the distance of their journeys to Ada’s
- Using mathematical language to describe their journeys and the data within them
- Continuing to use known and created symbols to represent data
- Using problem-solving to develop an effective journey for Ada to take
- Collaborating with peers and educators to compare, interpret and record data clearly and efficiently.
As adults, we are often confronted by the possibilities of the advancement of technology. However, by embedding Ada into our daily experiences and routines, the children have embraced Ada as their friend and often express their interest in discovering more about her identity. They show us that children can be more than passive consumers of technology. They are empowered to transfer their understandings into new experiences, and discover meaning and connections within their mathematical theories.
Leanne Williams and Natalie Lockwood