Dear Families
In only a matter of a couple of weeks, we have almost forgotten the landscape of the old Hallett Garden space. It has transformed into what is now a highly appealing and engaging play space for the children. You may wonder what significant difference this provides our children.
The deep slope of the old space has been altered into a far more level and usable space. The engaging pathways lead to a variety of interesting and open-ended play opportunities, and we are seeing the children generate new games and discover endless possibilities. To use the word delight to describe what we are seeing is truly an understatement! The delight in the play is contagious; there is a new energy and a different type of engagement being witnessed. Educators are carefully observing how the children are interpreting spaces to create their play.
In the first week, we saw a rush of activity – the children racing between each space, being sure to touch every new aspect. Running was pivotal as they had to move everywhere fast. However, in more recent days, the pace has slowed and engagement has heightened, and this is where we begin to see the true purpose and possibilities of the new spaces emerge. There is wonderful collaboration between groups, in a wide range of spaces. The sandpit is a different offering now as the children discover water in a new sense, being able to transport and engineer pathways for water travel. Water is also utilised in the sensory kitchen for amazing new experiences enhanced by some additional utensils to stretch the imagination.
I could not be prouder of this garden and what it offers for the children’s imagination and play. It reminds us just how pivotal being outdoors is and the importance of play in the lives of all children. It epitomises childhood, and St Peter’s Girls’ ELC is ensuring our children have plenty of opportunities to maximise this precious time in their lives. We look forward to sharing more with you as time progresses. Please remember to save the date for our official ELC Garden Grand Opening on Thursday 21 October at 9.30am.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Important Dates
Monday 13 – Tuesday 14 September: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Monday 20 September: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Friday 24 September: Last day of Term 3
Monday 27 September – Friday 8 October: Vacation Care
Monday 4 October: Public Holiday (ELC Closed)
Monday 11 October: Term 4 commences
Thursday 21 October: ELC Garden Grand Opening
Exploring Our New Garden with SOLe
The Hallett Garden redevelopment has been an opportunity for us to learn more about architectural planning, Kaurna symbols and the identity of places.
As part of our Symphony of Languages: experiences (SOLe), the children unpacked the meaning, symbology and position of all the elements of the new garden design, and we recreated plans using loose parts and graphic representations. Watch our video above to see some of the wonderful explorations.
Caterina Pennestri
Atelierista
Vacation Care Bookings Closing Soon
In order to streamline bookings and make the process easier for our families, the ELC Vacation Care booking system is now online through TryBooking. Bookings can be made until 5pm, Friday 10 September via www.trybooking.com/BTRHD
A booking instruction sheet has been sent home with families. If you haven’t received it, you can download a copy here.
Please note: Monday 4 October is a public holiday and the ELC will be closed.
Henrietta Balnaves and Danniella Capaldo
Extended Hours Care Team
Keeping Sun Safe in the ELC
As the weather warms up we ask families to please ensure they send their children to ELC with a named broad-brimmed hat and sunscreen. When the daily UV Index level reads 3 and above, staff ensure children wear their hat and have applied sunscreen before they go out to play.
Save the Date for Our Garden Grand Opening!
We are planning to hold a grand opening of our new ELC Garden where families can experience the joy of this breathtaking space, and hope you can save the date of Thursday 21 October at 9.30am.
来自黄老师的信息
亲爱的家长朋友们，
还没有几周时间，我们已经淡忘了Hallet旧花园的模样，因为崭新的花园对孩子充满吸引力，是一个让他们能积极参与进去游玩的崭新空间。你或许想知道这给我们的孩子带来了天差地别。
原来的斜坡变成了一个水平可用空间。引人入胜小径通向各种有趣且开放的游玩机会，我们看到孩子们创造新的游戏并探索各种“神奇的可能”。仅仅用“高兴”这个词已不足以来表达我们的快乐! “沉浸式的玩乐”是具有感染力的，处处洋溢着一种崭新的活力和不同的参与感。我们的教师们正在仔细观察孩子们如何利用空间来诠释他们的玩乐。
在第一周，我们看到了孩子们的充分参与——孩子们奔跑在每个空间之间，感受和碰触每一处。当孩子需要快速从一个地方时，必然需要跑起来。然而，在最近的日子里，孩子们放慢了他们的速度，他们深入参与到每一处的活动，由此我们开始看到这一新空间的真正目的，和各种可能性开始展现。在这开放的空间里，团队之间有着精彩合作。当我们把水引入了原来的沙坑之中，为孩子们提供了非同凡响的感官体验。 孩子们能够引用和设计水路，并在这个新设计的空间里尽情的发挥创造力。水还被运用到了我们的“感官厨房”，我们利用一些从二手商店淘来的器具来延展孩子们的游玩体验。
我们对这个空间和它为孩子们提供的游玩体验感到无比自豪。它提醒了我们，户外活动是多么重要，这样的玩耍在所有孩子的生活中是多么重要。它是孩子们童年的缩影。我们希望孩子们可以无限可能地在圣彼得女校早教中心享受他们生命中的宝贵时间。
随着时间的推移，我们期待与您分享更多。请留意我们的花园将在10月21日上午9:30正式开放。
园长
Kate Mount
Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.
Sustainability in the ELC
As our ELC Community Garden has been inaccessible all term due to the Hallett Garden redevelopment, the children have been incredibly excited to get back in there now that these works have finished!
We quickly discovered that our spinach and carrots grew just fine without our help, meaning we immediately had fresh produce to harvest and cook with!
Our spinach provoked many ideas as to what we could create with it in our kitchen together, with the children using the democratic process of voting to decide on making spinach and cheese scrolls for everyone in Learning Community 2.
The children then recounted this experience and created a recipe so that our cooking can be shared beyond Learning Community 2. You can download a copy here.
The experiences that extend from our ELC Community Garden aim to support children’s discovery and development in many areas such as literacy, language, maths, science and sustainability. We also aim to provide a fun and hands-on approach to teaching children about the benefits of fresh, seasonal produce, supporting a positive relationship between your children and their food which they will have for life.
Henrietta Balnaves
News from Learning Community 1
The story of the Rainbow Serpent has been retold and revisited many times over the years in the ELC as our connection to Aboriginal language and culture has strengthened. Children have been hooked by the magic and wonderment of this Aboriginal Dreaming story, with children across the Centre developing an understanding of the symbology behind the story and its significance to Aboriginal people.
Dreamtime stories tell how the Rainbow Serpent came from beneath the ground and created huge ridges, mountains and gorges as it pushed upwards. The name also reflects the snake-like meandering of the waterways across a landscape, and the rainbow colour spectrum created by sunlight hitting the water. Paintings of the Rainbow Serpent first appeared in rock art more than 6000 years ago. The Rainbow Serpent is a symbol of creation and is regarded as the protector and custodian of the water on the land.
A permanent rainbow rock formation has been curated in the new Hallett Garden to represent the significance this story holds in shaping our ELC’s identity. The Rainbow Serpent rocks wrap around the top of the sandpit as custodian of the new waterhole (a rock composition with water taps accessible to the children). This part of the garden renovation has created a special place for the children to connect to and retell the story in their play.
With the introduction of the Rainbow Serpent rocks in the new Hallett Garden, we have been exploring the symbology of the Rainbow Serpent in a number of ways across Learning Community 1. Groups of children have been invited to retell the story using different languages, with the use of loose parts, natural materials, watercolour painting and drama-based movement to express their understandings of the story. We have been amazed by the variety and beauty of their representations.
Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
This term, we have been working with the children to support them in developing their toolkit of strategies for conflict resolution. At the beginning of the term, we introduced our focus book This Is Our House. It is a great book with plenty of provocations for the children. Some friends were quite confronted by George’s behaviour and had a lot to say about his exclusion of others. Our goal for this term has been to support the children to transfer what they can explain to us about inclusion into their real-life play and learning experiences.
As our discussions and brainstorming sessions have progressed, it has been an eye-opening experience for us as teachers to reflect on our role as the adults when scaffolding and supporting conflict resolution with the children. It has been extremely powerful working alongside the children to develop a toolkit that they can use effectively to manage a challenging situation. We have referred to the toolkit just like that of a builder. A builder has a toolkit of a saw, spanner, hammer and a measuring tape. Whereas our toolkit has steps that we can take to help us resolve a problem. Most children have expressed their concerns around being told, ‘No, you can’t play with me.’
The toolkit we have created so far with the children has the following steps:
- Ask nicely to play
- If they respond ‘No’, ask, ‘Why?’
- Stop, look and listen to the reason
- Respond to the reason appropriately
- Find a teacher if these steps don’t work
In the toolkit we have created with the children, each step has provocation questions or statements that the children can use such as, ‘Why can’t I play with you?’, and ‘I promise this time I will be more careful.’ We have supported the children to understand and see the different perspectives of why they might be told they can’t play. This has been an extremely reflective process for the children where they have been able to look back on their past experiences to move forward and grow. One friend last week exclaimed, ‘Last time we played with H, we broke his making; maybe that’s why he is worried about us playing with him again?’
We have observed the children starting to use the toolkit in their play and encouraging their friends by asking, ‘Have you tried using the toolkit?’ The teachers have used this step-by-step approach to scaffold the children when challenged during play scenarios with their peers. We have seen such growth from the children, and we are proud of their commitment and active participation in this unit of inquiry.
Nell Tierney, Laura Reiters and Kirsty Porplycia
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:
- Visit https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
- To set your password, click the link located below the sign in section
- Your user name was emailed to you upon your child’s commencement (see Helpdesk contact details below if you cannot source your user name)
- Enter your unique user name, click ‘Next’
- Enter the security code sent to your mobile
- Enter the password you would like to use and press submit
- Return to the login screen at https://mylink.stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au to access myLink
- Several instructional videos are available via the Welcome page if you click on the ‘HELP’ menu tab
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 the IT Helpdesk 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