Dear Families,
It has been so wonderful in recent weeks to watch the preparations for our ELC End of Year Celebration and the children singing and dancing. There has been such joy, enthusiasm and energy across the ELC. When the day arrived, this special occasion did not disappoint; there was a magical atmosphere as our whole community gathered together to celebrate the end of the school year and the festive season. The rich inquiries that have been happening alongside these preparations have supported the children’s understanding of and connection to this special event. This has included the ELC children exploring the stories, rituals and symbolism behind the traditions that have evolved during the Christmas season. We would like to say a big thank you to all our families for your generous donations and participation in our ELC Giving Tree tradition. It has been wonderful to see the children’s enthusiasm and their involvement in this act of giving.
There was excitement and jubilation as our Pathway to School girls received their hat and bag at the Hat Ceremony on Monday. It was such a privilege to be a part of this significant time in their lives as the children and their families anticipate the transition into Junior School. We are sad to be farewelling the families that will be leaving the ELC. We wish those children transitioning into Reception all the best as they embark on the next stage of their school life. We look forward to hearing about where their journeys take them and their many successes.
Congratulations to Kirsty Porplycia who will be taking on a new leadership role in 2024. Unfortunately, this means that Kirsty will be leaving St Peter’s Girls’ ELC. Whilst she will be immensely missed, we are thrilled about this exciting and new opportunity for her. She has been at the ELC for many years and has had many different roles in that time. Kirsty has contributed a great deal to our community, and we wish her all the best as she moves on to this next adventure.
From Friday 8 December, our Vacation Care program will resume with the 2024 school year commencing on Tuesday 30 January. As this is our last newsletter of the school year, I would like to take this opportunity to thank our incredible staff for all the dedication and commitment they have put into their role on a daily basis. We have an incredible team that allows us to ensure consistency and continuity for children and supports the development of strong responsive relationships with both children and families. I would also like to thank all of our ELC families for their support throughout the 2023 school year. We are looking forward to 2024 and all the possibilities that are on the horizon.
Liz Schembri
Director of ELC
Important Dates
Thursday 7 December: Last Day of Term 4
Friday 8 – Friday 22 December: Vacation Care
Monday 25 December 2023 – Friday 5 January 2024: ELC Closed
Monday 8 January – Monday 29 January: Vacation Care
Tuesday 30 January: First day of Term 1, 2024
News from Learning Community 1
Dear Learning Community 1 Families
As the school year draws to a close, the teaching team have taken time to reflect on the year and celebrate the journey we have been on with your children. Through our units of inquiry across the year, the children have grown, learnt, and developed both as individuals and a community of learners, developing fundamental skills and knowledge, and forming connections with educators and peers.
This term we have explored our central idea, ‘Celebrations can tell stories’, providing opportunities for children to explore different cultural celebrations and use creative languages to retell and share stories. Storytelling has been used as a vehicle to develop our children’s communication skills and confidence to share their ideas and understandings. With the festive season upon us, we have engaged children in opportunities to share Christmas stories, reflect on the year and celebrate being together.
Thank you to each and every one of our families who have been a part of our Learning Community this year. We place such emphasis on the development of relationships. We have been honoured to work in partnership with you all as your children grows and learns with us. For those children and families transitioning out of Learning Community 1 next year, we wish you all the best for the next stage of your educational journey. For those remaining with us, we look forward to continuing our journey together in the new year. Best wishes to you all for a safe and happy festive season.
Nell Tierney, Annabelle Redmond and Jessica Catt
Learning Community 1
News from Learning Community 2
Christmas Time in the ELC
As our inquiry learning has progressed through the term, we have naturally shifted our focus to Christmas. Christmas has always been an important celebration for the ELC, and we have many rituals that we place great significance in. One of these rituals has been the ‘Giving Tree.’ Every year, our Christmas tree in the Piazza is decorated by the children and Friends of the ELC (our parent representative group). It becomes a powerful tool to teach the children about the importance of thinking of others during this time of year and the value of giving to others less fortune than us.
We have also continued to weave stories into our explorations, focusing on many Christmas stories including the Nativity Story. The children have been given the opportunity to make their own characters and retell this story through their play. Our Bell Yett friends even came and acted it out for us! They have also continued their connection and creativity by using loose parts to create stories and images of Christmas, as well as making a range of Christmas crafts to decorate our room and to welcome in this magical time of year.
We have had such a wonderful year filled with rich learning, wonder, joy, fun and we are excited to be sending your children’s portfolios home over the Christmas break. We ask that you take the time to read and share the beautiful learning that your child has been involved in over the course of the year. It has been another memorable year, and we look forward to bringing in the next one as we begin to wonder what possibilities are waiting for us in 2024!
Chloe Skoss and Laura Reiters
Learning Community 2
News from Pathway to School
Farewell to the Pathway to School Class of 2023
We would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge and celebrate our first year operating the Pathway to School program in the ELC. Mrs Porplycia, Mrs McCabe and the team are thrilled with the rich learning and friendships that have been explored during this time and feel so incredibly proud of the journey. This year we have created rituals and traditions that will live on in the Pathway to School history. Each child in the class of 2023 should be proud of the role they have played in developing a strong foundation for the future.
While we celebrate our success, we farewell our whole Pathway to School class who are transitioning to School in 2024. Many of these children have been a part of the St Peter’s Girls’ ELC community since they were in Learning Community 1, and others who have only just recently joined us. Either way, each child has played an important role within our community, and one that we will treasure. Over the last few weeks, the children and teachers have been reminiscing about the special times that they have had throughout their time at the ELC, and the special friendships that they have made along the way. We wish all the Pathway to School children and their families all the very best in the next chapter of their educational journey.
Hat Ceremony – ELC to St Peter’s Girls’ School
A very special tradition for our girls transitioning to Reception at St Peter’s Girls’ School is the Hat Ceremony. This tradition was founded many years ago and is one that is looked forward to by many. The Pathway to School children are formally welcomed into the St Peter’s Girls’ School Community at a school assembly and presented with a special gift from a member of the senior leadership team. When communicating with parents and families of children involved in this presentation in the past, they have placed high importance on the sense of community and belonging that this gives the children when entering a new environment.
On Monday 4 December, the girls transitioning to Reception at St Peter’s Girls’ School in 2024 attended a special assembly, which is another component in their transition journey to school. Ms Suzanne Haddy, Head of Junior School, presented the girls with their special gift of a school bag and hat to celebrate their transition to school. We were thrilled to share this special moment with them and as you can see by the video, the children were beaming with pride. We wish all the girls a wonderful start to school next year and look forward to hearing more about their continued journey at St Peter’s Girls’ School.
Kirsty Porplycia and Kathy McCabe
Learning Community 2 (Pathway)
来自ELC园长：
亲爱的家长朋友们，
在最近几周里，看着我们的ELC年终庆祝活动的准备工作和孩子们的歌舞表演，真的十分的令人高兴。整个ELC充满了欢乐、热情和活力。当表演这一天到来的时候，这个特别的场合没有让我们失望;我们整个社区欢聚一堂，共同庆祝学年的结束和节日的到来，显得特别有气氛。与这些准备工作一同展开丰富的探究学习，支持了孩子们对这一特别庆典的理解和联系。这包括ELC的孩子们探索圣诞节传统由来的背后的故事、仪式和象征意义。我们非常感谢所有家庭的慷慨捐赠，以及参与我们ELC捐赠树的传统。看到孩子们的热情和他们对这一捐赠的参与和付出，是十分有意义的。
在星期一的“戴帽仪式”上，我们学前班的孩子们收到了她们的新帽子和书包，是多么的激动人心啊！当孩子和她们的家人们期待着，看着孩子们茁壮成长并过渡到小学的阶段，我们能够成为他们生命中重要时刻的一部分是一种荣幸。我们很难过地向即将离开ELC的家庭告别。我们祝愿那些进入小学预备班的孩子们一切顺利，开启他们学校生活的新篇章。我们期待听到他们的学习之旅和更多的成功瞬间。
在这里，我们祝贺Kirsty Porplycia老师，她将在2024年担任新的领导职位。令人遗憾的是，这意味着Kirsty将离开圣彼得女校的ELC。虽然我们会十分的想念她，但我们为她获得这个令人兴奋的新机会而感到高兴。她在ELC工作多年，在此期间担任过许多不同的职位。Kirsty老师为我们的社区做出了巨大的贡献，我们祝愿她在接下来的新开始中一切顺利。
从本周五开始，我们的假期日托班就开始了，直到2024学年1月30日星期二新学年恢复。由于这是我们本学年的最后一份简报，我想借此机会感谢我们优秀的教师们，感谢他们每天在工作中所付出的奉献和承诺。我们拥有一支十分出色的团队，使我们能够保证提供给孩子们一致性和连续性的教学体验，并支持孩子们以及家庭建立强有力的响应关系。我还要感谢所有ELC家庭在整个2023学年期间对我们的支持。我们期待着2024年，期待着所有即将到来的可能性。
园长，
Liz Schembri
Emma Huang (ELC Educator and Chinese Community Contact, Fluent in Mandarin) works in Learning Community 1 on Mondays and Tuesdays from 8:30am – 4:30pm.
Absences During Vacation Care
If your child will not be attending ELC Vacation Care due to illness or otherwise, please notify the ELC Manager, Wolita Harding, via email at ELCVacationCare@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au and include the Learning Community. Please also provide a reason for the absence as the School requires this for government reporting purposes.
New Uniform – Compulsory for 2024
The ELC is excited about the launch of our new custom-designed uniform. 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.
As of Term 1, 2024, the new ELC uniform will be compulsory, consisting of 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 is a new ELC jacket and vest. These items are available from the School Shop.
All items that come to the ELC, including your child’s clothing and water bottle, must be clearly named.
Please ensure your child wears appropriate enclosed footwear for active and safe play, including excursions into Ferguson Park.
School Shop Hours Monday – Friday: 8am – 4pm (Closed 12 – 12.30pm for lunch)
myLink Parent Portal Tutorials
Our tutorials provide insight into the many features that myLink has to offer including accessing your child’s Learning Community Homepage, placing online Tuck Shop and School Shop orders. Please enjoy exploring the range of tutorials via the links below: ELC Parents Tuck Shop and Online Uniform Shop Ordering
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)
Accessing the Canvas Parent App for the first time:
- Ensure you have previously logged in to myLink on a PC
- Download the Canvas Parent App from your App Store
- Click the ‘Find School’ button
- Look up: stpetersgirls
- Log in using your parent username and password
- Tap on ‘ELC 2023’
- Click on ‘Front Page’ on the top right-hand side
- Here, you can navigate the page through the app
Please note: we do not use the message feature on this app, and ask families to contact their child’s teacher via email rather than this message feature.
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.
Sun Smart Practices in the ELC
Following Cancer Council advice, our Centre has strong guidelines for sun protection, mainly on days the UV is 3 and above. Recently, the UV has been high for small parts of the day; therefore, it is important for families to be aware of the following. We ask all families to please return your child’s hat to the ELC, so our Centre can be prepared for warmer days throughout the term as well as Term 4. It’s important that children access the outdoor spaces and Ferguson Conservation Park, which requires children to wear their hats depending on the weather. Please ensure your child’s hat is labelled clearly with their name. Thank you for supporting our sun safe practices. For more information, please visit the Cancer Council website.
School Health Centre Notices
Minimise the spread!
To minimise the spread of illness please keep your child at home if they have:
- Received Panadol or Nurofen in the morning
- A fever of 38 or above – children can return to the Centre 24 hours after their last elevated temperature
- Swollen glands
- A continuous runny nose
- A sore throat
- A consistent cough without a doctor’s clearance
- Been unusually tired or lethargic
- Been vomiting or have diarrhoea. Children should be kept home until the these symptoms have been absent for at least 24 hours.
- An undiagnosed rash
We look forward to your child returning once their symptoms are cleared so they can be happy and engaged in learning.
Remember to cover coughs and sneezes with your elbow and wash hands regularly for at least 20 seconds.
COVID-19 Information
Please find the latest guidance from SA Health:
- It is strongly recommended that students stay home if they have cold or flu-like symptoms, and test for COVID-19.
- Whether they receive a positive or negative result, they should stay home until symptoms subside (usually five to seven days).
If your child tests positive to COVID-19, please notify the School. Please also notify the School each day of absence or provide the expected period of absence.
You can notify us via one of the following methods. Please include the name of the ELC Room. If emailing, feel free to ‘CC’ the teacher/s of the room as well.
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
For more SA Health information, click here
Please note that if your child is unwell, they should remain home until they have recovered, irrespective of the illness.
ELC Immunisation Policy
Under the Government’s No Jab No Play policy, families must meet immunisation requirements to attend the ELC and receive the Childcare 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
As part of our approach to prioritising health and safety, we implement effective hygiene practices and work to prevent and effectively deal with any infectious disease in line with the Education and Care Services National Regulations and the advice of health experts. If your child has one of the following, chickenpox, measles, rubella, meningococcal or tuberculosis or any other vaccine preventable diseases we ask that you inform the Centre as soon as possible.
Important Allergy Information
Please remember allergy awareness when packing food for your child. We kindly ask you to refrain from packing nuts or nut products in your child’s lunch box. We have members of our community across the Centre with severe food allergies to the following:
- Nuts
- Dairy
- Sesame
- Fish and shellfish
- Egg
- Banana
Due to the severity of these allergies, we are asking that you be mindful of this when packing food for your child. Please ensure food is safely packaged and/or contained. If you have any questions, please see your child’s Room Teacher. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our community safe.
ELC Room Contacts
- Stonyfell – 8155 5778
- Bell Yett – 8155 5780
- Ferguson – 8155 5776
- Hallett – 8155 5775
- Pathway – 8334 2250