From the Director of Early Learning
Dear Families,
Recent weeks have been filled with fabulous memories. There are many highlights from the big events to the small wonderings. Each of these has been encased by our community spirit. Ladies’ Day Out celebrated our connections and ELC and Reception links, a beautiful day surrounded by wonderful company. Our new families for next term have been welcomed into the ELC, intimate meetings with teachers, orientating their new spaces, routines and new friends. The Hat Ceremony celebrates a tradition that is now so special on our calendar and the importance of treating transitions as a process and not an event. The investment that has been placed in these is a credit to all involved.
Transition is always a time of challenge, new beginnings lay ahead but for some it is a time for farewells. We are excited to welcome new faces into the different rooms as children move across the Centre. Many of our Hallett children and families are leaving the ELC to either attend our School or go on their journey to a new setting. On behalf of all of the educators I would like to thank you for your contribution to ELC life, the memories that you have helped create and the traces you leave with us. You will be dearly missed.
Vacation Care commences Monday – have you booked?
Vacation Care will be operating throughout the holidays and our staff are here to assist you in any way possible. In the middle week the entire teaching team is heading off to Sydney to the REAIE conference entitled Landscapes of Identity. This four-day conference will be inspirational for the team as we hear speakers from Reggio Emilia challenge our thinking as they present their deep research. We look forward to sharing our learning with you upon our return.
Wishing you all a very restful mid-year break. The official commencement to Term 3 is Tuesday 25 July. Vacation Care is offered on every day including Monday 24 July.
Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning
Transition to St Peter’s Girls Reception: Hat Ceremony
“Congratulations!
Today is your day.
You’re off to Great Places!
You’re off and away.”
– Dr Seuss
“As children make transitions to new settings (including school) educators from early childhood settings and schools commit to sharing information about each child’s knowledge and skills so learning can build on foundations of earlier learning. Educators work collaboratively with each child’s new educator and other professionals to ensure a successful transition. In partnership with families, early childhood educators ensure that children have an active role in preparing for transitions.” (The Early Years Learning Framework for Australia)
At St Peter’s Girls Early Learners’ Centre we are committed to ensuring that any child leaving our community has a smooth transition to their new environment. We feel this is an essential part of a child’s foundation to their education. We aim to work in partnership with the new educational setting where information is communicated to the educators to provide a seamless transition for both the child and their family.
Next term, a group of ELC girls will be joining the St Peter’s Girls Reception Learning Community in the Junior School. Many of the girls’ journeys at St Peter’s Girls first began when they attended playgroup as a young toddler or the two year old program in the Stonyfell Room. Over the past few weeks, the girls 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. The girls have engaged in transition visits where they have had the privilege of meeting their new School teacher, Meg Karvonen. The girls have returned to the ELC after their transition visits beaming with excitement and eagerness to share their experience with their teachers and peers. Transition visits are extremely important for the children to familiarise themselves with their new environment, teacher and peers. It is also a wonderful opportunity for the children to have time to discover School life and begin to recognise new expectations.
The ELC children are formally welcomed into the St Peter’s Girls’ School community at a School assembly and presented with a very special gift from a member of the School leadership team. When communicating with parents and families of children involved in this presentation in the past, they have placed high importance of the sense of community and belonging that this gives the children when entering a new environment. Children and families’ sense of belonging in a setting is strengthened by the transition practices that identify and place the child at the forefront.
On Monday 26 June, the ELC girls ‘moving up the path’, along with their peers and teachers, attended the School assembly, 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. We were thrilled to share this special moment with them and, as you can see by the photographs, the children were beaming with pride. We wish all girls a wonderful start to School next term and look forward to hearing more about their continued journey at St Peter’s Girls.
Kirsty Porplycia
Ladies’ Day Out
On Sunday 18 June, a combination of ELC and Reception mothers, staff members and special friends set out for a day filled with friendship, laughter and good company. We were hosted by the ever-beautiful Barristers Block Winery in the Adelaide Hills and were treated to wine tastings and glorious food. The mood was set at the rustic venue with wine flowing, tasting plates available and raffle prizes to be won. Lucky winners were gifted with magnificent prizes that ranged from gift vouchers to our major prize of a night’s accommodation at the Barristers Block villa. A huge thank you to the Friends of the ELC for their passion and drive in organising such a wonderful event that truly showcased our vibrant community. Thank you to everyone who attended, it was a lovely day and it was beautiful to see new friendships blossoming.
Vacation Care
July holidays
We are now finalising bookings for the July Vacation Care Program. It is available for all current ELC families including families who are leaving us in the middle of the year. Please complete your form and return it as soon as possible.
ELC July Vacation Care Program booking form
Playgroup visits Ferguson Park
Last week, playgroup ventured out into Ferguson Park to explore our beautiful backyard. Whilst there was some initial trepidation as we had changed the routine, the children were quickly at ease in their new playground. For families to share this experience with their young ones is quite a magical experience. We watched the magic unfold as we tracked our way through obstacles such as uneven surfaces and twigs; we heard and saw beautiful birds and even managed to spot a koala. Everything looks different when you see it through the eyes of a very young child.
Kate Mount
News from the Stonyfell Room
Exploring Literacy in the Stonyfell Room
I believe that there is something very joyful and precious about sharing a story with someone. It may be in a large group or it could be in a comfy spot nestled amongst the cushions; our day provides many opportunities for such times to occur. Sharing stories has been a focus for us in the Stonyfell Room throughout this term as part of our ongoing inquiry. We are very lucky to have such a vast array of books at our fingertips and sharing these with the children is something we as educators delight in doing. Literacy is such an important part of our curriculum, we believe it is pivotal for us to nurture our children’s relationship with books and stories, and having access to these is one way in which we can further strengthen this relationship.
Along with reading books, we have been engaging the children in the art of storytelling and encouraging them to practice their listening skills. When we tell stories, it offers the children the opportunity to use their imagination to conjure images and pictures in relation to the story.
The books we have been exploring this term have included the following:
> Going on a Bear Hunt by Helen Oxenbery
> The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle
> The Tiger Who Came To Tea by Judith Kerr
> Handa’s Surprise by Eileen Browne
> Hairy Maclary From Donaldson Dairy by Lynley Dodd
These books have been chosen for a variety of reasons and each one offered something different to the reader. Some follow a pattern and offer the joy of repetition whilst others portray a message to the reader.
Apart from reading these books and verbally retelling these stories we have been able to access many digitally. Some of these stories have allowed us to act them out with the children. One example of this is ‘Going On A Bear Hunt’ by Helen Oxenbery; we have been able to utilise our outdoor space to go on our own bear hunts on numerous occasions. In our environment we have be able to provide a range of materials and resources for our children to use to allow them to retell these stories in their play.
Many of our children have shared that they have these books at home and have delight in retelling these stories with their peers and educators and I hope with you at home, too.
If you wish to access the digital versions of these books online please see our useful links section on our Canvas page.
Laura Reiters
News from the Bell Yett Room
During the term we have been deepening our understanding that identity changes over time. We began our inquiry with the children enthusiastically sharing their stories of themselves as a baby, which we documented in a shared book. This, however, caused a dilemma as some children wanted to take their stories home while others wanted them to remain in the book. Together the children problem solved and came up with the idea of having two books – one for home and one for the ELC. This provided an authentic experience for the children to become aware of the perspectives of others while developing their communication skills as they listened carefully, interpreted what they were hearing and then expressed their point of view.
Together we have been creating their special books with the aim of capturing their identity in this point of time. The Early Years Learning Framework states, “As children are developing their sense of identity, they explore different aspects of it (physical, social, emotional, spiritual, cognitive), through their play and their relationships.” It has been our aim to capture these aspects of their identity through their stories. As their books come home this week we hope you have the opportunity to share them with your child and use the space provided to contribute your own story to their book. Our explorations of identity have been strongly supported by our Dance Program with Miss Sims and our Art experiences with Miss Caterina. Documentation of these will be available in your child’s ePortfolio over the next couple of weeks.
During the past few weeks, we have been sharing a series of books with the children. ‘Knuffle Bunny’, ‘Knuffle Bunny Too’ and ‘Knuffle Bunny Free’. These books, written and illustrated by Mo Willems, tell the story of a girl named Trixie and her toy, Knuffle Bunny, and how her identity and their relationship changes over time. The children have enjoyed hearing the stories, sequencing the events in the stories and role playing the stories with their friends. You can see some of the ways we have been sharing these stories on our Bell Yett Canvas Page in the Life in the Bell Yett Room – Read and Sing with the Bell Yett Friends.
With the term ending this week, it is time to farewell many of our special Bell Yett friends as they move across to the Ferguson Room. They have enjoyed visiting their new room and educators over the past couple of weeks and we are sure they will settle in quickly. At the same time, our younger Bell Yett friends have welcomed the Stonyfell children who are moving across to us. This has been a great opportunity for these children to step into the role of leaders in the room and we look forward to them continuing to grow with us next term. If you are one of our families who are moving across the piazza, please make sure you pop back every now and then to say hello. Our Vacation Care program commences on Monday 3 July and we look forward to welcoming you back on Tuesday 25 July.
Leanne Williams, Nell Tierney and the Bell Yett Team
News from the Ferguson Room
In the past two weeks, we have been blessed with glorious weather. It is the perfect time to explore Ferguson Park! This beautiful piece of bushland is just next door, and provides a wonderful opportunity for the children to connect with the native Australian environment, learn about our incredible flora and fauna, and to feel a sense of freedom and wonder with every step. The tracks are clearly marked and yet the children are able to develop gross motor skills as they negotiate rocky terrain, uneven surfaces, gentle slopes, as well as large sticks and logs. Claire Warden, a prominent Scottish educator, has developed what she terms nature pedagogy, defined as “an understanding of our sense of belonging to land, our sense of working with nature, not just teaching about it.”
Our walks have been made even more special by the participation of some of our families. We always welcome extra adults as our ratio for these walks is one adult to four children. The children are very excited and proud to have a parent, aunt, uncle or grandparent accompany us and this kind of partnership helps reinforce the connections between home and the ELC. This is important to children’s wellbeing; knowing that their families have trusting relationships with their teachers and with the Centre helps them feel secure and, in turn, more comfortable in their learning environment. Please let us know if you have any time you would like to spend with us in Ferguson Park. We will plan around what works for you!
Mel Angel
News from the Hallett Room
As we approach the end of term, we have a lot to celebrate and be thankful for. Reflecting on the semester is an exciting part of our work as educators. We celebrate the children’s progress and, for some, their journey in the ELC is coming to an end. We have grown together as a Hallett Room group and we have thoroughly enjoyed learning alongside all of your beautiful children. Our relationships with each other have deepened through our inquiry, as the children have eagerly shared more about themselves through the art of storytelling and exploring how their identity has been shaped over time.
The stories that have been shared over the term have amazed us, made us laugh out loud and intrigued us. Developing an awareness that others have differing perspectives than our own has highlighted the empathy and kindness that the children have towards one another. Recently, we have seen a shift from sharing our skills to teaching our skills. For example, cartwheeling became a big focus for the children. Who could cartwheel and who wanted to learn? We spent a lengthy period of time on the Chapel lawn, “We need grass because it has to be soft”, where we experimented with our cartwheeling techniques. We saw children persevere when things were difficult and we saw the ‘cartwheeling teachers’ differentiate how they explained an idea. The children worked collaboratively to achieve something exciting and they celebrated their achievements with one another.
This experience may seem like ‘just’ a cartwheeling lesson, but the different elements that the children demonstrated throughout this experience was a joy to witness. As we reflect on the term and begin to plan for our next possible step, we want to build on these skills and continue to enhance the children’s understandings that their actions have an important impact on their world.
We wish those children moving on to their next new adventure all the very best. We have enjoyed and loved being part of every one of the children’s learning throughout their time in the ELC and they will be dearly missed. For those children remaining with us next term, we look forward to our continued journey together in the Hallett Room.
Pam Reid