First Day of ELC
What a wonderful start to the new school year! We have warmly welcomed new children and their families into our vibrant learning community and have been delighted to reconnect with our returning friends. It has been truly inspiring to witness the children settle into their environment, forming meaningful connections with educators and peers.
With a strong emphasis on belonging and relationships, our daily rituals are thoughtfully woven into the rhythm of each day, reinforcing our shared inquiry and central idea for this term. We look forward to a year filled with curiosity, collaboration, and joyful learning experiences!
Liz Schembri
Director of Early Learners’ Centre
Centre Buzz During Vacation Care
Celebrating Summer with Learning Community 1
Celebrations strengthen our connections with each other and the world around us.
During the Vacation Care period over December and January, Learning Community 1 embraced the opportunity to celebrate summer through the lens of a special scenario or landscape: the beach. The beach is an important part of the Australian culture, often tied to family traditions and celebrations like annual beach holidays, barbecues, and picnics. By exploring summer through the beach, the children and educators connected with nature, built relationships through shared stories and engaged in creative hands-on learning. The children expressed their imaginations and creativity through different languages such as clay, loose parts, painting, pattern making, dramatic play, mark making, and food. During Banbanbalya, children shared stories of their time at the beach:
“I wrote my name in the sand.”- Millie
“I looked for shells.” – Chloe
“I went in the water” – Elodie
“I played in the sand with buckets.” – Eloise
As we explored the beach and its surroundings, we discovered new insights and experiences. Educators took the opportunity to inspire children’s thinking about the importance of water. Books like Save the Sea, Hey Water, Beach Treasures, and Magic Beach provided us with valuable resources to explore, discover and appreciate the wonders of the sea, the importance of water, and, most importantly, the crucial need to not waste it. The ELC Community Garden serves as a valuable space for exploring important topics such as the significance of water, particularly during the summer months. Children shared their thoughts and observations:
“Flowers need lots of water.“ – Kitty
“They can grow so we water them.”- Juniper
“Look its an eggplant.”- Millie.
We will continue celebrating our connections, growth and learning as we begin a new exciting term.
Valentina Fernandes
ELC Co-educator and Vacation Care Leader (LC1)
Vacation Care with Learning Community 2
As summer shines brightly, our first Vacation Care of 2025 embraced the season with a focus on nature, play and connection. We aimed to inspire curiosity, creativity, and social interaction through a variety of engaging experiences.
Connecting Children to Nature
Alongside the children, we explored our connection to nature, and this was reflected in experiences such as role play, where children explored beach life, nature, and social rituals associated with summer picnics. By revisiting this role play over three weeks, children gained a deeper understanding of nature’s role in our leisure life.
Fostering Exploration and Curiosity
Summer is a perfect time to spark curiosity, and we encouraged this through experiences like beach canvas creations, where children used watercolors, sand, shells, and stones to create their versions of the ocean. In the mini camping setup, they built mini camping scenes, exploring nature through imaginative play, which sparked their curiosity about the outdoors.
Supporting Social Interaction
Social interaction was a key focus, especially in experiences like beach picnic drama play and the ocean art project. Children practiced cooperative play, sharing, and communication while working together to create collaborative artwork depicting the ocean’s flow. Through the ocean art project, we also introduced the concept of ocean sustainability, encouraging the children to think about the environment and how we can protect the oceans.
Encouraging Creativity and Imagination
Creativity was central to our ELC, with opportunities for children to express themselves through various art projects, such as the blue marks making and collage art experiences, where they created a large ocean scene. The fluidity of this artwork symbolised the dynamic nature of creativity and imagination.
Reflecting on Summer
As we reflect on this vibrant Vacation Care journey, we’re grateful for the connections made—through nature, creativity and collaboration. These experiences have inspired curiosity, a love for learning, and a deeper awareness of the importance of ocean sustainability, which we look forward to continuing in the year ahead.
Thank you to all the families who shared this adventure with us!
Catherine Jiang
ELC Co-educator and Vacation Care Leader (LC2)
ELC Teaching and Learning Evening
Please join us on Monday 10 February at 6.30pm for the Teaching and Learning Evening at the ELC.
The evening will start with a gathering in the School Chapel, where families will have a chance to meet the Director. We will discuss how St Peter’s Girls’ ELC nurtures each child’s learning and development so that they thrive and reach their full potential.
Later on, you will be able to visit your child’s room to see the environment and gain a better understanding of the teaching and learning within our ELC context. Parents and guardians will also hear from the teaching team about how we plan and implement our units of inquiry.
As this is a formal presentation, we recommend parents/guardians only attend this event. Please also note this event is for all families, excluding families and children in the Erindale room.
Monday 10 February 2025 at 6.30pm
St Peter’s Girls’ ELC
Please meet in the School Chapel for an initial gathering
ELC Twilight Family Picnic – Save the Date!
Dear ELC Families,
You are invited to our ELC Twilight Family Picnic on Friday 21 February from 5pm to 7pm on the School’s Chapel Path and Lawns.
Families are encouraged to bring a picnic basket and rug for this family-friendly event. A sausage sizzle will be available on the night with pre-order required. Bookings for the sausage sizzle can be made via Trybooking. Please book by Monday 17 February.
We ask that families bring their own drinks, and that no glassware is used on the lawns as safety is one of our highest priorities.
The Twilight Family Picnic is an ELC community event and a wonderful opportunity to meet other families. We look forward to gathering as a community and spending this special time together.
ELC Twilight Family Picnic
Friday 21 February
5pm – 7pm
St Peter’s Girls’ School – Chapel Path and Lawns
Warm regards,
Liz Schembri
Director of Early Learning Centre
ELC Kitchen Menu
At St Peter’s Girls’ ELC, we are proud to cater to all children’s nutritional needs throughout the day including morning tea, lunch, afternoon tea and a late snack. Our carefully crafted menu is designed to support every child’s growth and development and promote healthy eating habits while catering to a range of dietary needs. Our weekly menu highlights seasonal, nutrient-rich ingredients, emphasising the garden-to-plate cycle. By utilising produce from our ELC Community Garden, children gain first-hand experience of how food is grown and harvested, enhancing their connection to nature. Children’s individual allergies are considered and alternative food in separate containers will be offered where needed.
No beef, pork, fish, eggs, nuts, bananas, kiwi, eggplant or quinoa is used. Chicken that is used is Halal approved (Coles supplier).
If you would like a full list of ingredients, please don’t hesitate to contact ELC Manager, Wolita Harding, at wharding@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au
Important Allergy Information
Dear Families, Staff and Visitors,
We have members of our community across the Centre with severe food allergies to the following:
• Nuts
• Sesame
• Fish
• Egg
• Banana
• Artichoke
• Kiwi
• Cow’s milk
• Quinoa
If you have any questions, please see our ELC Manager Wolita Harding. We appreciate your cooperation in keeping our community safe.