Dear Families

We enter the second half of the term with a great sense of excitement as the much awaited ELC Garden opens for use. Greenplay has done such a wonderful job of constructing this new space which was so purposefully designed by ELC staff and Swanbury Penglase. We are so fortunate to work alongside such professionals who share our vision for children and play, creating open-ended play spaces that ignite curiosity and problem-solving.

The garden reflects our narrative, our story of learning in the ELC over the past few years as we share our land together, our Kaurna Yerta, which builds deep values of respect, connection, and culture. Each section of the gardenscape is connected with pathways winding through, enabling children to utilise many elements in their play. Additions such as trickling taps and a natural course way into the sandpit will provide our children with new delights and opportunities to extend their learning with a scientific mindset. Educators will have the chance to use these spaces with intentional learning experiences which will further expand what we are able to offer here at the ELC.

There are many key symbols in the garden and the children can connect these to their learning indoors, as well as to their Ferguson Park experiences. We have been intentional around our use of symbols including animal footprints represented in Kaurna, the Rainbow Serpent which has been an ongoing shared story throughout the ELC for the past two years, symbols from Ferguson Park, palti circles and fire pits. There are also places for gathering, a sensory kitchen to explore, and many colours reflecting our connection and sense of belonging to the ELC. All of these symbols have a direct connection to us; they are a strong part of our identity.

We are looking forward to welcoming our community to an official opening early next term. Please save the date of Thursday 21 October at 9.30am. We hope our redesigned landscape can provide joy and intrigue for all of us in the years to come.

Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning

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Important Dates

Wednesday 1 September: Coffee Van for ELC Families
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

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Learning to Think Like Mathematicians in Learning Community 1

One of the earliest mathematical skills children demonstrate is the ability to notice and make comparisons in the environment around them. We guide them to use mathematical language such as ‘bigger than’ or ‘smaller than’, and this provides the foundation for the development of all mathematical skills to follow.

As an ELC – 12 School, our ELC educators collaborate with Mathematical Consultant Lisa-Jane O’Connor, who also works with Junior School staff, to ensure seamless mathematics education, from the very beginnings of understanding numbers and shapes through to the mathematical skills and knowledge they will build upon in Learning Community 2.

Watch our video to see how our youngest children begin confidently exploring mathematical concepts.

Annabelle Redmond and Jessica Catt
Learning Community 1

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Vacation Care Bookings Open

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 gone 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

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Enjoy a ‘Thank You’ Coffee or Cuppa

While we unfortunately cannot hold our Special Friends’ Breakfast, as a small token of our appreciation to our wonderfully patient community we will have a coffee van on Hallett Road from 7.30 – 9.15am on Wednesday 1 September. Please stop by and make an order as you drop your child at ELC.

Although we are delighted to be able to give back to our community, we must remind families to please remember to wear masks and practise physical distancing.

Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning

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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.

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Parent-Teacher Conversations

ELC Parent-Teacher Conversations will take place on Monday 13, Tuesday 14 and Monday 20 September 2021. There are designated 15-minute time slots for families to meet with your child’s teacher.

We strongly encourage you to book a meeting. From these discussions, future goals for your child can be created to ensure they reflect the perspectives of families and educators.

Bookings will be open from 8am, Tuesday 31 August until 5pm, Wednesday 8 September.

Bookings can be made via myLink:

• Log in to the myLink parent portal with your username (your ID) and password. If you don’t know your password, use the link provided on the login page to reset it.
• Once you have logged in and arrive on the Welcome page, click the ‘Community Portal’ tab in the top menu, then click the ‘Interviews’ tab and select the required cycle. You can log in and change your booking any time up to 5pm, Wednesday 8 September.

If you require myLink assistance, please contact the IT Helpdesk via 8334 2227 or helpdesk@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

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Father’s Day Virtual Gift Stall

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Top Trip in the Top End

In week 4 I was lucky enough to spend a wonderful week in North East Arnhem Land, located at the top of Australia in the Northern Territory.

I lived with a rural Yolngu community and visited many beautiful beaches and sacred sites around Arnhem Land. It was an incredible cultural immersion experience, where I gained valuable understanding and perspective of indigenous Australians, their thriving culture and ways of living. I feel very fortunate to have been given an opportunity to experience first-hand a culture that is so strongly grounded, one that has existed for thousands of years with rich history and beliefs and that continues to thrive today.

One concept that resonated with me and the work we are doing here at the ELC was the strong relationship that the Yolngu people have with the land surrounding them. The land is not just something they care for; it is an active participant in their everyday, a part of their family. I hope to help further embed this deep understanding in our rituals within the ELC, primarily through our visits to Ferguson Park.

Henrietta Balnaves

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来自黄老师的信息

亲爱的家长朋友们，

这个学期已经过半。令人激动的是我们规划已久, 备受期待的ELC花园已经进入使用。ELC员工和Swanbury Penglase设计师们精心设计了崭新空间，Greenplay出色建造了这一空间。我们很幸运能与这样的专业人士合作，他们对儿童玩乐的理解同我们一致，创造了开放的学习娱乐户外空间，增强了孩子们探索和解决问题的能力。 

这个花园叙述了过去几年里我们在ELC的故事，学习我们一起分享我们的土地，我们称之为Kauran Yerta的原住民土地。我们在这里建立了互相尊重、互相联系以及不同文化相融在一起的深刻价值观。花园的每个部分都是彼此相连，道路蜿蜒曲折，将多种元素融入在孩子的游玩之中。新增加的流水，自然流入沙坑，这将为我们的孩子提供新的乐趣和机会，扩展了他们的科学探索学习的逻辑思维。教师们将利用这些空间进行有意义的教学活动，进一步在ELC创造更多的学习机会。

花园中有许多重要的象征符号，孩子们可以将这些符号与他们在ELC内的学习以及弗格森公园（Ferguson Park）的学习经历联系起来。我们一直有意的在使用这些符号，这些符号包括代表原住（Kaurna）中动物脚印的符号。一些代表了“彩虹蛇”——这个故事在过去两年里在ELC里我们一直在与孩子们分享。一些我们在花园里重复出现的来自弗格森公园的符号。集会圈（Palti Circle）和篝火堆代表了我们相聚的地方。一个感官体验的厨房，那是让孩子们尽情探索的地方。各种颜色的符号反映了我们对ELC的紧密联系以及归属感。所有这些符号都与我们有直接的联系，它们是我们身份象征的一部分。

我们期待10月的正式开放，为此我们将定于10月21日上午9:30。我们希望重新设计的花园能在未来的岁月里为我们所有人带来更多的欢声笑语。

园长
Kate Mount

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.

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Sustainability in the ELC

Over the past few weeks, Learning Community 2 has taken advantage of the sunshine with regular visits to Ferguson Park. The children have not only enjoyed the beautiful sights, sounds and smells of spring about to emerge, they have also brought with them a different lens when viewing the park.

Last week, we noticed the children’s knowledge and understanding of waste and ‘what bin’ extend beyond the walls of the ELC through a conversation emerging around some waste found in the park…

‘Look! Rubbish!’ – Harriet

‘That’s not supposed to be in Ferguson Park!’ – Ishani

‘I think that’s from the coffee shop down the road. My mummy goes there. But that’s not hers.’ – Emerson

‘We need to pick it up!’ – Axel

‘Yeah or an animal might come and eat it. Then they will get sick.’ – Harvey

‘Sometimes my daddy picks up rubbish he finds.’ – Maddie

‘If a bird tries to eat rubbish, it might die.’ – Chen Feng

‘We need to put it in the red bin.’ – Emerson

‘That goes to landfill. Smelly!’ – Isabella

This organic conversation that occurred between a group of children highlights not only their deep knowledge and understanding around waste, but also their connection to Ferguson Park and the responsibility they hold to look after the land.

Henrietta Balnaves

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News from Learning Community 1

Fine motor skills refers to the movement and coordination of the small groups of muscles in children’s arms, hands and fingers. From an early age, children begin to use, develop and refine these skills.

Using these muscles and developing these skills in early childhood is pivotal for everyday activities later in life, including the ability to mark-make and write. As the muscles develop, children move from grasping objects with a fist to using a more developed pincer grip in order to manipulate and control smaller objects and tools.

At the ELC, children are provided with a range of opportunities across their day to use these small muscles and develop their control and coordination. These experiences include play dough and clay manipulation, cutting, threading, painting, drawing, mark-making and writing, and using blocks for building and construction. 

To further support fine motor development at home, there are many opportunities for children to explore everyday household objects including:

•  Using tongs or tweezers to pick up objects
•  Putting container lids on and off
•  Using mark-making tools such as crayons, pens and pencils
•  Doing up and undoing buttons
•  Using scissors to cut different materials 
•  Digging in the dirt or sandpit 

In Learning Community 1, we lay the foundation for the development of these skills which then allows them to be built upon and refined in Learning Community 2 and future schooling.

Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

In Learning Community 2, we have been reading the story This is Our House by Michael Rosen and Bob Graham. Many of the friends have expressed their concerns about George’s behaviour in the story, and it has opened up dialogue around collaborative play and the language we use with others. We have also been discussing how we communicate using our facial expressions.

Through vigorous discussions in our inquiry groups, we have challenged the children to observe and study George’s non-verbal clues and invited them to share their concerns around his sharing of the box house.

How would you feel if you weren’t allowed in George’s house?

How could you solve this problem?

We used role play to act out the conflict in the story. This experience brought such joy and laughter to our morning meetings. Then, our meetings started to shift as we became more focused and began brainstorming ways we would problem-solve if George wouldn’t let us in his box house. The children began challenging each other’s problem-solving strategies, discussing why they thought it would or wouldn’t be successful.

Our intention through this inquiry is to support the children to develop a toolkit of strategies for conflict resolution. Conflict is a normal part of children’s lives. Having different needs or wants, or wanting the same thing when only one is available can easily lead children into conflict with one another. Common ways that children respond to conflict include arguing, as well as more passive responses such as backing off and avoiding one another. When conflict is poorly managed, it has a negative impact on children’s relationships, on their self-esteem and on their learning. However, teaching children the skills for resolving conflict can help significantly.

Making and designing houses has been the vehicle that has enabled the children to transfer these strategies to real-life scenarios. Conflict within play has been present and the children are reflecting on the events in the story. We have observed the children being more vocal within their play, standing up for their rights and listening more to one another. By understanding how to manage conflict effectively, children’s skills for getting along with others can be improved, fostering friendships and learning at school.

Nell Tierney, Laura Reiters and Kirsty Porplycia
Learning Community 2

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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.

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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

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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

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Dear Families

As many of you know, we are delighted to be a Top 3 Finalist in the 2021 Narragunnawali Awards. These are held every two years to recognise embedded practice of reconciliation in early childhood and school settings.

I thought I would explain a little more about these awards to give you all some context. Narragunnawali is a word from the language of the Ngunnawal people who are the traditional owners of the land on which Reconciliation Australia’s Canberra office is situated. It means alive, coming together and peace.

The purpose of these awards is to promote a high level of knowledge and pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and contributions.

For the past five years, our ELC has actively worked towards embedding reconciliation practices across our Centre. This is such important work, assisting our children to grow in a space where intentional conversations are had, biases are challenged, knowledge of culture is built, and equality, equity and democracy are central in all we do.

Having an effective and shared Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) has assisted us to articulate our goals and practices. I continue to be amazed at the wisdom and curiosity of our youngest students around our practices. Just the other day, a child asked his teacher during our morning meeting (Banbanbalya):

“Why do we say an Acknowledgement of Country every day?“

The teacher was not the one who provided the answer, but rather, a group of very vocal students who gave many reasons. They were centred around values such as kindness, care and sharing, with examples given of why these are important. They were not egocentric, but instead collective, demonstrating a key awareness of shared responsibility. As an observer, I could see the many ways the teachers have used the central ideas of the IB Primary Years Programme to teach the children in such a rich and deep way.

I hope this assists you to understand the significance of these awards. It is not merely a show-and-tell of all that we do, but rather an integrated culture we have established alongside Kaurna elder Tamaru and the many layers of learning that this has offered us to truly understand the significance and importance of reconciliation in the early years. I hope we can continue to partner in this work and build a strong foundation for our children as citizens of the world, now and in the future.

Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning

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Important Dates

Wednesday 1 September: Coffee Van for ELC Families
Monday 13 – Tuesday 14 September: Parent-Teacher Conversations
Monday 20 September: Parent-Teacher Conversations

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ELC Information Evening – Now Online

In an exciting and innovative turn of events, we have taken our ELC Information Evening online this semester!

Emails have been sent to families in each Learning Community which include the presentation from the ELC educators detailing the significant elements of the teaching and learning strategies for the semester ahead.

If you haven’t received the email, please contact me via kmount@stpetersgirls.sa.edu.au

Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning

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Updated ELC Access Procedures

We are pleased that we have been able to update our ELC access procedures. The back gate next to the Chapel is again available for use; however, children still need to be signed in via the iCheckIn stand either in their room, or in the main foyer. The ELC staff will continue to support families who choose the foyer as their access preference.

Families should limit their time in the Centre to five minutes; this includes sign-in/out, drop-off/pick-up, and chatting to the educators. Please remember, you are able to communicate with ELC staff via phone or email if you feel you need a more in-depth discussion.

The following measures remain in place:
• Only one adult per family is permitted
• Please scan the SA Health QR code upon arrival
• Adults must wear face masks and practise physical distancing
• If you or your child are unwell, it is absolutely imperative to stay home until you have recovered, even if symptoms are mild

As the next fortnight will be particularly busy due to the front fence being excavated, we thank families for their understanding and support during our garden building works and the COVID restrictions. We urge families to consider the safest route into the ELC and avoid walking on Hallett Road.

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Literacy in Learning Community 2

The Early Years Learning Framework explains that literacy incorporates a range of modes of communication including music, movement, dance, storytelling, visual arts, media and drama, as well as talking, listening, viewing, reading and writing. The ELC has created a literacy rich environment which provides children with many opportunities to explore and use literacy through their daily rituals and play. The educators support children’s language and literacy development through modelling, scaffolding and extending of literacy concepts.

Many families often ask us how they can further support their child’s language and literacy development at home and extend upon the experiences that they have when they attend ELC. There are many experiences that you can engage with at home with your child and you can do this in ways that are fun for the whole family; this can include:

• Reading books
• Identifying features of the book: front cover, title, words, pictures
• Talking – having a reciprocal conversation where you are both contributing
• Playing together, e.g. role play
• Listening to audio stories at bedtime
• Singing songs
• Rhymes and finger plays
• Fine motor experiences, e.g. drawing, book making, card making
• Practise storytelling – make your own story
• Locating signs and symbols in your local community

Watch our video above to see how we are incorporating these literacy principles in our everyday in Learning Community 2.

Kirsty Porplycia, Laura Reiters and Nell Tierney
Learning Community 2

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Enjoy a ‘Thank You’ Coffee or Cuppa

We want to thank our wonderful ELC community for being patient and supportive during the ELC Garden redevelopment and COVID restrictions. As a small token of our appreciation, we will have a coffee van on Hallett Road from 7.30 – 9.15am on Wednesday 1 September. Please stop by and make an order as you drop your child at ELC. Although we are delighted to be able to give back to our community, we must remind families to please remember to wear masks and practise physical distancing.

Kate Mount
Director of Early Learning

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Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum

The Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum is a child safety program for children and young people from age 3 through to Year 12. It is a respectful relationships and child safety curriculum that teaches all children and young people they have the right to be safe and can talk to people they trust. All children and young people have a right to:

• Be treated with respect and to be protected from harm
• Be asked for their opinions about things that affect their lives and to be listened to
• Feel and be safe in their interactions with adults and other children and young people
• Understand as early as possible what is meant by ‘feeling and being safe’

The educators are engaging the children with this curriculum, explicitly teaching them about the nature of personal safety and wellbeing, their rights to personal safety and wellbeing, help-seeking and self-protecting behaviours, and their responsibilities to the safety and wellbeing of others. These groups are led in an age-appropriate and sensitive manner, and we often use the art of storytelling to engage the children.

Click here to view the Department of Education’s Fact Sheet. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Kate Mount, myself or your child’s key teacher.  

Kirsty Porplycia

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ELC Garden Redevelopment Update

Greenplay has been working so hard on our Hallett Garden renovation and it is really taking shape. The pathways have been installed as well the the Rainbow Serpent around the sandpit. In addition, you will see a climbing and balancing structure going up. There is so much excitement from the children; each day, we watch in anticipation as the next phase takes place and it won’t be long until it’s finished and we can open up the space again for play. Each section of the garden is a part of our narrative of learning at ELC, featuring special components that reflect our connections to culture through our ELC journey.

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来自黄老师的信息

亲爱的家长朋友们，

您可能已经看到了，我们很高兴入围了2021年纳拉古纳瓦利（Narragunnawali）奖的前三名。这个奖项每两年举行一次，旨在嘉奖幼儿园和学校环境中的“和解”植根学习实践。

让我们来解释一下这个奖项，让大家了解一下背景。纳拉古纳瓦利（Narragunnawali）一词来自纳拉古纳瓦（Ngunnawal）人的语言，他们是澳大利亚堪培拉“和解”办事处所在土地的传统所有者。这个词意味着活着，走到一起以及和平。

这个奖项的目的是促进对土著和托雷斯海峡岛民历史、文化和贡献的高度认知和荣誉。 

 我们ELC在过去的5年里积极致力于将“和解”实践融入我们的早教中心。这是一项非常重要的工作，帮助我们的孩子在这样一个空间里成长，在这个空间里进行有意义的对话。偏见受到挑战，文化知识被建立。平等、公平和民主是我们所做的一切的核心。

拥有一个有效和共享的RAP(和解行动计划)有助于我们明确我们的目标和实践。在我们的实践中，我们最小的学生的智慧和好奇心一直让我们惊喜连连。就在几天前，一个孩子在集合仪式（banbanbalya）上问他的老师:

“为什么我们每天都说‘感谢国家’?”

老师并不是给出答案的人，而是一群积极发言的孩子们给出了许多理由——他们围绕着慷慨善良、关心以及分享等价值观，举例说明这些价值观的重要性。他们不是以自我为中心，而是集体表现出共同分担责任的关键意识。作为一名观察者，我看到了我们的老师们利用他们IB PYP的探究技能，如此丰富和深刻的方式来跟孩子们一起学习。

 我希望这帮助您理解这个奖项的重要意义,它不仅仅是一个展示了我们所做的工作。更是我们在土著（Kaurna）长者Tamaru的帮助下，多层次学习，形成了这样一个相融的文化。这也提供机会来让我们真正理解为什么“和解”在幼儿早期教育中如此的重要。我希望我们能在这项工作中继续合作，为我们的孩子现在和未来成为世界公民打下坚实的基础。

园长
Kate Mount

Emma Huang works in Learning Community 2 on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 9am – 5pm.

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Sustainability in the ELC

 

While the Hallett Garden is undergoing exciting construction, the children in Learning Community 2 have been focusing on the waste within the ELC. The question that is often asked each day is “Which bin does this go in?”. Understanding where our waste goes is one of the most critical steps in creating a sustainable mindset. The curiosity and compassion each child shares when organising and sorting the waste within the ELC is what drives our investigations in the later afternoons.

The children have been watching a video that investigates the contents of each bin, and the journey the waste goes on from the ELC to the preferred location. Many children have shared their concerns when they discovered where the landfill goes.

“I learnt that the landfill waste gets buried under the Kaurna Yarta.” – Chen Feng

“So we are basically walking on top of rubbish? That’s not good.” – Edith

“If we don’t pick up our rubbish and put it in the right bin the animals might think it’s food and they will get really sick.” – Chloe

Through the insights of each child within Learning Community 2, we are focusing on creating our own ELC specific posters that will enable each child to investigate which bin is the right bin for their waste and support their autonomy along the journey to sustainability.

Haylee Hunt

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News from Learning Community 1

Every day at ELC, we are exposed to the power of literacy as we witness how a curiosity and love for storytelling and reading can activate a child’s own natural desire to learn. Literacy skills developed in early childhood provide children with a foundation for lifelong learning. Early exposure to the elements of literacy creates a unique set of tools for children to explore and make sense of the world around them whilst nurturing a passion for reading.

What does literacy learning look like in early childhood? The ELC day is filled with opportunities to develop early literacy skills, present in our daily rituals, intentional small groups and storytelling experiences. Here, we are embracing opportunities to develop skills in language, vocabulary, expression and reading.  

Every morning, the first task the children partake in when they enter the space is to locate their locker tag in amongst their peers. They must look through the letters and match the first letter of their name to their photo. This ritual is one of many that supports an early understanding that the letters, words and symbols we are exposed to each day hold meaning. When they are put together, they communicate information that we can use.

Each day, the teaching team holds an intentional literacy group, where we explore, read and retell a focus story for a number of weeks. These experiences develop early understandings of the elements of a written text. As confidence grows, the children are invited to participate in the retelling of the story as they begin to build skills in recounting, predicting, and recognising pattern and sequence in a story.

At numerous points in our day, a silence will fall across the room as the children are captivated and caught up in the magic and excitement of telling a story together. Each idea, project and line of inquiry in Learning Community 1 is explored and revisited through storytelling. As educators, we are often asked how learning can be supported at home. Find an intimate moment each day to share in a storybook to continue to foster a lifelong love of reading.

Annabelle Redmond and Jess Catt
Learning Community 1

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News from Learning Community 2

Embedding Literacy in Our Everyday Practice

Having a solid foundation in early literacy skills is critical to children’s future reading performance. Early literacy development begins in the early years of a child’s life and supports their future language development, reading, writing and overall learning.

In Learning Community 2, the educators are committed to embedding literacy experiences in our everyday practice. All of our experiences both indoors and outdoors are curated with intention to promote the use of language, vocabulary, dialogue, interest and wonder in our children.

For our inquiry focus this term, the Learning Community 2 teachers have chosen to use the children’s book This is our House by Michael Rosen and Bob Graham as our provocation for our learning. This teaching strategy allows the children to become familiar with a specific narrative and they are able to explore it in various play-based ways. The children have been introduced to this story through the book and through a digital version, and we are currently exploring dramatic role play to understand the concepts in the story. Our initial provocation to the children has been based on their ability to comprehend and process the story, and we have been able to see where their gaze lays. They are supported to verbally express their theories and ideas and convey these through drawings. Some are exploring their emerging writing skills by using letters and symbols to further add meaning to their work. 

Another reason why we are focusing on a single story for the term is that the repetition fosters language development allowing the children to become more confident with the specific written language of the book. It means that all our children from 3 to 5 years old can enter this learning in different ways, and we can support and differentiate the curriculum for all the children in our care. We will be updating our Home Page regularly with how this inquiry is developing, and we look forward to sharing your child’s literacy rich work during our Parent-Teacher Conversation later this term.

Nell Tierney, Laura Reiters and Kirsty Porplycia
Learning Community 2

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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.

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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

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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

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