As I write this newsletter, I can not believe that the girls' last day in the ELC is only two weeks away.  It feels as if the end of the year is coming way too quickly, and feels like the girls only just started. The ELC managed to avoid most of the closures that affected other schooling sectors this year but our turn came at the end of last term and the start of this term. 

I think we have all become a little more adept at responding to change but it never ceases to amaze me how resilient the children have been. 

Hopefully, lengthy closures are a thing of the past now, and we can embrace some of our long missed experiences over the summer break.

During Offsite Learning, we were essentially running a hybrid model with similar numbers onsite and offsite. As you can imagine, there was a lot that went on behind the scenes to facilitate this and I would like to thank the entire ELC team for the extra work involved. Aside from some of the disruptions, it has certainly been a wonderful year and I am so grateful for the support from Ms Bourke, Mrs Moore and Dr Priest, our wonderful specialist team, and of course the caring, passionate staff in the ELC. 

I feel very lucky to be working with such an amazing team of people.

Our core team has been very fortunate this year to welcome a consistent group of casual staff who will hopefully continue to work with us in the future. Ms Lewis, Mrs Smrekar, Mrs Brennan and Miss Lucy have all been regulars, helping us whenever a staff member was absent. One of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic is that there has been greater demand for casual staff and it has often been very difficult to cover staff absences. It has been a great relief to have a group of positive, friendly staff whom we trust to step in during those times.

Of course, the end of the year means that we are farewelling Ms Timothy as she commits fully to her role as play therapist with Play Educate. Meg has a long history with Ivanhoe Girls’ Grammar School (Class of 2007) and the ELC. She is an Old Grammarian and actually worked in the ELC with Mrs Brennan in After School Care when it was held onsite. She came back to us as a pre-service teacher in 2018, covered a maternity leave position in 2019 and became a permanent member of staff in 2020. We will certainly miss her sense of fun, bubbly nature and of course her wonderful laughter. We wish her all the best for the future and look forward to welcoming her back in a casual capacity next year.

Thank you to our parent representatives for their efforts in building our community through social events. As you are already busy working parents we are all very grateful that you volunteered and gave up your precious time. 

My final thank you is to you as families for entrusting us with your daughters' education and care. We all feel very privileged to share this time with you.

Thank you for your support, feedback and contributions.  For those of you who juggled the challenges of your own work situation with parenting during the lockdowns this year, you are amazing.  Congratulations on getting through such a difficult time. I would also like to convey my gratitude to the families who were able to complete the parent survey sent recently.  Your feedback was extremely positive and greatly appreciated. As part of our quality improvement plan, we will be reviewing all comments and feedback.

On behalf of the ELC team, we wish you a very enjoyable Christmas and a peaceful break over the summer.

Bernadette Gioia
Director of the Early Learning Centre

What a strange couple of years in the ELC your daughter has had. While not as we would have planned, I hope you feel as proud of the girls as all of us here are. We recently found some photos from the 2020 Kinder Orientation which was a very visible reminder of just how much growth has occurred. 

What we are most proud of though, is the kind and respectful way the children look out for each other, how they attempt to resolve difficulties and their ability to think through complex ideas. 

In particular, I have been so impressed by their welcoming behaviour towards families who are new to our school commencing in Prep or the ELC next year.

Each year, we feel like we are speeding towards the end of the year at a rapid pace and right now it feels as if it was only weeks ago that the girls began PrePrep. The end to this year, despite coming too quickly, provides us with an opportunity to reflect upon and remember all the growth that has occurred. The growth in independence, confidence and security is ever apparent as we watch the girls playing and interacting.  

There is a beautiful, settled feeling in the centre and the girls are engaged and enjoying these final weeks together.

This term has incorporated learning in many areas and covering a range of interests.  A fairly consistent interest for some time has been learning about the body and how it works. This group is so inquisitive and always asks thoughtful questions. During a conversation about the body recently one of the children suggested a Doctor would be the best person to answer their questions. Thankfully, Ms Timothy’s friend Dr Jules was available and very happy to come in to share her knowledge. We have had a hospital set up for some time, which has provided the perfect space for the children to ask questions, role play and interpret what they are learning about the body.

Over recent weeks, the PrePrep children have been participating in transition programs. There is such a mix of emotions for children (and adults) as they reach the end of the PrePrep year. Thank you for your contributions to your daughter’s transition statement. I know that this information will be very useful for your daughter’s teacher next year.  

Whilst this is an exciting time, it is somewhat peppered with sadness. Mrs Gerakas, Ms Timothy and I have loved being your daughter’s PrePrep teacher and co-educators and I know that we would all love just a few weeks more. Early into Term 1, 2022, we will invite you and your daughter back to say hello if you are available. The tentative date for this is Wednesday 16 February 3.15pm–4.15pm. It is lovely for these ‘big’ girls to share their experiences of school with us and each other, and have an opportunity to re-connect.

Until then, have a wonderful Christmas and thank you for all your support and involvement this year.

Bernadette Gioia
Pre-Prep Teacher

This term, the ELC staff completed a Play Therapy professional development information session that explored the effects of COVID-19 lockdowns on young children. 

A point that really stood out to me was that our Kinder children have spent half of their lives in lockdown. Half of their lives! 

And while there have been very challenging periods here at the ELC, I feel so proud of the Kinder girls and all they have accomplished in the face of such adversity.

This term, Ms Sawyer and I watched as the girls welcomed each other back from offsite learning, inviting each other into their play and demonstrating kindness in their interactions with others.

We watched as the children tried something new, like climbing all the way on top of the monkey bars or raising their hand to say something at group time, even though it can be difficult to take risks (especially after the year we have all had.)

We watched as the children mastered a new skill, like writing their name, taking off their jumpers without assistance or rolling up their resting beds.

We watched as the children noticed something that filled them with wonder, like the enormous worm we discovered under the flower pot that made us all squeal as we took turns holding it in our hands.

We watched as the girls walked (with their very small feet) half-way across the school to attend Sport class for the first time in months, participating with such enthusiasm and excitement.

And we watched as the girls confidently said goodbye to their parents at the front door each day without looking back, their huge bag on their backs and a smile on their faces.

While we can never be certain of what the future brings, and we will likely continue to face adversity in 2022, I feel as though I can end this year knowing that each of the Kinder girls has developed skills in dealing with what life throws at them, whether this is challenging, wonderful or something in-between.

I wish all of the ELC families a special Christmas break, filled with opportunities to visit loved ones and spend time with the people you care most about.

I look forward to seeing you in 2022.

Emily Franceschi
Kinder Teacher