Welcome to 2023 in the ELC

This term, we warmly welcome 40 new families to the ELC. This is the just the start of their St Andrew’s journey and I am confident that they will soon become an active part of our community and enjoy all that St Andrew’s has to offer.

It wasn’t long after our Vacation Care service concluded in January that our Early Years teachers eagerly reacquainted themselves with their learning spaces to ensure that they were beautifully presented with a range of inviting provocations for their new and returning children to explore. Our philosophy, routines and processes were explained carefully to our families at our Information Night presentations on Wednesday 25 January and parents had the opportunity to explore the learning environment and get a ‘taste’ of what their children would come to experience in the following weeks.

Of course, there is nothing like the very first day for our ELC children! Children were welcomed into their respective rooms where they immediately began to develop a sense of belonging through the recognition of their name and photograph within the room and connection to the educators whom they had already started to become acquainted with. There were only a few tears from children (and many from parents) as they said their goodbyes and leapt bravely into new territory. It was certainly a busy, but positive day with our older ‘helping hands’ competently paving the way for our new children, modelling the rhythm and regular routines throughout the day. We are so proud of them all.

We look forward to getting to know all of our new families more closely over the next few weeks. Thank you to those who have already responded to our ‘Getting to know your child’ surveys to share such important information that only you, as parents, can provide. ‘Welcome drinks’ on 10 February by the treehouse in Tarrkarri is a perfect occasion to continue to chat with and build relationships with your child’s educators and connect with other parents. We look forward to seeing you all there.

Alicia Flowers
Assistant Director of Early Learning