Welcome back for 2023! We are delighted that your daughters will be attending our Early Learning Centre and are very excited about the learning ahead. It is a great privilege to be educating your daughters and including your family in our community, so thank you for choosing us.

By the conclusion of our first week, you will have received all the information you need to know via email, Seesaw and your daughter’s Welcome booklet. Therefore, I will make a start here and continue to share information as we progress into the term. Please do not hesitate to ask any questions along the way using the contact details below.

Contact Details for the Educational Team

At Wilderness, we have a small, core team of educators in each House and an additional small team of co-educators who support the team over lunches and during planning time. Please see below for the names of the staff members and the key contact details.

Assistant Head of Junior School/Nominated Supervisor: Mrs Rebecca Williamson

I will oversee your daughter’s journey through the ELC and the Lower Junior School. You can contact me via email or on my direct line of (08) 8343 1070 (please leave a message when prompted, as this will be emailed to me) with any questions about the overall day-to-day running of the ELC, events, policies, procedures, the Quality Improvement Plan and/or to make changes to your booked days of attendance.

Annie House class teacher: Miss Danielle Moir, email or (08) 8343 1063

Annie House co-educators: Mrs Pamela McCrea and Ms Anne McLinden

During teacher and co-educator lunches and planning time, Mrs Rebecca Williamson, Miss Brooklyn Kennedy, Ms Julia Neophytou and Mrs Meagan Steffensen will also teach in the Annie House.

Mamie House class teacher: Mrs Wendy Menzies, email or (08) 8343 1067

Mamie House co-educators: Mrs Kathy De Silva and Ms Lauren Thorn

During teacher and co-educator lunches and planning time, Mrs Rebecca Williamson and Miss Ashlee Thiele will also teach in the Mamie House.

Specialist Lessons

Your daughters will participate in the following specialist lessons on the days listed below:

• Monday – Physical Education
• Tuesday – Yoga
• Wednesday – Music
• Thursday – Library

Arrival and Departure Times and Details

Opening Time

The doors will open in each of the Houses at 8.15am. Prior to this time, you are welcome to wait outside the House with your daughter. The educators will be inside from 8.00am; however, the doors will not be opened until 8.15am as this is vitally important preparation and discussion time for the team.

We encourage you to say goodbye to your daughter at the door as this may make it easier to maintain a consistent goodbye routine, and your daughter will quickly learn how to independently complete her morning jobs. Having said that, we will ensure that we do everything we can to support you to have a happy goodbye each day, even if it means making changes to the above routine.

Closing Time

The Mamie House closes at 3.00pm. For collection, please wait in the side area for the team to open the doors. Girls who are only attending for a half-day session will conclude their day at 12.00pm noon. Please wait outside the Mamie House door to collect your daughters.

The Annie House closes at 3.25pm. You may arrive to collect your daughters from 3.00pm onwards. Please wait outside the House and an educator will bring your daughter to you. It is important that you have collected your daughter by 3.25pm, as the Annie House closes at this time.

Authorisation of Collection

Please remember to advise one of the team in writing (via Seesaw or email) if you need to add another person to the list of people who are authorised to collect your daughter.

We will check photo identification at the point of collection.

Allergies

Several of our special girls have life-threatening allergies, so we kindly ask that you do not pack anything containing nuts, whole eggs/egg sandwiches and that you do not bring balloons into the school grounds. We thank you very much for helping us to keep our community safe.

Outdoor Play Spaces and Playground Usage are Not Permitted After School

As tempting as it is for our little people, we ask that you do not allow your children to play in the outdoor play spaces or on the Lower Junior School playground after school. We know this is difficult so I will be sure to support you with this tricky task at the beginning of the term.

Once again, you will receive all the information you need to know as the term commences. We have no doubt that your daughter will thrive in our environment, and we look forward to being on this special journey with you.

School ID Photographs

On Monday 6 February, Event Photo will be taking School ID photos in the Gym for all girls.

Please view the following schedule to see when your daughter is required to be in the Gym to have her photo taken.

Girls are required to wear their Summer uniform.

Girls who are absent on Monday will have their photo taken at another time.