Principal's Report

ART FOR ALL – What a Weekend!

What a wonderful weekend we all experienced as we hosted our 28th ART FOR ALL event. It was everything that you would hope a community event would be. The school was buzzing with excitement in the lead-up to the event. We officially started the three-day celebration with our assembly on Friday morning, and then opened our gallery and shop doors on Friday night. We hosted Gala Night on Saturday night, and of course, we ended the event with the Family Fair Day.

Friday: We were delighted to welcome the dance group and Thornbury High School students, Nunkeri Tiddas, to our assembly, as we kicked off ART FOR ALL celebrations. Friday night the gallery and shop doors open for people who were first in line to purchase gifts for themselves or others.

Saturday: During the day the gallery and shop doors were open, and coffee and cake served. Saturday night was the occasion to get a bit glam, as we hosted Gala Night. Visitors to this event were treated to an evening of fine food which was prepared in collaboration between our parents and Year 6 students. The students were responsible for serving the food in the evening, and received many compliments for the sophisticated way in which they did this. 

Sunday: Sunday is the busiest day of the event as we welcomed students, families and visitors to enjoy Family Fair Day – it was a total success! There was so much energy across the school grounds as people spent their time between art activities, fair rides, enjoying the food, purchasing from the gallery and the makers market, and also being entertained by a full-day of stage entertainment.

Acknowledgements

There are many people to thank for so many aspects of this event. It was led by the community and enjoyed by the community – the perfect combination!

In preparation for the event, numerous committee meetings were held where parents considered the multitude of factors that go into planning a large-scale event. There was hours and hours of time given to organising the communication, promotion, finance, gallery, rides, food and drink, entertainment, logistics, OHS, and much more besides. 

On the days of the event, it felt as though the school was open 24/7 as parents volunteered to ensure that all the equipment, materials and furniture were where they needed to be. The many activities required countless hours of volunteering, and of course, the least glorious of all jobs, pack-up!  A fun fact from the weekend, over 400 hours were volunteered.

Whilst I cannot name and thank all the volunteers in this article, I want to say thank you to our coordinators: Rachel Hough, Phuong Phan, Belinda Thomas and Marjie Tkatchenko. Rachel, Belinda, Phuong and Marjie led this event with a sense of calm and clarity, and with the support of our wonderful community, made it an event to remember. 

How are we spending the funds?

We aim to announce the amount raised from this event at our end of term assembly, next Friday. We will also be able to share some details as to how the funds will be spent, which is an item for discussion at next week’s school council meeting.

Year 5 Camp

Last week our Year 5 students enjoyed a wonderful three-day camp at Anglesea. The students left school on Wednesday morning, full of expectation and excitement, returning on Friday full of confidence and pride.

The teachers reported that the students’ attitude, resilience and teamwork were all first-class throughout the camp. They took risks and stepped outside of their comfort zone, with the support of one another.

Thank you to the staff that supported this event: Blake, Faye, Naomi and Cathy. Thank you to the parents who took time out of their schedules to attend; Cathy Coates, Kelly Haywood, Tom Hodson, Talia Papas and Lachlan Strong.

Yard Redevelopment

You may remember earlier communications about the redevelopment of the yard between the blue sports court and Fairfield Rd Building (shown here). 

Last year this project was approved to go ahead by school council and the Victorian School Building Authority, paid for through fundraising money. After significant delays, which were out of the school’s control, we are now making progress in the design and development stage. 

This project is discussed regularly at buildings and grounds and school council meetings, and we hope to share the detailed design with the school community next term.

Special Person's Breakfast – Friday 12 September

We have one more community event to celebrate this term, the Special Person's Breakfast. We moved this event across a week to give people a bit of breathing space after ART FOR ALL. 

Come and share a celebratory light breakfast before school with your child on Friday 12 September, between 8 – 9:30am, outside by the gym foyer. This event is an opportunity for children to recognise and celebrate those very special people in their lives (dads, grandpas, other relations, special friends, etc.).

Parent Opinion Survey

We invite and encourage all our families to complete the Parent Opinion Survey. The more responses we receive, the more accurate the data. The link to the survey is available in your Compass newsfeed and closes on Friday 19 September.

End of Term Assembly & Thanks 

As we approach the end of term three, I would like to say thank you to students, staff and parents for all your efforts in helping us to achieve all our successes.

Everyone is invited to our end of term assembly, next Friday, 19 September  at 9am at the Fig Tree courtyard.

~ Paul Wallace, Principal