PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Madagascar Special Edition - From Central Park Zoo!

This time last week, we were gearing up for the second night of Madagascar the Musical. Simply put, it was an amazing two nights for our students and school community. The performances of our main cast, made up of Year 5 and 6 students were magnificent, as were the efforts from our year-level ensembles of Prep Lemurs, Year One Penguins, Year 2 Zebras, Year 3 Steaks and Year 4 Tourists. The look of joy on their faces as they sang and danced their hearts out on the stage, under the bright lights, is something that will stick with us for some time. Performing comes naturally to some, but for others, it is very uncomfortable. As a school, we should be very proud of all of the students for their risk-taking and stepping out of their comfort zone. All students, including the main cast, were encouraged and pushed to perform to their very best. And perform they did. The feedback from all who attended has been overwhelmingly positive and we are very grateful for your support of the event. When words and phrases such as ‘polished’, ‘professional’, ‘slick’ and ‘best ever’ are used by guests, it makes our students and staff feel pretty good about the effort put into it. This newsletter is a celebration of those efforts; to paraphrase King Julien ‘we bask in the glow’ of Madagascar 2023. For those who missed out, there are copies of the program and video available for purchase through the school office. 

Thank you 

The two nights at Kilbreda were the culmination of a significant body of work from a broad range of people in our school community. First of all, I would like to thank our parent community for engaging with the school to bring the production to life. There was a team of make up artists at school during rehearsal, but also on the both nights of production. This included parents and older siblings; we are very grateful to each of you all. The face makeup looked fantastic and helped our the children get into character. I would also like to thank the team of parents and grandparents for the sewing and compilation of costumes. Many hours of work has gone into these and the children looked great. Finally, to our parent helpers who assisted with the organisation and distribution of food and drinks at interval. It was a short break and to get everyone ‘fed and watered’ during this time was a terrific effort. 

Finally, I would like to thank our staff, starting of course with our production Directors Anna Gugliucciello and Amanda Baker. I would like to once again commend and thank these two champions of our school for their tireless efforts with costumes, sets, props, lighting, audio, makeup…the list goes on and on, and Amanda and Anna had ‘a hand’ in all of it. An event such as the school production is a team effort though and I would like to acknowledge all staff for their contribution to the shows. Whether it was managing large groups of excited children, fitting microphones, assisting with makeup or handing out snacks, all staff played a role. There are a small number of people I would like to acknowledge for their specific roles - Thank you to Shannon Shine and Naomi Field for organising ticketing and catering, Louisa Di Pietro and Lynn Miller for the program, Jake McMahon for the pre-show video and Josie Miller and Aggie Gorski for managing the backstage area on both nights of the performance. As mentioned at the theatre, we are very lucky to have such an amazing group of people working together in our school, alongside your children every day. The efforts of students, staff and parents last week, speaks to the culture that our school is building. One of collaboration, commitment and excellence, with the children ‘front and centre’.

Term Three Wrap Up

In addition to our Production last week, Term Three has provided many rich experiences to enhance the learning of our students. The scheduling and distribution of school events throughout a term is key to ensuring the integrity of teaching and learning programs is maintained. While weeks 8 and 9 were busy with rehearsals for production, the majority of Term Three was about sustained teaching and learning practice to foster improvement for our students. 

As a school, we continue to focus on getting the balance right with high-quality teaching and learning experiences in MSL, Heggarty, Spelling Mastery, Reading Groups, Writing and Mathematics instruction, while still providing a diversity of opportunities through a range of additional engagements. The production is one example of the extra-curriculuar offerings at our school and there have been many others enjoyed throughout Term Three. Kinder excursions, engagement with Pre-Prep Playgroup, geography immersion, sporting competitions, excursions, the disco, year level masses, 100 days of Prep, Sacrament of First Eucharist and Confirmation, Bully No Way Day, Father’s and Special Friends activities and Book Week to name a few. Sometimes I wonder how we fit it all in, but we are very proud of the balanced offering we have at St Agnes’.

Sacraments of First Eucharist and Confirmation

Congratulations to those children who received the blessed Eucharist for the first time recently and also to those who received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday evening. These were wonderful occasion as the children take the next step in their faith journeys.

Kelly Sports - School Holiday Program

I am pleased to confirm that Kelly Sports will be running a Holiday Program at our school in the upcoming school holidays. After a number of attempts to organise a Extend Vacation Care I am very pleased to have this onsite solution for our families. As the name suggests, Kelly Sports run a variety of sporting exercises to keep your child active during the holidays. Please get in touch directly with Kelly Sports if you would like to make a booking. Head across to Holiday Program page for more details.

Footy Colours Day

This Friday, we invite all children to dress in the colours of their favourite football (or sporting) team. The final day of Term Three is an activity day focused on finals-footy-fever and is led by our Sports Captains. We will start the day with a short ‘parade’ in teams and some discussion about our favourite players! The children will spend the rest of the morning in mixed-age-groups, joining in some fun, footy-focused activities. Unfortunately, the mighty Richmond Tigers will be watching this finals series, but we wish all teams in the finals well for the finish to 2023.

Tuckshop

There will be no tuckshop this Friday and it will resume in Term Four on Friday 20th October. Salute Catering is taking a European holiday for a few weeks, so we’ll have to struggle on with school lunches on Friday’s early in Term Four!

Last Day of Term Three

Term Three concludes this Friday 15th September at 1.30pm.

Important Dates for Term Four

Term Four Commences - Monday 2nd October

St Agnes’ Trash and Treasure Market - Sunday 15th October

Year 4 Camp - Summit Camp (Trafalgar East) - Wednesday 1st to Friday 4th October

Year 3 Camp - Zoo Snooze - Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th November

School Closure Day - Staff Planning for 2024 - Monday 27th November

Year Six Graduation and Last Day - Thursday 14th December

Final Day for Prep to Year 5 - Friday 15th December - 1.30 pm

With a big production week last week, I am sure many families are limping to the finish line and looking forward to the school holidays! I wish all families a safe and restful break and we look forward to seeing you all again in Term Four!

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Kind regards,

Lachie.