President's Report & PFA 2023 Annual Wrap Up!

Thank yous and Goodbyes

2023 has been a memorable year and the PFA Committee would like to extend a very BIG thank you to families for all your donations, contributions to fundraisers and events, as well as your unwavering support and time that so many of you have volunteered for the activities that make our school community fantastic! Every little bit helps, and your collective input has been crucial to the success of the PFA and the broader school community. We cannot do it without you!

To recap the year, our Mother’s and Father’s Day events continued to be popular and enjoyed by so many. Other events included the Parent Morning Tea for the Year 7 students first day of school, activities run by the PFA on Koonung Day, World Teachers Day morning tea, sponsoring the Year 12 last day breakfast, and the recent Parent Morning Tea on Orientation Day for our 2024 families. We also enjoyed feasting on fresh pasta and juicy mangoes from the fundraisers which raised a combined total of $2,986 for the school.

A special thank you to all our PFA Committee members this year and Ashley Tolliday (Vice President), Johan Cameron (Treasurer), Neil Barker (Secretary) who have been an incredible support to me at organising these events and working behind the scenes to contribute to the success of the PFA and wider school community.

Also, a very warm thank you to the PFA Oval Project Team - Martina Johnson, Vittoria O’Brien, Ashley Tolliday and Angela Booth for their continuous commitment and hard work supporting the PFA.

Thank you also to May-Na Bee, Sophia Quek and their team at the Second-Hand Uniform Shop, who have dedicated themselves to being available each week, providing parents with an opportunity to recycle clothes and raise money for the PFA.

I would also like to thank Peihoon Heng for continuing to be the point of contact for our Chinese families. This is an important connection for our school community.

This year we say goodbye to Fiona McLean who has been instrumental in organising and leading the annual Book Sale for over 4 years. Her immense dedication and commitment during this time has been greatly appreciated and has been a critical part of the wider PFA team providing an excellent service to our school community and the funds that have been raised. Thank you Fiona, we wish you the very best for the future! Fiona has also successfully recruited 3 wonderful new parents to take over the running of the annual Book Sale. We warmly welcome Megan Anderson, Louise Castenada and Zoe Ryan, who did an amazing job at taking over the reins for our recent book sale. Thank you for stepping up and taking on this role which supports our community and contributes to the school's fundraising.

We also say goodbye to Vittoria O’Brien who has worked tirelessly for the past 2 years on all our PFA fundraisers, events, WhatsApp groups, WeChat for our Chinese families and the PFA Oval Transformation Project. Whether behind the scenes or as the face of our events and fundraisers, she shows limitless energy and enthusiasm for creating a positive community for parents and carers, and a fantastic learning experience and environment for our students. Thank you Vittoria, you will be missed!

We are looking forward to what 2024 will bring and encourage all parents and carers to get involved to help continue making Koonung Secondary College a fantastic place for our children, families, and staff to enjoy!

Kind regards

Mohammad Soheili

PFA President

Koonung PFA Oval Transformation Project

This year saw the delivery of Stages 1 and 2 of the PFA Oval Transformation Project. We hope you agree it has made the school entry from Box Hill Crescent much more welcoming for our students with a new garden area including Year 9 urban art works, seating and planting of shrubs and trees; and the oval grass is looking fantastic thanks to seeding, topsoil, sand, and replacement of broken sprinklers.

This has only been possible through two years of fundraising and contributions from you, the parents, through direct donations, mango and pasta fundraisers, and proceeds from second-hand uniform shop and book sales.

Koonung PFA appreciates the collaboration and support of the school leadership and facilities teams for this initiative.

Stayed tuned for more landscaping project initiatives in 2024!

Kind regards

Martina Johnson

Second Hand Uniform Shop

Our heartfelt thanks to our volunteers (Mei, Gerti, Alexandra, Annabel, Natalie) who have helped at the second-hand uniform shop. It has been another successful year and we appreciate your time. We would also like to thank Koonung parents/carers who have donated or submitted uniforms to be sold on your behalf. Your support and generosity has allowed us to raise important funds for our school.

Volunteers are always welcome (even one hour a month helps!). Send an email to: secondhanduniforms@koonung.vic.edu.au

Kind regards

Sophia Quek and May-Na Bee

Koonung Theatre Parents Group

The Koonung Theatre Parents subgroup of the PFA had a very successful year, supporting the 2023 production of Seussical. Our inaugural Trivia and Cabaret night fundraiser was held at the Box Hill Town Hall in May, with a fabulous turn out of over 200 people treated to a night of trivia and live entertainment from our very talented students. Throughout term 2 we had costume makers, set builders and a front of house beavering away, with everything coming together for the opening night of Seussical July. Once again, those who were lucky enough to see the show were blown away by the quality of our Koonung production. We couldn’t be prouder of our students and are incredibly grateful to the incredible staff and members of the production team who work so hard to bring the Koonung Musical to the stage.

So now it’s time to look forward to 2024 and next year’s production of Shrek the Musical! We are delighted to announce that the City of Whitehorse are supporting us again next year with a venue support grant to host our fundraising event at the Town Hall on the 20th April: “Once Upon a Swamp – A Knight of Tunes and Trivia” to support the show. Tickets for this event are on sale now and we are expecting a sell-out, so don’t miss out. Get a team together and book early!

If you would like to get involved in the Koonung Theatre Parents Group, members are always welcome. Get started by joining our What’s App group by going to https://chat.whatsapp.com/FymSFvSlvezL6FX6wRXgLH

Kind regards

Katherine Harding

Stay in contact with other parents through WhatsApp.

In the spirit of fostering community and connection, the following WhatsApp Groups have been updated and are available for parents to join their respective year level/(s) for 2024. If you would like to join, please click on the relevant link below. If you are already in your year level WhatsApp group/(s), then you don't need to do anything as this will simply move with you throughout your Koonung life. If you are not yet part of your child's year level group chat but would like to be, then this is for you!

2024 Year 7 Families

https://chat.whatsapp.com/GbcJqfgk00522n5mjb3Wr2

2024 Year 8 Parents

https://chat.whatsapp.com/DCf3gzmWMHD6trvITkhDpT

2024 Year 9 Parents

https://chat.whatsapp.com/IJeO7MdWY090zuftBZI4yI

2024 Year 10 Parents

https://chat.whatsapp.com/I17H3ldHEvl5w8UbGCijzn

2024 Year 11 Parents

https://chat.whatsapp.com/HjqluQXdJnMHJTJ8EVuNIR

2024 Year 12 Parents

https://chat.whatsapp.com/BmZCvVkAUXE7qfP5Z4FSuw

PFA News on WhatsApp

Keep up to date with PFA news and announcements by clicking this link https://chat.whatsapp.com/DyJZv7jLeRs2KH7ix1E6Fn

WeChat Community for Chinese Koonung Families

Stay connected with other Chinese families at Koonung by joining the WeChat group. Please contact Peihoon Heng 0431615181 or her WeChat @Peihoon1, for the link to join the group.

Become a Parent Representative for your year level!

The role of a Parent Representative needs no experience, just a willing spirit to facilitate parent connection in your student’s year level. You have the flexibility to organise coffee outings, dinners, a Sunday afternoon picnic or whatever you like doing! We generally recommend 2 representatives to support each other for your year level. The PFA will support and help facilitate any events you wish to organise. Please contact us via email pfa@koonung.vic.edu.au to find out more!

PFA Annual General Meeting & New leadership

At the start of each school year, a new PFA Committee is formed to lead the PFA. Our Annual General Meeting will be held on Monday 4 March 2024 at 7pm, followed by an ordinary meeting. Everyone in the school community is welcome and encouraged to attend. As all the committee roles will become vacant with existing members stepping down, new volunteers/members will need to be nominated and duly elected at the AGM. In order for the PFA to continue to exist, the following roles are essential: President, Vice President, Treasurer & Secretary.

Yes, you can self-nominate! Being a committee member does not require any experience, just a willing spirit! It's a very satisfying way to be part of the school and a great opportunity to make friends along the way. In 2024, we are very excited to create 2 new roles!! An Events Coordinator and a WhatsApp Admin Coordinator. If you enjoy making things happen and getting involved with the school community, then this is perfect for you!

To find out more about any of the committee roles, the new supporting roles, or to submit a self-nomination, please contact any of our current members by email pfa@koonung.vic.edu.au or via the WhatsApp group chats which are listed above.

President - Mohammad Soheili

Vice President - Ashley Tolliday

Secretary - Neil Barker

Treasurer - Johan Cameron

General Member - Martina Johnson

General Member - Vittoria O’Brien

PFA President

Run the PFA meetings, review minutes.
Be the point of liaison between PFA and Koonung for requests and enquiries.
Ensure the PFA events have volunteer teams to support them.
Represent PFA as required at events e.g., School Council, Information Night, etc.
Be a point of contact and support for any information regarding PFA events.
Facilitate the funding process of teachers requests for assistance.
Write the end of Year PFA report.

PFA Vice President

Assist the PFA president with the activities and meetings.
Works with the PFA President in the planning and coordination of PFA events.
Runs the PFA meetings (when the PFA President is not present).
Be a point of contact and support for any information regarding PFA events.
Represent PFA as required at events e.g., School Council, Information Night, etc.

PFA Secretary

Main role is to record the minutes of every PFA meeting.
Record all the attendance and apologies.
Document all correspondence received.
Email the minutes to the PFA group.
Assist the President with correspondence as required.

PFA Treasurer

Liaises with Koonung Business Manager as needed to manage the PFA accounts (the PFA account is a sub account of the school accounts; the PFA has no direct access or control of the funds).
Prepare the PFA accounts, using Excel spreadsheets, before each PFA meeting.
Must be able to use Excel and be good with numbers.
Present a summary of income and expenditure at each meeting (Treasurer’s Report).
Prepare the annual budget for PFA activities and calculate the amount of funds available to KSC for PFA funded purchases.

Events Coordinator

Lead and organise fundraising events and liaise with the school accordingly.
Support the committee with other PFA events.

WhatsApp Admin Coordinator

Create the new year 7 WhatsApp group annually.
Update the Welcome flyer for the new year 7 group for their info pack.
Manage the WhatsApp groups for all year levels.
Support the PFA committee, sub committees and parent representatives as required.

PFA Meeting Dates 2024

Term 1

Monday 4 March AGM & Ordinary Meeting

Monday 25 March

Term 2

Monday 22 April

Monday 3 June

Term 3

Monday 5 August

Monday 2 September

Term 4

Monday 7 October

Monday 25 November

PFA contact details: pfa@koonung.vic.edu.au

International Student program

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