PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Term 1 - Week 1

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Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back to the 2025 school year. It has been terrific to see the school burst back to life this week; filled with chat, laughter and learning. I trust that the Summer holiday period was filled with fun, family and relaxation for you all. A special welcome must be extended to the 30 new students and families in our school this year. We trust that you feel the warmth from the community. 

The children have been very excited to be back at school with their peers, with much of the past two days being focused on connection, belonging and beginning to develop classroom routines/expectations. Well done to our Prep children and families for successfully navigating the first two days of school life. 

Over the holidays there were some improvements happening in the school, most notably the portable refurbishment and the sports area resurfaced with astroturf. The portable refurbishment allows the growth of the school into 2026, as we free up the upstairs space for the Year 5 and 6 students and the opportunity for two Prep classes again next year. The resurfacing of the old asphalt to create a new, safe and engaging sports area has been a big hit with the students in the first two days. The colour in the space ‘lifts’ the visual appeal of the entire school. In terms of the day-to-day utilisation of school facilities, in my view, this area rivals the recent renovation as the best improvement in the school for the last six years. As a community, we should be very proud of this as it was made possible by the efforts of our entire community with the 2024 School Fete, Walkathon, Op Shop Ball and other meaningful social/fundraising events. On behalf of the students, thank you to our broader community for making this a reality for all to enjoy.

I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the staff, who worked throughout the break and over the past week to prepare and plan for the return of students and families. Lots of work has been done preparing classrooms and completing the administrative requirements in readiness for the school year. This year we welcome five new staff - Cassandra de Kretser (Prep teacher), Amelia Bell (Year 2 Teacher), Brooke Jamison, Maddi McKee and Alisha Quattrone (Learning Support). Thank you in advance for making these staff feel welcome.

School Communication

The newsletter is the main communication tool used by the school to share information and celebrate student learning, improvement initiatives and community events. It is an online newsletter and is usually distributed fortnightly on a Wednesday afternoon, via email. The newsletter also outlines the specific procedures and expectations in our school. From the newsletter, our Class Representatives distribute regular updates via email and/or WhatsApp. Guidelines for inclusion in school WhatsApp groups will be distributed in the coming week. Classroom teachers also produce a ‘Class Newsletter’ at the beginning of each term outlining in detail the curriculum for the upcoming term and any specific events related to your child’s year level. At St Agnes’, we aim to have clear and concise information distributed to the community to ensure all are aware of what is happening and when. Schools are very busy places and we are a tight-knit community, so if you ever have any questions, please ask a fellow parent or feel free to contact the school office. This newsletter is a long one, so get yourself a cup of tea, have your family calendar handy and make note of anything significant.

School Production

Our big school event for the year will be the school production which will take place on Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th September. All children will be involved in the show on both nights. The name of the show will be announced in the next few weeks with auditions taking place for the main cast with Year 5 and 6 students later this term.

Parent Information Night, Class Newsletters and Parent/Teacher Exchanges

Over the next two weeks, we have a number of opportunities to establish clarity and open lines of communication between teachers and parents:

• On Tuesday 4th February from 7.00pm to 8.00pm, we have our Parent Information Night. We ask that at least one parent attends this important information sharing session around learning and routines for your child’s year level. This session is held in the classrooms and the Term One Class Newsletter will be distributed at this event.
• On Tuesday 11th February, we have our Parent/Teacher Exchanges. These meetings are an opportunity for you, as parents, to tell us about your child’s strengths, passions, social competencies and areas to be worked on. The website to access the booking is https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/sdskj - Code sdskj. For those children on PLPs, your upcoming PSG meeting is in place of a Parent/Teacher Exchange meeting.
• The children will finish school at 1:00pm on this day to allow the staff to commence the interviews at 1:30pm. We prefer face-to-face meetings, but an option for a video conference is available should it be necessary.

Beginning of Year Mass - Friday 7th February at 9am

Our school community will join together with weekday mass-goers next Friday morning for our Beginning of Year Mass. All children will attend and parents are invited to join us also. The children will sit in their class groups. The school staff will also share their commitment to the school, its students and their vocation in front of the community at this mass.

Year Six Leadership Speeches and Roles

Our Year Six students have begun their applications and speeches for their 2025 leadership roles. Their speeches will be presented to Years 3, 4, 5 and 6 students and staff on Monday 10th February from 9am in the Hall. This is a special occasion for our students, so parents are welcome to come along and watch. All students have nominated their preferences and the student body will vote on School and Sports Captain, with remaining positions being allocated by school staff using preferences as a guide. The positions will be announced at Assembly on Wednesday 12th February. There will also be elections for SRC and Mini Vinnies leaders for each class in the next few weeks.

Prep Parents Welcome Night - Thursday 13th February at 7.00pm-9.00pm

This social evening is for Prep parents only and will be on the school grounds. We encourage all Prep parents to lock in an aunty, uncle, grandparents or a babysitter to look after the children and come along for a drink. It is a great opportunity to get to know the parents of the other children in the Prep class, as you start the educational journey together at St Agnes’. Drinks and nibbles will be provided by the school.

St Agnes’ Parents and Friends Welcome Picnic

The St Agnes’ Parents and Friends Committee warmly invites all families to join the Welcome Picnic on the evening of Friday 28th February at Thomas Street Park. More information will be communicated in the coming weeks, but please mark this important date in your calendar!

Sacrament of Reconciliation (Year 3)

Our Year 3 children will commence preparation for the Sacrament of Reconciliation with a Family Faith Night on Wednesday 26th February at 7pm. There will also be a Reconciliation Reflection Day on Wednesday 19th March, to assist with preparation. Due to the number of children, the sacrament will be held over two liturgies at 5pm and 7pm on Thursday 27th March. Families will be asked to book into either of the liturgies following the faith night. 

Extra curricular classes

This year, we will continue with extra curricular offerings in the school, on the following days:

• Italian with Signora Talarico - Tuesday and Wednesday
• Physical Education with Mr Kost - Tuesday (Prep, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5) and Wednesday (Year 1, Year 2 and Year 6). Sports uniform is required on this day.
• Visual Arts with Mrs Murdoch - Wednesday and Thursday
• Performing Arts with Mrs Gugliuciello - Wednesday and Thursday
• Classroom teachers will communicate Class Sports days with parents in the coming week. The children will also wear sports uniform on that particular day.

Sibling Enrolments - Prep 2026

We are asking those current families to complete the enrolment process for any siblings who will join our school in Prep in 2026. We need all families to enrol as soon as possible so we know how many places we have to offer new families. Applications can be completed online via our website.

Open Days and School Tours

We are very grateful to all of our parents for continuing to advocate for our school in the local community. We have had a number of enquiries over the holidays for Prep in 2026, which is a really positive sign for our school. We are also expecting a large sibling enrolment next year. This year, we will be holding four Open Days, where prospective families can come and tour our school to see and hear from the students and staff. The dates for school tours are below:

• Wednesday 26th February
• Tuesday 18th March
• Wednesday 26th March
• Tuesday 29th April
• Wednesday 13th May

Prospective families are welcome to come along any time between 9am and 3pm on these days. Thank you for spreading the word!

School photos - Thursday 3rd April

This year, our school photos take place on Thursday 3rd April. Advanced Life are our school photos provider and orders can be placed online. Students are to wear their full Summer school uniform on this day, including their school jumper for the photos.

St Agnes’ Playgroup - Give your child a flying start!

Our Playgroup Returns in 2025 for all current and prospective children/families to get to know our school and community. All three and four-year-old children are welcome to attend and it is free to participate! Amanda Baker will be leading our playgroup again this year. It will be held fortnightly on a Friday morning during school term, on the following dates: Friday 14th February, 28th February, 21st March, 2nd May, 16th May, 30th May, 13th June, 27th June, 1st August, 15th August, 29th August.

Please register using the link below and feel free to share this with friends and family who have a child starting school in the next two years.

https://forms.gle/E1D48frDTUPoNRq96

Assembly

Assemblies are in the Hall on Wednesday afternoons. Parents are welcome to attend. At assembly, there will be presentations from classes, student awards, birthday acknowledgements and special announcements from student leaders.

Wed 5th Feb - Year 6

Wed 12th Feb - Year 5

Wed 19th Feb - Year 4

Wed 26th Feb - Year 1

Wed 5th March - Year 2

Wed 12th March - Year 5/6 (Camp)

Wed 19th March - Year 3

Wed 26th March - Prep

Wed 2nd April - SRC

Looking forward to a great year!

Kind regards,

Lachie

School Procedures

Parking, entry and exit on school grounds

At St Agnes’, we are lucky in that our school gates are located on quiet suburban streets. However, at drop off and pick up times, these streets get busier. I urge all parents to please be patient and careful at these times please. It is important that all members of our community adhere to the road rules and parking restrictions. 

Entry to our school:

• There are two entry and exit points at our school for drop off and pick up: the gates on Peterson Street and Locinda Street.
• These gates are supervised from 8.30am to 8.45am and from 3.25pm to 3.40pm. After 8.45am, the only access to the school is via the main reception on Peterson Street. All other gates will be locked.
• I would like to remind families that children are not to play ball games or on the adventure playgrounds after school. This is a safety requirement and staff also need to get to meetings after school, so a prompt exit is appreciated. Friday afternoons are the exception to this rule, as we have icy-poles and barbeque after school.
• Peterson Street is a ‘Drop and Go Zone’ in the morning. This area is not for parking and entering the school with your children. If you wish to do this, please park in a neighbouring street.
• Parents/grandparents are asked not to drive through or park in the staff car park at drop off and pick up. This is dangerous with students/families walking through here.
• If riding a bike or scooter to school, the children are to dismount at the gate to ensure the safety of others.
• Please note, the speed limit on Spring Road is 40km/h as you approach the school.

Dogs on school grounds

For the safety of all students, staff and families, dogs are not permitted on school grounds at any time. If walking your dog to or from school, we ask that you leave it tied up outside of the school, away from the gate.

Absences

In the event your child is sick or absent from school, please ensure you contact the school by emailing your child's class teacher, cc’ing absences@sahighett.catholic.edu.au or contacting the front office by phone. All unexplained absences will be followed up by our Admin team. For prolonged planned absences, please contact the Principal for approval.

Uniform

As most parents would know, we have high standards for our school uniform and these standards are maintained by staff and leadership at the school. The children will wear school uniform three days per week and sports uniform two days per week. When wearing school uniform, it is expected that students will be wearing black leather school shoes, not black runners. The v-neck school jumper is also a compulsory part of the school uniform. Year 6 students are not required to have the v-neck as their Year 6 rugby jumpers will arrive soon and can be worn in place of this. The navy bomber jacket is to be worn with the sports uniform only, on PE and class sport days. Noone Imagewear on Hampton Street have all available items and the Second Hand Uniform Shop will be open at various times through the year.

Girls’ hair - Girls must have their hair tied back if it is longer than shoulder length. The tiebacks should be predominantly the school colours please.

Boys’ hair - Boys need to make sure their hair is above their shirt collar and away from the face as to not detract from focus/attention.

School hats - Children are expected to wear the school hat (and no other hat) during Terms 1 and 4.

Sunscreen

Families are asked to apply sunscreen to the children before coming to school on days with the UV is expected to be high. Sunscreen is available in classrooms and children are encouraged to apply this. Staff will not apply sunscreen on children.

Student mobile phones and smart-watches

I would strongly encourage families to send students to school without their mobile phones. If they need to be brought, the phones must be turned off before they enter the gate and dropped off at the front office. Phones are not to be turned on again until they exit the gate at the end of the day. Parents who need to contact their child can do so by contacting the school office. Smart watches that receive messages or phone calls are not permitted at school. If a phone or smart watch is found to be on or used at school by a student, that device will be confiscated. These devices can become a distraction in the classroom and we are seeking to minimise these distractions.

Cybersafety Use Agreement

In the coming week, the Cybersafety Use Agreement will be emailed to all families to be read, discussed and signed. It is an opportunity to revisit rules and expectations around device use in your family. Our school is very well resourced in terms of devices, so we have high expectations around the use of such devices. The students spend time on devices at school and this agreement must be signed before students can use school devices. This continues to be an area of concern as there has been an increase in peer conflict between children that originates in online forums, as children are becoming more active online at a younger age.

Corresponding with Staff

Whilst parents have access to staff work email addresses, I would like to advise parents that staff are directed not to respond to emails outside of work hours. Staff will endeavour to respond to emails within 24 hours. I would also ask parents to make sure they treat all our staff with respect and understand that it is a partnership with parents to educate your child. If it’s important enough for a long email, I would ask you to please schedule an appointment instead.

Tuckshop - Salute Catering

Tuckshop will commence on Friday 7th February and orders can be placed online at https://www.salutecatering.com.au/tuckshop using the code: Lunch2025. Our tuckshop is run by Sally Gittus, a former St Agnes' parent, who provides a wonderful service for our families.

Before and After School Care

Extend OSHC are offering before-school care on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday mornings (6.45am-8.30am) and after school care every day (3:25pm - 6:00pm). Please complete your enrolment and bookings via https://www.extend.com.au/school/st-agnes-primary-school/. I encourage all families to utilise this service where needed.

Term 1 school fees

2025 school fee invoices will be sent out in the coming week. Please be on the lookout for these invoices and ensure payment is made promptly to avoid late payment fees. We encourage all families to set up direct debits and forms will be sent out for establishing this with the fee invoice.

Newsletter distribution list

The school newsletter was emailed to all families on a Wednesday. Please respond to the Operoo form sent earlier this week to update email addresses.

Other events for Term 1

District Swimming Trials and Training

On Tuesday 4th, 11th and 18th February, our staff are running swimming trails and training for the School Swimming Team. This is for Year Three to Six students only. Interested students must attend at least two sessions in order to be eligible for selection to the swimming team and be able to swim 50 metres confidently. More information has been sent via Operoo, but if you have any questions, please contact our Sports Coordinator Mr Simon Kost (skost@sahighett.catholic.edu.au). Unfortunately the SSV swimming carnival clashes with the Year 5/6 Canberra Camp in 2025. Year 5 and 6 students are welcome to attend the swimming trials even though they will be unable to compete at the SSV swimming carnival.

Beginning of Year Mass & Staff Commissioning - Friday 7th February at 9am

We will mark the start of the year with a Beginning of Year Mass on Friday 7th February at 9am in the Church. Parents are invited to attend.

Program Support Group Meetings

PSG meetings will held in support of those students on Personalised Learning Plans in the week beginning Monday 10th February. These families will be contacted directly by our Learning Diversity Leader Melinda Phyland and are in place of a Parent/Teacher Exchange meeting on Week 3.

Year 5 and 6 Canberra Camp - Monday 17th - Friday 21st February

Early on the morning of Monday 17th February, our Year 5 and 6 students will travel to Canberra for a week of camp. The children will explore many of the various experiences Canberra has to offer, from the War Memorial and the National Gallery to Parliament House and Scienceworks. They will return in the afternoon of Friday 21st February. Levi Otto, Josie Miller, Nicci Murdoch, Maddi McKee and Aggie Gorski will accompany the children. I thank the staff for giving up their personal time to go away with the children. More information has been communicated via Operoo.

SSV Interschool Swimming Carnival - Friday 21st February

The St Agnes’ School Swimming team will head to SSV Interschool Carnival to compete in various swimming events against other schools. Students need to attend at least two of the training sessions to be part of the swimming team.

Public Speaking Program (Debating) - Commences Tuesday 25th February

Our Year 5 and 6 students will continue to experience instruction around public speaking and debating from toastmaster Sandra De Geest this year. This course commences on Tuesday 25th February and will run for 5 weeks. This is a tremendous opportunity for our senior students to continue to develop their skills in this area.

Clean up Highett Day - Friday 28th February

As we have done over the past few years, our school community has gone out into Highett and Hampton East to help keep it clean. This coincides with Clean Up Australia Day on 2nd March. More information will communicated via Operoo at a later date.

Preps full time - Monday 3rd March

Our Prep students will be full-time at school from Monday 3rd March, as their testing will be complete.

Parents’ and Friends’ Committee meeting - Tuesday 4th March at 7.30pm

The P&F is meeting for the first time this term on Tuesday 4th March at 7.30pm in the Staff Room. All parents are welcome to attend and we ask Class Representatives to make a special effort to be present.

Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday

Ash Wednesday is on Wednesday 5th March February and, this year, we will mark the beginning of Lent by coming together for a whole school paraliturgy in the Church at 9am. Parents are welcome to join us for this. We will acknowledge Shrove Tuesday the day prior, with the cooking of pancakes; we will be looking for parent helpers to make this happen. Please contact your Class Rep if you can help out.

School closure days

The school will be closed on Thursday 6th and Friday 7th March for the staff to undertake professional development. I thank you in advance for your understanding and trust you will make the most of the extra long weekend. The school will also be closed for the Labour Day Public Holiday on Monday 13th March.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing for Years 3 and 5 will take place from Wednesday 12th March to Friday 14th March (Week 7). The children in Years 3 and 5 will be tested in Reading, Writing, Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation, and Numeracy. The school will work with the children over the coming weeks around test-taking strategies.

School Advisory Council meeting - Tuesday 18th March at 7.30pm

The first School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting will be held at school on Tuesday 18th March, commencing at 7.30pm. The SAC is an advisory body that supports the Principal and Parish Priest on matters relating to the education of the students at St Agnes'.

St Agnes’ Dads’ Night - Pot and Parma - Thursday 20th March

After a very successful inaugural effort, the St Agnes’ Dads Pot and Parma night is back. We are aiming to establish a St Agnes’ group to strengthen connection amongst St Agnes’ fathers and father figures. Please register your attendance with Year 5 Dad Bart Carroll (bartscarroll7@gmail.com or 0421 877 991). 

Parent Helper Course

This year, we again welcome the support of parents to assist in our Prep and Year 1 classrooms during the morning literacy block. You will enjoy participating in your children’s education – we are in partnership with you and your support is invaluable. All parents are welcome to help. We require that all helpers assisting in the classrooms are fully trained and have a current Working with Children Check, which must be uploaded to your child's Operoo profile prior to the commencement of the training sessions. We need helpers from 9.45am to 10.45am each day. There will be a compulsory training session (approximately 1 hour) for all new Prep parent helpers and any new helpers in Year 1. The training session will be run by Amanda Baker and Judith Barton in the Hall on Thursday 20th March at 9.00am. Please contact Judith Barton (jbarton@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) to confirm your interest.

Year 5/6 Parish Mass

The Year 5 and 6 children will participate in Parish Mass on Friday 21st March at 9am. All parents and families are welcome to join this mass.

Prep Resilience Seminar - Tuesday 25th March

On Tuesday 25th March, we will be hosting an information night on Resilience for our Prep families and any families new to our school. The night will be facilitated by Student Wellbeing expert Georgina Manning, with a focus on how parents can help children to be resilient young people. It is essential that at least one parent from each Prep family attends, but it would be even better if both parents could be present.

St Agnes’ Sports Carnival

We are expecting our annual Sports Carnival to held on Friday 28th March at Rowans Road Athletics track. Details regarding this will be confirmed soon.

Last day of Term 1 - Friday 4th April

On the final day of Term 1, we will have our traditional Easter Bonnet Parade and then acknowledge the events of Holy Week, with an Easter paraliturgy. We will then move into a whole school activity day, focused on promoting positive relationships between our students. More information will be provided closer to the day. Students will finish at 1.30pm on this day.