A new pavillion in the park?

At the end of last term I met with Parks Victoria staff to learn about a new facility which they are planning to build in the parkland near to the school.

The growing number of sports team using the park has meant that Parks will be building a new community pavilion to serve 'oval number 1' - the oval immediately outside our school side gate.

As well as changing facilities for sporting teams, Parks are especially keen that the pavillion also be used by a range of other community groups, particularly the school.

Through consultation and feedback last year the school shared that being able to access the following faciliites would really help us out on a day-to-day basis as we currently struggle with the following;

A larger space to facilitate staff and community meetings, events and professional development (with a kitchen)
small spaces for use by instrumental music teachers and visiting therapists and para-professionals
A first aid facility we could use for school events such as sports days and walkathons
A large external area where we could gather the students for assemblies and other activities
changing and shower facilities for staff cycling to school

It was great to see that the plans developed by Parks Victoria feature all of the above spaces and facilities and they have indicated that we would be welcome to regularly make use of these, particularly as the pavillion will generally not be used by anyone else during school hours.

School Council are now working to understand how any usage might look and to clarify how the construction process and other groups' use of the pavillion during school time could impact on school operations.

We look forward to plans being finalised in the near future and constructon beginning later this year. Parks Victoria intend that the pavillion will be and running by the middle of 2022.

We will keep the school community updated with any further developments.

Fundraising and community events

Ever since our beatifully-timed 2020 School Fete in March last year, running school social events and fundraising activities has been incredibly challenging.

Whilst we wish it weren't the case, the school does still need to rely on fundraising from our parent community to help make your child's time at SKiPPS the best it can be.

Past fundraising by our community has allowed us to build our student kitchen dining room facility and establish our school kitchen garden, purchase interactive whiteboards and devices for classrooms, build playgrounds, create our outdoor 'quiet area', resurface the basketball court and many other wonderful additions to the school.

The way that government schools are currently funded mean that none of these exciting projects would have been possible without raising this additional money from our community.

This year we are starting to create 'classroom libraries' in our learning spaces. These will be attractive areas in each room with a wide and engaging range of books for students to read and be inspired by. We believe that these libraries will directly impact on student engagement and achievement in reading and writing.

To fund these libraries, our fundraising sub-committee group have had to get creative and explore 'covid-safe' ways to raise money.

Later in the newsletter, you will read about three of these initiatives. We ask all of our SKiPPS families to support these fun activities as their success will directly improve your child's school experience. A few more details are below;

Our first ever range of SKiPPS merchandise is now on sale and uses elements of our amazing school mural in a range of products which will be excellent presents for the whole family.

Our annual Gala Night at the St Kilda Town Hall is taking place on Saturday 4th september (restrictions allowing). This event and the accompanying silent auction will be both an amazing evening of entertainment but also the major fundraiser for the school this year.

The 'design your own paver' fundraiser is still open for a couple more weeks. Thanks to the many, many families who have already ordered and designed their own paving brick. These will be ordered and installed around the school playground by the end of the school year.

Further details on how to get involved and support these activities can be found later in the newsletter.

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