Dear Parents and Carers,

Apologies for the delay with this week’s newsletter. I was unwell midweek and didn’t quite have my contribution finished.

Another terrific week flies by at St Agnes’, culminating in the Walkathon down at Peterson Street Reserve today. Our week started with a ‘Mad about Science’ incursion for our Year 3 - 6 students on Monday morning, as well as swimming for our Prep - Year 4s, Public Speaking for our senior students and some beautiful Spring sunshine as well! It doesn’t get much better really! After four days of swimming lessons and a Walkathon, it’s no surprise that many of our students are starting to show signs of fatigue. Hopefully a quiet Friday night is on the cards in many of your households!

St Agnes’ Walkathon!

The annual St Agnes’ Walkathon is always one of the most enjoyable days on our school calendar: movement, connection and music.

It is also one of our major fundraisers and, as a school, we invest all monies raised through such efforts directly back into our classrooms and play spaces. In 2023 and 2024, our Parents & Friends Committee and Fete Committee are fundraising for two big needs in our school community - 90 student Chromebook Laptops (cost $60,000) and to

resurface the asphalt area (cost $100,000). You will see below, an initial mock up of what the current asphalt area may look like once redeveloped with synthetic grass. It is ambitious, but we are hoping to raise enough money over the next 18 months to cover the cost of the Chromebooks and finance the resurfacing. So, we encourage you and your children to ‘cast the net’ far and wide with fundraising and sponsorship efforts because every little bit helps, and we are very keen to ensure our school has the best educational facilities we can possibly offer our students. Sponsorship forms and instructions have been sent home, as well as the P&F account details for ease of transfer! Thank you in advance to all families for your support of our humble primary school.

Trash & Treasure Market - An incredible example of community spirit and parent engagement

Last Sunday, our playground space came to life with a trash and treasure market. An initiative of our Fete Committee and generously supported by many of our school families, all sorts of weird and wonderful items were on offer to Highett locals. Thank you to all involved, especially those who donated items, helped on stalls and also provided some cash for your children to splurge on treasures! All up, this venture raised over $2000 and will go towards covering expenses on Fete day, such as ride hire.

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools School Improvement Surveys

At the end of last term, all St Agnes’ families were invited to complete a survey about their experiences and perceptions of our school. Sometimes it is hard to quantify when the ‘vibe’ is good in a school, but these surveys have given a snapshot into the minds of our families - a partnership we value highly. The results are provided to us as a percentage of responses that are positive, neutral and negative. In the table below, we have recorded the percentage of positive responses under each indicator. You can see from the table below, the responses to the survey in the positive have reflected the great ‘vibe’ in our school this year and the terrific growth since this survey was first completed in 2019. Thank you to all families who took the time to complete the survey. It is great validation for our community and also all of our staff who work so very hard to deliver an excellent educational experience for your children and families.

Indicator	2019	2021	2022	2023
Family Engagement	57% positive	60%	65%	77%
School FIt	56% positive	77%	83%	86%
School Climate	59% positive	87%	90%	92%
Student Safety	64% positive	72%	78%	78%
Communication	44% positive	75%	84%	87%
Catholic Identity	60% positive	63%	65%	73%
Overall positive endorsement	62% positive	73%	77%	82%

Welcoming new families

As many of you know, St Joseph’s Primary School Black Rock is unfortunately closing at the end of 2023. This has been devastating for the families currently enrolled at St Joseph’s and also for the families who have had children attend the school over its rich history. I can confirm that we will welcome 15 families and 23 students into our community at the beginning of 2024 from St Joe’s. The students will be joining our cohorts across the school and I thank you in advance for warmly welcoming them. St Agnes’ P&F will host a morning tea on Friday 24th November (9.00am-9.30am) in our hall for the parents of these children and I encourage anyone who is available to come along to this small welcoming event. Together with the enrolments from St Joseph’s, a strong Prep 2024 cohort and other enrolments across the year levels, our overall school enrolment number is due to grow by 25-30% as at the beginning of 2024. It’s an exciting time to be at St Agnes’ Highett!

2024 Prep Orientation

Last week, our Prep Orientation program commenced for our 2024 Prep children. Like the Walkathon, it is always one of the most anticipated days of the year. The current Preps made it known that they are now the ‘big kids’ and ready to move onto Year 1.

The orientation sessions will continue for a few weeks yet and we also look forward to the Parent Information Night.

Orientation session 2 - Wednesday 25th October from 9am-11am
Orientation session 3 - Wednesday 8th November from 9am-11am
Parent Information Night - Tuesday 31st October at 7.30pm

School Advisory Council

On Tuesday night, the School Advisory Council (SAC) had the first meeting of the term. The role of the SAC is to advise the Principal and school leadership team. The SAC aims to work in the best interests of the St Agnes’ community and to assist and foster the growth and development of Catholic Education. We have three members stepping down at the end of this year. I would like to publicly thank Anton Duddy, Charlene Vien and Luci Minogue for their contribution to the SAC over the past few years. Anton has spent four years on the council, Charlene three and Luci two years. A special mention must go to Anton and Charlene for their two years of service as Chair and Secretary (respectively). We are looking for new members to join the SAC in 2024. The commitment is not huge; the greatest contribution is your opinion, discretion and attendance at meetings. Please feel free to speak to me if you would like to discuss what the role involves. The Annual General Meeting for the School Advisory Council will take place on Tuesday 21st November at 7:30pm.

Year 4 Summit Camp - Wednesday 1st to Friday 3rd November

Our Year 4 students will head to Summit Camp (Trafalgar East) for a two night overnight stay from Wednesday 1st to Friday 3rd November. Information has been sent to all Year 4 families via Operoo. Should you have any questions, please contact Senior School Leader, Aggie Gorski or Year 4 teacher, Tracey Law. Thank you to Tracey, Jacque Murphy and Jenna van Rensburg for giving up their personal time to accompany the children on camp.

South Metro Regional Athletics

Well done to Mackenzie Duddy for winning the long jump and 100m Sprint and setting two new records along the way. Congratulations also to Callan for finishing 3rd in the 80m Hurdles. Both Duddys' will be representing the school at the State Athletics Championships on Wednesday 1st of November and we wish them well for this event!

Staff Leave in Term Four

Our Office Manager, Shannon Shine will be taking three weeks' leave from Monday 23rd to Friday 10th November (inclusive). Shannon is taking an overseas holiday with her family! While Shannon is away, Naomi Field will be working full time in the office. We are lucky to have two great staff in our front office, who know each other’s roles so well.
Lynn Miller is taking four weeks' long service leave (23rd October to 17th November inclusive) to support her son while he finishes Year 12 exams.

School Fees

Term Four School Fees Statements were sent out on 5th October and are due today. Fees are payable via EFT, cash or credit card. Please contact Shannon (accounts@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) to organise payment.

Assembly

Assembly is held in the hall on a Wednesday afternoon. Parents are always welcome to attend. We continue to have class presentations, awards, birthdays and special announcements each week.

Wednesday 25th Oct - Arts Captains

Wednesday 1st Nov - Year 2

Wednesday 8th Nov - Remembrance Day Service (Social Justice Captains)

Wednesday 15th Nov - Year 1

Wednesday 22nd Nov - Music Showcase

Wednesday 29th Nov - Advent Week 1 (Year 3)

Wednesday 6th Dec - Advent Week 2 (Year 4)

Wednesday 13th Dec - Advent Week 1 (Year 5) & Year 6 Final Assembly

Enjoy the weekend.

Kind regards,

Lachie.

COMMUNITY NEWS