P & F Newsletter
Hi St James Families,
WEDNESDAY 25th OCTOBER- FOOD DAY
WEDNESDAY 1st NOVEMBER- TWILIGHT SPORTS
SATURDAY 18th NOVEMBER- PARISH FETE DAY
TUESDAY 22nd NOVEMBER- P&F MEETING AGM
COMING UP- CHRISTMAS RAFFLE, BAKERS DELIGHT FUNDRAISER and SUBWAY FOOD DAY in DECEMBER
FETE DAY- JUST UNDER 4 WEEKS AWAY-
Only 3 weeks and 5 days left until the fete! had a look through the sign-up sheets and there are many, many spots to fill!! Help the stall coordinators relax a bit and fill a spot to make this day a great success! See the FETE NEWSLETTER NO 3 from our Coordinator Jen Harvey.
FETE RAFFLE
By now, you should have received your Fete raffle tickets. Here's a fantastic reason to participate: 50% of the ticket dollars sold go directly back to the school, supporting our educational initiatives. Plus, there are some incredible prizes up for grabs, all thanks to the generous Fete Raffle Sponsors:
- Biggin & Scott - Mitcham- Cycle Science – Mitcham- Whitehorse Medical Centre- Buccatini Restaurant and Bar
- Mitcham Junior Football- Vermont Junior Football Club
Don't forget, please return all ticket books by November 3rd, whether they're sold or unsold. Every book needs to be accounted for to make this raffle a success. Thanks to Claire Doherty for taking on the role of coordinating this again.
REFERENDUM DAY BBQ
What a great success the Referendum Day BBQ was last Saturday thanks to a big group of volunteers who gave their time to support the P&F and ultimately the school. The biggest thanks goes to Dan Savoia who put in a lot of work and time to make this day a success. Over the past 3 or 4 years we have had 2 Dads Dan and Dylan who are always putting their hand up to help coordinate BBQ’s and I am very grateful for this. They are booth coordinating the Fete BBQ so please sign up to help them as a way of thanks for all their unpaid work and enthusiasm! I'd also like to thank the following amazing volunteers for generously donating their time on the day: Tom Langford, Eddie Warfield, Claire Doherty, Dave Unkles, Yonna Tang, Matt Yeung, David Boal, Adrian Epifano, Tom Dougherty, Dan Moylan, James Wingate, Stefan Festa, Rachelle Mosca and Kylie McMahon
We raised $920 which is a terrific result for such a fundraiser!!
P&F MEETING THANKS
Thank you to Rachelle and Emily for attending last week's P&F Meeting along with Dave and Anita and myself. It was a pretty disappointing turnout for our last meeting before the AGM in late November, but we forged ahead and discussed quite a few things and celebrated our successes. Though no feedback had been received regarding the timing of meetings following a request, we did decide that next year if the P&F continues, that more meetings, probably all, will be held in the evening as they had a slightly better turn out which is understandable given the increasing pressures on parent’s time. I do understand this. I have found it hard to hold meetings this year as my husband is a shift worker and I don’t have access to babysitters who can ferry my kids around in the evenings. With only 1 leader I can’t rely on co-leaders to step in and have had to shuffle things around, but we have made it work so we can have a few meetings to encourage others to get involved and informed.
P&F Meetings are run in an organised but informal way and a great way to meet people and contribute to the life of the school. It is the best way to learn how things work and how you can contribute, and this becomes easier to take in if you attend regularly. Not all jobs are big jobs. There are many little things that people can do to help those that are coordinating larger roles, such as helping source donations for the sponsorship/donation’s coordinators.
Please see the minutes from last Monday's meeting below:
Thank you to Rachelle for taking the minutes.
P&F MEETING MINUTES 16-10-23.docx
P&F 2024
As you have been hearing since the middle of Term 1 we are looking for a new leadership team to take over next year overseeing the running of the P&F. Not one person but a team...4 would be good and preferred. If one person can run it imagine how easy a team of 4 would find it.
I have had quite a bit of feedback expressing some disappointment that I can no longer lead the P&F. While I am very sorry that I can no longer lead the P&F, even if I could, 4 yrs is a bit more than is expected as a leader. Prior to that I was quite heavily involved for 5 yrs and so nine 9 yrs is enough even if I could continue. Space needs to be made for the new generation!
It's quite a good role to have, not as hard as it looks and being hard is not the reason I need to stop. It helps to be efficient and organised but to run it and a relaxed, open and informal way. I have done my best to make things as organised as possible for a team to take over and will still be around to answer questions and even update flyers should there be a need. As always in saying that a new team can change things up to suit what works for them. We also need a new Treasurer to work with Rachelle who only has 1 year left at the school and a couple of new Food Day Coordinators would be nice! The last two did a stint of 3 and 4 yrs each and I am close to 7.5! It's heaps easier now and 2 working together would make it really quite an easy role.
A team of leaders is an absolute must though for anything to go ahead so please consider talking to some friends and creating a team. Without a P&F our kids will no longer have Food Days, Cinema Night, Disco, Stalls, Friday Treats, Father's Day Breakfast, BBQ’s and no whole school parent functions, some of which we have missed this year.
On top of that we will also miss the fundraising that has helped add to and maintain our beautiful school environment for the benefit of our kids. As I have said before, not only do the funds raised provide things such as a new playground, improved play surfaces, improved heating and cooling and shade sales that directly benefit our children, but it has also funded such things as the new school fence (2019), which greatly improved the appearance of our school. All these extras make the school more appealing to those seeking a place to enrol their children and increased enrolments mean better programs and opportunities for all our children.
Anyway, that is enough from me again, as you would have heard it all before. Hopefully I can get some 2024 Positions to Fill sign ups out soon and if you have any questions about leading the P&F please talk to Dave or myself.
FOOD DAY NEXT WEEK- 4 VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!
Thanks to everyone for getting your orders in on time for this week's Food Day. Thanks to Vali and Sarah for signing up to join Katrina, Stefanie and Chandika and I to get these lunches sorted for our kids.
I still need 3-4 volunteers for helping sort and deliver orders to the classrooms this WEDNESDAY 25th OCT. It’s just the 10:15-11am spots to fill now.
Your help will be greatly appreciated: volunteersignup.org/9HJKK
Please only sign up if you promise to let me know if your plans change and you can't make it!
TWILIGHT SPORTS BBQ
Please see again all the details below about our great school and community event coming up on Wednesday 1st NOVEMBER
Please arrive by 3:45pm for a 4pm start.
Details of food and drink available at the BBQ are below. We encourage payment by EFTPOS as it's quicker and much easier for volunteers afterwards.
Food is available for families during the event and while we have ordered more sausages for hungry children after the event, we encourage you to purchase for your kids competing prior so as to not miss out. While we need to make the track available to others after 7pm, the BBQ will still be running right until everyone leaves.
There has been a good response to a call out for volunteers but with the event only 10 days away we really need to fill quite a few more spots.
Please sign up here if you can help: volunteersignup.org/RL9EB
A very big thanks to the Grade 4 P&F Event Team Clemi Kohombanwickremage, Anoushka Naillah, Jun Yeung and Emma Lovick for all their planning for this event.
Thank you,
Kylie
St James Parent and Friends Association