PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Week 1, Term 2

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A big welcome back to all St Agnes’ families for Term Two. I trust that your family had a restful Easter holiday break and are recharged and ready for another term of learning, fun, community and connection. After this short week, it promises to be a reasonably uninterrupted term, with some excellent opportunities for sustained teaching, learning and then assessment, in preparation for Semester One Reporting. The children and teachers have returned to school in great spirits and are enjoying being back together in the classroom and, as you can see below, on the playground.

Being the first newsletter of the term, this edition outlines many of the events and experiences happening in our school from now until early July. I encourage you to get your family calendar ready and mark the important dates referenced for ease of planning. Soon to follow will be Class Newsletters from your child’s teacher, with more specific information about curriculum foci and key dates for your year level(s).

Anzac Day

Today we marked Anzac Day as a school community with a celebration planned and led by the School Captains, Izzy and Harry. It unpacked the significance of this day of commemoration, as well as the symbols associated with Anzac Day. We are grateful to Izzy, Harry and the Social Justice Captains for their work. This is yet another example of our Year Six students being incredible examples of the quality of young people in our school. Izzy and Harry will also contribute to the Highett RSL Dawn Service on Friday morning, by reciting a poem each and also laying a wreath on behalf of our school community. Thank you to all of the families who have baked Anzac Biscuits for the children to purchase and enjoy at school tomorrow. All funds raised with this initiative will be given to the Highett RSL to support the families of returned service men and women. This is a longstanding relationship with our school and one that is reciprocated in a number of different ways. The children are also invited to purchase Anzac Day commemorative merchandise for sale at school.

St Agnes’ Sports Carnival

We have rescheduled the St Agnes’ Sports Carnival for Monday 12th May, to be held at Bricker Reserve (Rowan’s Road Moorabbin). There will be a callout via Operoo for parent volunteers to assist with the running of the day; if you are available to assist, all contributions will be highly valued.

Program Group Support (PSG) Meetings - Commencing Monday 28th April

Program Support Group Meetings will be held next week. Melinda Phyland has contacted families directly about appointments for these meetings. Thank you to those families involved for making time for these important discussions.

SSV Cross Country - Thursday 1st May

Yesterday our Year 3-6 Cross Country Team were ‘pounding the pavement’ around the school, training for the District Cross Country on Thursday 1st May at Bald Hill Park in Clarinda. The final training session will held at 8am next Tuesday morning. To be part of the Cross Country Team, students need to attend at least two training sessions. Further details regarding the event have been communicated via Operoo.

Open Day, Playgroup and Prep 2026

We have two Open Days remaining for prospective families to tour our school and visit our classrooms: Tuesday 29th April and Tuesday 13th May. Families can register for these events by following this link. There has continued to be a strong demand both through Open Days and individual school tours. A very high percentage of families visiting our school and choosing to enrol are doing so because of the positive things they are hearing from current families. While it is very affirming for our staff and the work they are doing, we are also very thankful for this advocacy from our community. Thank you. For those with 3 and 4 year old children, our Playgroup recommences for this term on Friday 2nd May at 9am in the Art Room.

Cybersafety Online Seminar - Inform and Empower - Thursday 15th May at 7.30pm

This year, our school will once again offer a parent seminar for families around the online safety of our students. Our parents are invited to join an online community webinar together with neighbouring schools. This way, you can tune in from your living room straight after dinner. We would strongly recommend that all Year 3-6 parents attend this online session, but all families are welcome to get involved. Marty and Carley from Inform and Empower offer up-to-date information around online trends, as well as practical strategies for parenting and managing tricky situations with your child. All parents who are interested are asked to register using the following link: bit.ly/CommunityWebinarMay15. This online webinar will supplement the work being completed by students in class, as they join their termly eSafety webinars from their classrooms. It will form part of a two-year cycle moving forward, with an onsite session in 2026.

Winter Uniform

As we do every year, there is a two week transition period for students to be in Winter uniform. All students are expected to be in full Winter uniform from the beginning of Week 3 (5th May). A reminder that the maroon spray jacket is to be worn over the top of the school jumper, not instead of. See below, the Winter uniform outline and Aidan (Y5) and Sophie (Y4) already rocking it!

P&F Meeting

Our Parents & Friends Committee will meet for the first time this term on Tuesday 29th April at 7.30pm. All parents are welcome to attend this meeting and we ask our Class Reps make a special effort to be in attendance please. On the agenda will be the Mother’s Day events, School Disco and the Parent Social Event for Term Three.

Year 5/6 Winter Sport - Football and Netball

On Friday afternoons during Term Two, our Year 5/6 students will play either Football or Netball against other schools from our local area. This will commence on Friday 2nd May and all students require a numbered Sports Top, which is available from uniform supplier, Noone. The focus of this is on participation and sportsmanship. More information to follow via Operoo.

Mother’s Day Activities

As we do every year, we mark Mother’s Day with a number of special events and 2025 is no different. It is vitally important that we celebrate our special ladies, including mums, grandmothers and special female figures in the lives of the children. Below is an outline of what we have planned for this year and we hope you can get along to most of it!

• Mother’s Day Stall - Friday 2nd May - The children will have the opportunity to purchase a gift for their mum or special lady at this stall. The children can bring up to $10 and will shop with siblings so there is no double up! Thank you to our Year 3 and 5 families for running the stall, especially Jenny Cummings and Karen McGoldrick.
• P&F Mother’s Day Cocktail Party - Friday 2nd May - The St Agnes’ P&F are hosting a Mother’s Day Cocktail Party at the Half Moon Hotel in Brighton. All mothers and special ladies are invited to this event. Tickets are on sale now via the P&F Website.
• Mother’s and Special Friends Breakfast - Thursday 8th May at 7.30am - Held in the School Hall; all Mother’s and special ladies are invited to come along to this event. There will be breakfast options for the mums and children, with the Dad’s doing all the work. Head across to the P&F page of this newsletter for more information.
• Mother’s and Special Friends Liturgy - Thursday 8th May at 08.50am - Over the next three weeks, the children will be working hard to bring together this celebration for our special ladies. It will be entirely led by the children and I strongly encourage all mums to take an hour out of your day to come along for this. Each of the classes are preparing a small element of the liturgy to share with our mums. We know that there are ‘busy’ times in the lives of our families, but mothers do so much for their children and this is your turn to enjoy the spoils for once.

SAC Meeting - Tuesday 6th May

The School Advisory Council will meet on two occasions this term, the first of which is Tuesday 6th May at 7.30pm.

Fete Committee Meeting - Tuesday 6th May

Our 2026 Fete Committee is also gathering at school on Tuesday 6th May from 7pm. All parents are welcome to join the Fete Committee and are welcome to attend this meeting.

Pope Francis

Together as a community, we acknowledge the death of and pray for Pope Francis. A very progressive and globally-minded faith leader, Pope Francis urged all in the Catholic community to look outwards, to care for the earth and care for one another. We look forward to hearing more about his successor in the time ahead.

Sacrament of First Eucharist

This term, our Year Four students commence preparation for the Sacrament of First Eucharist. This is a special step in the faith journey of the children and there are two key dates to be aware of:

• Family Faith Night: Wednesday 14th May at 7pm
• Sacrament Mass: Saturday 21st June at 6pm

We look forward to coming together to support the children in the lead up to this occasion.

LSO Staffing

Lynn Miller - As most of you know, Lynn has been struggling with structural issues in her feet for some time. Lynn is having surgery to reconstruct one of her feet on Tuesday 6th May and will be on leave for six weeks. We wish Lynn well for this surgery and a speedy recovery.

Georgia Pafumi - Georgia has resigned her position at St Agnes’ due to the struggle with balancing work and study. Georgia has been at St Agnes’ for two years in a small part-time role. Georgia’s last day will be on Friday 2nd May and we wish her well in her future endeavours.

Our LSO team will be reduced for a short period of time through part of term two, but we will be working with this team to ensure our students continue to be well supported.

St Agnes’ Snippets

Walk for Water

At the end of last term, in an effort to connect to the learning and work done around Project Compassion, our Social Justice Captains organised a ‘Walk for Water’. This act of solidarity was to help build empathy among our students for those around the world living with water scarcity. Carrying buckets of water around the block for 30 minutes certainly gave the children some insight. Thank you to Mrs Gorski for driving this.

Nudel Kart Incursion

WOW, wasn’t this fun! Today our Preps were treated to an incursion from Scott and Nudel Kart! This STEM incursion fosters skills of engineering, creativity and teamwork. Thank you to Mrs Barton and Mrs Baker for organising this for the children!

Term Two School Fees

Term Two School Fees are now payable. Updated fee statements will be sent out in the next week. Please ensure prompt payment and contact Shannon Shine (sshine@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) if you would like to set up a direct debit or payment plan.

Tuckshop Commencement

Tuckshop will commence next week, Friday 2nd May. Orders can be placed online.

Assembly

Assemblies are in the Hall on Wednesday afternoons at 2.40pm. Parents are welcome to attend. At assembly, there will be presentations from classes, student awards, birthday acknowledgements and special announcements from student leaders.

Wed 23rd Apr - Anzac Day Ceremony - School Captains

Wed 30th Apr - Year 6

Wed 7th May - Year 5

Wed 14th May - Year 4

Wed 21st May - Year 3

Wed 28th May - Social Justice Captains

Wed 4th June - Year 2

Wed 11th June - Year 6 - Leadership

Wed 18th June - Year 1

Wed 25th June - Prep B and D

Wed 2nd July - Social Justice Captains

We are looking forward to another great term!

Enjoy the long weekend!

Kind regards,

Lachie.

Event details for Term Two

PSG Meetings - Commencing Monday 28th April 

Program Support Group Meetings will be held next week. Melinda Phyland has contacted families directly about appointments for these meetings.

Open Days

We have two Open Days remaining for the year will be held on Tuesday 29th April and Tuesday 13th May. Prospective families are welcome to come along any time between 9am and 3pm on those days.

Parents and Friends Committee Meeting - Tuesday 29th April at 7.30pm

The Parents and Friends Committee will meet for the first time in Term Two at school on Tuesday 29th April at 7.30pm in the Staffroom. All parents are welcome to attend and we ask our Class Reps to please make a special effort to be there.

SSV District Cross Country - Thursday 1st May

Our Cross Country team will compete against other local schools at the Holt District Cross Country on Thursday 1st May. The event is held at Bald Hill Park in Clarinda and parents are welcome to come along to support. Further information has been communicated via Operoo.

Interschool Winter Sport

On Friday afternoons during Term Two, our Year 5/6 students will play either Football or Netball against other schools from our local area. This will commence on Friday 2nd May and all students require a numbered Sports Top, which is available from uniform supplier, Noone. The focus of this is on participation and sportsmanship.

St Agnes’ Playgroup - Friday 2nd May

Playgroup occurs fortnightly on a Friday and is led by Mrs Baker. There are five sessions this term and thank you to those who have already registered. It is a lovely way to connect the little ones together and to our school.

Mother’s Day Stall - Friday 2nd May

The children will have the opportunity to purchase a gift for their mum or special lady at this stall. The children can bring up to $10 and will shop with siblings so there is no double up! Please contact Jenny Cummings (Y3) or Karen McGoldrick (Y5) to dob yourself in dads.

P&F Mother’s Day Cocktail Party - Friday 2nd May

The St Agnes’ P&F are hosting a Mother’s Day Cocktail Party at the Half Moon Hotel in Brighton. All mothers and special ladies are invited to this event - the more the merrier. Tickets on sale via the P&F Website.

SAC Meeting

The School Advisory Council will meet on two occasions this term, the first of which is Tuesday 6th May at 7.30pm.

Mother’s/Special Friends Day Breakfast and Liturgy - Thursday 8th May

This special breakfast and liturgy will be held in the hall and church on Thursday 8th May. I encourage all mums and special ladies to come along to these special events.

St Agnes’ Sports Carnival - Monday 12th May

We have rescheduled the St Agnes’ Sports Carnival for Monday 12th May, to be held at Bricker Reserve (Rowan’s Road Moorabbin). There will be a callout via Operoo for parent volunteers to assist with the running of the day; if you are available to assist, all contributions will be highly valued.

Sacrament of First Eucharist

This term, our Year Four students commence preparatoin for the Sacrament of First Eucharist. This is a special step in the faith journey of the children and there are two key dates to be aware of:

• Family Faith Night: Wednesday 14th May at 7pm
• Sacrament Mass: Saturday 21st June at 6pm

Cybersafety - Inform and Empower - Thursday 15th May at 7.30pm

This year, our school will once again offer a parent seminar for families around the online safety of our students. Our parents are invited to join an online community webinar together with neighbouring schools. All parents are asked to register using the following link: bit.ly/CommunityWebinarMay15. This online webinar will supplement the work being completed by students in class, as they join their termly eSafety webinars from their classrooms. It will form part of a two-year cycle moving forward, with an onsite session in 2026.

Principal’s Conference - Week commencing 19th May

In the week commencing Monday 19th May, I will be on professional learning leave with the South Central Principal’s Network. We will be visiting remote schools in Broome and the Kimberly Region, in line with Child Safe Standard 1 - Culturally Safe Environments. Amanda Baker will be Acting Principal while I am away.

Year 3/4 Year Level Parish Mass

Our Year 3/4 students will participate in Friday morning mass with the weekday mass-goers at 9am on Friday 23rd May. Parents are welcome to attend this mass also. 

District Soccer Lightning Premiership - Friday 23rd May

We will have two teams heading off to represent our school at the Holt District Soccer Lightning Premiership. The event is held at Caulfield Park (Balaclava Road) and parents are welcome to attend. More information to follow for those students/families involved.

Prep Prayers in Pyjamas - Wednesday 28th May at 7pm

We are excited to host our Prep Prayers in Pyjamas night once again this year. The children are asked to come along to school with mum and/or dad, dressed in their PJs to learn as a family about prayer. Parents are certainly not required to wear PJs, but welcome to if you wish!

St Agnes’ Biggest Morning Tea - Thursday 29th May 

We will once again host the Biggest Morning Tea in support of the Cancer Council Australia. Parents and family members are welcome to join us for morning tea and some other activities on this day.

King’s Birthday Public Holiday

Our school will be closed for the King’s Birthday Public Holiday on Monday 9th June.

SSV Football and Netball Lightning Premierships

Thursday 12th June & Friday 13th June

The school will have representative teams head to the Holt District Netball and Football Lightning Premiership competitions on Thursday 12th and Friday 13th June respectively. The school will select our best teams for these competitions.

P&F Disco - Friday 13th June

The Parents & Friends Committee will be hosting the annual student disco. There will be a Junior and a Senior disco on the night. More information to follow.

Prep-Year 2 Year Level Parish Mass - Friday 27th June

Our junior students will participate in Friday morning mass with the weekday mass-goers at 9am on Friday 27th June. Parents are welcome to attend this mass also.

End of Semester Reports - Friday 27th June

End of Semester Reports will be sent home on Friday 27th June. A hard copy will be sent home and an electronic copy will be available via the nForma Parent Portal.

Parent - Teacher Interviews - Tuesday 1st July

As part of the end of semester assessment and reporting process, Parent/Teacher Exchanges provide the opportunity to discuss your child’s report. Booking information will follow. The students will be dismissed at 1pm on this day.

Shine the Light - Social Justice Action Day - Friday 4th July

We finish Term Two with a focus on social justice on Shine the Light Social Justice Day. More information will be communicated later in the term.

Last Day of Term Two

Term Two concludes on Friday 4th July at 1.30pm.