PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

The term is back in full swing and it’s staggering that we are nearing the end of October. It’s been a terrific start to the term and so much has already taken place, with a great deal to look forward to. With the transition to daylight savings now behind us, a gentle reminder to all families to ensure your child is getting to school on time. Often when children are late to school regularly, it is because they are not getting enough sleep. It is vital the children get 10-11 hours of sleep each night to ensure they can be at their best in the classroom. We have had an increasing number of children coming through the front office after 8.45am, which makes it difficult for them to make a strong start to the day. Children benefit greatly from a predictable routine, especially as things get busy from now until the end of the year.

St Agnes’ Walkathon

The postponement of the Walkathon last week was a downer for the children as many were looking forward to it greatly. The new date that has been identified for the Walkathon is Friday 15th November. Fingers crossed for a mild sunny day so we can get down to Peterson Street Reserve for some running, walking and fundraising. We are looking to set a record with fundraising, so encourage your children to get busy in generating sponsorship!

Fundraising efforts & Asphalt Resurfacing

With the postponement of the Walkathon, it creates an opportunity for us to share some progress as to our fundraising efforts this year. Earlier this year our P&F, Fete Committee and broader parent community came together to raise north of $35,000 at the 2024 St Agnes’ Fete. This was an incredible effort. It has provided the springboard for an extremely successful year of fundraising. The fete effort has been supplemented by the Op Shop Ball raising around $5,000, as well as other smaller, but very valuable efforts such as icy poles, sausage sizzles, Mothers/Fathers Day stalls/events, amongst other things. As you can see below, including a small contribution from the school, we are approaching our target of $77,313 to complete this playground upgrade. I encourage all children and families to share the Walkathon link (below) far and wide to help us reach the target. There are opportunities for donations per lap completed by the children or a stand-alone figure, with all support big and small greatly appreciated.

Planning for the future of St Agnes’

Schools are transient places; people come and people go. Right now, we, the students, parents and staff are the custodians of the school and it’s our job to leave it in a better place than we found it. From February 2023-February 2025, we expect the school to have grown by around 45% (50+ students). This is rapid growth and while we understand the growth will likely slow down, we do expect some growth to continue in the next few years. Our forecast indicates that we will (in all likelihood) end up with two Prep classes again in 2026, so we need to start planning for what the future of St Agnes’ looks like now. Next week, Smith + Tracey Architects will visit the school to engage with staff and the School Advisory Council (parent group) around the next phase of detailed master planning. We need an up-to-date detailed master plan to be considered for federal and state government funding applications, so this is important work. Due to the size of our site, we can only grow so much and we are absolutely fine with maintaining our identity as a smaller school, but it is exciting to see our school becoming one of choice in the local area. In addition to the above, today we secured a small amount of funding from MACS to help refurbish the portable classroom in readiness for use in 2025/2026, likely as our Library. Thank you to all of our parent community for advocating for our school in the local community. We have been very busy with school tours in the first two weeks of this term, as families are looking to transfer from other local schools. Please keep it going.

Staffing appointments for 2025

As we do every year, there is always some level of change in our staffing and 2025 will be no different. Some change in our staff team is actually healthy for the continuous improvement of our school. These staffing changes are outlined below:

• Jacquelyn Mendel has accepted her first teaching role at St Patrick’s Primary School in Mentone. Jacquie has been a Learning Support Officer at St Agnes’ for two years, mainly working in the Junior school. We wish Jacquie well as she commences her teaching career.
• Jake McMahon has accepted a position at St Jude’s Primary School Langwarrin. Jake lives in that area and with a young family, it was time for him to work closer to home which we can all understand and support. Jake has worked at St Agnes’ since he was a graduate and made a terrific contribution to the school across four years.
• Anthea Georgiou will go on parental leave at the end of this year, as she prepares to welcome her second child with her husband Nick. We wish Anthea well and expect to see her back in 2026.
• As previously communicated, Louisa Di Pietro has decided to work closer to home in 2025 and has accepted a part-time position at St Kilda Park Primary School. We look forward to seeing Louisa at our End of Year/Graduation Liturgy.
• Cassandra de Kretser and Ella Tremonti have been appointed to their first classroom teacher roles at St Agnes’ in 2025. Both Cassandra and Ella are very strong young educators having worked in other schools as Learning Support Officers. Thank you in advance for welcoming these staff to our school when the time comes.
• Lisa Hampson will return to classroom teaching in 2025 at St Agnes’, after completing some additional study this year. Lisa has been an integral part of our staff for three years now and will further her impact in a teaching capacity in 2025.
• Josie Miller is returning from parental leave in 2025, following the arrival of her third child earlier this year. For those of you who don’t know Josie, she is an experienced, high calibre teacher and we look forward to having her back on our staff next year.
• Our two Prep Teachers for 2025 will be Judith Barton and Cassandra de Kretser. These two staff will make a terrific team as we welcome two Prep classes in 2025, for the first time in many years.

All other classroom teacher placements will be communicated later in the year. We must first finalise Leadership Roles and then everything else can fall into place. Thank you for your understanding and patience with this.

Prep Orientation

Last week we welcomed our 2025 Prep children into the school for their first orientation session. It was a terrific experience for all of the children; they were brave, attentive and social, which was terrific to see. One of the things we were most proud of is the leadership and support shown by our current Year Four students, who helped the new Preps settle into the orientation session. The care demonstrated by these children was something our staff were very proud of. These children will be our ‘buddies’ for the Preps in 2025 and they are off to a great start.

Learning Support Officers

I would like to take a moment to reflect on the contribution of our Learning Support Officers in the delivery of our curriculum at St Agnes’. Last week we concluded our Program Support Group (PSG) Meetings for students on Personalised Learning Plans at our school. Driven by the teachers and leaders, but implemented by our LSOs, this work is so vital to ensuring all children can access the curriculum. Never sitting still, always engaging with individuals and small groups of students around learning, their work is highly valued and has continued to evolve. Thank you to Lisa Hampson, Lynn Miller, Bec Emmerson, Kristina Eterovic, Jacquie Mendel and Georgia Pafumi. We’d be lost without them.

St Agnes’ Trash and Treasure Market - Sunday 10th November

Our P&F Committee is hosting the second annual Trash and Treasure Market in the school grounds on the morning of Sunday 10th November, from 9am onwards. Amy Anderson is leading the effort and being supported by Georgia Sotiroski.  Further details are available on the Trash & Treasure section of the newsletter. If you are able to support this event either before or on the day, please contact Amy (pennyfarthingevents@gmail.com).

Year 4 Camp

Our Year 4 students are off to Summit Camp from Wednesday 6th November-Friday 8th November. Camps are such a valuable part of our overall offering at St Agnes’. They provide such wonderful opportunities to develop social connection, as well as skills of self management, independence and resilience. Tracey Law, Georgia Pafumi and I will be heading to camp with the children. I would like to thank Tracey and Georgia for giving up their personal time to go on camp with the children. Summit is an award-winning outdoor activity camp in the Gippsland region and one the children will no doubt enjoy. More information has been communicated directly with the Year 4 parents via Operoo. Year 3 Zoo Snooze is next up in mid November.

Melbourne Cup Long Weekend

A friendly reminder that the school is closed on Monday 4th November for the long weekend. I trust that families will make the most of this in preparation for a busy lead into Christmas. Children are expected to be in full summer uniform after the long weekend.

From Naomi Field - Thank you

"A very big thank you to all the P & F and broader parent group for the beautiful white hydrangea and cards with such gorgeous words that you gave me. I have had such amazing support and love from so many over the last few weeks; the wonderful St Agnes’ community being one of them. I feel so lucky to work amongst such warm and kind, not to mention very hardworking and efficient group of people who do it all on a voluntary basis too. If nothing else this experience has made me value more than ever the importance of supportive relationships and to celebrate the simple, wholesome, and precious things in life. The Primary school years, for both the children and parents being one of them. And all the children’s cards were so beautiful too - made my week that’s for sure! Thank you again to everyone for your kindness and love. I am doing well, miss everyone and look forward to being back to see your happy faces sooner rather than later."

Swimming Program

Our Prep to Year 4 students are well and truly into the swing of the swimming program which commenced earlier this week. We are very proud of those students who were apprehensive, but were brave and took a (safe) risk in the pool. We look forward to seeing their progress in the swimming carnival later in the year.

Grange Road and Livingston Kinder Visits St Agnes’

Next week, we look froward to two visits from neightbouring Kindergarten’s Grange Road and Livingston. These two kinders feed into our school and our connection continues to grow stronger and stronger. Thank you to Amanda Baker and Judith Barton for keeping this work going.

Callan and Estelle - Southern Metro Region Athletics

Congratulations to Callan Duddy and Estelle Warnes who both competed at the Southern Metro Region Athletics on Monday. Estelle won her 100m sprint heat and was the fourth fastest overall, which is a great effort. Callan finished second in both the 200m sprint and the 80m hurdles, meaning he will progress to the State Athletics Championships. This is the second time in three years Callan has progressed to the State Athletics. An incredible effort.

School Fees

Term Four School Fees are due by the end of this week. Fees are payable via EFT, cash or credit card. Please contact Shannon (sshine@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) in the office to organise payment. All fees for 2024 must be settled by the due date.

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.

Wednesday 30th Oct - Year 5

Wednesday 6th Nov - Year 3

Wednesday 13th Nov - Year 4

Wednesday 20th Nov - Prep

Wednesday 27th Nov - Advent & Christmas Appeal - Mini Vinnies

Wednesday 4th Dec - Advent - Year 2

Wednesday 11th Dec - Year 6 Final Assembly

Have a great week.

Kind regards,

Lachie.