PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Term 3 - Week 5

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There has been so much great stuff happening at St Agnes’ these past couple of weeks and so much to look forward to.

On Monday and Tuesday this week, we had a school reviewer come to visit our school. This is part of our 4 year improvement cycle and was the final evidence-gathering aspect of it. Judi Gurvich, the MACS-appointed reviewer for our school, visited last week to review our compliance with government standards and again yesterday to talk with students, staff and parents about their experiences in our school. At the end of the term, we will be provided with a comprehensive report outlining all of our strengths, opportunities and recommendations to inform strategic planning for the next four years at St Agnes’.

Whether you have been at the school a short time or a long time, most of you will know our school has been ‘on a journey’. When we were last reviewed in 2020, the school had been through a difficult ‘chapter’ in its history due to a number of factors. There had been a 40 per cent reduction in overall enrolments in the 18 months preceding this, which is a significant number of families. Pleasingly, as a community, we have turned this around and our school is now in a growth phase. This is a credit to the staff and parent community of our school for staying the course and maintaining a strong focus on the most important aspects of school life; student wellbeing, learning, teaching and community. I am grateful to the staff for their commitment to the students and families of our school. We continue to talk about a strong ‘moral imperative’ in our school; having students at the heart of everything we do, and looking closely at how we optimise outcomes for them. Thank you to the following parents for volunteering to be involved in discussions with the reviewer: Charlene Vien, Courtney Thompson, Michelle Crohan, Kieron Bibby, Anna Wassell, Felicity Langley, Anton Duddy, Karen McGoldrick, Bree Walsh, Luci Churchill, Alishia Boot, Carly Monahan, Jess Cox, Dayna Wilkie, Fiona Newington, Caroline Cunningham and Lauren Karpathakis.

As a staff, we are humbly quite proud of the progress we have made in our school over the past four years and we will celebrate this over the coming weeks. Below are the strengths and characteristics that Judi identified in our school:

• Strong instructional leadership drives school improvement through research-based practice and a clear vision.
• Skilled and committed staff nurture students, know their needs, encourage participation and take collective responsibility for learning and wellbeing.
• Three key initiatives are measures of this highly developed learning community: rich professional learning teams that challenge and build staff capacity; peer observation builds collective efficacy and professional practice; and learning sprints interrogate data and use action research to drive improvement.
• A welcoming, inclusive faith-filled learning environment that is well-resourced and addresses the needs of a diverse range of students.
• A very active parent community who greatly value the community spirit of the school and the skills, efforts and empathy of staff who connect with families and support children in their learning and wellbeing.

We of course have areas that we need to continue to work at, but what was most pleasing from Judi’s initial feedback; it is more about strengthening and continuing much of what we are already doing. I look forward to sharing the opportunities and recommendations, once they have been provided to the school in late September.

Children's Book Council of Australia (CBCA) - Book Week

Today our school celebrated Book Week and what a wonderful day it has been. Starting the day with the parade in the hall created a nice community feel, as we listened to the Library Captains Angelo and Rosie interview the children. Following this, everyone moved into groups with year levels mixed up to listen to and engage with literature. The performance this afternoon was a nice way to bring it all to life. Engaging with literature is such a vital part of family life. Standing on the gate this morning, there was such joy on the faces of the children as they brought their characters to life. We know that as children get older their capacity to develop reasoned thinking takes over from the sense of wonder we all love to see in young people. Literature is a wonderful way to continue to foster creativity and imagination with the children. Thank you to all of our families for helping the children bring this to life today through dress up and to those who donated books and coins for the postage. If you would like to donate extra books to the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation, please bring these in by the end of the week. Finally, thank you to our Junior Leader Mrs Judith Barton and Library Leader Lynn Miller for your efforts in organising this day.

P&F Op Shop Ball

This coming Friday night is the St Agnes’ P&F Op Shop Ball. It will be held in the hall from 7-11pm and promises to be a fantastic night, with live music and silent auction items for fundraising. There has been a significant number of tickets sold, surpassing previous P&F social events of the past three years. Ticket sales have closed, but if you are keen to come and didn’t quite get around to sorting a ticket, please contact Bree Walsh (Bree.lidgerwood@gmail.com). Last drinks will be served at 10.40pm and I ask all parents to be respectful of our neighbours when departing. There is help required for cleaning up on Saturday from 10-11am and as the old saying goes ‘many hands make for light work’. Again, please contact Bree if you can help with this. As previously mentioned, with the Fete and other P&F events, we have surpassed $50,000 in funds to go towards the resurfacing of the asphalt area. All funds raised at our school go directly back into improving the school for the children. The P&F has recently funded the redevelopment of the Peterson St garden area, central tree area, shade sails over the playground and a number of other major projects. I would like to thank Kosh Sothilingam and Rate One for sponsoring the event. I would also like to thank Nick Harber for organising donations of barley water from Coopers Brewery for the night. Thank you also to Bree Walsh, Sarah Gardner-Bibby and their working group for bringing this event together. Everyone is looking forward to a great night.

Final Playgroup

A reminder to all families with kinder-aged children that Friday 23rd August will be our final Playgroup session for the year. Formal Prep Orientation for those starting school in 2025 will commence mid-October.

Student Teacher and LSO Placement

In the coming weeks we have a number of pre-service teacher and LSO placements in the school. Cassandra de Kretser will commence on Monday in Prep until the end of term. Dhiksha Sookree will commence in Year 1 on Monday 9th September and Iris Zhi will commence LSO placement on Tuesday 20th August.

Sacrament of Confirmation Family Faith Night - Wednesday 21st August

Our Year 6 students have started preparing for the Sacrament of Confirmation and will gather together for a family faith night next Wednesday 21st August at 7.00pm. All children receiving this sacrament are expected to attend with at least one parent. Those wishing to participate with a blessing are also invited to attend. The sacrament mass is on Saturday 14th September at 6pm.

Year 3 and 4 Parish Mass - Friday 23rd August

Our Year 3 and 4 children are heading over to 9am mass on Friday next week to participate and lead. These masses are an important part of the faith life of our school as we continue to foster the parish-school relationship. Parents are welcome to attend these masses.

School Closure Day - Monday 26th August

A friendly reminder to all families that we have a school closure day on Monday 26th August for staff to complete a full first aid update. Despite our requests, Extend has decided not to offer supervision/care on this day.

Father’s Day Breakfast and Celebrations - Thursday 29th August

A reminder to all dads that the Father’s and Special Friends Day Breakfast will be held in the School Hall on Thursday 29th August from 7.30am. This is always a special event for our school. Helpers will be needed. Please get involved to make it a special morning for our dads and kids. The breakfast will be followed by a short presentation from the students. The Fathers Day stall will be held on Thursday 22nd August and children are welcome to bring $10 each to spend at the stall to buy a present for St Agnes’ dads and father figures.

Bully No Way Day

Our school will have some focused activities on Bully No Way Day on Friday 30th August. This is a national day of action all schools are invited to participate in. More information will be communicated in the next newsletter. The children are invited (no obligation) to wear a touch of purple on this day.

Thank you Nicole Jones

Nicole has been employed on a short-term contract at our school covering Anna Gugliucciello’s long service leave for the last 8 weeks. I would like to thank Nicole for her short, but valued contribution to our school. Nicole will be returning to St Mary’s Hampton, from where she has been on parental leave.

St Agnes’ Snippets

Prep 100 Days

Last Wednesday was a magical day for our Preppies as they celebrated 100 days of school. Coming through the gates as 100 year old children; making crowns and necklaces with 100 beads; a special lunch and finally assembly. The day had it all and I’m pretty certain Mrs Barton and Mrs Hampson slept well that night! Thank you to our parents for supporting and helping throughout the day.

Family Maths Night

Our annual Mathematics event returned to the evening slot this year and it was a great success. With children, parents and staff working together to build common understandings around the Science of Learning, cognitive load theory and daily review; it was a great night. Thank you to all those who made it along and to our wonderfully brave team of teachers for their work. Special mention to Mr Otto for his pre-work in getting it all ready.

First Eucharist

Congratulations to our students from Year 4 who received their First Eucharist on Saturday evening. The mass was absolutely fantastic and the children conducted themselves beautifully as they read readings, prayers and sung hymns. Thank you to our REL Aggie Gorski and Year 4 teacher Tracey Law for supporting the families in the preparation of the children.

Hooptime

A shout-out to our Year 5 and 6 ‘Hoopers’ who went to the Hooptime basketball event last Friday. Although we didn't come away with any shields this time, our students competed in the right spirit and their behaviour was exemplary once again. Thank you to Mr Kost for his organisation of the event and other staff who made it a fun day.

Special Visitors

Today we had some special visitors at recess time, with Louisa Di Pietro, her partner Paolo and their son Sandy visiting. Josie Miller also popped in for a visit with her youngest daughter Bella. Josie has been a staff member at St Agnes’ since 2018 and will be returning to work in a limited part-time capacity in Term Four, before increasing her work days in 2025. We look forward to welcoming Josie back. The staff were also excited to see Louisa and meet little Sandy. Please see below a short note from Louisa to the community of St Agnes’. 

Term Three School Fees

Term Three School Fees Statements have been sent, with fees payable via EFT, cash or credit card. Please contact Shannon (sshine@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) in the office for any fee queries.

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.

Wed 21st Aug - School/Sports Captains - Olympic Wrap Up

Wed 28th Aug - Year 5

Wed 4th Sept - Year 2

Wed 11th Sept - Year 4

Wed 18th Sept - Year 1

Enjoy the rest of the week!

Kind regards,

Lachie.