PRINCIPAL'S REPORT
Term 4 - Week 7
To subscribe to future newsletters, click here.
It is very exciting that we are only a week away from the 2024 St Agnes’ Art Show. It promises to be a wonderful social and community event for the school. There is an expectation all the children will attend along with their families. Included in the entry fee,
families will receive dinner for all children in the family (sausage sizzle), a drink on arrival and finger food for the adults. The event will run from 6:00pm to 8:00 pm. The booking link is again published below in today’s newsletter. For catering purposes, ticket sales close this Friday 22nd November at 4pm. The cost per family (no matter how many children) will be $30, which includes entry and refreshments. To support the school’s art resources, parents are invited to purchase their child’s artwork. Each child will have three or more pieces of work displayed on the night. The cost of purchasing the masterpieces will be $10 per child or $20 per family. There will be ‘People's Choice’ awards given to those artists who produce high-quality pieces, voted on by the attendees and announced at assembly the following week. Once tickets have been purchased your child will bring home an envelope with your ticket, a token for a complimentary drink for each parent, tokens for your children for dinner and red stickers for the purchased artwork.
Insert try booking link
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Nicci Murdoch, our Art teacher, for her organisation of this event and work with the children. This night is a chance for children who have a flair for the Visual Arts to shine. Last year, we had the opportunity to showcase the Performing Arts through our school production and this year it will be the Visual Arts. All families will have the opportunity to view the artwork from 6.00pm, entering the school through the Locinda Street gates. The art will be displayed in 6 of our ground level classrooms. When walking through the classrooms, you will be entertained by children performing on various instruments. After viewing the artworks, parents will then move outside where they will have the chance to have a drink, nibbles and socialise with other members of the school community. After the initial complimentary drink, parents will be able to purchase drinks at bar prices. Finger food for parents will be provided and a meal for all children. Food for the children will be served outside. Parents are expected to supervise children throughout the night. The children performing with instruments will need to be at their allocated spaces 15 minutes prior to their scheduled time, which will be communicated by our music teachers. They will need to have their sheet music and tuned instruments.
As you wander through the school in the evening, please place the stickers on your children’s artwork to show it has been purchased. Programs outlining each child’s artwork and where it will be found will also be distributed to families as they arrive.
We are so very lucky to have such a high-quality teacher lead our Art program this year, in Nicci Murdoch, and we know the night will be a wonderful success. The quality of the pieces that will be displayed is fantastic. Thank you to our Parents and Friends Committee for supporting the Art Show. Finally, I would like to also thank our very committed and flexible staff who spent many hours preparing for this event. It is a significant undertaking at the back end of Term Four while in the midst of reports, but it will all be worth it. We look forward to seeing the art on display and being entertained by our talented musicians.
Art Show Order of Events
5.45pm - Initial musical performers to arrive
6.00pm - Doors open. Families enter via Locinda Street gates.
6.30pm - Finger food served for adults (weather permitting)
7.00pm - Sausage sizzle for the children
7.45pm - Staff to assembly choir for performance on outside basketball courts
8.00pm - Bar closed. Art Show Concludes.
Grandparents Day - Thursday 28th November
To coincide with our Visual Arts Show, we also have Grandparents Day. This event is a celebration of the special people in the lives of our students who help them to learn about the world and how to live in it. There are so many magical moments when children spend time with grandparents or the older generation of adults in their lives. Grandparents tell stories about what life was like ‘in their day’ and include valuable life lessons around how to treat others, behave in certain situations and what it means to be part of a family. To celebrate these people, there will be a liturgy at 9am in the Church, followed by a light morning tea to be held in classrooms. The children will have the opportunity to take their grandparents through the classrooms to view their art from the Art Show. Should grandparents be unavailable to attend, parents or special friends are of course welcome. The children will also look after one-another in this space.
St Agnes’ Walkathon
Last Friday we held the annual St Agnes’ Walkathon at Peterson Street Reserve. It was a beautiful morning and a terrific atmosphere for children, parents and staff to enjoy. The children were incredible with their productivity and movement throughout the hour, with some children covering multiple kilometres as part of the 350m loop. Thank you very much to the parents who assisted with set up, pack up and lap marking. Thank you also to those who were able to come along to support the children with your presence. Sponsorship is due by Friday 29th November, with prizes awarded for most laps in the junior and senior school respectively, as well as highest individual fundraising efforts from the junior and senior school. There will also be a pizza and movie afternoon for the class who raises the most money on average per student. All funds raised will go towards a last-ditch effort to hit the target for our resurfacing project, in time for completion during the summer holidays.
Book Fair
Starting on Monday 25th November, we have the Scholastic Book Fair. This is an annual event and a great opportunity to replenish the children's home reading library with up-to-date literature. The children will visit the Book Fair during the week and it will be open to families for purchasing and viewing before and after school. A percentage of the sale from each book will be donated to the school to assist with replenishing the school library.
Lynn Miller - Leave
As many of you know, one of our LSOs Lynn Miller has had some troubles with her feet this year. Earlier this week, Lynn experienced further pain in her ‘good foot’ and it has been discovered there were some broken bones that required surgery. Lynn will be on leave until further notice. We wish Lynn well in her recovery and hope to see her back at work soon. With the Book Fair upon us, we will require some parental assistance with the sale of the books. Thank you to those who have put their hand up. We are so lucky to have such willing support.
Prep Orientation and Parent Information Night
We have now concluded our Prep Orientation sessions and last night there was a full house for the 2025 Prep Parent Information night. The orientation sessions with the children were very successful, with the children settling well into the school environment. Thank you to Judith Barton, Cassandra de Kretser, Amanda Baker and Bec Emmerson for their efforts in this area. Our playgroup was a great success this year and has greatly benefitted those who participated in a smooth transition.
Prep 2026
We are already experiencing a high enrolment demand from Prep 2026, so if you know of any families who are interested in enrolling for 2026, please encourage them to reach out to the school and submit an online application as soon as possible. All current families who have siblings starting in 2026 are also encouraged to submit their applications online via our website.
2025 Staff Planning - School Closure Day
A friendly reminder that the school will be closed on Monday 2nd December for the staff to gather and plan for next year.
2024 Swimming Carnival - Tuesday 3rd December
We look ahead to our second St Agnes’ School Swimming Carnival on Tuesday 3rd December at Bluefit Swimming Pool Sandringham, in Tulip Street, Sandringham. Students will be participating in various swimming events and activities, including freestyle, backstroke, breaststroke, butterfly, kickboard and noodles. The focus is on participation, trying your best and having lots of fun in the process! Please refer to the Operoo form for specific information about this event. We would like to invite all family members & friends to come along and enjoy the morning. Thank you to Mr Kost for all of your hard work in organising this event.
School Advisory Council - Annual General Meeting
The Annual General Meeting for the School Advisory Council will be held on Tuesday 3rd December at the special time of 7pm. All parents are invited to this meeting. There are one or two spaces available for joining the SAC in 2025. If this is of interest to you, please get in touch with me. The role of the School Advisory Council is to advise the schools leadership around matters pertaining to the educational community that is St Agnes’. We aim for diversity of skills, backgrounds and expertise in this advisory group.
St Agnes’ Parents and Friends Committee - Annual General Meeting
The P&F AGM will be held on Wednesday 4th December at the special time of 7pm, to be held in the school staffroom. All interested parents are also invited to attend this meeting. At the end of this year, two long standing supporters of the P&F will step down/depart. I would like to acknowledge the efforts of Sally Forbes and Georgia Sotiroski. Sally’s youngest is graduating at the end of this year, and Sally has made a significant contribution to the P&F in her time at the school. I would also like to thank current P&F President, Georgia Sotiroski, who is stepping down at the end of this year. Georgia has been performing the role of Secretary and President for 5 years. Like Sally, Georgia’s contribution has been enormous as she has been a driving force behind fundraising and community events; too many to list. We welcome Sarah Bibby and Bree Walsh as Co-P&F-Presidents in 2025 and look forward to further strengthening our very healthy Parents and Friends Committee. Lauren Karpathakis will fulfil the role of P&F Secretary. We are looking to add to the P&F Executive Committee with a new Treasurer and Class Rep Coordinator. Both of these roles have very manageable aspects to them, so if you are keen to get involved with these roles, please let me know.
Portable Refurbishment
We are excited to commence refurbishment works on the portable classroom in the week of Monday 9th December. These works will include upgrades to wiring, plumbing, carpet, pinboard, paint and blinds. It will improve the functionality and aesthetics of the building, ready for use as the Library next year.
St Agnes’ Snippets
Science Incursion
This week rounded out our science incursions, with the Prep, Year 1 and Year 2 students engaging with ‘Mad about Science’ to learn about wild weather and living things.
Camp Fun
Over the last two weeks, our Year 3 and 4 students have been on their respective camps. As parents and teachers, we should be very proud of our children for their efforts on these camps. For many of them, it was their first school camp and they loved it. School camps are always so much fun for the children, but they also present some challenges for some children. It was fantastic to hear about the growth, risk-taking and resilience on display at both camps.
Summit Camp
Our Year 4s went to Summit Camp in Trafalgar East, completing a range of adventure and team building activities. “Tash’s Ladder” and the Giant Swing were the source of a significant pride from the Year 4 students. Thank you to Tracey Law, Kristina Eterovic and Georgia Pafumi for accompanying the children.
Zoo Snooze
There were some weary Year 3 (students and staff) in the school this morning after an overnight stay at Melbourne Zoo on Monday night. Camping in permanent tents and taking a guided night tour of the zoo were among the highlights. The chat and excitement from the kids as they disembarked the bus we great to see. Thank you to Levi Otto, Kristina Eterovic and Jacquie Mendel for accompanying the children.
Remembrance Day
Congratulations to Callan Duddy and Arabella Shine for their efforts in representing the St Agnes’ School community at the Highett RSL Remembrance Day commemorative service on Monday 11th November. On behalf of the school, they recited poetry and laid a wreath in memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice in The Great War.
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 27th Nov - Advent & Christmas Appeal - Mini Vinnies (in the Church)
Wednesday 4th Dec - Advent - Year 2
Wednesday 11th Dec - Year 6 Final Assembly
It’s official, the run home has now commenced… We have 18 school days remaining! Where has 2024 gone?!
So much to look forward to, let us enjoy it!
Kind regards,
Lachie.