New committee

After we held our Annual general meeting in June, we would like to welcome our committee for the next year:

President - Jacki

Vice President - Jo

Secretary - Madelaine

Treasurer - Lori

If you would like to join our committee, please contact us!

Email us at vsps.parentsandfriends@gmail.com

OR

Complete our Expression of Interest here

Annual Presidents Report

Bendigo Primary School Parents & Friends Group

2025 - 2026 AGM

Annual President's Report

This past year has been an real success for our group. Thanks to the enthusiasm and huge efforts of new and old committee members, with support of volunteers and school staff, we continued to contribute to the school community through a balance of events and fundraising efforts.

Events: The key goal of our group has been bringing families together and helping students create memories. The highlights were again our two major events that the students thoroughly enjoyed: the school disco brought energy and smiles to all year levels, while the colour fun run turned the school grounds into a vibrant celebration of the end of the school year. We also created smaller connection opportunities, including a family BBQ, hosting a morning coffee van, and regular café catch-ups that provided informal spaces for parents to meet and build friendships. We've also been able to organise volunteers for special breakkie clubs (mothers and fathers days) - a bit of support the school staff who amazingly deliver this school service every week of the year.

Fundraising: Our fundraising efforts this year built on those of the previous year, driven by both traditional favourites and new initiatives. The highlight was our new Easter Raffle, which saw fantastic participation across all year levels and proved to be a massive success (our biggest ever single fundraiser and fun for all - thanks to everyone who drove this from the beginning). We also ran our popular winter Pie Drive, which generated fantastic sales, and continued to sell our school beanies to keep students warm and add some fun to the school uniform options.

These fundraising efforts allow for us to continue with the key goal for the group to make all events free to all. We funded prep reader bag gifts for all of our incoming school starters as well as a lunch to celebrate our Grade 6 school leavers. We were able to provide funds to replace the stolen tree and plants for the school's front garden bed This year we will also aim to provide funds towards the school kitchen-garden program, in particular a new standing freezer.

Acknowledgements and thanks: None of these achievements would have been possible without the extraordinary dedication of our committee team. Massive thanks go to our secretary, Maddee, for taking up the reins this year, refining and developing our processes to make regular meetings happen smoothly, and taking on a lion's share of the administrative work behind our events. I am also grateful to our vice-president, Jacki, for stepping into this role and being an incredible support across all areas, as well as a true fundraising powerhouse. Thank you to our treasurer, Julia, for working closely with Lou to provide regular, accurate financial reports that keep us on track. We also owe a huge thank you to Bernie for creating and implementing a principal liaison role, which has improved our communication with the school administration. Finally, thank you to Tess for being ever-reliable with the weekly newsletter, providing her cafe as a regular meeting venue, and serving as a wonderful student liaison; Tess has developed such a valuable link that allowed students to play an active role in the events they love, while also being the most enthusiastic volunteer at those student events!

Thank you to every single person in the school community who offered opinions, volunteered for events, attended meetings, and participated in fundraisers.

We also extend our gratitude to the broader school team who champion and facilitate our work. Special thanks to our principal, Carolyn, and business manager, Lou, for continuing to guide us and provide practical, logistical and enthusiastic support for the group. We appreciate the school council for reviewing our work, and we thank our wonderful teachers, especially Jacinta and Kelsie for their roles in the SLC and Laura for her help with the colour fun run.

Looking ahead: Looking ahead to the next year, our primary goal is to sustain this wonderful momentum by continuing our core fundraising initiatives and beloved community events, provided we have the vital person-power and volunteer support required to run them smoothly.

We're excitedly looking forward to our very first trivia night in fourth term of this year, which will also contribute to fundraising for the next 12 month period. This addition to our calendar is happening thanks to the enthusiasm and stellar organization of Maddee - I can't wait to see how it brings school families together and I'm sure it'll be a heap of fun.

I

know the committee have been keen to build broader involvement across our school community and bring in new volunteers. We think exploring a new idea - introducing classroom representatives - may help achieve this aim. This will require approval from school administration and council, and development of the necessary processes for success. We welcome any other ideas, suggestions, or feedback from our community on how we can better drive growth and encourage participation.

I truly believe that our hard work and the support of everyone in the school community makes our school a better place for students and feel so heartened when we see and hear feedback from them that suggests this is true!

Jo Fifer

President 2025-2026

Things to do in Bendigo:

Looking for something to do on the weekend? Check out these activities!

Check out the Sheep & wool show this weekend!

In the mood for a market? The moonlight market is on this Saturday!

Lunch Box Recipe:

Try these delicious apple muffins

In our community