PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Term 3 - Week 3

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It’s hard to believe we are into August tomorrow. 2024 seems to be flying by with only 86 school days remaining in the year. As a staff, we are always talking about how we only have the children in our care ‘for a very short time’ each year and we need to make the most of every minute. In the first week of this term, we had Prep staff from another local Catholic Primary school come to visit our Prep classroom to observe/learn about what we do and why we do it. One of the key observations was how there was not a minute wasted in our Prep Structured Literacy block. It was also remarked how wonderful it was “to see all the Prep students so engaged and the high-quality teaching and learning taking place in the classroom.” We are quietly and humbly proud to open our classrooms to visiting teachers from other schools. Grateful thanks to Judith Barton for her willingness to do so and also for demonstrating the highly developed skills she maintains in Literacy instruction. 

Our staff have recently been focusing heavily on maintaining high levels of engagement and participation, especially in Literacy and Mathematics. You may have noticed the majority of our teachers now have classroom tables in ‘old fashioned’ rows, with all students facing the front of the classroom. This is one physical adjustment that our staff have made to their teaching spaces, to enhance engagement and participation of the students. There are also many small nuances our teachers continue to develop in day-to-day lessons. It makes me feel very proud when walking through our classrooms on school tours with prospective families, seeing such high levels of evidence-based teacher instruction and student engagement.

Last night at the July School Advisory Council meeting, we were discussing some of the improvement strategies in place in our school and we thought it relevant to share with the wider school community. Across the first three weeks of this term, our teachers have engaged in a self-review, reflection and feedback process with their colleagues in Mathematics; we call it Maths Sprints. Each week the teachers have been setting a goal specific to the teaching of the ‘Daily Review’ component of Mathematics lessons, focusing on engagement and participation. Daily Review is a 10 minute mini lesson at the start of each Maths lesson to revise concepts recently taught in Mathematics. This helps the children ‘retrieve’ new learning regularly, committing it to long-term memory. Each week, classroom teachers have had a colleague record their teaching so they can watch it back to self-reflect, before sharing this video with a colleague for positive reinforcement and constructive feedback. We are very lucky to have a group of teachers so willing and committed to growth, in the best interests of your children. It takes courage and a high level of respect and safety for staff to engage in such work and I thank our staff for their ongoing professionalism. You can see below a couple of snippets of this in action…

St Agnes’ Family Maths Night - Tuesday 6th August

Next week we warmly invite all parents and children to participate in our annual Family Maths Night. During this session, the focus will be on the Science of Learning and the place of ‘Daily Review’ within our learning process. The sessions will be held in classrooms from 6.30-7.30pm and we ask that all families make the effort to attend, with at least one parent present with the children. There will be a short presentation delivered by teachers in each classroom to start the session, which will give parents some background around the evidence behind our approach. This will be followed by a shared ‘Daily Review’ experience led by the teachers for children and parents to engage in together. The second half of the session will provide some time for children and parents to engage together in Mathematics tasks, independent of the group. We acknowledge the difficulty of families with multiple children and where it is not possible for both parents to attend, we encourage families to start together in the classroom of the youngest sibling and move to other classrooms when you are ready. Please note, the presentation from the teachers at the start of the night will be the same in all year levels. We look forward to a meaningful night talking about the oft-overlooked, but critical fundamental of Mathematics.

Op Shop Ball

Come along, meet some new people and have some fun! You are invited to join the highly anticipated 2024 P&F parent event, to be held on Friday 16th August. Many thanks to our hardworking P&F for their efforts to bring together this incredible social and fundraising occasion for our community. Our school has long been known for a strong social side and community spirit. It is one of the many things that makes this school so special and research indicates that strong a parent-school connection has a profound impact on student wellbeing and learning. Lock in the babysitter and head to the local op shop… think 80s prom, velvet suits, houndstooth and taffeta! The more outrageous the better, with prizes to be won for best dressed. As a community, we continue to work towards the resurfacing of the asphalt area in the main courtyard. It would be terrific to see all St Agnes’ families getting involved in this fun night as strive towards this goal. Get your tickets now to give our organisers the best chance of making the night a success!

St Agnes’ Snippets - Soccer, Tech and Olympics

This week, snippets include a wonderful effort from our Year 5/6 Boys Soccer Team, some exciting happenings with our Year 6 Technology Leaders and the fun Olympics Day on Monday. The soccer team won their two opening matches to progress to the Semi Finals against Garnvale Primary which they won to progress to the final. In the final they competed against neighbour Sacred Heart Sandringham and were well beaten. We congratulate the boys on their efforts in this tough level of competition and finishing Runners Up. Thank you to self-named Supercoach McMahon!

Our Science and Technology Captains have been engaging with our tech specialist Nick in recent days to get Lego Mind Storm robotic kits up and running. Danny and Logan will then be taking these to classrooms to engage with those interested! Exciting times.

Olympics Day on Monday was certainly enjoyed by all of the children and has complemented our Term Three learning about geography perfectly. There has been discussion about countries, flags, demography and culture happening around this school this week which has been terrific.

Thank you St Agnes’ - What a community!

On the last day of Term 3, our school hosted the "Shine the Light" Social Justice Day in support of the Vinnies Winter Appeal, and it was a resounding success! Thanks to the incredible generosity of our community, we collected an abundance of food donations and raised an impressive $1,600 to help Vinnies support those in need. The students participated in a variety of meaningful activities, demonstrating remarkable compassion and empathy. From engaging in discussions on social justice to participating in a paraliturgy held in the church, the day was filled with opportunities for our children to shine and make a difference. A special congratulations to our Social Justice Captains and the Mini Vinnies team for their outstanding efforts in organizing the day's activities and spreading awareness about homelessness. Their dedication and hard work were instrumental in making this event so impactful. We are immensely proud of their efforts and grateful to everyone who contributed to this wonderful cause.

• Aggie Gorski - St Agnes’ RE Leader

Prep 100 Days - Wednesday 7th August

Next Wednesday our Prep children will celebrate 100 days of school with some special activities. The children are invited to dress up, there will be a special morning tea and much anticipated Prep assembly. All Prep parents are encouraged to get along to assembly if possible. More information will be communicated directly to Prep parents by Mrs Barton.

Year 5/6 Hooptime

Our senior students will participate in a basketball competition on Friday 9th August at MSAC. All students are expected to participate in what is a fun day of activity and competition together alongside other local schools. More information has been communicated via Operoo.

Sacrament of First Eucharist - Saturday 10th August

On Saturday 10th August at 6pm Mass, we have a number of our Year 4 students receiving the blessed Eucharist for the first time. We wish Eddie C, Eddie H, Leo, Natalee, Jack, Ivy, Noah, Faye, Niamh, Charlotte and Estelle well as they take the next step in their faith journey and trust this will be a special time for your families.

Book Week - Wednesday 14th August

The theme of this year’s book week is Reading is Magic. This theme highlights the power of  books to take readers to other worlds, to inspire imaginations and develop curiosity about people and places. We will celebrate book week on Wednesday 14th August. The students are invited to come to school dressed as book characters and will participate in a whole school parade to celebrate our favourite book characters. A prize will be given for the best costume to a student from Junior, Middle and Senior school. During the day the students will engage in activities to familiarise them with books that have been shortlisted for the Picture Book of the Year award. They will also enjoy the play ‘Maybe a Miracle’ an interactive performance featuring a selection of the 2024 CBCA Shortlisted books. We’re looking forward to a fun day that celebrates the magic of books and encourages a love of reading. Thank you to Junior Leader Mrs Barton for organising what promises to be a very fun day!

Levi Otto Sick Leave - Tuesday 6th August

A friendly reminder that our Year 3 teacher Levi Otto will be taking approximately two weeks sick leave to have his tonsils removed. The surgery will be on Tuesday 6th August and we expect him back at work around two weeks later, but these things can be unpredictable. Harry Canning will be in Year 3 while Levi is away. Harry has been undertaking some casual work in our school recently, so the children are quite familiar with Harry. We wish Levi well for this surgery.

Date correction - Art Show

Please note, in the previous newsletter the date advertised for the Art Show was incorrect. The correct date is Wednesday 27th November.

Tuckshop Commencement

Tuckshop commenced on Friday 19th July. Orders can be placed online at https://www.salutecatering.com.au/tuckshop using the code: lunch2024.

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 31st July - Year 6

Wed 7th Aug - Prep (100 Days)

Wed 14th Aug - Book Week Performance - No Assembly

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 - hopefully the sun sneaks through at some point!

Kind regards,

Lachie.