FOD: Have you met Emily & Jennifer?

Our motto, our purpose, our heart is “Building Community”. 

We create opportunities for our school families to connect, 

get to know each other and build relationships so that we can 

all support each other as we grow in community.

I hope you enjoyed getting know our FOD President, Amanda Gargett, in our last publication of Networks. This week, we continue the series of introducing you to our passionate parent committee who serve our Donvale community in creative and colourful ways. 

I'm excited for you to meet these wonderful DCC parents!

Meet Emily, our FOD Secretary

Name: Emily Layland

Role: Secretary

How did you join the FOD committee: I joined the school when my first child began Prep in 2015. I had amazing class reps who regularly held class coffee catch ups. I quickly felt that I enjoyed forming connections and tried to attend as often as I could. I became a Class Rep over the next few years and helped at school events at times when I could. I joined FOD in 2020 and have loved being increasingly involved in the school community. 

How would you describe the role of FOD Secretary?

As the Secretary, I am responsible for maintaining and recording minutes at general meetings and the AGM. Additionally, I organise the agenda for each meeting, manage committee memberships and applications, and support the President as needed.

What does your day-to-day involvement include? My weekly tasks include spending approximately 1-2 hours managing emails, notes, and updating records. I attend monthly FOD meetings and other meetings with school leadership to support the President. Collaborating closely with Janet (Community Relations), I ensure the website and meeting minutes are kept up-to-date.

Tell us about your time commitment: Sometimes, it feels like I'm at the school every day! The first term is particularly busy with numerous welcoming events, notably the FOD's Welcome Fest event, which aims to foster community connections throughout the school.

What do you love most about this role? I love gathering people together and creating times where people can connect and make friends. Being involved in the school community has enriched my life and I have created life long friendships. 

I love being part of the FOD team because we all support each other with upcoming events while balancing work and family commitments. It's wonderful to work with people who have a 'can do' attitude. 

Share your goals for the remainder of 2025: My goal is to continue building community across the entire school. A specific focus is on re-establishing regular class and year-level catch-ups, which were fantastic opportunities for parents to connect with the school community and each other before Covid. We are also actively seeking new members to join our incredible team to ensure a smooth transition to the next generation of community builders for our school. Please prayerfully consider if this role speaks to you. We would love to hear from you. It is a privilege to serve God's Kingdom in this school.

Meet Jennifer, our FOD Treasurer

Name: Jennifer Hlisic

Role: Treasurer

How did you join the FOD committee: I wanted to be part of a group of parents with mind-like values and ideas who love the DCC community as much as I do.

How would you describe the role of FOD Treasurer?

• Oversee the general financial management of the FOD bank account.
• Provided financial reporting of FOD bank account to monthly FOD meetings.
• Work closely with the school’s accounts team of all FOD creditor payments, committee reimbursements, sales deposits and the tracking of FOD funds.
• Monitor FOD financial transactions through the school’s Expenses Management Systems, Alii and ExpenseMe Pro.

What does your day-to-day involvement include? 

• Process approvals of creditor invoices and committee reimbursements, ensuring correct coding and amounts have been inputted via Alii.
• Process and submit FOD credit card expenses via ExpenseMe Pro.
• Liaise with school accounts team to facilitate urgent creditor payments and increase funding of the FOD credit cards

Tell us about your time commitment: Average 1 - 3 hours a week.

What do you love most about this role? I love getting together with fellow committee members - whom have become friends - creating opportunities to build community.

Share your goals for the remainder of 2025: To have new faces joining our amazing FOD team who have a big heart for building community.

For more information on our Friends of Donvale team, please visit their page on Schoolbox,

To enquire about joining the FOD committee, or talk with Emily or Jennifer, please email emily.layland@friendsofdonvale.org.au or jennifer.hlisic@friendsofdonvale.org.au