2026 CNPS Mini Fete wrap up

It’s no small thing to bring a day like our mini fete to life - but if you were there, you would have felt just how special it was. This year was a celebration of community - coming together to create something joyful, generous, and truly magical for our children. What unfolded went far beyond an event, it was a reflection of our community at its very best: warm, inclusive, and bursting with life. And at the heart of it all were our children, who had an absolutely fantastic day. Together, we raised an incredible $XX (to be announced at tomorrow's assembly!), with funds going directly towards supporting the school in 2026. That impact will be felt well beyond a single day.

Thank you to our parents, carers, grandparents, CNPS children and friends, for the baking, the donations (chocolates, soft toys, boxes and more), the sourcing and collecting of silent auction items, the time spent volunteering, and the many unseen ways you supported one another to make time for contributing - your collective effort made the day what it was.

A very special thank you to our remarkable stall leads, whose energy, creativity and steady commitment brought each element of the fete to life:

Andrew Logan and Charlie Perry – BBQ
Kate Horton and Gabby Rodgers – Cakes
Kylie Lee – Chill Out Zone & inclusion
Georgie Lewis – Ponies
Steve Mifsud – Bar
Lucy Marshall and Bree – Stage
Ange Mullen – Merchandise
Glenn Giblett– Printing, signage, merchandise & volunteers
Ingrid Smith – Graphic design
Sara McFarlane – Sushi
Pip Dwyer – Lollies
Kris Dearricott – Tickets, kids activities & treats
Kathryne Houchin– Box Maze
Jane Galvin and Ollie Wilkins – Snow cones & fairy floss
Kiran Sahni – Henna tattoos
Jane London – Kids Zone
Amber Stewart – Silent Auction
Erin Tibbitts and Sian Fitzpatrick – Jams & preserves
Emily (Emily’s Art Class) – Art mural
Isabel de Silva – Volunteers
Nardia Saunders – Social media

Lastly, an extra special shout out to our amazing logistics team - Erica Slocombe, Pip Dwyer, and Ruth Williams - whose careful planning and attention to every detail kept the fete running like clockwork from start to finish. And to the remarkable Catherine Doggett, Matthew Ferguson, Gaby Shortis, and Trish Harrington, whose tireless work behind the scenes laid the foundation for the entire event - the fete simply wouldn’t have been possible without you.

It takes a village - and this is a generous and extraordinary one. I feel very grateful to be part of it.

Clare London

A special thankyou to Joy for being an absolute superstar. That woman does not stop. We appreciate you so much Joy, and it just wouldn't be a Lee St Fete without you.

Love from everyone xx

CAKES

A huge thank you to all the families, grandparents, and community members who generously donated cakes and sweet treats — our stall was overflowing with delicious goodies! 🍰💛

Special thanks to:

🧁 Our wonderful students for packing boxes and preparing bags — we couldn’t have done it without you!
🏫 Gaby in the office for printing labels, sending our comms and coordinating classroom deliveries
🙌 Our amazing volunteers: Ana, Julia, Annabel, Sara, Christina, Claire B, Caryle, Safia, Sarah B, Lucie, Lisa, Megan, Gabe, Tom & Daniel – you are the best!

Extra special thanks to:

🌟 Liz (pricing genius), Emma (afternoon tea queen), Hazell, Sarah S and Laura for going above and beyond - running the stall well past their allocated shifts - and Ella & Isabel for their pack down finesse!

With thanks to our local supporters:

🥐 Calle Bakery
🍞 Green Refectory
🥖 Baker’s Delight (Lygon Street)

We’re so grateful for such a supportive and generous community! 💛

Gabby & Kate

JAM

The jam stall takes many months and countless hours of preparation to make and prepare the hundreds of jars we sell each year.Big thanks to our jam team makers - Kylie, Michelle, Rachel and Julia, we couldn’t do it without you!Big thanks to Clare, Sally, Julia, Ed, Heidi , Anna, Christina, Lucy, Nina & Lily for labelling and making the jars look pretty.Thank you to Michelle, Julia, Miranda, Gabe & Olivia for volunteering on the day and thanks to anyone that donated jars, we put them to good use!A huge shout- out to Erin who did her last year on the jam stall. In her time she has made over 1000 jars of jam and relish and chopped over a 100kg of produce. What an amazing effort and contribution!Thank you to our lovely community who supports and buys our products and asks for their favourites from the year before.

Your support means the world. Sian & Erin

The Jam Stall would have been nothing over the last four years without Sian. She has spent HUNDREDS of hours sourcing both jars and fruit from so many corners of Melbourne and she was such a prolific maker that even not having a kitchen during house renos slowed her down! She’s de-labelled and cleaned more jars than any person should ever have to do in their lifetime! After eleven school fetes, she’s retiring from a Jam stall that she nurtured into something wonderful - wrangled helpers, coordinated labels and decorations and developed a list of flavours for every occasion. What a legend ❤️

Thanks heaps!

Erin

KID ZONE

Jane, long time fete visitor, first time Lead here. In a moment, I would like to thank a range of volunteers (listed below). But as the self-appointed Deputy Fete Lead to Clare London, I guess I have had an interesting experience. Yes, I have made signs and laminated, and purchased games and carried stuff. But more importantly, I have done more than my fair share of washing and looked after kids on weekends while the rest of the Fete Crew have done their thing. And that has made me think about the power of community… and all the people who play invisible roles in making this kind of event a success. So, while I offer a sincere thank you to those below. I also want to acknowledge all the other people that made this happen in the background. From those that put aside their cardboard boxes, those that rifled through their kids toys to donate, to all the other things (little and big) that made a great fete day.

A massive shout out to our fairy floss and snow cone teams who continue to bring big fete energy! Jane, Hamish, Khema, Michelle, Pip, Maison, Annabel, Nancy and Mabel on the snow cones and Olivia, Amanda, Abi and Margot on fairy floss.

And for those carnie folk that made the games a success, thank you! This includes – but is not limited to – Alex, Eb, Laura, Claire, Clancy, Emily, Emir, Gaby, Varny, Olivia, Filamena, Tom, Kasia, Rob, Miriam, Justine, Kris, Gabby, Ina, Amelia, Edward, Svenja, Ali, Mitch, David, Christine, Grant, Mark, Nikhil, Marnie-Claire, Antonio, Christie, Shauna, Erin, Zoe, Lisa, Sasha, James, Ellen, Penny, Ella, Felicity.

And for those school building authority folks that got their engineering on in the box maze! Including, Felicity, Jess, Sally, Filamena, Briony, Alison, Paddy, Sarah, Dan, Martha, Raaf – led by the cardboard wiz, Kathryne.

Thanks so much to all our ticket sales volunteers this year. Your help explaining how many tickets to by to 3 x 80 year olds was gold! Our volunteers included Catherine, Annabel, Justine, Deniz, Megan, Shaila, Sharon, Rachel, Olivia, Hendrick, Michelle and Kristen.

Wellbeing