From the Principal

A Spectacular Twilight Evening

It was a perfect evening for our first ever Art Show in our new multipurpose school hall. Works of art covered the walls the length and breath of the massive school hall. There were splashes of colour and sculptures in a kaleidoscope of amazing pieces created by our junior and our senior students superbly displayed on display boards and tables around the space.

 Iridescent lanterns hung from the stage and everywhere you looked there was something special to appreciate. If that was not enough there were many competitions to attract our attention. Were you able to recognise all our staff? or spot the golden paint brushes?

Making this superbly organised art show come together was our wonderful Katherine Slater our Art teacher extraordinaire. We thank Katherine for her creative talents and skills that she shares with our children. Putting an art show together of this quality has taken months of planning and a huge effort in the past week to get everything displayed in time. Katherine you have been sensational and the entire school community were amazed at what the saw. Thanks also to the entire staff that got together to bring the art show together. It is a great example of team work and support. We truly have a brilliant staff team. I am so grateful for all the ways they go above and beyond to make our school the great place that it is.

The art show was of course just one part of a sensational community event. It was part of our now famous Twilight Market that is held on the Thursday after Melbourne Cup Day. The weather was kind and we had a perfect evening to gather. Like clock work stall owners arrived as soon as school finished for the day. Before we knew it they were all set up to go. The crowds rolled in and everyone who came had a great time. There was delicious food, bargains, stalls to get an early Christmas present, raffles, games and even rock n Roll showcased by young champions. The choir sang and our students ran market stalls as part of their action teams. It was great to see our children acting to make a difference. Also to see our budding entrepreneurs running their own stall. It was a very successful community event. Huge thanks to Rachel Lenko our Wellbeing Co-coordinator for her great coordination of this event. It takes months of planning and Rachel has done a superb job. the Twilight Market keep growing and getting better and better each year. A big thanks once again to our staff for their support in countless ways. Thanks also to our P&F for all their support for this event that brings our community together. It was wonderful to see so many of our past pupils and even staff come back to celebrate with us. We definitely are a great community!

Well done St Francis de Sales school community for coming together to support and make it a special school event.

We would love your feedback about the 2024 Art Show and Twilight Market. The School Advisory Council will be taking this on board at our next meeting and with our staff it will help us keep improving our great community events. If you attended this event, please take a moment to give us your feedback.

We need your Help in 2025!

Our school has been well supported by parent involvement since it began. Events like our Twilight Market, Twilight Sports, Fun Lunches and, Discos and Colour Splash are events that are children love. They bring the community together and they also do raise funds that purchase something extra special that we need for our students. This year we purchased air-conditioners a BIG expense of $170000 (enjoyed our our first hot afternoon for the year on Wednesday) and a valuable $30000 was raised and contributed by our P &F to make this occur for all spaces.

Our Parents & Friends is a key support group to the school and our community. However the current team are made up of many parents with senior students who will be leaving us at the end of this year or next year. So we need parents from younger grades to step up and join the team. 

Please come to the AGM for Parents and Friends on Tuesday 12 November. Come with a group of friends or on your own. You will be welcomed. We definitely need your help. Without parents stepping up, unfortunately many of the events we currently enjoy will not be able to continue.

If you cannot commit to being involved on the committee, you could just commit to organising one event. If several parents did just one event, we can still keep our events going and keep our community thriving and flourishing. We will put out an Operoo next week for parents to sign up for an event. However we do need to fill key overall coordinating roles for the optimal outcome. So please consider  supporting the school in this special way. We really need your help in 2025.

P & F AGM is on Tuesday 12 November at 6:30 in the Community Room.

Enjoy the weekend.

Christine White

Principal