PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Term 2 - Week 3

To subscribe to future newsletters, click here.

In the media in recent weeks there has been commentary about bringing back ‘old school discipline’ in schools to curb behavioural and management issues in some Victorian classrooms and schools. The grandparents of our current students will have been through school when a particular style of ‘old school discipline’ was in place, with many recalling rulers, straps and canes being used in schools. It is not being suggested that this return to classrooms, but a bigger focus on orderly learning environments is certainly being discussed. I thought it a good time to communicate some of the ways in which we promote orderly and productive learning environments. Firstly, all schools have responsbility to keep children safe and the Child Safe Standards were introduced in 2016 by Ministerial Order to ensure clarity and responsibility for all working with children. These were again revised in 2022 (MO 1359), with an additional focus on online safety and cultural safety for Aboriginal Children. The 11 Child Safe Standards are outlined below:

1 - Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identities and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.

2 - Child safety and wellbeing is embedded in organisational leadership, governance and culture.

3 - Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

4 - Families and communities are informed and involved in promoting child safety and wellbeing.

5 - Equity is upheld and diverse needs respected in policy and practice.

6 - People working with children and young people are suitable and supported to reflect child safety and wellbeing values in practice.

7 - Processes for complaints and concerns are child-focused.

8 - Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.

9 - Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

10 - Implementation of the Child Safe Standards is regularly reviewed and improved.

11 - Policies and procedures document how the organisation is safe for children and young people.

In additional to the Child Safe Standards, our school has a number of practices which ensure we provide safe learning environments, where the children can be at their best.

Relationships - Teacher-students relationships are based on trust, respect and care. When children know their teachers are genuinely interested in them and care for them, the children will do their best in learning situations. The time from 8.30am-8.45am each morning is a time when this relationship building happens; teacher-student and student-student.

Clear, high expectations - We ensure we clearly communicate and maintain high expectations for the children with regard to their school work, behaviour and learning routines. This includes how we line up after recess and move into the classroom, how we transition between learning tasks and how we set up/present our work in workbooks. The teachers review these standards at the beginning of each semester and communicate clearly to children.

Wellbeing Week - Each term, we delay the start of learning about term-topics such as History, until Week 2. This allows our teachers the time to work on Respectful Relationships topics such as Problem Solving and also Circle Time to build classroom community. During Wellbeing Week, teachers always revise our school rules.

School Rules - Children need boundaries to be successful, otherwise it would be chaos. Having easy to understand rules and expectations, which are on display and revisited regularly helps them to feel safe and be at their best.

Accountability - At St Agnes’, we also believe in holding children accountable for meeting school rules and expectations within the classroom and on the playground. If necessary, there are ‘natural consequences’ when children make mistakes.

Manners and respect - We have a big emphasis on this at our school. Good manners, being polite and showing respect to other people will help children to be successful many aspects of their life now and in the future.

Restorative Practices - The foundation of schools is relationships and occasionally, these are tested/harmed by poor choices. Restorative Practices helps children to restore relationships when harm has been done, to understand impact, forgiveness and be kind to one another. At times, relationships are restored, but a natural consequence may also be needed.

Mother’s Day Activities

As we do every year, we mark Mother’s Day with a number of special events and 2024 is no different. It is vitally important that we celebrate our special ladies, including mums, grandmothers and special female figures in the lives of the children. Below is an outline of what we have planned for this year and we hope you can get along to most of it!

• Mother’s Day Stall - Friday 3rd May - The children will have the opportunity to purchase a gift for their mum or special lady at this stall. The children can bring up to $10 and will shop with siblings so there is no double up! It would be terrific to have some Dads running our stall this year. Please contact Lauren to dob yourself in dads: laurenkarpathakis@hotmail.com.
• P&F Mother’s Day Dinner - Friday 3rd May - The St Agnes’ P&F are hosting a Mother’s Day Dinner at the Half Moon Hotel in Brighton. All mothers and special ladies are invited to this event. Tickets have been selling like hotcakes, already well exceeding last year's event. It promises to be a wonderful evening. Head across to the P&F Page to purchase tickets.
• Mother’s and Special Friends Breakfast - Thursday 9th May at 7.30am - Held in the School Hall; all mothers and special ladies are invited to come along to this event. There will be breakfast options for the mums and children, with the Dad’s doing all the work. At this stage, only one dad has volunteered to help. We need at least 12 helpers to make it a success. Please notify Lauren Karpathakis if you are available to help (email address above). Head across to the P&F page of this newsletter for more information.
• Mother’s and Special Friends Liturgy - Thursday 9th May at 08.50am - The children have been busily preparing this celebration for our special ladies. It will be entirely led by the children and I strongly encourage all mums to take an hour out of your day to come along for this. Each of the classes is preparing a small element of the liturgy to share with our mums. We know that there are ‘busy’ times in the lives of our families, but mothers do so much for their children and this is your turn to enjoy the spoils for once. The role of the mother or mother figure is a complex one and it takes many forms in various families. The love provided by the female figures in the lives of our children is what is to be celebrated next weekend. I hope everyone enjoys some special time together and the children spoil you greatly. I would like to wish all St Agnes' special ladies a happy Mother’s Day for next week.

Parish Amalgamation Process

The St Agnes’ Parish and Our Lady of the Assumption Parish (Cheltenham) are going through a process of amalgamation and this continues tomorrow night at OLA: Session Two: 7–8.30pm on Thursday 2nd May at Brigid Hall – OLA, 9 Centre Dandenong Rd Cheltenham. The invitation is open to all parishioners of OLA and St Agnes’, including the staff of both our parish schools, as well as all school families. Please register using the 

TryBooking.com link: https://www.trybooking.com/events/landing/1211612.

Louisa Di Pietro

Louisa will commence parental leave next week, with Friday being her last day at school. We wish her and her partner Paolo all the best for a safe arrival and look forward to meeting the little one in due course. Louisa is very grateful for all the well wishes received recently and is looking forward to rejoining our staff at the beginning of the 2025 school year.

SSV Soccer

Congratulations to the Year 5 and 6 soccer teams for their efforts at the District Soccer on 19th April. Our girl's team finished the day third overall and the boy's team won the final in dramatic fashion, via penalty shootout. This is the first time we have ever won the boys District Soccer Shield, which is awesome; well done to the boys. Having said that, we are most proud of the way our students carried themselves on the day. Their behaviour, encouragement, positivity and fairness was celebrated by the teachers and supporting parents upon return to school, which is more important than any trophy.

District Cross Country

Today we had 46 students from Year 3 to 6 head to Bald Hill Park in Clarinda for interschool cross country. We had a large number of students finish in the top 20 and also some that finished in the Top 8, meaning they will go onto the Beachside Division Championships later in Term Two. Well done to all children for the commitment to training, giving their best effort and competing in the right spirit. Thank you to Mr Kost, Mrs Baker, Mrs Phyland, Mrs Emmerson and Mrs Georgiou for helping with training and on the day.

Anzac Day Ceremony

Well done to our School Captains Arabella and Callan for the way they represented the St Agnes’ community at the Highett RSL Dawn Service. It was lovely to see so many familiar faces at the service and hear of the admiration for Arabella and Callan from the Prep and Year 1 children present. It is an important occasion for our nation, but a wonderful tradition for our school to be part of as well.

Winter Uniform

All students are expected to be in full Winter uniform from today onwards. A reminder that the maroon spray jacket is to be worn over the top of the school jumper, not instead of.

Open Day and 2025/2026 Prep Enrolments

Our 2025 Prep class is going to be ‘at capacity’ early, with a high demand this year. Round One offers will be finalised next week. We are looking to do a second round of offers in mid-June as we look to open up a second Prep class, pending continued applications. We have our final Open Day on Tuesday 21st May and prospective families are welcome to come along any time between 9am and 3pm on this day. No appointments are necessary. Thank you to all who are advocating for our school in the local community, especially amongst the kinders. Our next Playgroup session for kinder-aged children is on Friday 10th May April from 9am-10am. 

Cybersafety - Inform and Empower - Wednesday 5th June at 7.00pm

I would kindly ask all Year 3-6 parents to mark this important date in your calendar. We have reengaged Marty and Carly from Inform and Empower to deliver an onsite parent information session on digital safety for all Year 3-6 parents. We will also be asking all Year 3-6 students to be onsite for this evening as well, because the school will run student sessions parallel to the parent seminar. The digital world our children live in has many benefits, but also lots of challenges too. Marty and Carly are well-regarded experts in this space and have plenty of wonderful tips to share.

Term Two School Fees

Term Two School Fees are now payable. Updated fee statements have been sent out. Please ensure prompt payment and contact Shannon Shine (sshine@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) if you would like to set up a direct debit or payment plan.

Assembly

Assemblies are in the Hall on Wednesday afternoons at 2.40pm. Parents are welcome to attend. At assembly, there will be presentations from classes, student awards, birthday acknowledgements and special announcements from student leaders.

Wed 8th May - Year 3

Wed 15th May - Year 6

Wed 22nd May - Prep

Wed 29th May - Year 5

Wed 5th June - Year 1

Wed 12th June - Year 4

Wed 19th June - Year 2

Wednesday 26th June - No class item

Enjoy the rest of your week. Hopefully more of this sunshine to come.

Kind regards,

Lachie