PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents and Carers,

This morning we waved our Year Four students and accompanying staff off, as they make the trip to Summit Camp in Trafalgar. The was a mix of excitement and nerves as they boarded the bus with their peers, ready for a big couple of days of activities. In recent years at St Agnes’, we have worked to extend the Camp offering and we are proud to now offer camps from Year 3 to Year 6. Our Year 3 students are heading to Melbourne Zoo for an overnight stay (Zoo Snooze) in a couple of weeks' time; Year 4's are off to the award winning Summit Camp in Trafalgar East (two nights) and our Year 5/6 students have a biennial cycle of Arrabri Lodge (two nights) and Canberra (four nights).

We have all been on school camps during our time at school and, for me, they are some of my fondest memories of my education. Summit Camp is an activity camp where the children spent time outdoors engaging in all sorts of interesting group and individual challenges including orienteering, scavenger hunts, rock walls and inflatables. This is the fun and obvious stuff when talking about school camps, but there are some less obvious though equally significant benefits:

Strengthening of relationships - The extra time spent away from the structure of the school environment enables students to strengthen relationships amongst themselves and also with their teachers. Not only does this benefit them in the playground when they get back, it also enables the students to operate with more confidence once they return to the classroom.
Self Management and Independence - Someone once said to me, never do for children what they can do for themselves. I know as a parent, I fall into the trap of helping my children do things at home that they can do for themselves, because it is quicker and easier. On school camp, the children have many opportunities every day to further develop their independence and self management skills by doing things like rolling sleeping bags, cleaning their dorm rooms and fulfilling roles such as a Meal Time Leader.
Resilience - There are times on school camp when students will be challenged, they will be tired, grumpy or they may miss home. While the students will be supported by their teachers to navigate the challenges of camp, it is important for them to have the opportunity to work through these challenges independent of a parent or carer.

We look forward to hearing all about the adventures of the children while they are away and I hope the parents (and siblings) don’t miss them too much. I would like to thank Tracey Law, Jacque Murphy and Jenna Van Rensburg for volunteering to go on camp. We were once again overwhelmed with staff volunteers for camp, which was awesome. Our Year 3s are next up, with their trip to the zoo on Monday 13th and Tuesday 14th November. Thank you also to our Senior School Leader Aggie Gorski for organisation of the camps.

Walkathon Sponsorship

A friendly reminder to all children and families to get your sponsorship forms and money in this week to be included in prizes. There are prizes for the most laps (junior/senior), most fund raising (junior/senior), and the class with the highest total will have a pizza and movie afternoon at school! All funds will go towards our new chromebooks and resurfacing the asphalt area. Thank you in advance for your generous support.

2024 Prep Parent Information Night

Last night we welcomed the parents of our 2024 Prep students into our community - some new and some current. We spent time introducing these wonderful people to the way we do things at St Agnes’ and what they can expect in the first few months of their time at our school. I would like to thank Anna Wassell for preparing a talk about her experiences as a Prep parent at our school. Anna’s kind and genuine words gave new parents to our school a clear insight into what it is like to be a Prep parent at St Agnes’. I would also like to thank Georgia Sotiroski and Lauren Karpathakis for representing the Parents and Friends Committee to talk about the benefits of being involved in school life at St Agnes’. We are also grateful to Amanda Baker and Louisa Di Pietro for helping communicate more about our approach to Structured Literacy in our junior school classrooms. We look forward to the third Prep Orientation session on Wednesday 8th November.

Year 5 and 6 Public Speaking

Our senior students are now some four weeks into their public speaking course focused on debating. This is the first year we have run a debating course and it will now alternate with the presentation skills course every second year. The children are learning about the structure of debates, effective persuasive techniques and the value of research. Expert toastmaster Sandra De Geest is facilitating these sessions and the engagement level from the students is extremely high. We look forward to the showcase event at the conclusion of the course.

Parents and Friends Committee Annual General Meeting - Tuesday 14th November

St Agnes’ P&F AGM will be held on Tuesday 14th November at 7pm at school. All parents are welcome and encouraged to attend. We are working on assembling our P&F Executive Team; Georgia Sotiroski and Lauren Karpathakis will be co-presidents of the P&F in 2024. Bree Walsh will continue as treasurer and Sally Forbes as our Class Rep Coordinator. We are on the lookout for a Secretary for the Exec Team and also need to solidify our Class Reps for 2024. If you are keen to be a Class Rep next year, please contact Sally (OwenSally@hotmail.com) or myself. In some year levels, we have had some parents be a Class Rep for a number of years in a row, so I would encourage a change in these levels and someone new to put their hand up! It is a great opportunity, especially for working parents, to contribute in a positive way to the school community.

Fete Christmas Raffle- Open now

The St. Agnes’ Primary School Christmas Raffle is now open. This raffle is raising critical funds to support the 2024 School Fete. Please head across to the Fete News page for prize details and a link for raffle ticket purchases.

Fire Education Visit

Yesterday our Prep students welcomed some very special visitors to their classrooms, with Darren, Dom and Nat from Fire Rescue Victoria’s Highett station. The children were mesmerised by their equipment and informative educational experience about fire safety. Thank you to Mrs Baker for organising this awesome opportunity for our Preppies.

Remembrance Day

On Wednesday 8th November at assembly, we will gather as a school to mark Remembrance Day. Our Social Justice Captains are busily preparing a short commemorative ceremony to explain the significance of this important day in the history of our nation. Our School Captains, Alannah Harris and Hugh Clark will represent our school at the Highett RSL Remembrance Day Commemorative Service. This event is held in front of the RSL at 11am on Saturday 11th November. Alannah and Hugh will read poems and lay a wreath on behalf of St Agnes’.

Mackenzie Duddy

Mackenzie competed today at the School Sports Victoria State Championships. Her two events were the long jump and the 100m sprint. Mackenzie finished FIRST in the100 metre Sprint making her number one in the state for 9 to 10 year old girls. The whole school watched and everyone cheered loudly as she crossed the finish line. Congratulations Mackenzie. As we go to air we have not yet heard her long jump result.

Community Assistance Needed - Maintenance at St Agnes’

We are currently on the lookout for a subcontractor to take charge of the regular upkeep of school buildings, grounds and maintenance at St Agnes’. This role would include general garden maintenance and also fixing minor issues with the buildings and facilities. If anyone knows of a local person who is ‘handy’ and could be a good fit, please connect them with the school. Such a person would need to maintain a Working With Children Check, provide references and have their own insurance.

All-Star Regional Finals - Year 3/4

Our Year 3/4 Boys Basketball team is off to the Hooptime Regional Finals on Wednesday 15th November at Waverly Basketball stadium. We wish them well and know they will compete in the right spirit. A big thanks to all parents for transporting the children!

Melbourne Cup Weekend

A reminder that the school is closed on Monday 6th November due to the Melbourne Cup Long Weekend. This day is used to acquit ‘time in lieu’ for school staff due to events such as Parent/Teacher Interviews, our parent information/family faith nights and School Production. We hope you have an enjoyable weekend and recharge, ready for a big finish to the school year.

School Fees

Term Four School Fees Statements were sent out earlier in the term and were due Friday 20th October. Fees are payable via EFT, cash or credit card. Please contact Shannon (accounts@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) to organise payment.

Assembly

Assembly is held in the hall on a Wednesday afternoon. Parents are always welcome to attend. We continue to have class presentations, awards, birthdays and special announcements each week.

Wednesday 1st Nov - Year 2

Wednesday 8th Nov - Remembrance Day Service (Social Justice Captains)

Wednesday 15th Nov - Year 1

Wednesday 22nd Nov - Music Showcase

Wednesday 29th Nov - Advent Week 1 (Year 3)

Wednesday 6th Dec - Advent Week 2 (Year 4)

Wednesday 13th Dec - Advent Week 1 (Year 5) & Year 6 Final Assembly

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Kind regards,

Lachie.