St James News

P & F Newsletter 

Hi St James Families,

SUBWAY Food Day- Friday 25th August

Father’s Day Breakfast- Friday 1st September

Father’s Day Stall- Friday 1st September

Father’s Day Raffle- TICKETS DUE- Thursday 31st August

SCHOOL DISCO- Thursday 14th September

FOOTY DAY/ FOOD DAY- Friday 15th September

SAVE THE DATE- ST JOHN’S PARISH FETE- Saturday 18th November.

 

FATHER'S DAY BREAKFAST - Friday 1st September

382 people now have tickets for the Father’s Day breakfast! A very big thank you to everyone for being so prompt in booking. It really does help with planning. We have reopened with some more spots for each session with the aim of trying to keep the numbers even for each session. 

Please book here: https://www.trybooking.com/CKMII

 

We have had a good response to our call out for volunteers to help on the day and the day prior to the Father's Day Breakfast but only one more since Friday’s email so do require some more. 

Below is a list of volunteers still needed:

  • Set up tables/chairs/BBQ- Thurs 31st August - 2pm-3.20pm- 1 more needed
  • Food preparation- Thurs 31st August - 2pm-3.20pm- 2 more needed
  • Set up and Food Prep and Service - Friday 7am-8.45am- 6 more needed
  • Sign in Desk- Friday 7.15am- 2 more needed
  • Clean up- Friday 8.30-9.30am- 6 more needed

Can you help? If you can please sign up here: volunteersignup.org/EC7P3

A huge thanks to the Grade 1 P&F Event Team of Sonnya Tirtawidjaja, Kylie McMahon, Isabel Fernando and Fina Triany for all of their hard work in preparing for this BIG event!

 

FULL DETAILS BELOW

 

ATTENTIONS MUMS ONLY!

FATHER'S DAY STALL- Friday 1st September

Our Father’s Day Stall is coming up next Friday and is a chance for kids to bring in $5 and go shopping to choose a present for their dads. All gifts are $5. Children will need tp bring cash on the day. Further details below:

 

FATHER'S DAY RAFFLE- Tickets coming home this week!

Tickets for our annual Father’s Day Raffle will be coming home this week. Tickets are $1 and are due back next Thursday 31st August ready to be drawn the next day at the Father’s Day Breakfast. Below is the flyer that will be coming home with all the details of the 5 prizes.

 

A big thank you to Jason Barrie for sourcing some great prizes for our annual Father’s Day Raffle as well as the help from Amy Dipierdomenico.

 

AUSKICK BBQ THANKS!

The P&F AUSKICK BBQ wound up last weekend and what a bumper season it was! A huge thanks firstly goes to Kylie McMahon for her hard work in coordinating this every week. It all ran very smoothly thanks to Kylie's organisation! This last week we need to thank Dee Wingate with Cecelia Kennedy, Jess Savoia and Ben Lovick on the BBQ with Chloe Lovick (Grade 4) helping serve and helping the cook!

Over the course of the season a big thanks goes to Dan Savoia who has been outstanding on the BBQ, being the one cooking almost every week! The token system for prepaid sausages has been a great success so thanks to Dee Wingate for that suggestion and implementation! Thanks also to Oliver Wingate (Grade 3) and Liam Dougherty (Grade 3) were regular helpers with selling the tokens. 

 

THANKS to the AUSKICK COACHES!

While the actual Auskick Program is not a P&F run event the coaches need to be thanked for running such a great program for not only St James children but children from the wider community. There has been a lot of great feedback for the Auskick program so a big thanks to firstly the coordinator, Tom Dougherty and all the coaches: Andrew Mitchell, Paul Borysiewicz, James Wingate, Nicholas Rodgers, Chris McDade, Ash Holmes and Mick Hough.

 

FYI- P&F RECENT PURCHASES

In order to increase our capacity to get food prepared and ready on time for the Father's Day Breakfast and other events a few upgrades and purchases have been made. Our current BBQ has had some new wheels added and an older BBQ has been cleaned up and new cooking plates fitted. With two BBQs on the go we hope this makes the line move quicker at the BBQ at various events.

We have also purchased a commercial grade electric food warmer which will help with speed and make it easier for volunteers to keep up with demand.

 

Thanks to Dylan Dipierdomenico for his advice with all of this. Much appreciated!

 

SUBWAY FOOD DAY - THIS FRIDAY 25th AUGUST

Orders are in for this Friday's Subway Food Day. This is an easy one. Subway do most of the work and I just have to pick them up so no helpers are needed!

 

SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB

 Orders for the current SCHOLASTIC BOOK CLUB are due in NEXT THURSDAY 24th AUGUST.

 

Thanks to Bron Welch for coordinating this. 

 

 

 

 

P&F PLANNING 2024

Without sounding like a broken record, the P&F will be needing some new leaders and key roles filled next year and well before this year is out. 

 

 

IMPORTANT- SEEKING A GROUP OF LEADERS! 

After a good 9 years being quite involved with the P&F, 7.5 as a food day coordinator and coordinator of a variety of other events and 4 as leader with this last year on my own, at the end of this year I do need to step down. I will still be a part of the community for another 2 years but with 2 in high school next year and most of the families I started here with having left I think it's time for a new group to take some ownership and bring some fresh enthusiasm to the P&F! I have really enjoyed being involved with and leading the P&F as it has helped me become much more strongly tied to my children's school community and it has greatly added to my skill set, a lot more than I thought it would, especially as someone who does not normally like to be out in front! Also, as it has been said before, strong parental engagement in their school community does impact positively on a child's learning and well-being outcomes. While it may be hard to see the connection between out of classroom involvement of parents and educational outcomes of children, research backs it up and I saw it myself in my time as a teacher and now as a parent. It is also a great way to meet people and it is a great feeling when an event is a success ...which from experience it always is even when things don't go as planned!

 

My biggest piece of advice for the leadership team is for it to be a group of 3 or 4 people. While often one person may naturally rise to have a larger oversight, with having a group, tasks such as sending emails/newsletters and overseeing an event can be shared out over the terms. In the past other leaders have had a larger support group around them too that would help out, come to meetings and share ideas. This makes it a lot more fun and has led to some long-lasting friendship groups being formed. I will say that having one leader is not advisable. It means you don't have a backup when you need it, you need to oversee every event, answer every email, and don't have that social aspect as much so it is not as enjoyable. So, a group is the way to go for sure.

 

It helps to have one of you to have some organisational skills, but rest assured the P&F Google Drive is full of flyers, running sheets, forms, schedules and old meeting agendas/minutes and newsletters that can help you. It also needs to be stated that a new group can change things up to suit their needs. They may choose to only send fortnightly emails or change events or times, or they may want to keep some things and not others. I will say though the system of event teams for year level is quite unique and means that larger events are spread out across the year levels. While the leaders are quite involved it means there is a different group coordinating each event and the same people aren't doing everything which is always a good thing. The vast majority of past leaders have had paid jobs while volunteering over the years, some even full-time employment. It is recommended that at least one or two of you have one day off a week or have some flexibility should you need to meet or get a few jobs done on some weeks throughout the year. 

Whatever is the case I will still be around and can offer many tips and help out. I will miss many aspects of it but just cannot do it next year. 

 

TREASURER in training NEEDED too!

The P&F will also quite urgently need a treasurer to gradually take over from Rachelle whose youngest child will be in Grade 6 next year. Over the past year or so Rachelle and I have gradually introduced more things that have made the treasurer's role much easier. While there are finances to keep track of we no longer have access to the bank account so payments are made by Lisa and Michelle in the office who are so helpful and lovely to work with! CDF Pay and the Square (EFTPOS) have really minimised the need for cash counting and reimbursement forms have made it easier to keep track of incomings and outgoings. While Rachelle is happy to continue next year it is advisable that someone works with her to learn how the system works while she is still here as part of the St James Community!

 

If you have any questions about any of these roles, please speak to myself or Dave Mutimer.

Anyway, that is probably enough and longer than was intended, but I think it important to give a lot of information and a good overview of what is needed for the P&F to continue to run effectively. Hopefully it can give some people some food for thought and encouragement. 

 

Thanks for your support,

Kylie