PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Week 9, Term 1

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Thank you to all members of our community for a tremendous start to the 2025 school year. We have welcomed many new faces this term and the vibrancy of our school is very noticeable. When you cast your mind back to the first couple of weeks, so much has happened. Parent Information Nights, Welcome Nights, District Swimming, Year 5/6 Camp, Open Days, Bike Ed, NAPLAN, Excursions and Firefighter visits. We have crammed a lot into the term and I would like to thank our staff and parent community for the way you have supported your children and the school. We are excited for what Term Two will bring.

School Production - Finding Nemo

The school production is starting to become a reality, as we prepare for two special nights in September. Last Friday, together with our Performing Arts teacher Anna Gugliucciello and Amanda Baker, I had the distinct pleasure of being part of the auditions with the Year 5 and 6 children. It was a privilege to be in the room as they sang and danced their little hearts out. For some, it came quite naturally, for others it was a significant risk-taking experience, but they are all to be commended for their efforts. It was amazing to see the difference in confidence, excitement and commitment since earlier school production auditions of 2021 and 2023. It has certainly gone up a notch as the children now have a greater understanding of the opportunity that a production presents! I am very proud of all of the children for their efforts, but it did make the casting process very difficult! We know that some of the children may feel disappointed should they have missed out on their desired role, but we sincerely hope they apply a growth mindset, and continue to put themselves forward for opportunities such as these in the future. Today in assembly, we announced the main cast, made up of our Year 5 and 6 students (listed below). All Prep-Year 4 students will appear on stage throughout the show and we can’t wait to see them under the bright lights!

Synopsis

Marlin, an anxious and over-protective clownfish, lives in the Great Barrier Reef with his kid Nemo, who longs to explore the world beyond their anemone home. But when Nemo is captured and taken to Sydney, Marlin faces his fears and sets off on an epic adventure across the ocean. With the help of lovable characters such as optimistic Dory, laid-back sea turtle Crush, and the supportive Tank Gang, Marlin and Nemo both overcome challenges on their journey to find each other and themselves.

Main Cast

Nemo - Eloise Spencer - A curious young clownfish born with a ‘lucky fin’, who brims with a sense of wonder and an eagerness for adventure.

Marlin - James Sotiroski - Nemo’s anxious and overprotective father, a clownfish who prefers the safety of his anemone to the unknowns of the open ocean.

Coral - Faye Levy - Nemo’s brave mum and Marlin’s wife.

Dory - Marnie Friend - on optimistic, bubbly, and sociable blue tang who experiences frequent short-term memory loss.

Professor Ray - Lily Gray - Nemo’s enthusiastic, encyclopedic stingray teacher.

Nigel the Pelican - Orlando Ward - a friendly, sharp-eyed pelican who is proud to know all the local happenings of Sydney Harbour.

St Agnes’ Sports Carnival - Postponed

Today we informed the children that unfortunately, we have had to postpone our annual Sports Carnival due to venue availability. Kingston Council contacted the school on Monday to inform us that due to recent asbestos works, the venue was unavailable to the school this week. We contacted all local athletics venues and there was no availability. The children were naturally disappointed, however we will look for a date early in Term Two. Thank you in advance for your understanding. Watch this space.

Cybersafety Online Seminar - Inform and Empower - Thursday 15th May

This year, our school will once again offer a parent seminar for families around the online safety of our students. Our parents are invited to join an online community webinar together with neighbouring schools. This way, you can tune in from your living room straight after dinner. We would strongly recommend that all Year 3-6 parents attend this online session, but all families are welcome to get involved. Marty and Carley from Inform and Empower offer up to date information around online trends, as well as practical strategies for parenting and managing tricky situations with your child. All parents who are interested are asked to register using the following link: bit.ly/CommunityWebinarMay15.

This online webinar will supplement the work being completed by students in class, as they join their termly eSafety webinars from their classrooms. It will form part of a two-year cycle moving forward, with an onsite session in 2026.

Sacrament of Reconciliation - Thursday 27th March

Tomorrow evening at 5pm and 7pm, our Reconciliation candidates will join together to celebrate this sacrament for the first time. We wish all of these children, mainly from our Year 3 cohort, all the best for this occasion. Due to a scheduling error, Fr Martin Dixon will stand in for this sacrament to avoid having to reschedule. We are grateful to Fr Martin for supporting the school/parish and candidates at short notice.

Cross Country Training

Our preparation for the upcoming District Cross Country commences on Tuesday 1st April at school at 8am. All children from Years 3-6 are invited to attend training and must attend at least two of the three training sessions to be eligible for the team.

School Photos

On Thursday 3rd March, we have our school photos. Families having the opportunity to purchase a range of photos of their child/ren. All purchases are to be made online and this can be done on the School Photos page of this newsletter. All children will need to wear their summer uniform on the day and bring along their runners if they have Class Sport on the day.

St Agnes’ Snippets

Yayoi Kusama Exhibition

Thank you to our Visual Arts Teacher Mrs Murdoch and our senior school staff for taking the children into the city to visit the Yayoi Kusama exhibition at the NGV. This was a great connection to learning and work completed around the Art Show in 2024. They are very lucky young people to have been to see and learn about one of the world’s most renowned artists.

Open Days

We’ve had two Open Days in the past couple of weeks and I would like to take this opportunity to thank our Year 6 students for their incredible work with school tours. They have proudly showcased our school to prospective families and are outstanding ambassadors for St Agnes’. Almost without fail, the prospective families make compliments about the children at the conclusion of a tour. 

We are heading for two strong Prep classes in 2026. I realise I probably sound like a broken record, but thank you to you, our parent community for your support of our school in the local community. Along with strong Open Day attendance, we have had a number of school tours outside of these, again indicating the strong reputation of our school in the local area. It is greatly appreciated and a tremendous validation for the work being done by our staff.

Bike Ed

This week, our middle school students completed their Bike Ed course and what a blast it was! The smiles on their faces tell the story, as they strengthen their prowess with this vital life skill!

Year 5/6 Debating

Congratulations to all of senior schools students on the completion of the Presentation Skills: Debating Course this week. This course is offered annually at our school and lays a wonderful foundation for our students to develop confidence and skills when presenting publicly. It’s certainly an opportunity that I envy from my younger days!

Prep Resilience Seminar

It was a great turn out last night at the Prep Parents ‘5 Secrets’ Seminar, hosted by Georgina Manning from Wellbeing for Kids. We trust that the insights shared by Georgie as an educator, parent and wellbeing expert will be helpful in supporting your child through their educational journey!

Fire Fighters Visit

Talk about an exciting way to wrap up a series of visits from the MFB! Our Preppies loved exploring the fire truck and having a go squirting the hose! What a hoot!

Dad’s Activities

Thank you to EJ Crohan and Bart Carroll who have recently organised some Dad’s events! Starting with the golf day on Saturday 15th March and followed up with the Pot and Parma night last week; both nice occasions to strengthen the connection between the father’s of our community! Well done to the winning team. I believe big plans are in the works, perhaps for a visit to a sporting event involving horses!

Thank you Attilio!

We’ve got some Year 3s who are busting to get some new giant chess pieces and reinvigorate our Chess Club! We are very grateful to Attilio (Y1 & Y4 dad) for fixing our Chess storage cage, ready for new pieces to go in there! Doesn't he just love having his photo taken!

Transition to Winter Uniform

As in previous years, all students are expected to be in full winter uniform by the beginning of the third week of Term Two. The second hand uniform shop is open this Friday and Noone Imagewear in Hampton have all your needs covered for Winter. Please see below, an outline of winter uniform items. A friendly reminder that the maroon spray jacket is to be worn over the top of the school jumper, not instead of.

Final Day of Term One - Friendship and Harmony Day

The penultimate day of Term One is fast approaching and it is going to be a wonderful day. The children are encouraged to wear casual clothes, with a touch of orange. We will start the day with the tradition of the St Agnes’ Easter Bonnet Parade at 9am on the running track. All children are invited to make an ‘Easter Bonnet’ or hat to celebrate Easter. This will be followed by our P&F Easter Raffle. At approximately 9.30am, we will move into the hall for the Easter Liturgy. This is a retelling of the Easter story, through song and movement. This is performed by the students in the class groups. Parents are welcome to remain at school after drop off for all of these events. From 10.15am onwards, the children will engage in the ‘Walk for Water’, as an act of solidarity for those who face the daily challenge of water security. There will also be a ‘Coin Line’ where the children will ‘line up’ all of the coins donated to Project Compassion in the Class Donation Box. This will then be followed by Harmony Day activities, celebrating cultures from around the world. Thank you to Mrs Phyland, Mrs Gorski, the School Captains and the SRCs for the work currently underway for a wonderful finish to Term One.

Conclusion of Term One

Term One concludes at 1.30pm on Friday 4th April. We look forward to seeing everyone again on Tuesday 22nd April for the first day of Term Two. Please note this is a ‘short week’ of school due to the public holidays for Easter Monday and Anzac Day falling in the same week.

Important Dates for Term Two

First day of Term Two - Tuesday 22nd April

Open Day 4 - Tuesday 29th April

District Cross Country - Thursday 1st May

Mother’s Day Dinner - Friday 2nd May

Mother’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy - Thursday 8th May

Open Day 5 - Tuesday 13th May

Cybersafety Webinar - Thursday 16th May

Sacrament of First Eucharist - Saturday 21st May

Parent Teacher/Interviews - Tuesday 1st July

School fees

Thank you to all families who have made school fee payments. Please ensure payment is made promptly throughout the year to avoid late payment fees. We encourage all families to set up direct debits and forms have been sent out for establishing this. If you have any questions regarding your fees, please contact Shannon Shine in the office (sshine@sahighett.catholic.edu.au).

Assembly

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

Wed 2nd April - SRC

Wishing all families a restful and renewing Easter holiday period! Bring on Term Two!

Kind regards,

Lachie.