PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

 Week 3, Term 3

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Hi Everyone, 

We have had a busy, productive and engaging start to Term Three. Production rehearsals for Finding Nemo Jr are in full swing, and all of our students in Prep to Year 4 are working hard to learn the words to songs and master their dance movements. A special mention to our wonderful Year 5 and 6 students for the hard work and commitment they are putting in each week during our whole school rehearsals. It has been great to watch all students grow in confidence and skill as they rehearse for the production - learning their lines, singing with enthusiasm, and exploring the magic of stagecraft. The production takes place in the evenings of Tuesday 16th and Wednesday 17th September. As it is a whole school event, it is expected that all students are present at both performances so we can make the show the best it can be! Please mark these dates in your calendar and be on the lookout for ticket sales!

SRC and Mini Vinnies Leaders

At our assembly this week, the SRC and Mini Vinnies for Semester Two were presented with their badges. The role of an SRC (Student Representative Council) includes attending meetings to discuss ideas from students, helping to organise school events and promoting student voice. Our SRC students play an important leadership role and contribute to building a strong and inclusive school community. They work closely with our Learning Diversity and Wellbeing Leader, Mrs Phyland. 

The Mini Vinnies team is led by Mrs Gorski. Their role includes learning and spreading awareness about social justice issues. They identify needs globally and within our school and wider community, considering meaningful ways they can help. Congratulations to all of these students. 

SRC and Mini Vinnies - Class Representatives (Semester Two 2025) 

Maths - Number Fact Fluency

This year, students from Prep to Year 6 have been focusing on building their number fact fluency. When students know number facts automatically (like times tables or addition facts), they don’t have to stop and calculate basic facts during more complex tasks. This frees up mental space to focus on understanding the problem and choosing a strategy. Fluency helps students feel more confident and stay engaged with challenging tasks. 

We have been using Numbots and TTrockstars to drive our number fact fluency practice, and it has been wonderful to celebrate the children receiving their ‘Gone Green’ certificates at assembly each week. These students know all of their timetables with an average answering speed of less than 4 seconds. Each term, students are assessed on their number facts in addition, subtraction, multiplication and division. Here are the results from the assessment last week. 

Well done to our students for the commitment and hard work they are putting into this important and essential aspect of their learning. 

St Agnes’ Swimming Carnival (note the change of date and location)

The Sandringham Family Leisure Centre pool is currently undergoing repairs so we have had to find a new location for our swimming carnival. Thank you to Mr Kost for securing a new location and date for this wonderful school event. The swimming carnival will now be held at Mentone Aquatic (corner of Lucerne Street & Como Parade West, Mentone) on Tuesday 25th November. This is a fabulous day of participation and fun, and parents are welcome to come along and support the children. 

St Agnes’ P&F Presents St Agnes’ Rodeo!

You are invited to join us for the highly anticipated 2025 P&F parent event, to be held on Friday 15th August. Many thanks to our hardworking P&F for their efforts to bring together this incredible social and fundraising occasion for our community. Our school has long been known for a strong social side and community spirit. It is one of the many things that makes this school so special and research indicates that a strong parent-school connection has a profound impact on student wellbeing and also learning. Organise a babysitter so you can come along and be part of what promises to be a fun and enjoyable evening. 

Tickets are on sale now - head across to Parents and Friends news page for easy purchasing

Fundraising efforts for 2025-2026

This year and into next year, we are working towards two things for the continued improvement of facilities for our students:

1. The upgrade of network 'switches', which are a critical component for the Wifi network. Thank you to Andrew and Anna Pitsikalis (Prep parents) who have donated some of this hardware, to give us a great start. Without current, licensed switching, our network does not operate effectively, so it is critical to the learning of the children and online access of students and staff. We expect to be in a position to complete this year.

2. The upgrade and replacement of the adventure playground equipment in the central courtyard. This is estimated to cost around $100,000-$110,000 and will be the focus of our 2026 Fete.

Connor’s Run - Sunday 14th September

Connor's Run is an annual running event held in memory of Robert Connor Dawes, a Melbourne teenager who tragically died from brain cancer. It is focused on raising funds and awareness for paediatric brain cancer. The run is known for its supportive community atmosphere and offers various distances, including an 18.8km, 9.6km, and 3km route. Last year we entered a St Agnes’ team. We had over 20 parents, students, siblings and a couple of teachers take part. So far we have 6 people registered in our St Agnes’ team. We invite everyone to join and be part of this great event.

St Agnes’ Snippets

St Agnes’ Mixed Netball Team - Beachside Division Competition

On Monday 28th July, our Year 5 and 6 Mixed Netball team competed in the Beachside Division Netball competition at Stonnington Sport Centre, East Malvern. Congratulations to the team for winning the majority of their games. Many thanks to Mrs Miller for coaching the team and to the parents who were able to transport the students to and from the event. Mrs Miller mentioned how well our students behaved, exhibiting team spirit and encouragement at all times. Well done! 

Prep 100 Days Celebration

Last Wednesday, our fabulous Prep students celebrated 100 days at school. They came dressed as 100 year old people and had a day of fun, celebration and connection with their families, buddies and classmates. Thank you to Jude and Cass for your preparations for this very special day.  Many thanks to the parents and grandparents who were able to stay for a special activity in the classroom. A special shout-out and thank you to the parents who set up the lunch for the Preps in the hall. A fabulous day was had by all! 

Geography Immersion

Last Monday, we held our whole school Geography Immersion event. This term in our Topic lessons, we are focusing on Geography. As a way of getting students engaged and excited about the learning that will be occurring, we transformed each classroom into a different continent. The students worked in mixed groupings from Prep to Year 6 and completed four activities. They ‘visited’ Antarctica and created paper penguins, they made rice paper rolls whilst visiting Asia, in South America they created Dia de los Muertos masks and when visiting Africa, they went on a virtual safari tour and created animal prints. Many thanks to our team of creative teachers for preparing and running the activities. 

Pick up and drop off

Many children and families walk through the staff car park at the Locinda Street gates each morning and afternoon. I would like to offer a gentle reminder to all parents and grandparents that this car park is not to be used by parents before or after school, for the safety of all members of our community.

Staff Leave in Term Three

This term we have some staff taking leave from work for various reasons. 

• Lachie Foott is on long service leave this week for a short family holiday.
• Nicci Murdoch is taking leave from 1st September until the end of the term, to travel to Europe with her family, celebrating a significant wedding anniversary with her husband Dave.

School Closure Day - Kelly Sports Offering

On Monday 18th August, we have a School Closure Day for Staff Professional Development. Paul and Tash at Kelly Sports are offering a full day of activities onsite for our students on this day. They require a minimum of 10 children to be enrolled by Monday 11th August for this to proceed. I encourage those who need it to get a group together and book it in. See details in the attached document.

Australian Girls Choir Visit

On Tuesday 19th August, a representative from the Australian Girls Choir will visit our students. A flyer will be sent home to families with further details. 

Inform and Empower - Online Safety workshops

Our Year 1 to 6 students will continue their learning about digital citizenship and online safety as part of our Digital Technologies curriculum this week. These sessions are facilitated by Marty from Inform and Empower, who has led the parent workshops in our school for the past three years.

Prep Parish Mass

On Friday 8th August, our Prep children will join the weekday mass goers for 9am morning mass. The children will assist throughout the mass and parents are welcome to attend. A gentle reminder to please leave your coffee cups in the car.

Father’s Day Lunch

All St Agnes’ Dads are invited to the first annual Father’s Day Lunch at Sandy by the Bay on Friday 12th September from 12pm-4pm. Talk to the boss and get the afternoon off for what promises to be a fun-filled catch-up with the other men from our school community. All are welcome. Please get in touch with Kosh Sothilingam on 0403 438 667 to secure your spot. Get in quick because places may be limited.

Junior Excursion

On Friday 15th August our Preps, Year 1 and 2 students will head to Ceres for their Term 3 excursion. The students will participate in hands-on learning experiences focused on sustainability and the environment. Activities may include exploring an urban farm, learning about waste management (the 5 R's), meeting chickens and worms, planting seeds, exploring the Merri Creek, and even making recycled paper. Please see Operoo for all details. 

Important Dates for Term Four

• Sacrament of Confirmation Mass (Year 6) will take place on Saturday 11th October. Please mark this date in your diary. 
• Year 3 Zoo Snooze Camp - an overnight stay at Melbourne Zoo - is on Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th October!
• Year 4 Summit Camp is from Wednesday 22nd-Friday 24th October.
• We will be having a whole school Grandparents Day on Thursday 30th October. There will be a Liturgy in the morning, classrooms will open and we will finish with morning tea (9am-11am).
• Term Four concludes on Monday 15th December for Year Six and on Tuesday 16th December for all Prep-Year 5 students.

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 6th Aug - Year 5

Wed 13th Aug - Year 3

Wed 20th Aug - Year 4

Wed 27th Aug - Year 1

Wed 3rd Sept - Year 2

Wed 10th Sept - Year 6 Leadership

Wed 17th Sept - No assembly

Kind regards,

Amanda