A SURPRISE TO SHARE!

Dear Families,

Excitement is building as we head towards the big day of filming for Mary Poppins Jr, and I am so very grateful to all of our students for all of their hard work and sense of joy and fun throughout rehearsals. Who would have thought, that with just a few weeks back in school, they would be ready to perform a big musical production such as Mary Poppins Jr! Of course, it would not have been possible without the talent and dedication of our musical director, Kathryn Sinker, who worked with the lead cast online throughout remote learning. Our students in the wider school community had also started to learn their songs just prior to lockdown, so they were raring to go!

I would also like to acknowledge the tremendous effort from our very own costume director Karen Redenbach (Miss Karen). During the past few weeks, she has managed to dress each and every child in the school and they look simply amazing! Thank you to Polly, Jade and Pina who have also lent helping hands during these past couple of weeks with costumes.

To celebrate this marvellous achievement, we have decided to host a premiere of Mary Poppins Jr during our end of year school picnic on Thursday 9th December. The picnic will begin straight after school.

BYO food, drink, picnic blanket, cushions, chairs...in fact, whatever makes you comfortable!

At 5.30 pm the big screen will come to life as we premiere our show!

What a fantastic way to celebrate the talents and hard work of our students, and what a special reason to gather as a community.

(We do have a wet weather contingency plan which will be communicated on Monday 6th).

Please use this TryBooking link so we can ascertain numbers:

https://www.trybooking.com/BVZCH

Whilst there is no ticket charge for this event, we would truly appreciate a donation towards costs (licensing, audio-visual costs, filming costs, hire of the cinema screen, etc).

We understand that some families are doing it tough, so only donate what you can if you can. The donation tickets have set prices and there's a free ticket available. If you'd like to donate more than the ticket amounts, just purchase multiple family tickets.

Some recent Mary Poppins questions:

Does my child need to provide a costume?

Miss Karen has communicated what is needed to each classroom teacher. If you are unsure of anything, please reach out to your teacher. We have tried to source everything for you. Thank you to St Joseph's Elsternwick, St James' Brighton and Galilee South Melbourne for letting us raid their costume store!

What about hairstyles for Tuesday's filming?

All boys/ short hair- nothing out of the ordinary!

All girls/ long hair- Prep and Y1: Pigtails or bunches; Year 2, 3, 4: a bun or hair out, ie, personal choice; Y5 and Y6: a ballerina bun if possible.

What about makeup?

We ask that you apply some foundation and lipstick if possible, simply to prevent that washed out or shiny look on film. Don't worry if your child is not keen, we are not that precious. We won't be applying make up on children, aside from a little bit of 'soot' on our chimney sweeps.

When and where will filming take place?

Filming will take place on Tuesday 30th November in our school hall and will last for a full day. It will be filmed by Turbo 360 who will edit the day's footage ready for the premiere on Thursday 9th December at our picnic. The download link will be available to all families after this date.

Will there be a production photo book, like Aladdin?

The lovely Moira McKinnis, who produced our Aladdin Jr book, has offered to produce the same for Mary Poppins Jr.

Order forms will be shared at some point- not sure when- and current and 'old families' will be contacted with an order form.

What happens if we can't make it to the picnic? Does this mean we can't see the movie?

The link will be sent out to all families for download on Friday 10th December.

Why can't we go ahead with an 'in theatre' production?

There are a number of reasons for this:

#1 Our children are mostly unvaccinated and after serious consideration, we don't want to risk any of you being in quarantine so close to the end of the year and so close to Christmas. Hosting an indoor, whole school event, with a large number of visitors increases the covid risk for our students.

#2 Our children have had limited rehearsal time and the process of running a live show would be extremely stressful for them. A full day's filming is both novel and a bit more relaxed.

# The venue that we had originally booked (Malvern Town Hall) is unavailable for our changed date, and I am sincerely grateful to parents who offered to help with alternative venues.

Do we have to pay for the picnic and premiere of the show?

No, tickets are free through Trybooking: https://www.trybooking.com/BVZCH but 'donation' tickets are available. These donations would cover the following:

Show license through Musical Theatre International plus show resources
Cost of audiovisuals, including headsets for our lead actors
Theatre style conversion of the hall
Cost of filming
Cost of the big screen (Suitable for daytime viewing) for our picnic

Rehearsals have been an absolute joy, and whilst the end of the school year is not an ideal time to attempt a production on this scale, the musical has allowed our children to reconnect and experience a little bit of normal school life in 2021:

Congratulations to the Lewis Family!

What lovely news this week on the gate first thing Monday morning, from Freddie (Prep), about the birth of baby boy, Bobby! Congratulations to Lucy, Jordan, Freddie, Hughie and Ollie on their new arrival. We wish you a lifetime of love and happiness! Bobby is adorable!

Also in this newsletter:

Fee update for 2022
Staffing schedule for 2022
Important Dates for the final few weeks of the term

Important:

Please note that school will be closed on Monday as we have a professional development day for staff, including 2021 data analysis, analysis of our 2021 annual action plan and formal student handovers to the 2022 teachers. Extend will be in operation on this day.

Wishing you all a lovely weekend ahead and we cannot wait to come together with our students on Tuesday for the filming of Mary Poppins Jr!

Michelle

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