P & F Newsletter
Hi St James Families
SUSHI FOOD DAY- Friday 3rd March
P&F MEETING- Wednesday 8th March
VISION PORTRAITS at St James- Sunday 19th March
PIES/HOT CROSS BUN FUNDRAISER- March/April
CINEMA NIGHT- Friday 31st March
SUBWAY FOOD DAY- Wednesday 5th April
P&F 2023
This year, once again the Parents & Friends is very much focused on running some familiar events for our children and running some social events for parents and families. The P&F is firstly here to support our school staff in providing some special events for our children and families and bringing our school community together. These events contribute to parents and friends of St James developing a sense of connectedness and belonging to the community - a sense that flows on to our children.
The committee also aims to raise funds which then make their way back directly into the school. Over the past few years, the P&F has been able to fund the installation of a new section of the bottom playground, the new front fence, heating and cooling in the community centre. and new drink fountains coming soon! While it isn’t our focus, we will have some small fundraisers and our big silent auction which will run in conjunction with our Major Parent Social Night in June to continue to support the maintenance and new projects for our school.
As said in an email early this week, a P&F email will come out once a week usually, but sometimes fortnightly. There is also a P&F newsletter in the school newsletter. Very often there will be information repeated in these, though often new invites and details come out in the newsletter first so it's a good idea to check both. Some emails can be quite long, like this one, or much shorter. It all depends on what is going on at the time.
P&F TEAM LEADER
This year there is just me, Kylie Brooks-Verberne, as the lone team leader! I have been a part of this school community since my eldest daughter Monet started Prep in 2014 so this is our 10th year here. She is now well and truly into high school (Year 9) and I now have Elodie in Grade 6D and Spencer in Grade 4F. I have been involved in the P&F since starting here, so 9 years which is a long time, but I can say I have loved and seen the huge value in many ways of being so involved in my children's school and education. In that time, I have been the Food Day Coordinator for 6 and a half years and a co-team leader for the past 3 years. (By the way if anyone is thinking of becoming a leader these are most definitely meant to be separate roles!) Prior to becoming leader, I also ran several different major events as part of a team. Along with co team leaders, Claire and Sheleigh in 2020, and Sheleigh in 2021 and 2022, we got the P&F through Covid and spent last year getting back to normal and encouraging involvement. This year I will continue to encourage ongoing involvement as this will most definitely be my last as a leader and food day coordinator, but more about that in later emails. Being the only team leader who has been here a long time and with a lot on my plate, you may not hear from me as much this year, but I will do my best to keep this ship sailing!
2022 FUNDRAISING RESULTS
Before we get into details about the upcoming year, I wanted to announce our fundraising achievement for last year.
After 2 yrs of lockdowns our goal last year was relatively small. We thought $10,000 to $15,000 might be a great result. BUT...
thanks to your support and contributions we were able to raise...
just over $25,000!
A pretty good effort from a very small core team of 3 people and post Covid.
As announced at the start of last year most of this will go to installing new drinking fountains around the school. Just this morning Dave was showing some of the options and plans for these. Once finalised we can let you know more details and when they will be installed. A grant was also received last year through Yarra Valley Water which will also contribute towards this so any extra funds will go towards our 2023 goal.
MORNING TEA THANKS
It was a great turnout on a lovely morning for our morning tea this morning. Thanks to those who came!
Thanks to Morning Tea Coordinators Emily Bent, Clemi Kohambanwickremage and Alexis Mitchell for doing an excellent job of coordinating our morning tea this morning and Nicole Spezza, Michelle Holmes and Ebony Soane also for their great coordination of second hand uniform sales
UNIFORM REQUEST
Nicole and Michelle (Uniform Coordinators) are always looking for second-hand uniforms in GOOD and CLEAN CONDITION for our uniform stall. Please drop them into the office if you have any. Nicole can also be contacted if you need to order a St James sports top. Email- nicolespezza@gmail.com
P&F MEETING
WEDNESDAY 8TH MARCH at 7:30pm - ALL WELCOME!
Our first meeting will be held on the evening of Wednesday 8th March in the Multipurpose room...on the other side of the Community Centre Foyer.
We will then alternate between a Monday morning meeting and Wednesday evening meeting throughout the year. Dates have not yet been set but plenty of notice will be given.
It is always an informal and friendly gathering where upcoming events are discussed, and ideas shared. It's a great way to meet people from across the school. Since Covid attendance has been very low at meetings and this year we will really need more people coming along on a regular basis to gradually get to know how things work behind the scenes to result in great fundraisers and great events for our children and families.
VISION PORTRAITS- at the school on SUNDAY 19th MARCH
Biannually the P&F offers the opportunity for families to sit for some family portraits with Vision Portraits. This year they will be offered outside onsite at St James on SUNDAY 19th MARCH. It's a great opportunity to update your family photos as well as contribute to the school's fundraising.
Below is a flyer with some extra details and booking links:
Just $30 for the photo shoot PLUS one high resolution digital photo
- There is $1.60 Eventbrite booking fee.
- Include the entire family or just the kids.
- The full $30 is donated to your organisation unless you miss your photo shoot whereby no donation or refund can be made.
- Each family can only make 1 booking.
- Each session will include a minimum of 50 images of all different pose combinations for families to choose from.
- Families will view their photos immediately after their photography session to select their fundraiser photo and to order any of our fantastic value prints and/or packages.
* No obligation to purchase anything additional.
Booking link: https://www.visionportraits.com.au/fundraise
Use the password raisefunds to gain access.
CINEMA NIGHT - SAVE THE DATE!!! FRIDAY 31st MARCH!
Our last Cinema Under the Stars Night, our biggest family social night of the year, was in March 2019! That year I was part of a team running it and a sudden storm right on arrival time was a huge challenge, but a successful and fun night was still had. Since then, Covid has seen the cancellation of 3 cinema nights but this year it is back!
Our Grade 5 P&F EVENT TEAM, of April Warfield, Emma Rodda-Hopkins, Deb Vukic, Claire Doherty and Ash Vienna are busily working on plans for the night and we will be providing all the details soon! In the meantime, save the evening of Friday 31st March for our much-loved Cinema night, a great way to welcome new families and start the year.
SUSHI FOOD DAY - FRIDAY 3rd MARCH
Next Friday is our first Special Food Day for the year.
Please order through CDF pay on your device.
Here is the link:
https://sjvermont.cdfpay.org.au
ORDERS NEED TO BE IN THROUGH CDF PAY by next THURSDAY 23rd FEBRUARY. (Please note on the flyer it said 24th but it is the 23rd..I am well known for my typos..rushing!)
New families have been sent an email with instructions on how to set up CDF pay but please contact me on this email or the office if you have any difficulties.
Sorry no late orders can be accepted. I have been secretly known to let the odd one or ten(!) late orders slip through but with CDF Pay this is no longer possible.
I will need volunteer help on the day for this one. 4 people from 9 am until 11am and then another 5 people to help with sorting, packing, and delivering of Sushi at 10:15 until 11. It's an easy enough job and a great way to meet others from across the school and the kids love it when you deliver their lunches to their classroom.
If you can help, please sign up here: volunteersignup.org/9HJKK
Just a couple of reminders - if you sign up and something comes up and you can't make it please let me know. Increasingly people have signed up and not turned up or arrived very late. I totally understand changes of plans but please let me know. Thanks!
FACEBOOK PAGE
For those using Facebook, the P&F have a Facebook Page which has last minute reminders and information about events and fundraisers.
Please find it here: https://www.facebook.com/PfNoticeboard
Thanks to Luisa Kho for managing this again!
Entertainment Fundraiser
P&F are running the ongoing Entertainment Fundraiser again this year. For every membership sold, 20% of the purchase price comes back to P&F.
Right now there is an excellent opportunity you can take advantage of - the Fundraiser Flash Sale - Extension.
The flash sale - extension starts at 6 pm, 23rd February and closes Midday, 25th February.
For any 12 or 24 month membership, you will get 4 months extra FOR FREE!
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Digital Entertainment Memberships can be purchased all year round. No more end-of-June expiry dates (as previously occurred with the printed books). Your 12 months membership begins from when you activate it.
Note: In early March, there will also be a FREE Multi-City Upgrade (for 3, 12 and 24 month single city memberships) offer coming out, so if you have interstate travel planned for later in the year, you may want to wait for that deal to come out.
Please visit our St James Fundraiser page at https://au.entdigital.net/orderbooks/186265m to order your membership and take advantage of the current offers.
Thanks everyone for your support,
Kylie
St James Parent and Friends Association