Dear Parents/Carers,

This week we are doing an extra newsletter as there is quite a bit happening in the school at the moment.

Early yesterday morning, 40 of our Year Five and Six students set off on their journey to Canberra for five days. There were a number of excited and nervous faces, both students and parents, as everyone boarded the bus for the 8 hour trip north to the national capital.

We have all been on school camps during our time at school and for me, they are some of my fondest memories of my education. As a school we are very excited to offer the Senior School students the opportunity to go to Canberra for a week of learning and exploring. While there are some obvious academic benefits for the students in visiting places like Parliament House and the Australian War Memorial, there are also some not-so-obvious benefits that are worth highlighting:

Strengthening of relationships - The extra time spent, away from the structure of the school environment, enables students to strengthen relationships amongst themselves and also with their teachers. Not only does this benefit them in the playground when they return, it also enables the students to operate with more confidence once they return to the classroom.
Self Management and Independence - Someone once said to me, never do for children what they can do for themselves. I know as a parent, I fall into the trap of helping my children do things at home they can do for themselves, because it is quicker and easier. On school camp, the children have many opportunities every day to further develop their independence and self management skills by doing things like rolling sleeping bags, cleaning their dorm rooms and fulfilling roles such as a Meal Time Leader.
Resilience - There are times on school camp when students will be challenged, they will be tired, grumpy or they may miss home. While the students will be supported by their teachers to navigate the challenges of camp, it is important for them to have the opportunity to work through these challenges independent of Mum and/or Dad.

Going forward, the Canberra Camp will be part of the ongoing camp program for our Year Five and Six students at St Agnes’. There will be updates from the adventures of our campers throughout the week on our social media pages, so look out for these!

Interschool SSV Swimming

On Friday last week, our Swimming Team went off to the Interschool SSV Swimming Sports. We are very proud of our team as they finished second overall, which is a fantastic effort. I would like to thank our PE Teacher and Sports Leader, Mr Simon Kost for his efforts in preparing the swimmers in the lead up to the event and also for his overall organisation. Check out the Sports section of our newsletter for further information on the day.

St Agnes’ School Tuckshop

This Friday 26th February, Salute Catering will be firing up the St Agnes’ School Tuckshop. This is very exciting for all of our families and I encourage everyone to place an order, to ensure this wonderful service offering becomes permanent. It will be operating every Friday, starting this week which means you don’t have to think about lunches on Friday’s anymore.

Orders may be placed online by visiting salutecatering.com.au or on a paper bag left at the school office. To place an online order, you will require the guest password lunch2021. Orders must be received by 3.30pm Thursday for the following day's lunch. All snacks may be pre ordered with the exception of the homemade sorbet, which will only be available to buy at the school canteen in the hall during lunch time. The lunch menu and pricelist is located in the School Canteen section of our newsletter.

St Agnes’ School Fete

We have our bi-ennial Fete locked in for Saturday 20th November, so I ask all families to save this date in your calendar and let all of your friends know too! This terrific community event is the school’s major fundraiser and in the past has been a major boost for the school. In recent times, it has helped the school resurface the tennis and basketball courts and also the adventure playground on Clyde Street. The Co-Chairs of our Fete Committee Clare Inwood and Fiona Newington are looking for support from members of the school community to help bring this amazing event to life. You will receive an Operoo Form for expressions of interest in the coming days, so please consider how you and your family are able to contribute.

Prep Resilience Seminar - Georgina Manning

On Tuesday 9th March from 7.30pm, the school will be hosting a parent seminar for our Prep parents - “5 Secrets to Build Confidence and Resilience”. This session will be facilitated by student wellbeing expert Georgina Manning and at this stage, we are aiming to hold this session onsite, in the school hall. It is essential that each Prep family be represented on the night. It would be ideal if both parents could attend. Please indicate your attendance by clicking the following link: St. Agnes' Highett - 5 Secrets Parent Seminar.

Parents and Friends Committee Meeting - Wednesday 10th March, 7.30pm

On Wednesday 10th March at 7.30pm, we have the first Parents and Friends Committee meeting for 2021. This is an open meeting and all parents are welcome to attend. I ask that our Class Reps make a special effort to be in attendance please. We are planning for this meeting to be held onsite, in the staffroom.

School Closure Days Cancelled

For continuity of learning for our students, the professional development days for the staff, which were due to take place on Thursday 4th and Friday 5th March have been cancelled. The school will operate as normal on these days. The school is closed on the Labour Day public holiday on Monday 8th March.

Open Days

On Wednesday 3rd March, the school will be holding the first of three Open Days. Please encourage people you know who are looking choose a school for their family to come along for a tour, led by our Year Six Leaders. The visitors will also have the opportunity to meet with me to ask any questions. Further Open Days will be held on Wednesday 24th March and Wednesday 21st April.

School Photos

School Photos have been rescheduled for Wednesday 31st March. Students will need to be wearing their full Summer school uniform on this day and if they have Class Sport, they will need to pack runners in their bag.

Assembly

Assembly will take place at 2.40pm on a Wednesday afternoons in the Hall. At assembly, there will be presentations from classes, student awards, birthday acknowledgements and special announcements. Parents are welcome to attend.

Please note there has been a change to assembly dates, as Year 4 missed out this week.

Wed 22nd Feb - No Assembly

Wed 3rd March - Year 3

Wed 10th March - Year 2

Wed 17th March - Year 1

Wed 24th March - Prep

Wed 31st March - Year 4

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Kind regards,

Lachie