Dear Parents/Carers,

I trust this newsletter finds your family feeling refreshed after the long weekend and ready for a big week at St Agnes’! This week all Catholic Schools are celebrating Catholic Education Week and at our school, we mark this occasion with a whole school mass on Friday morning at 9am in the Church. Parents are welcome to attend this mass if you wish. Being a Catholic school is what separates us from the government school down the road…we are distinctly Catholic. We are in relationship with God through prayer, liturgy and celebrations such as the mass on Friday. At our school, the students learn about faith through story. The story of Jesus and how he taught people to care for one another, especially those less fortunate that ourselves. It’s opportunities such as supporting the NSW Flood Victims with our special day tomorrow, that helps our children to connect action with the story of our faith.

Staff Professional Learning

At the end of last week, our staff spent two days together learning more about three connected practices in the area of Student Wellbeing; Restorative Practices, Circle Time and Mindfulness. One of the days was spent learning about the importance of remaining in the ‘present’ and not worrying about past or future because this is often where much of our negative emotion and feelings of anxiety come from. The practice of mindfulness, with meditation as the tool to improve our ability to be more mindful and remain ‘present’, is one that has been widely researched and implemented across a range of fields in recent years. Our children and teenagers lead very busy lives compared to previous generations, so learning about staying ‘present’ and focused on what you can contral is a vital skill for them to grasp. 2022 Australian Open Champion Ash Barty and AFL (Richmond) player Dustin Martin, both credit mindfulness practices to the improvement in performance in their chosen profession. Connecting the concept of mindfulness and the practice of meditation to sporting stars such as these two individuals makes it very relatable for the children. In terms of the immediate benefits for the students; teaching our young people strategies and skills in this area helps them to maintain focus during learning time and also to think more about the present moment rather than things in the future that they cannot control. Research also indicates that this will assist students in regulating their emotions and managing social challenges. Our staff will be introducing mindfulness practices into our classrooms over the coming weeks, with a view to making it a daily practice at the beginning of each day.

St Agnes’ School Fete

The day is almost here and it is very exciting! The Fete is the school’s major fundraiser and has gained a reputation in the local area for being a vibrant community event. The social aspect of our Fete is what makes it really special, so I encourage all parents to come along to help and get involved. The connections that are developed at events like this can be longlasting and benefit your children in the long term. It helps the your family and children to feel a sense of belonging in their school which supports their learning. All funds raised at the fete will go directly back into improving facilities for the children. The two priorities are purchasing new furniture post renovation and the secondary priority is to resurface the asphalt area in the central court yard. The final Fete update from the committee is attached to this newsletter, so please go across to this page for further detail about what is required between now and 10am on Saturday. Before mentioning some specifics, it is important to acknowledge the huge amount of work that has been done to get us to this point. I would like to thank the Co-Chairs of our Fete Committee - Fiona Newington and Clare Inwood - for their efforts in leading the committee. They have been amazing in getting things going and keeping them going, but they could not do it alone. I would also like to thank Mary Fordyce, Andrew Bruggeman, Leanne Cooke, Shannon Shine, Sally Forbes, Sarah Duddy and Denham Martil for being part of the committee and helping to drive the event. There has been a number of hurdles to overcome, especially with regard to the pandemic, so for us to be able to offer such an event is amazing and a testament to the quality of people in our community. Finally, I would also like to thank all parents who have volunteered time to help on the day. It could not happen without your assistance, so thank you. There are still a small number of ‘shifts’ on the stall roster which need filling, so if you are able to do an extra shift or you haven’t yet signed up, please see the link on the Fete page.

Some specifics for all parents to be aware regarding the Fete:

While it is a school event, it is open to the public and parents are responsible for supervising their children throughout the day.
All volunteers at the Fete are required to be at least double vaccinated. Please send evidence to covid19@sahighett.catholic.edu.au.
Those working on stalls in the hall will need to wear a face mask.
The Fete is predominantly a cash event and it would be helpful if your family has small notes/coins for spending. This will assist the ‘treasury’ with change across the day.
The Fete committee is asking for help from any parents who are available on Friday, either during the day or after school to help set up stalls in readiness for Saturday. This will include moving trash and treasure, books, setting up stalls, marquees etc. All assistance is welcome and appreciated. If you just turn up and I’m sure there will be something for you to do!
Rides will be set up on Friday afternoon, meaning we may need to adapt the way we dismiss children from school on Friday. We will communicate as required on the day.
While stalls will be packed up on Saturday afternoon, there will still be more to do on Sunday. If we could have any parents who are available at school on Sunday at 9am to help, that would be greatly appreciated.
The sale of discounted ride wristbands closes at 3pm on Friday 18th March. They will be $40 on the day.
If all families could please return raffle tickets sold/unsold by Friday 18th March.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

The Sacrament of Reconciliation will take place in Term One starting tonight with the Family Faith Night. This starts at 7.30pm in the school hall and it is expected that all students receiving the sacrament are in attendance with at least one parent. The sacramental celebration is on Wednesday 30th March from 6.30pm.

St Patrick’s Day Activties

A reminder that tomorrow (Thursday 17th February) is a casual dress day in the theme of St Patrick’s Day. The children are encouraged to dress in green or in this theme and bring a gold coin donation which will go to NSW Flood victims, via St Vincent de Paul.

Cleaning Up Our Community

In lieu of Clean Up Australia Day, this Friday the 18th March from 11.30am-1.30pm, our children will be heading out into our local parks and streets to clean up litter and rubbish. This is a great opportunity for our children to learn about caring for the environment as ‘stewards of creation’. Thank you to Mrs Amanda Baker and our Environment Leaders Jara and Patricia for organising this. School staff will accompany the students to allow all available parents to help with Fete setup.

Principal’s Conference

I will be away from Tuesday 22nd until from Friday 25th March at the Victorian Association of Catholic Primary School Principal’s Conference. This conference is held every two years and includes a variety key note speakers and workshops related to leadership in a Catholic School. Louisa Di Pietro will be Acting Principal in my absence.

Parents and Friends Committee Meeting

The first Parents and Friends Committee Meeting will be held at school on Tuesday 29th March at 7.30pm. All parents are welcome to attend and we ask that all Class Reps come along please.

School Open Days & Sibling Enrolment

The school has three remaining open days for families looking at enrolment for 2023:

Wednesday 30th March

Wednesday 27th April

Wednesday 18th May

Prospective families are welcome to tour the school any time on these days and our Year Six students will lead the tours. Our parents have been great advocates for our school in recent times and we certainly appreciate this. Please encourage local families to come along and check out the educational offerings at St Agnes’. I would also ask that if there are any more current families with siblings due to commence in Prep 2023 that have not already handed in their enrolment form that they do so as soon as possible.

Term One School Fees

Please contact the office if you did not receive your 2022 statement. Term One fees were due on 04.03.2022.

Reporting of positive Covid cases

Parents and carers can report that students have tested positive for COVID-19 by emailing me at lfoott@sahighett.catholic.edu.au.

Rapid Antigen Tests

Yesterday, your child was sent home with a further Rapid Antigen Test kit. As per the government guidelines, please continue with twice-weekly surveillance testing and if your child is unwell, please keep them home from school and undertake a RAT or PCR Test.

Tuckshop

Tuckshop has recommenced on Fridays and orders can be placed online at https://www.salutecatering.com.au/tuckshop using the code: lunch2022.

Assembly

We will be holding whole school assemblies outdoors for the next few weeks and parents are welcome to join, while they are outdoors. At assembly, there will be presentations from classes, student awards, birthday acknowledgements and special announcements.

Wed 16th March - Year 1

Wed 23rd March - No Assembly

Wed 30th March - Prep

Wed 6th April - No Assembly

Kind regards,

Lachie.

Visual Arts

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