Dear Parents/Carers,

This Sunday is a very special day on the calendar - Mother’s Day. This year we are fortunate to be able to celebrate this day with some sort of normality. If you cast your mind back to last year, we were living under Stage Three restrictions and unable to visit and gather for Mother’s Day celebrations. So as we sit down for breakfast or lunch, it is important to be grateful for the fact that we are able to do so when so many others around the world are still living under restrictions. It is also important to remember that Mother’s Day is a sad time for some and reaching out to families who we know might be struggling on this day I’m sure would be appreciated.

On Thursday this week, we will gather together as a school community for a breakfast and liturgy to celebrate the special people in our lives. The liturgy commences at 9am in the church and all mums and special friends are welcome to attend. Our school community is filled with so many wonderful mums, grandmothers, aunties and special friends who help our students and the school in numerous and varied ways. Just last Friday I found myself marvelling at the amazing work the St Agnes’ mums do. Whether it’s contributing to the School Advisory Council, cooking sausages on a Friday afternoon, helping to organise our Fete or even selling gifts at the Mother’s Day stall last week; our school couldn’t function without the help of our Mums. Not to be forgotten, are of course the many Grandmother’s and other special ladies who help out in our school. There is not a day goes by where I don’t see a grandmother picking up a child from school. While the children may not appreciate it at the time, it is very special for a grandparent to have such visibility in their grandchildren’s education.

On behalf of the staff, students and Dad’s, I would like to wish all mums, grandmothers and special friends in our lives a very happy Mothers Day this Sunday! May you sit back, relax and enjoy the spoils of your family.

St Agnes’ Capital Project

First thing this morning, along with some members of the school’s leadership team, I had the pleasure of undertaking a workshop with Elvis and Mark from Smith + Tracey Architects. Smith + Tracey have been engaged by the school to bring our refurbishment project to life. At risk of overpromising and underdelivering, I will state that we are aiming to commence works on this project early 2022. Before we can do that though, there are a number of planning requirements we have to meet. Together with Smith + Tracey, we first have to rework our school’s Master Plan to ensure it fits with the current context, it meets the expected long term needs of our school and maximises available space. Secondly, concept plans and designs for the refurbishment will be created in line with the school’s Master Plan and budget. Governing authority, Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools, will be working alongside the school and our architects throughout the process and I for one, am very excited about it all. While there will be some short term inconveniences once the project commences, watching a significant capital project unfold in a school is an invigorating experience for all involved - staff, students and parents. This will be the most significant capital project undertaken at St Agnes’ since the refurbishment of the hall and addition of the second level learning areas (currently the Year Five and Six Classrooms) in 2007.

NAPLAN

This year the children in Years Three and Five will complete their NAPLAN testing from Tuesday 11th May until Thursday 13th May. NAPLAN testing will be completed in pencil and paper format, with all schools moving online in 2022. More information regarding this testing can be found on the National Assessment Program website.

The dates for the tests are as follows:

Tuesday 11th May: Writing and Language Conventions
Wednesday 12th May: Reading
Thursday 13th May: Numeracy

Production Auditions

This Wednesday, our Year Five and Six students will be auditioning for the main roles in the School Production, Cinderella and Rockerfella. All Year Five and Six students will be allocated a role as part of the main cast, with the Prep to Year Four students leading various songs in their year level groups. Announcements will be made once the roles have been finalised and rehearsals will commence immediately for the senior students. Mrs Anna Gugliucciello will be the Director of our Production and Mrs Amanda Baker will assist.

District Cross Country

On Friday 14th May, the St Agnes’ Cross Country team will head to Bald Hill Park in Clayton for the Interschool District Cross Country. Our children have been coming along to training at 8am to ‘jog the block’ and increase their stamina. We have one more training session on Tuesday 11th May. Those who have attended two training sessions will qualify for the team.

School Closure Day

A reminder that Monday 17th May is a school closure day. The staff will spend the day working with Student Wellbeing expert Georgina Manning.

Beachside Division Soccer - Wednesday 21st July

The successful Year 5/6 girls soccer team will head off to the Beachside Division Soccer competition on Wednesday 21st July. Venue is still to be confirmed.

Uniform

A reminder that the students are expected to now be in their winter uniform. This includes a long sleeve shirt for both boys and girls.

School Fees

A reminder that Term Two school fees are now due. Please ensure payment by Friday 7th May to avoid incurring a late payment fee.

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.

Wed 5th May - Year 3

Wed 12th May - Year 1

Wed 19th May - Year 6

Wed 26th May - Year 4

Wed 2nd June - Year 2

Wed 9th June - Prep

Wed 16th June - Year 6

Wed 23rd June - Year 4

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Kind regards,

Lachie

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