And We're Back!  

Welcome back to school from Friends of Donvale! If you are new, we welcome you to our wonderful community.

Our FOD team have had a busy start to the year. We have been privileged to attend information sessions for Year 7, P-2 and 3-4 parents. We also hosted a morning tea for Prep parents where we enjoyed meeting many new faces, supporting parents as they navigate these early weeks of school.

We will be providing a number of regular opportunities to connect with other parents and build community with each other throughout the year.

Throughout Term 1, we will be hosting a fortnightly morning tea called Friendly Fridays. It kicks off tomorrow, Friday 10 February. Meet us in the FOD lounge for a cuppa and chat any time from 8:30-9:30am. The FOD lounge is located at the end of the administration building, across from the top playground. We'd love to see you there!

Contact Amanda at amanda.gargett@friendsofdonvale.org.au 

On the alternate Fridays, Trish Brimelow hosts Mums in Business. This is a group for Christian mums from the school community who are running any type of business to meet, connect and support each other. It's also held in the FOD lounge from 8:30-10:00 and starts on Friday 17 February.

Contact Trish at trishbrimelow@gmail.com.

Our weeks begin and end before the Lord with our Prayer Group led by Ruth Fok. Come and join her in the FOD lounge on Mondays from 8:30-9:30am and Fridays from 2-3pm. Everyone is welcome!

Contact Ruth at kiwigal298@gmail.com 

And, of course there is Welcome Fest 2023! Hopefully you've seen the posters, read the flyers and registered your attendance. As I write this on Wednesday, nearly 200 families have reserved 800 tickets - reserve yours using this link.

We are so excited to offer this opportunity to come together as a whole school community and enjoy some fun and fellowship together. There will be something for everyone- games, activities, inflatable obstacle courses and a huge inflatable slide, food trucks, lots of treats and of course the dunk tank! We can't wait to see you there.

But FOD is much more than big events and weekly community groups.

We also run the Second-Hand Uniform Shop which is open regularly during term time. Here are the dates for the rest of this term:

Friday 10 February (tomorrow): 8-10am

Wednesday 29 March: 2-4pm

Friday 31 March: 8-10am

Now here's the rub, to misquote Shakespeare.

Events big and small, fellowship groups, the uniform shop, indeed FOD itself, all depend on volunteers to run well. Volunteering with FOD is a great way to meet people, build community and have fun. But in order to volunteer with FOD, not only must you have a valid Working With Children Check (WWCC), but also you must complete the Parent Helper course. Neither of these is difficult!

See how to take these steps in Schoolbox here and when you've done them, either join the WhatsApp Volunteer Group here, or contact FOD by email: FOD_Admin@friendsofdonvale.org.au 

We look forward to building our Donvale community with you in 2023!