Dear Parents/Carers,

Welcome back to Term Two. The first newsletter of the term is always a long one, with lots of information about the events of the term, so grab a cup of tea and get your family calendar ready.

Just yesterday I was thinking how nice it is to be getting into some of the regular events and occurrences that this term brings, that we missed out on last year. The second term of every year in a primary school setting is always productive and purposeful. Students have had time to settle and connect with each other and their teachers, allowing classrooms to function at a high level. As we start Term Two at St Agnes’, our staff remain focused on recent assessment information to help your child move to the next stage in their learning, with particular emphasis on Reading and Mathematics. In the Prep and Year 1 Reading block, our teachers and students are working hard to develop decoding and word-attack skills. In Year 2, as our students become independent readers, the focus shifts to developing comprehension strategies using an approach called CARS and STARS. The approach hones in on the child’s relative strengths and areas for development in reading comprehension and is used at our school from Year 2 through to Year 6. We are in the early stages of implementing this approach, but it is helping both the students and teachers to have a better understanding of our students ever-evolving learning needs in Reading. In Mathematics, we are focused on getting the basics right. Our Preps are learning about counting sequences, starting at numbers other than zero. Our Year 1s and 2s are working on skip counting, fact families and addition/subtraction strategies. As we move into the middle and senior school, the importance of knowing and being able to efficiently recall multiplication and division facts is the highest priority. Without these number facts embedded, it makes it very difficult for students to function in areas of Mathematics such as fractions.

School Production

We are excited to announce that the 2021 St Agnes’ School Production will be ‘Cinderella and Rockerfella’. All students from Prep to Year 6 will be involved in the production and the Year 5 and 6 students will form the main cast. The students from Year 5 and 6 will have the opportunity to audition for the main roles in the coming weeks. Rehearsals will also commence during May. It will be performed over two nights - Wednesday 15th and Thursday 16th September at Kilbreda College.

Below is a synopsis of the show:

Cinderella and Rockerfella is a modern, panto-style reworking of the classic tale with all the traditional characters: downtrodden Cinderella, Rockerfella (formerly known as Prince Charming), Buttons, the Sisters and the Fairy Godmother, together with a selection of additional characters, from music managers and paparazzi to good and bad fairies - all placed in a world of fame and celebrity. With fresh and relevant things to say about fame, fortune and how true love will win in the end, this Cinderella panto script is wonderfully comical. It contains fabulous songs together with plenty of opportunity for audience participation.

Anzac Day

This Sunday 25th of April, people all across the country and the globe will acknowledge and celebrate Anzac Day. As a school, we will mark this important time with an ANZAC Day service led by our School Captains at assembly on Wednesday. Dee Dee and Jorge will also represent the school at the Highett RSL Anzac Day Dawn Service on Sunday, as they participate in the service by reading some poetry.

2021 is a significant year in terms of ANZAC Day celebrations as it marks one-hundred years since the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) was established. Military aviation in Australia commenced prior to the First World War in 1914, when the Australian Flying Corps school admitted its first four pupils at the Point Cook site. Later evolving into the Australian Air Corps and then finally the RAAF, military aviation in Australia has played a central role in Australian military operations for more than a century. Its personnel have served in every war and conflict in which Australia has been involved since 1921.

Open Day

Tomorrow, Wednesday 21st April, the school will be holding the final of our three Open Days. Please encourage people you know who are looking to 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 about our wonderful school.

Transition to Winter Uniform

The children will need to be in full winter uniform by Monday 3rd May. Up until this time, the children may wear either their summer or winter uniform. The uniform is available for purchase from Noone and some items may be available at the Second Hand Uniform Shop, see the Uniform Shop section of this newsletter for second hand uniform shop open days and the uniform requirements for Winter.

Fete Committee meeting

All parents are invited to attend the first Fete Committee meeting for 2021, to be held on Thursday 22nd April at 7.30pm in the Staffroom at school. It is important that we start to generate momentum for this important community and fundraising event. To put it simply, it cannot happen without strong support from our parent community, so if at all possible I ask you to come along and support the school by getting involved.

Drop off in the morning

The school’s duty of care starts each day at 8.30am, when our playground is supervised and the classrooms are open. Please ensure your child is not arriving at school before this time.

Term 2 Fees

Just a friendly reminder term 2 fees are now due. The office will be sending out statements over the next week so please keep an eye on your emails.

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. Assembly dates for term 2 are as follows;

Wed 21st April - School Captains - Anzac Day Service
Wed 28th April - Year 5
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

See below, an outline of the events for the term.

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Kind regards,

Lachie Foott.

Events for Term Two

SSV Soccer - Friday 23rd April

This Friday, we have 29 of our Year 5 and 6 students heading off to the Interschool Soccer Lightning Premiership. The students will compete against other schools from the local area. Further information has been sent out via Operoo.

PSG Meetings

Program Support Group Meetings are due to commence on Monday 26th and run to Wednesday 28th April. Families affected will have been contacted directly by our Learning Diversity Leader, Mrs Janine Moulton, to schedule these meeting.

Holt District Community Sport commences - Friday 30th April - Sports tops

On Friday 30th April, the Holt District Community Sport commences for our Year 5/6 students. The children will participate in Football and Netball games against other local Catholic schools on Friday afternoons during Term Two.

Sacrament of Eucharist

The Sacrament of First Eucharist for our Year 4 and 5 students will occur in Term Two. The Family Faith evening will be held on Wednesday 28th April at 7.30pm. Please note, there has been a change to the mass dates for the sacrament; it will now be held across three weekends at the Saturday evening 6pm mass:

Saturday 22nd May
Saturday 29th May
Saturday 5th June

There will be a maximum of 12 candidates to receive the Sacrament at each mass and booking for this will happen using schoolinterviews.com.au. Booking information will be provided at the family faith evening. The Sacrament is being completed in this way as it is part of their initiation into the St Agnes' Parish.

The Sacrament of Eucharist Reflection Day will be held on Wednesday 19th May. The students can wear casual clothes on this day and will complete a range of activities related to the sacrament.

Sacrament of Confirmation

We expect the Year Six students to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday 19th June, but this is still to be finalised by the Parish and Archdiocese. We will advise when this date is confirmed. At this stage, we are planning to hold the Sacrament of Confirmation Family Faith Night on Wednesday 26th May at 7.30pm. Please keep these dates free.

School Advisory Council (SAC) Meetings

The SAC will meet twice this term, on Tuesday 4th May and Tuesday 1st June. These meetings will be held in the staff room.

P&F Parent Social Events

There are two social events coming up for St Agnes’ Mums and Dads to attend.

Dads Golf and Steak Day

This Friday 23rd April is the Dads Golf and Steak Day. If you missed out on booking in for golf, feel free to head down to Squires Loft from 6pm for a drink. Contact Denham Martil (denham.martil@gmail.com) if you have any questions.

St Agnes’ Mums Girls Night Out

On Friday 30th April is the St Agnes’ Mums Girls Night out at F8 Cafe and Bar on Highett Road. See the social page of this newsletter for more information, but I encourage all to get along to have a nice night out ahead of Mother’s Day.

Mother’s Day Stall

The Mother’s Day Stall is an opportunity for the children to buy small gifts for their mother for Mother’s Day. Gifts will range from $2 to $10; cards $1. Students will visit the stall in their class groups during the morning. Our Year 4 Parents are in charge of running this for our children, so we ask Year 4 parents to please get in touch with Year 4 Class Rep Jacinta Whelan if you can help out. More details on the P&F page of this newsletter.

Mothers Day Breakfast and Liturgy

The Mother’s Day Breakfast and Liturgy will be held on Thursday 6th May. The Breakfast is held before school and commences at 7.30am. More information is on the P&F Page of this newsletter, but you can book using this link: https://www.trybooking.com/BQLXQ.

The Mother’s Day Liturgy will follow in the Church at 9am and we encourage all Mums to stick around after the breakfast for what will be a special finish to the morning.

SSV Cross Country - 14th May 2021

All students from Year 3 to Year 6 have the opportunity to join the St Agnes’ School Cross Country team, which will compete in the SSV Interschool Cross Country Carnival on Friday 14th May. As part of the preparation for this event, we will have morning Cross Country training on Tuesday 27th April, Tuesday 4th May and Tuesday 11th May in the form of ‘jog the block’ at school. It is expected that your child attends each of the three training sessions to join the cross country team. This ensures they are suitably prepared to run in a sustained manner.

School Closure Day - Monday 17th May

The school will be closed on Monday 17th May for staff professional development. The staff will spend the day working with Student Wellbeing expert Georgina Manning. Extend OHSC are running a supervision program for this day if this is required for your family, please contact them.

SSV Football Lightning Premiership - Friday 4th June

Our School will participate in the Holt District Football Lightning Premiership on Friday 4th June. The school will select it’s best team from the Year 5/6 cohorts to represent the school at this event.

Cybersafety Family Evening - Tuesday 8th June

The school will be running a whole school Cybersafety evening for parents and children from Years 3-6. It is expected that all families from Year 3-6 will be in attendance for this session. Please mark this date in the diary and more information will follow.

SSV Netball Lightning Premiership - Thursday 10th June

Our School will participate in the Holt District Netball Lightning Premiership on Thursday 10th June. The school will select it’s best team(s) from the Year 5/6 cohorts to represent the school at this event.

End of Term Class Liturgies

In Term Two and Term Three, our students and teachers will be running class liturgies, to celebrate their learning in RE for the term. All parents are invited to join in these liturgies. They will be held sometime in the last two weeks of the term, either after morning drop off, or just before pick up.

End of Semester Two Reports & Parent/Teacher Interviews

End of Semester Two Reports will be sent home on Friday 18th June and will be followed up with Parent/Teacher Interviews on Tuesday 22nd June. School will finish at 1.00pm on Tuesday 22nd June.

Shine the Light Social Justice Day - Friday 25th June

On the last day of this term, our Social Justice Captains will lead an activity day focus on raising awareness of social injustice in our local community. It will be a casual dress day and more information will follow.

Term Two Concludes - Friday 25th June at 1.30pm

The final day of Term Two is Friday 25th June and students will be dismissed at 1.30pm.

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