PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents/Carers,

The St Agnes’ School Fete has been a long time coming, with planning commencing back in 2020, but it is now just around the corner with a little over 30 days until the big event. Being predominantly an outdoor experience, it is exciting to be able to safely host such a wonderful community event after what has been a really challenging two years for all.

For those who have not yet experienced a St Agnes’ Fete before, it truly is an amazing community event. I am not underselling it when I say that. In 2019, during my first weeks at the school, I was blown away by the way our community worked together for the organisation, set up and especially afterwards for the celebrations. It is a lot of hard work, but events like this become part of the culture/fabric of a school and the benefits for your children and family are significant. The social aspect of our Fete is what makes it really special. Our school families work together to bring it to life and the connections made during this time can last years. 

All funds raised at the Fete will go directly back into the playground and classrooms of our school. In recent times, the Fete has financed the resurfacing of the tennis courts, central basketball court and also the seating area in the middle of the school. This would be somewhere in the vicinity of $100,000 worth of improvements, which is incredible. The priorities for the school in terms of funds raised from the Fete in 2022 will be to furnish our refurbished classrooms following the renovation and provide shade sails over the adventure playground.

All families should have received a book of raffle tickets to sell. There are more available at the office if required they are also available via the link https://www.trybooking.com/BXLJF, which can easily be shared with family and friends. Some fantastic prizes are on offer, including a 50 inch TV, $500 Bunnings Voucher and a Verve Portraits photoshoot. 

Unlimited Rides wristbands will go on sale soon and there will be more specifics communicated in the coming week(s).

Thank you to those parents who have put their hand up to coordinate stalls and also to those who have registered to help. This event really is an ‘EVERYONE’ event, where we need all parents to get involved, sign up to help on a stall and bring the entire extended family along for what will be a great day. We are not a massive school community and hosting such an event takes a significant number of people, so I ask you to please support the organisers when the stall roster gets sent out, to help make this the best possible event it can be for our school, parish and wider community.

Welcome Picnic

The P&F warmly invite all families to the Whole School Welcome Picnic on Friday 25th February from 5.30pm-8.30pm. Pack the picnic basket with some food, drinks and a rug or chair and come along for a family night with the entire St Agnes School community. A warm jumper might also be required, depending on the weather that week. We will have some live music to add to the atmosphere!

Year Six Leadership Positions

Last week, our Year Six students presented their leadership speeches to our Year 3-6 students, staff and parents. The quality of the speeches was once again very high and I congratulate the children for their efforts in preparing and delivering these speeches. Aggie Gorski and Lauren Cummins did a great job in preparing them. After the speeches, students from Year 3-6 voted on School Captains and Sports House Captains. The teachers placed the remaining students in the other leadership positions. We have spoken to the children about how some of them will be disappointed if they do not get the position that they sought. We have reminded them that there is a great opportunity to be very successful in the roles they have been appointed.

                                                                 School Captains 2022

                                             Sebastian Fordyce             Ella Inwood  

Our Prep to Year 5 classes also have student leaders in their respective cohorts, which together with the Year Six Leadership roles, is a big part of the way we generate ‘student voice’ in our school. When students feel they have a voice and can impact aspects of school life, they feel a stronger sense of connection/belonging which in turn positively influences learning outcomes. Congratulations to student leaders from Prep to Year 5 for Semester One.

School Swimming Team

Congratulations to the following students who will represent the school in the Interschool District Swimming Championships on Friday 18th February.

12/13 GIRLS

Chloe Curtin, Lexi Mazur, Paige Tsoukalas, Ella Inwood

12/13 BOYS

Tristan Cooke

11 GIRLS

Alexia Lyras, Sophia Lyras, Sophia Di Nicolantonio

11 BOYS

Jack O’Brien, Hudson Luke, Reuben Martil, Nate Rouse, Hugh Clark

9/10 GIRLS

Isabel Monahan, Alex Pendleton-Brown, Gemma Clark, Mia Inwood, Eleanor Forbes, Mackenzie Duddy, Arabella Shine, Rosie Russell, Daisy Russell, Camilla Telese, Ava Coates

9/10 BOYS

Ayman Yilmaz, Callan Duddy, Logan Vein, Ashton O'Brien

First Eucharist - Date change

The Sacrament of First Eucharist has been rescheduled due to an unexpected change in Fr Alan’s calendar. There has been a second mass added to give families further choice, but we will need to ensure a reasonably even distribution across both sacrament masses. Booking information will be provided at a later date. 

See the new dates below:

• First Eucharist Family Faith Night - Wednesday 20th July
• First Eucharist Reflection Day - Wednesday 17th August
• Sacrament Masses - Saturday 20th and Saturday 27th August

Return to normal finish time

As of Monday 21st February, we will return to normal finish time at the end of the day. 

All students will be dismissed at 3.25pm.

School Fees

This is the first year our school fee invoices have been generated by Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools Shared Services and there has been a delay. You should receive your invoice by the end of this week. Please be on the lookout for these invoices and ensure payment is made promptly to avoid late payment fees. For those who hold a Health Care card there is a new Concessional Fee Policy.  Please see Shannon in the office if you would like to enquire about this policy and/or set up a payment plan.

Tuckshop

Tuckshop will commence again this Friday, 18th February . 

Please see the Canteen page in this newsletter for more detail and use the guest password lunch2022 

Sibling enrolments for 2023

We are asking those current families to complete the enrolment process for any siblings who will join our school in Prep 2023. Forms can be downloaded from our website or you can pick one up from the office.

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 Feb - Year 3

Wed 23rd Feb - Year 5

Wed 2nd March - Year 6

Wed 9th March - No Assembly

Wed 16th March - Year 1

Wed 23rd March - No Assembly

Wed 30th March - Prep

Wed 6th April - No Assembly

NUT FREE SCHOOL

Just a friendly reminder when packing your child’s lunchbox each day that we are a Nut Free School at St Agnes’. Please be mindful that we have a few students at school that are allergic to Nuts. Please avoid making peanut butter sandwiches and packing snacks that contain nuts. 

We appreciate your support in this.

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.

Anthea Georgiou

Student Wellbeing Leader

ageorgiou@sahighett.catholic.edu.au 

Please see the Covid-Management and Term One Events pages of this newsletter for further information.

Kind regards,

Lachie.