PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Lachlan Foott

Welcome back to all families to Term Four and thank you for your warm welcome to the school yesterday. I hope everyone enjoyed some of the beautiful weather that was on offer during the holidays and is feeling recharged for a busy finish to the year.

I am very excited to be joining the community of St Agnes’ and look forward to getting to know all of the students, parents and staff this term. I have had an excellent hand-over from Carmel Purdey and Therese Stewart during the holidays and I would like to publicly thank these ladies, along with Margaret O’Donnell, for their strong leadership of St Agnes’ throughout this year.

It’s obvious to me, even after being at St Agnes’ for little more than a day, that the staff, students and parents are committed to making our school the very best it can be. When visiting the classrooms, I saw students working hard for their teachers and teachers working hard for their students. There have also been many people significantly contributing to the development of plans to improve our facilities, which is a great prospect. With teachers, parents and students all working and moving together in the same direction, there are many exciting opportunities ahead for our school.

I come to St Agnes’ School with a variety of experiences in education. My teaching career started in my hometown of Swan Hill at St Mary’s, a large Catholic Primary School. After this, I taught in a variety of different schools and contexts across London which provided some incredibly challenging and enriching experiences. Upon returning to Victoria, I taught at Sacred Heart in Sandringham before moving to St Joan of Arc School in Brighton. Across nine years there, I have held a number of teaching and leadership roles, including Mathematics Leader, Religious Education Leader, Learning and Teaching Leader, Deputy Principal and Acting Principal. I look forward to drawing on my knowledge, skills and experience to drive an improvement culture at St Agnes’.

As agreed with Fr John O’Reilly, over the next few weeks I will be sharing my time between

St Agnes’ and St Joan of Arc. I have assumed responsibility for St Agnes’ School and am ably supported by Deputy Principal Matt Cherry and the Leadership team during this period of transition.

My wife Tammy and I have a young, growing family. Our two year old daughter Marlow keeps us on our toes for the moment and sometime in the next few weeks we will welcome our second child into the world, which we are extremely excited about.

I am a keen follower of all sports and supporter of the Richmond Tigers. I love going along to watch them at the MCG and certainly enjoyed their Grand Final win.

I will be on the playground each morning and afternoon while at St Agnes’ and would love to chat with you about the Tigers, or more importantly your family, children and the school, so please come and say hello.

Thank you,

Lachie Foott

Principal