PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents/Carers,

It is very exciting that we are just under a week away from the first-ever St Agnes’ Art Show. It promises to be a wonderful social and fundraising event for the school. There is an expectation all the children will attend along with their families. Included in the entry fee, families will receive dinner for all children in the family and a drink and finger food

for parents. The event will run from 6:30pm to 8:00 pm. The booking link is published below in today’s newsletter and was also sent via Operoo last week. For catering purposes, ticket sales close this Friday 18th November at 6pm. The cost per family (no matter how many children) will be $30, which includes entry and refreshments. To support the school’s art resources, parents are invited to purchase their child’s artwork. Each child will have three or more pieces of work displayed on the night. The cost of purchasing the masterpieces will be $10 per child or $20 per family. There will be ‘People's Choice’ awards given to those artists who produce high-quality pieces, voted on by the attendees and announced at assembly the following week. Once tickets have been purchased your child will bring home an envelope with your ticket, a token for a complimentary drink for each parent, tokens for your children for dinner and red stickers for the purchased artwork.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank Mrs Jen Brown, our Art teacher, for her organisation of this event and work with the children. This night is a chance for children who have a flair in the Visual Arts to shine. Last year, we had the opportunity to showcase the Performing Arts through our school production and this year it will be the Visual Arts. All families will have the opportunity to view the artwork from 6.30pm, entering the school through the Locinda Street gates. The art will be displayed in the three sections of the school hall. When walking through the hall, you will be entertained by children performing on various instruments. After viewing the artworks, parents will then move outside where they will have the chance to have a drink, nibbles and socialise with other members of the school community. After the initial complimentary drink, parents will be able to purchase drinks at bar prices. Finger food for parents and a meal for all childrenwill be provided . The meal for the children will be served outside on the tennis courts. The children performing with instruments will need to be at their allocated spaces 15 minutes prior to their scheduled time, which will be communicated by our music teachers. They will need to have their sheet music and tuned instruments.

As you wander through the school in the evening, please place the stickers on your children’s artwork to show it has been purchased. Programs outlining each child’s artwork and where it will be found will also be distributed to families as they arrive.

We are so very lucky to have such a high-quality teacher lead our Art program this year, in Jen Brown, and we know the night will be a wonderful success. The quality of the pieces that will be displayed is of a very high level. Thank you to our Parents and Friends Committee for supporting the Art Show. Finally, I would like to also thank our very committed and flexible staff who spent may hours preparing for this event. It is a significant undertaking mid way through a renovation, but it will all be worth it. We look forward to seeing the art on display and being entertained by our talented musicians.

Art Show Order of Events

6.15pm - Initial musical performers to arrive

6.30pm - Doors open. Families to enter via Locinda Street gates.

6.45pm - Finger food served outside (weather permitting).

7.00pm - Students to move to Tennis Court for supervised meal with teachers

7.45pm - Staff to assembly choir for performance on outside basketball courts

8.00pm - Bar closed. Art Show Concludes.

Flood Awareness Day - Friday 18th November

This Friday, our School and Social Justice Captains have organised a number of activities to promote empathy for those across the southeastern parts of Australia who are currently dealing with significant flooding. It will be a casual dress day for a gold coin donation. As part of this, we are aiming to connect our students with children from St Joseph’s Primary School in Rochester. The children at this school have missed significant amounts of school and are currently travelling to Elmore and Bendigo for school each day, earning themselves the nickname the ‘Travelling Joeys’. This initiative displays a high level of social awareness and we are very proud of the effort put into this project by the students. The funds raised will go to St Vincent De Paul Flood Appeal.

Zoo Snooze for Year 3 and 4

We have been in touch with Zoo Snooze to confirm the wet weather plan as the forecast had been for some rain early next week. Zoo snooze is an outdoor, all-weather program, and it has been running as normal through the wet weather of recent weeks. Therefore, it will only be cancelled in extreme circumstances. Students can best prepare for all scenarios by packing: 

• a raincoat
• adequate changes of warm clothing, spare socks and underwear
• plastic bags for wet clothing
• a spare pair of runners, in case one gets muddy and wet (even better if your child owns gumboots!)

Despite a few puddles, we know it will be an awesome experience for our students! Please revisit the information sent via Operoo for more detailed information on packing.

Fundraising efforts of our P&F

I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge the amazing work of our Parents and Friends Committee and all parent volunteers in recent times. Over the past four weeks, our community has raised nearly $6000 from the Walkathon, $3000 from the Bunnings barbeque and $900 from the sale of St Agnes’ Tea Towels and Aprons. This is simply amazing and as a school, we are very grateful. All funds raised this year will go towards re-landscaping the Peterson Street garden area, post-renovation. In addition to these P&F efforts, our school community also generated $382 for the Highett RSL as part of the Poppy Appeal.

Parents & Friends Committee AGM - 7.30 PM, Wednesday 22nd November

All parents and friends are invited to attend the Annual General Meeting. Andrew Bruggeman will be standing down from his position of Treasurer at this meeting and we thank Andrew for his efforts over the past three years. Please consider putting your hand up for a role on the P&F executive in 2023. It is a great way to contribute to our fantastic school. Please email EOI to Georgia Sotiroski (georgia.sotiroski@gmail.com). 

School Advisory Council

The role of the School Advisory Council (SAC) is to advise the Principal on matters pertaining to education and the community, meeting 6-8 times per year. The SAC aims to work in the best interests of the St Agnes’ community and to foster the growth and development of Catholic Education in our area. Members are also responsible for communicating new developments and progress reports to the school community. Membership on the Council (except Ex Officio) is generally a term of two years ending on the conclusion of the second year following their appointment, with the option of being reappointed for a total of three consecutive terms. The commitment is not huge; the greatest contribution is your opinion, discretion and attendance at meetings. Please feel free to speak to myself or Anton Duddy (Chair) if you would like to discuss what the role involves. The Annual General Meeting for the School Advisory Council will take place on Tuesday 29th November at 7:30pm and we are calling for nominations from parents who would like to be considered for this parent body. You are required to attend the AGM to validate your nomination. Sally Forbes and Rob Stewart will be finishing their time on the SAC this year. We thank them for their contribution to this important body over a number of years.

Prep Information Night

Last night, we held the Prep Information Night for the 2023 Prep families and I

would like to thank Amanda Schultz for her contribution to the night. Amanda spoke so authentically about her year as a Prep parent and gave great insights into what new parents could expect as their child commences school. Thank you also to P&F President,  Georgia Sotiroski for sharing the benefits of being actively involved in our school community.

Swimming Programs

The children are very much looking forward to the upcoming Swimming (Prep to Year 4) and Water Safety Beach Program (Year 5 and 6), commencing on Monday 28th November. Further information regarding special requirements for this is being sent via Operoo. Be on the lookout!

Assembly

For the duration of the renovation project, Wednesday afternoon assemblies will be held in the church from 2.40pm. Parents are welcome to attend. We will continue to have class presentations, awards, birthdays and special announcements each week.

Wednesday 16th Nov - Year 5

Wednesday 23rd Nov - Prep

Wednesday 30th Nov - Year 3-4 Camp Report

Wednesday 7th Dec - Year 6 Final Assembly

Wednesday 14th Dec - No assembly

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Kind regards,

Lachie.