Leadership & Management

Week 4 Term 1

“We are all called to be people of service, for even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many.”  

Matthew 20:28 

Dear Parents and Carers,

As you may or may not be aware, last year in August the schools in the Brunswick Moreland Mission engaged a consultant, Sheree Limbrick, to work with the four parishes in the Brunswick Moreland Mission to undertake a review of all four parishes. The review was aimed to:

• Assist the 3 parishes to deepen their understanding of the purposes and hopes for the ‘Mission Model” which has  brought our 3 parishes together
• Listen to our parish communities' hopes, needs and anxieties about working together in the ‘Mission Model’
• Explores how the resources (human, office volunteers etc… ) can be used effectively through collaboration across the 3 parishes. 

The report has now been published and can be downloaded from the St Fidelis Parish website. 

This Thursday, February 16th at 7:00 pm, there will be a forum open to all the parishioners and families of the three schools to come and hear more about the report and the path we are charting moving beyond Easter this year.

The forum will be hosted at St Joseph's West Brunswick in the school hall, 185 Hope Street, Brunswick West.  Car parking is available on the school grounds. 

The St Fidelis' School Advisory Board members will be present to listen to the findings of this review and the recommendations. All families are invited to this forum and it will be great to have other families join us as we continue to build a strong, faith-filled and connected community across our Brunswick-Moreland Catholic Community.

Faith and football?

Come and listen to Matthew Kennedy, a senior player with the Carlton Football Club. Matt talks about his experience and faith journey in the fast-paced world of AFL football. Refreshments provided (gold coin donation).

• Who: Anyone interested in getting an insider’s view of footy and curious about where faith fits in. Parents, kids, young adults, and older folk - all welcome!
• When:   7:30 PM Wednesday 8th March.
• Where: St Fidelis Hall, 49 Clarendon Street, Coburg. Parking is available in the Church car park beside the hall.
• RSVP:    email rogeroh@outlook.com by Monday 6th March for catering purposes. Extras are welcome on the night.

Thank you 

Last Monday night we had our first Parents and Friends Meeting. It was extremely well attended and it was fantastic to see some new faces. As we know, our St Fidelis' Community Fete Day is fast approaching and the P&F are in full swing to make this a successful community day and fundraising event. 

Please consider putting your hand up for some assistance on the day or before. My mantra has always been “Many hands make light work” and St Fidelis' parents and carers have always assisted in any way and this is what makes us a unique school and community. Please don't leave all the work to the same people. 

Thank you to all the Parents & Carers of St Fidelis Fundraising 

Where does my fundraising go?

At St Fidelis, we are extremely lucky to have a wonderful group of parents who work side by side with the school to coordinate fundraising events, represent parents within the community and facilitate a variety of fun events for our students and families to engage in.

Our primary goal is to establish friendships amongst our families and staff whilst encouraging active participation by parents in the life of our school through our many social and fundraising events.

Social events are an essential part of the development of community spirit within our school. In the past we have offered Foundation Family nights, Trivia nights, Parish and school family pizza nights, Color Explosion day/night,  Art shows and a Christmas market (just to name a few).

Fundraising events raise much-needed funds for our school. As you may be aware government, funding is often hard to come by, especially for items such as school upkeep and extra educational needs (e.g. refreshing take-home reading books, multiple copies of good literature in the upper classes, updating of sports equipment, extra iPads, chrome books and other IT equipment).

At St Fidelis, it is our aim to offer a wide range of fundraisers in order to cater for our school families and their needs. There is NEVER pressure to be involved in every fundraiser and there is an attempt to spread them out throughout the school year.  Some of our past successful fundraisers have been the Hot Food Days, Hot Cross Buns, Easter raffle and of course our Color Explosion (an event thoroughly enjoyed by all the children, parents and teachers.)

Here is a list of where the funds raised in 2022 was spent. The focus has continued to be to resource and expand our STEM Innovation Space. I am happy to say we were able to purchase and achieve most of our goals for 2022:

• 3 x 3D printers are on the priority list for $4800 (STEM SPACE, 3/4 area 5/6 Area)
• 12 sets Bric Q  $2000.00 These sets are purposefully used to give students an understanding of forces and motion as they plan and conduct investigations. 
• 10 Merge Cubes  $300.00
• LEGO Education Spike Prime x 4 $2060.00
• LEGO Education Prime Expansion 14 $2240.00
• MIcrobits (bought by school)
• Extra iPads (bought by the school)
• 4 Fiberglass basketball backboards (partially funded by the school and partially by P&F (due to wear and tear) 

I hope that this outlines the importance of fundraising at our school and that there is a plan. These funds are always used wisely and strategically and go directly to your child’s education. 

The money raised by the P&F (as mentioned by the P&F newsletter dated February 6) was outstanding - $ 20,625.86 and these funds will go towards completing our library resources centre with joinery, new shelving, soft furnishing and extra beautiful new books for all the students to read and take home on loan. 

On behalf of the students and staff of St Fidelis, I would like to thank all of the St Fidelis community that have supported the 2022 Fundraising events and I look forward to sharing with you soon where your fundraising for this year will be directed shortly. 

Please take the time to read the P&F page in the newsletter to keep up to date with all that is happening in our school and think about giving a little of your time.

School Repairs - Maintenance

Unfortunately, some areas of our school still require lots of maintenance. In the past two weeks, you may have seen a cherry picker/boom in the school for a few days. This was used to  repair:

• Terracotta tiles had moved in the Junior yard (possibly with wind overtime) and this was a safety issue that had to be corrected immediately
• Missing fascia flashing at the front of the school building was replaced to avoid water damage in the classroom
• A leak was discovered in an old evaporative cooler on the very top roof above the library causing continuous water to run down a downpipe into Benny Lane. This downpipe was also replaced as the water had caused it to rust
• All the gutters in the school were cleaned of leaves and tennis balls 
• A leaking water pipe in the ceiling in the office caused ceiling and plaster damage and required to be repaired.
• Lights in the SLA tripped a switch on the switchboard. News switches are required.

SCHOOL FEES 2023  

Last week, you will have received the school fees. Our school does rely on school fees for many recurrent costs such as those I mentioned above so prompt payment is appreciated. 

The office is open from 8:30 to 4:00 pm each day if you would like to pay in person. If you prefer to pay by Direct Debit, please use the bank details below. If any families need to discuss alternative arrangements for the payment of fees, please contact me directly.  

Included are the Bank details for your ease of payment:

Accounts for Term 1 were distributed last week with the first instalment due on Friday, March 23. Earlier than this date is preferable. 

Included are the Bank details for your ease of payment:

Please note once you have made payment can you email Ann Russo 

annr@sfmoreland.catholic.edu.au  with the amount you have deposited.

Concessional School Fee

Families who meet the following criteria are eligible to apply for a fee concession:

•  Any family of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander heritage
•  Any family holding an HCC and eligible for CSEF
•  Any family holding a DVA Gold Card
•  Any family identified as refugees and holding an ImmiCard

Please collect a concession fee application form to be considered for the concession fee.

Have a lovely week, 

Manuela