Dear Students, Parents, Carers and Families

REMEMBRANCE DAY

It was great to have all of our students together for a very special commemorative assembly. Students and staff participated in a very respectful and moving Remembrance Day ceremony. The assembly was exceptionally led by our school leaders who did a tremendous job introducing and presenting various aspects of the remembrance service including the Remembrance Day Ode –

"They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old;

Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

At the going down of the sun and in the morning,

We will remember them."

A very special thank you to our special guest Mr Ray Heathcote, who was conscripted to the Australian Army in 1967 and served in Vietnam in 1967 and 1968. He was a previous president of Berwick RSL and is currently Berwick RSL welfare contact. Mr Heathcote worked as a teacher and Principal for 40 years and for 10 weeks was Principal at Maramba. It was fantastic to have Ray share his story with our students and staff of us as part of this special occasion.

Brave Soldiers

You came into this war happy and fine;

You came out of it less than divine.

You woke up to war day and night;

You never gave up in any tough fight

You have provided for this country;

Now you can rest.

The service you provided is simply the best.

Lest We Forget

- Susanna S. The Educated Adventurers

Classes and students from across the school created poppy wreaths as a symbol of their respect and remembrance of the those lost to conflict. The Last Post was played followed by a minute’s silence. Later in the morning, all classes laid their wreaths and flowers at the Lone Pine at the front of the school.

SCHOOL FETE SUCCESS!

Saturday was our school’s first weekend community fete since 2018 and from everyone’s feedback from those who attended, it was a great success!

Given the run of rain and cold days, we couldn’t have asked for better weather - it was a perfect day.

Running for 5 hours, starting at 11am and finishing at 4pm there was lots of fun and entertainment for the whole family. With rides, sideshow games, over 30 market stalls, silent auction of great prizes, 6 food vans, entertainment performances and more, it was the best Maramba Community Fete it was truly a memorable event!

The support from our school community was overwhelming of which we should all be very proud of!

Thank you to all of our families, FOM members and staff who were able support us by making generous donations to our raffle hampers, cake stalls and those who volunteered their valuable time to organise, set up and run the fete to truly make it a community event.

A special thank you to the local businesses who supported us by making donations for the fete raffles and silent auction:

Melbourne Football club

Melbourne Stars cricket

Australian Sports Museum

Moonlit Sanctuary

Luna Park

Puffing Billy

Krispy Kreme Fountain Gate

V8 Supercar gear from Huijser family

Melbourne Museums

Reading Cinemas Dandenong

Clip n climb Berwick

Paint a pot Narre Warren

Bounce Keysborough

IFly Melbourne

Fyna Foods Australia

Bec's Home Hair and Beauty

Bunnings Fountain Gate

Officeworks Fountain Gate

Lunar Drive in Dandenong

Lollipop's Fountain Gate

Hampton Park Angling Club

Moose toys

Ferguson Plarre Fountain Gate

Risky Kids Hallam

Thank you and well done to our very special performers who added some great entertainment to the day. Chris Hoffmann Music played some great covers. The Sterling Calisthenics group enthralled us through spectacular performances. Fountain Gate Secondary College band (with many of our former students) who show cased their musical talents. We even had a special performance by Elsa from Frozen - Kaitlin Nihill from Enchanted Entertainment – and our busker Jessica.

Of course, events like these are not even possible unless our community gets behind it and supports us by attending. It was great to see so many of you there and that is what truly made it a great fete!

Thank you to all of our community members - students, parents, carers and staff - who volunteered their valuable time to set-up, run and pack-up the fete on Saturday.

All day helpers on fete day

Half day helpers on fete day

1 to 2 hour helpers on fete day

Gerard Reichert

Dave Meester

Kerri Donovan

Bec Cheung

Vivienne Sullivan

Anabel Escudero

Ella Reichert

Di Morwood

Darren Wallace

Catherine Rivett

Matt Saulys

Ian Wettenhall

Sharon Maine

Lisa Boyes

Afshan Kahn

Katie Fellows

Ghyl Sweeney

Rachael Figg

Kaitlyn Cipressi

Katrina Roberts

Gregoria Rivaloro

AnastasiaFakalata

Claire Huijser

Lauren Matthews

Min Foley

SheridanMorrison

Lisa Bremner

Linda Ross

Jane Rhodes

Maddy Rosewall

Jac Phoon

Gus Fagundez

Georgia Rabbitt

Sally McCarthy

Megan Kinsella

Andrew Tomazos

Parmjit

Fan Bi

Vanessa Chiswell

Pheobe Meester

Cheyenne PoChing

Wendy Van Bakel

Hannah Janes

Katie Steincamp

Josh Tansey

Lincoln Talbot

Jojo Ladouceur

Charlie Coates

Celeste Van de Hoef

Manazil Asghar

Bailey Roth

Macey MacDonald-Stitt

Amber Reichert

Jett Fagundez

Chelsea Fagundez

Elijah Wettenhall

Dean Meester

Tara Hamilton

Steffy Meester

A special thank you to a core group of parent volunteers undertook the absolutely massive task of organising and running the event. They worked tirelessly in the months leading up to the fete, after school, evening and on weekends for the benefit of all of our Maramba children and community. A very special and much appreciated thank you to these families:

Wendy Reichert

Jo Meester

Belle Ladouceur

Amy Cheers

Jenn Fagundez

Annette Macdonald

Lucy Amorosi

Raelene Anderson

Paul Stitt

Daniela George

Of course, all great events require a great person to lead, direct and support – Mrs Wendy Reichert you are that special person and a superstar. Thank you for your time, passion and commitment to our school.

I could not be more proud as a principal of what you have all collectively achieved – thank you!

The main aim of our fete was to provide some fun and bring our community and the families beyond our school together. As a small community school, this is the DNA of our school. From all accounts and with over 1000 people joining us on the day, we certainly achieved this and then some. So much more than we could have hoped for. The money raised for a new playground was just a bonus!

Thank you again to all and everyone for your ongoing support!

Take care and stay safe.

Kind regards,

Darren Wallace Diane Morwood

Principal Assistant Principal

Diary Dates