Dear Parents/Carers,

The school year is quickly coming to a close, with a little over three weeks remaining. In this time we have Prep Orientation continuing, Beach Program for our Year 5/6 students, Swimming for our Prep-4s, the Walkathon and our school production of Cinderella and Rockerfella. I would like to remind all families that Monday 29th November is a pupil-free day to allow staff to plan for the commencement of the 2022 school year.

As the end of the year approaches, as Catholics we look forward to the beginning of Advent which commences this Sunday. Advent is a time of hope and the time when we prepare for the birth of Jesus Christ. It is important that as families, we reinforce with our children the true meaning of Christmas, and Advent is the time to do this. Yes, Christmas is a time for coming together and celebrating with family, but as Christians, we celebrate the coming of Christ. For some, Christmas can be a very difficult time. Not all families have the capacity to celebrate with lavish lunches and gifts. Many people find it difficult because their loved ones are not with them to celebrate. This year, there may be families who are separated due to border closures or other reasons related to the pandemic. Advent is a time when I encourage your family to stop and reflect on what you can do for those less fortunate than yourselves.

With this in mind, our school is again partnering with St Vincent de Paul to provide for local families in need. Our school community has always supported the local Vinnies extremely well and I know they are counting on our contribution once again. Due to Covid restrictions, however, this year the St Agnes’ St Vincent de Paul Christmas donations will need to take on a different format as they are unable to receive the usual food donations and presents from our school community. We will still be able to contribute to this wonderful cause via TryBooking when Purchasing Tickets for the upcoming school production. When booking tickets via TryBooking (see link below in school production section) there will be an option to make a small donation to St Vinnies Christmas appeal if you would like.

Covid-19 - Schools and Restrictions

As you may well be aware there have been a number of bayside schools recording Covid-19 cases in the last two weeks. St Finbar’s Brighton East, St Mary’s Hampton, Brighton Grammar and St Joseph’s Elsternwick have all had cases in their schools recently. Parents should continue to follow current school policy and public health advice. If your child is unwell, even with the mildest of symptoms, they must stay at home and get tested for COVID-19 with a standard (PCR) test. With the announcements regarding the changes to restrictions at the end of last week, there are some significant changes to the management of positive cases in schools.

Students who come into contact with a confirmed positive case at school won’t have to isolate for 14 days. These contacts will be required to get a standard (PCR) test and isolate until they get a negative result.
Students or staff exposed at school will need to show a negative PCR test result to return to work or school – with recommended rapid antigen testing thereafter. Once a student or staff member receives a negative test, they can attend school.
Self-isolation continues to be required for individuals who have had more than four hours of contact with a positive case from their household, accommodation or care setting. They must isolate for seven days if fully vaccinated or 14 days if not fully vaccinated, with a PCR test required on day 0 and for release.
Children under 12 who are household contacts are considered fully vaccinated if everyone else in their household aged over 12 is fully vaccinated.
In addition to isolation changes for contacts, people who have COVID-19 will be required to isolate for 10 days, instead of 14 days.
Schools will be required to continue identifying Primary Close Contacts (PCCs) and submitting these to the Department of Health.
Schools will notify those PCCs who were exposed and advise them to get a PCR test.
School contacts presenting to testing centres for their PCR test will also be offered government-funded rapid antigen tests for recommended use before entering sensitive settings.

School Production - Cinderella and Rockerfella - Thursday 9th December.

As has been communicated, we are excited to be pushing ahead with the performance of Cinderella and Rockerfella. Our students have been working very hard over the past couple of weeks to catch up after missing a number of rehearsals throughout lockdown. It will be wonderful to get our school community back together again, with the students front and centre, showcasing their talents in the Performing Arts. The performance will be outdoors in the school grounds and performed for one night only. We will be bringing in a stage and audio equipment to suit the performance. It is expected that all students are in attendance on the night. Children with outside commitments on this night will need to make sure they clear these commitments for the performance.

Tickets are on sale now by clicking this link

Parents, friends, grandparents, aunties, uncles and cousins are all welcome. Please donate to the St Vincent de Paul Christmas appeal if you are able.

Ticket Prices:

Adults- $20 (16 years and over)
Children- $10 (Over 5 and under 16)
Children under 5 years are free
Children performing in the show do not require a ticket.
Gates open at 6pm and performance commences at 6.30pm sharp.
Seating is first-in-best dressed. There will be a section at the front for picnic rugs and towards the back for deckchairs.
BYO picnic rug, chairs, snacks & drinks for your comfort during the evening.

There is a costume rehearsal and checking process happening this Friday, November 26th. Please refer to communication from your class reps regarding this.

Staffing Arrangements for 2022

Over the past week, I have finalised the staffing for 2022. This includes a new leadership team for 2022 and a number of staff moving into new grade levels. The school has recognised that the current Prep and Year 1 children have missed a considerable amount of time due to remote learning so we will be putting extra staffing support in this area, especially in Literacy. We have three staff who will not be returning in 2022; we wish them well and thank them for their contribution to St Agnes’.

John Whitten is taking a break from teaching in an effort to explore other career opportunities. John has been at St Agnes’ for 9 years and most recently filled the role of Acting Deputy Principal.
Josie Miller is expecting the birth of her second child in late February and will be on parental leave for 2022.
Jane Barry is returning to Ireland in 2022. We wish Jane well as she looks forward to planning her wedding upon arrival home in Dublin.

As has been communicated, we will welcome three new staff in 2022:

Louisa Di Pietro has been appointed as our new Deputy Principal and comes to us having worked at St Finbar’s Brighton East and St Joseph’s Elsternwick. Louisa will be responsible for Learning and Teaching and will be taking over Learning Diversity from Janine Moulton. Janine will work in a Classroom Support role in 2022.
Kristy Sly is joining our staff after teaching for five years at Christ Our Holy Redeemer in Oakleigh.
Jennifer Brown will join our staff as our new Visual Arts teacher. Jen has most recently taught at Sacred Heart Sandringham and has a passion for Art, so we are excited by what she will bring to this role.

Other significant staffing changes in 2022:

Aggie Gorski has been appointed as the Senior School and Religious Education Leader.
Janine Moulton will be our Classroom Support and Intervention Teacher in the junior school in 2022.
I am still to finalize the allocation of the Learning Support Officers in the coming week.

Positions of Leadership

Principal: Lachlan Foott

Deputy Principal: Louisa Di Pietro (Learning, Teaching and Diversity)

RE and Senior Leader: Aggie Gorski (Science and Technology)

Student Wellbeing Leader: Anthea Georgiou

Junior School Leader: Amanda Baker (Literacy and Mathematics)

Classroom Teachers

Prep Amanda Baker

Year 1 Jake McMahon

Year 2 Judith Barton & Julie Grace (Job share)

Year 3 Jessica Casey

Year 4 Anthea Georgiou

Year 5 Kristy Sly

Year 6 Aggie Gorski & Lauren Cummins (Job share)

Parents and Friends Committee & School Advisory Council

At St Agnes’, we have two parent forums which play a vital role in the functioning of our school: the Parents and Friends Committee and the School Advisory Council. These forums are quite different in terms of their contribution to the school, but are both very important for collaboration, connection and shared leadership.

The role of the Parents and Friends Committee is to organise social events, raise funds and assist in building a real sense of community within the school through these events. It has been a difficult two years for the community in a broad sense, so we are looking to reinvigorate our Parents and Friends Committee and calendar for a big 2022. The P&F is an integral part of any Catholic school and provides a formal structure and support network for parents to participate in the activities and decision-making processes at the school and to work for the benefit of the school and their children. The Parents and Friends forms a vital link between parents, teachers and the School Leadership Team. Research also shows that children do better at school when parents continue to be engaged throughout their children’s years at school. The P&F can facilitate this engagement. The P&F Annual General Meeting will be held at school on Thursday 25th November at 7.30pm. All parents are invited and it would be great to see many of you there.

We are looking for parents to join the P&F Committee in 2022, especially from the junior year levels of our school. There are various roles within this committee that are critical to the effective functioning of our school. Class Rep’s are the connector between the P&F Committee, the school and the parents of your child’s class. It is an important role which is centred around communication and social connection, to ensure all members of the school community are kept up to date.

Please get in touch with Sally Forbes (OwenSally@hotmail.com) or myself if you are happy to be a Class Rep in 2022.

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 me 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 30th November at 7:30pm and we are calling for nominations from parents who would like to be considered for this parent body.

Assembly

Assemblies are now returning to face-to-face on a Wednesday afternoon, with students and staff present.

Wed 24 Nov - Year 3 - Advent

Wed 1st Dec - Year 4

Wed 8th Dec - Year 6 Final Assembly

At this stage we are awaiting updated advice regarding parents/caregivers being able to attend these assemblies. If the advice changes we will notify you all via Operoo.

Please head across to the school events page of our newsletter for further information about the events of the next few weeks.

Kind regards,

Lachie Foott

EXTEND