A message from the Principal

Since our last newsletter, our hugely successful 2022 school fete has taken place and, almost a week later, we are starting to settle back into our normal routines.

The day went incredibly smoothly and was a great celebration of our school community. The music, food, drink, rides, stalls and other attractions were all outstanding and it was great to see so many of our students, families and the wider St Kilda community coming along and having fun. It was a great showcase of everything that makes SKiPPS so amazing and I felt incredibly proud to be the Principal of our school.

On the next page of this newsletter we try to thank everyone who made the event so successful but sadly it is impossible to name everyone individually. From our organising committee who put in countless hours, to our sponsors, to the 218 parents who signed up to volunteer on the day, it was truly a team effort. Thank you for helping our school.

As well as the community celebration, there is also a fundraising aspect to our fete. Whilst all invoices and payments have not yet been made, we believe that we have made a profit somewhere in the region of $40,000 from the day - quite an incredible achievement for a school of our size and larger than any of our previous fetes.

As discussed later in the newsletter, the current funding arrangements for government schools mean that fundraising of this sort (along with the annual parent financial contributions) is vital to allow us to keep providing our students with the resources, equipment, experiences and physical environment that they deserve. 

If we only relied on the government funding that makes up less than half of our school budget each year, then your child's time at SKiPPS would be nowhere near as colourful, engaging and fun.

We look forward to a day when governments fund state schools at 100% of the Schooling Resource Standard and we do not need to work so hard to fill these gaps ourselves.

It is a reflection of the nature of this term that we went pretty much straight from the Fete to a school camp and our Year 3/4 students have been having a wonderful time at Forest Edge CYC this week.

Whilst the Spring La Nina weather has made things a little damp and muddy, we have been so impressed by their resilience, kindness and independence whilst on camp. We realise that for some of these students this will be the first time they have been away from home in this kind of situation and we don't underestimate what a challenge this is for them (and sometimes the parents left behind!). 

Attending school camp is such a key part of the wider education that we provide at SKiPPS as we understand the vital role in plays in developing well-rounded and brave children.

Neil Scott

Principal