School Council Update

Hi Everyone

It’s hard to believe we’re already 3 weeks into term 4!  There’s a huge amount happening between now and Christmas and your School Council has been hard at work on a number of fronts.

Finance Sub-Committee presented the latest numbers and we are tracking very well against plan.  We’ve had a great response to the new tax-deductible Library Fund and Building Fund and fundraising is well ahead of budget with the School Fete still to come.  We also just put out a reminder for Walkathon donation collections, so we’re confident to hit our $16,000 target. 

Our Fundraising Sub-Committee are flat out preparing for the Fete which is less than a month away.  Given the success of the last election day sausage sizzle, we’re planning to run another one on 26 November.  We understand that this falls a week after the Fete but feel it’s important to take advantage of these opportunities.  We really appreciate your support, so please keep an eye out for requests for volunteers for both events.

Our Buildings and Grounds Sub-Committee updated us on the success of the last working bee, with a large number of jobs completed including repainting of the pencil fence which was long overdue.  You will also see that the fundraising pavers have now been laid at the entrance through the kitchen garden – thankyou to Nadav and Afik for organising this.  We continue to work with the VSBA to organise the roof repairs and are also looking at options to resurface the main basketball court. 

Our Education and Policy Sub-Committee presented the final Child Safety Standards and Policies to Council and these were approved and will be posted on the school website. We are also discussing our AIP focus and goals for 2023.

The Sustainability Team have organised for our new bins with a set of 4 per shared space and larger bins outside.  This will ensure we do a much better job of separating and recycling our waste.  The team also organised for a day of tree planting which resulted in 20 trees being planted around the school and also aims to complete another rubbish audit during term 4.

The proposed toilet block on Fitzroy St continues to be a key focus for School Council.  There was a great response by the school community in sending letters to local and state levels of government.  While the project seems to have lost some momentum it is by no means dead.  As next steps we have resolved to highlight the issue with key media outlets and also request a meeting with the City of Port Philip Mayor on site to discuss our concerns.    

Neil gave us an update on the new sports pavilion which was officially opened last week.  SKIPPS will get access to the facility which includes a great multi-purpose space which can be used for a variety of school events.

If you are interested in becoming more involved in the life of the school and are interested in or have experience that would help one of the sub-committees, you are very welcome to come along and join a sub-committee or attend a Council meeting.

On behalf of Council, all the best for the remainder of term 4.

 Mathew Saliba, SKIPPS Treasurer