PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Lachlan Foott

Welcome Picnic

This Friday evening we have the annual St Agnes’ School Welcome Picnic. I encourage all families to make an effort to get along to enjoy each other’s company. It was only just last week that I was standing at the gate on Locinda Street talking to a current parent about how before they started at our school (many moons ago), they always noticed how much fun the St Agnes’ families were having at events like this. These events are part of our school culture, so please pack a picnic rug, some deck chairs, food/drinks and come along. We are hoping to have our central courtyard completed by Friday, so we can all sit back and enjoy the finished product. Even if you know families from outside our school community who would like to join in, please invite them along also. For the safety of all, especially toddlers, please ensure your children leave scooters and bikes at home.

Student Leadership

A little over a week ago, our Year 6 students presented their leadership speeches to the students and staff from Year 3-6. It was a brilliant display from our senior students. Their confidence in delivery was a particular highlight for me. There are not many occasions in a primary school student’s life when they get up and present in front of that many people and they acquitted themselves very well. After the speeches, the children in Year 3-6 voted for School and House Captains. Teachers then placed the remaining Year 6 students in the other leadership positions, based on preferences submitted by the students. Sarah Heath, along with the Year 5/6 teachers from 2019 did a wonderful job preparing the children for their speeches. We have spoken to the children about how it is normal to feel disappointed if they did not get the position that they sought. We have also reminded the children that there is still great opportunity to be very successful in the roles they have been appointed. Congratulations to all of our Year 6 students.

2020 School Captains

Quinlan C and Kassedy M

SRC and Mini Vinnies Leaders

This semester we have introduced the role of Mini Vinnies Leader for our students from Prep to Year 5. These students will work with Miss Casey and the Social Justice Captains to develop the social justice actions in our school. They will promote and coordinate activities such as the                   St Vincent de Paul Winter and Christmas Appeals. These students will also assist in the planning and delivery of our whole school Social Justice Day at the end of Term 2. The role of SRC Leader will remain the same, however their main focus will be on a whole school Harmony Day at the end of Term 1.

School Swimming Team

Congratulations to all students who participated in the time trials for swimming. Unlike other

sporting events, the swimming numbers are strictly limited and the student's age at the time of competition is very important in terms of participation, as is their recorded time in training. The District Swimming championships will take place this Friday 21st February. Congratulations to the following children representing St Agnes’ School:

12/13 BOYS - Daniel S, Quinlan C, Jothan P

11 GIRLS - DeeDee C, Sophie F, Annabelle P

11 BOYS - James D, Alex W

9/10 GIRLS -  Stella C, Alexia L, Lexi M, Paige T, Piper C, Maggie H, Chloe C

9/10 BOYS - Nate R, Reuben M, Jack O, Hugh C, Tristian C

School Communications - CareMonkey, Skoolbag, Class Reps

Recently we have been considering the viability of running both SkoolBag and Caremonkey simultaneously. We have looked into the functionality of both programs and noted that CareMonkey offers the same features of Skoolbag plus automating consent forms, medical records, incident reporting and much more.

We understand a number of families favour SkoolBag as it allows both parents or caregivers to receive school correspondence. We have discovered that this too can be done in Caremonkey. The Primary caregiver or administrator of your childs’ Caremonkey will be the only person able to give consent to an event and to update medical history, but a secondary caregiver can be included to receive all correspondence.

If you would like to add a second person to your Caremonkey list please contact Shannon Shine in the office or simply email her (sshine@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) the name and email address you would like to receive notices.

Important dates for the school term will always be communicated in the first newsletter of each term, so it is vital to note these in your family calendar from now on.

Sibling Enrolments 2021

I would ask that parents who have a child commencing Prep in 2021 to enrol their child by the end of February so we can see how many places will be available to new families for 2021. Enrolment forms can be downloaded from the website or collected from the school office.

2020 School Fees

The School Fees Invoice was emailed home to parents at the end of last week. If you did not receive an email for fees or the email address is incorrect, please contact the office by Friday 21st February. This statement included the outline of each term’s fees. It is important that fees are paid by the due date to avoid a late payment fee. If you wish to enter into a regular payment plan, please contact Naomi or Shannon at the office.

For Occupational Health & Safety reasons it has been decided that we will not be holding working bees from 2020 onwards.

Access to School Grounds in the morning

Please note that under no circumstances are students to be on the school grounds before 8.30am. There have been students arriving at school regularly in recent weeks from 8.15am onwards. The playground is supervised from 8.30am onwards, which is when the school’s duty of care commences. We do not want to return to locking the school’s gates each morning.

Friday afternoons in the playground

We will be reinstating an afternoon play in the school grounds on Friday’s after school, to enjoy an icypole and a sausage in the winter months. It is my understanding that this was discouraged at some stage last year, however it is my belief that these types of activities are a critical part of our school's culture and important for our relationships. That said, students must be supervised by parents and be off the school grounds by 4pm on these nights.

School Photos

Yesterday we had our school photos taken by Schoolpix.  Due to some technical issues the following class photos needs to be retaken. This will happen on Monday 2nd March:

1K

2G

3G

5CL

Photos will be ready by the end of Term 1.