PRINCIPAL'S REPORT

Dear Parents/Carers,

The Melbourne Cup is always a significant marker in the calendar for Primary schools. As we have seen another cup day come and go, we look ahead to what will be a ‘dynamic’ lead into Christmas for our school. For our Year Six children, there is 30 days of school remaining in their final year and in that time, there is much to look forward to. 

The most significant event in our school calendar for the next few weeks is of course, the inaugural St Agnes’ Art Show. The Art Show is a showcase of our student's work across the year in the Visual Arts and is an opportunity for the students who are particularly talented in this area, to shine. The Art Show is being held on Thursday 24th November on school grounds, from 6.30-8pm. The theme of "Oh the Places You Will Go!" is an extension of the Geography unit our students explored during Inquiry in Term Three. All members of our school community are invited (parents, grandparents and extended family members). It is expected that all students are present, as it is a whole school event. The art will be on display in the school hall, set up as a self-guided tour. We ask that children take the tour with their parents to identify their work and to celebrate the work of others. There will be ‘Peoples Choice’ awards given to those artists who produce high-quality pieces, voted on by the attendees and announced at assembly the following week. Food and drinks will be served to parents and children, as part of the ticket price. Parents have the option to purchase their child’s art work prior to show, as part of the ticket purchase process, which will help to cover the increased costs absorbed in creating the art this year. All students will have at least three pieces of work on show during the night. To provide atmosphere and also a platform the musically talented, those students who learn a musical instrument will also be performing during the evening. The children will be ‘spotted’ around the Hall to play their instruments. There will also be a performance from the school choir to conclude the evening. Further details will be provided in the next newsletter regarding logistics on the night. 

Please click the button below to purchase tickets for your family.

Reminders regarding COVID-19

We have had a small number of Covid-19 cases present in families connected to our school, so below are some timely reminders about current settings. Please see below, latest advice.

It is strongly recommended that students:

• who test positive for COVID-19 should stay home and isolate for five days
• should not attend school after five days if still symptomatic
• who are symptomatic but have not tested positive should not attend school.

Where students become symptomatic at school, they should:

• be collected by their parents/carers
• undergo testing for COVID-19.

The Department of Health recommends that masks should be worn by a person who is a close contact of someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 when leaving home. The Department of Health also recommends that a person who tests positive for COVID-19 should inform those with whom they have recently been in contact, including their workplace, school and household.

Staffing

This time of year there is always some movement with staff changing schools or moving out of the area. At the end of this year, we will be farewelling Kristy Sly who has accepted a position at St Kevin’s School Hampton Park. St Kevin’s School is located closer to home for Kristy and she has also been appointed to a middle leadership role at the school. We wish her well. Anthea Georgiou has recently announced that together with her husband Nick, they are expecting their first child. Anthea will be with us for part of Term One, before heading off on parental leave. We are currently working through the recruitment process and look forward to welcoming a capable educator to our school in 2023. Josie Miller, Julie Grace and Holly Martello will also be returning to St Agnes’ in 2023. Further information regarding teaching allocations and appointments will be communicated closer to the end of the year, because these things are often subject to last minute changes.

St Agnes’ Christmas Carols date change

Due to the availability of audio equipment our annual St Agnes’ Christmas Carols is now being held on Wednesday 7th December from 6.30pm. Please adjust your family calendar with this new date, as we require all students at school for this wonderful community event.

St Agnes’ P&F - Barbeque and Bunnings

This coming Sunday, St Agnes’ Primary School Parents and Friends are running the Bunnings Barbeque at Mentone. There are still spots that need to be filled on the roster, so if you are able to help out for a 1.5 hour shift, please contact Sally Forbes (0412 243 738 - owensally@hotmail.com). Thank you to those who have volunteered. All funds raised will fund the re-landscaping of the Peterson Street area, post renovation. Many hands makes for light work.

Capital Projects at St Agnes’

It’s all been happening at our school recently, with some major capital upgrades being completed in the form of shade structures and our internal renovation getting underway. At St Agnes’, we are aiming to improve our school as efficiently and responsibly as possible, so we can provide the best possible environment possible for students and staff to learn and work.

We have had two shade structures completed recently. The sails over the adventure playground (valued at $29,000) were self-funded, with the money coming directly from St Agnes’ P&F fundraising efforts. As a community, we are very lucky to have an incredibly committed parent body that makes consistent contributions of time and money to enable such improvements. The umbrella project (valued at $25,000) is now also complete and this project provides much-needed shade in our central courtyard. This project was fully funded by the Victorian State Government for outdoor learning spaces to reduce the spread of Covid-19 in schools.

As mentioned, our renovation works are well underway. Minor demolition works have been completed over the past two weeks and the builders are now preparing for major demolition. This involves knocking out the walls between the current corridor and classrooms. It also involves knocking holes in walls between classrooms to new doorways. Many parents have been asking about the progress of the project, so I have included some images from late last week. 

St Agnes’ Sports Carnival

After a cancellation due to poor weather, we know all students are looking forward to the St Agnes’ Sports Carnival on Friday 4th November. It will be held at the Rowans Road Athletics Track, Moorabbin (Bricker Reserve). The children are to wear their sports uniform for the day and can wear a touch of their house colour with their uniform - hair ties, wrist bands, ribbons, coloured zinc etc. The weather is looking good, but it might be a bit soggy under foot. Due to water laying across the venue, there is still a chance that this event may be cancelled. We will confirm this on Thursday afternoon via Operoo.

Year 3 and Year 4 Camps

Our Year 3 and 4 students will head to Melbourne Zoo in Week 8 (November 21st - Year 3 and November 22nd - Year 4)  for an overnight stay - Zoo Snooze. A night walk through the Zoo to check out the elephants is one of the many highlights of this camp. This is the first ever Zoo Snooze for St Agnes’ students after two cancellations in 2020 and 2021. Information has been sent to parents via Operoo.

Year 3/4 Hooptime Regional Finals

Our successful Year 3/4 All Star Boys Basketball team will head to Waverley Basketball Stadium on Monday 7th November for the Regional Hooptime finals. We wish the boys well at this event. The team is made up Logan Vien, Harry Newington, Ashton O’Brien, Callan Duddy, Ayman Yilmaz, Orlando Ward and Conor Hawkins.

Year 5/6 Parish Mass

The Year 5/6 children will help plan and lead Parish Mass on Saturday 12th November at 6pm. We ask that all children and parents are present at this mass. This is part of our commitment and contribution to the faith life of our parish and school.

2023 Prep Parent Information Night

A gentle reminder for parents who have a Prep child starting in 2023, that we have our Prep Parent Information Night coming up on Tuesday 15th November. This important parent information session will be held in the Prep classroom from 7.30pm. School staff will share important information regarding the commencement of school.

Asthma Management Plan reminder

As we come into warmer months and hayfever season is upon us, we just wanted to provide a friendly reminder about Asthma plans. Students who have Asthma and are prescribed with a reliever are often given an Asthma Management Plan from their GP to instruct how to administer and how much to give your child. We ask that if students are prescribed a preventer that we are also given a copy of their Asthma Plan so we are able to effectively manage their Asthma at school. Many families upload their updated Asthma Plans to Operoo and send us a copy for the office. If you have not provided us with an Asthma plan, this needs to be done as soon as possible please.

Grandparents Day and Book Fair

Finally, I would like to thank all families for supporting two terrific events on our school calendar in the past two weeks - Grandparents Day and the Book Fair. The first ever Grandparents Day was extremely well attended and all of the feedback has been very positive. We look forward to welcoming everyone back again next year. I would also like thank our families for supporting the Book Fair. Over $4000 worth of literature was sold during last week, meaning the school will get a $1300 credit to update our Library and literature options. A big thank you to Librarian Lynn Miller for ensuring this ran smoothly.

Assembly

For the duration of the renovation project, Wednesday afternoon assemblies will be held in the church from 2.40pm. Parents are welcome to attend. We will continue to have class presentations, awards, birthdays and special announcements each week.

Wednesday 2nd Nov - Choir

Wednesday 9th Nov - Year 3

Wednesday 16th Nov - Year 5

Wednesday 23rd Nov - Prep

Wednesday 30th Nov - Year 3-4 Camp Report

Wednesday 7th Dec - Year 6 Final Assembly

Wednesday 14th Dec - No assembly

Enjoy the rest of the week.

Kind regards,

Lachie.