Dear Parents and Carers,

Today our school had a school-wide focus on bullying with Bully No Way Day! This is a national movement that aims to educate children about what bullying is, the signs of bullying and the types of bullying. Bullying is complex social issue and every situation is different.

Bullying is defined as:

Bullying is an ongoing and deliberate misuse of power in relationships through repeated verbal, physical and/or social behaviour that intends to cause physical, social and/or psychological harm. It can involve an individual or a group misusing their power, or perceived power, over one or more persons who feel unable to stop it from happening. Bullying can happen in person or online and it can be obvious or hidden. Bullying behaviour is repetitive. Bullying of any form or for any reason can have immediate, medium and long-term effects on those involved, including bystanders. Single incidents and conflict or fights between equals, whether in person or online, are not defined as bullying.

In my time as a senior leader in schools, I have found that the term bullying is used often when students experience conflict and social challenges. Conflict between students is common and is a normal part of social and emotional development. Without conflict, our children would not learn vital problem solving skills needed later in life. It is vitally important that as parents and teachers, we help the children to recognise bullying behaviour when it presents, but also to be able to differentiate between conflict and bullying. Today, our senior students led a variety of activities to assist the younger students in building their understanding about bullying. It culminated with a fun game of social netball - staff versus students! The game ended in a draw, but must be said that the students were very determined and competitive! Bully No Way Day is another terrific example of the further growth in student leadership and student voice at St Agnes’, which is a credit to our students and our staff for their work with them. I would like to thank Josie Miller, our Wellbeing Leader, for her organisation and support of the students in facilitating this day.

Great Gatsby P&F Parent Night!

This Friday night at 7.30pm in the school hall, we have the St Agnes’ Parents and Friends Great Gatsby Casino Night! This event is being organised by parents of our school, for the parent community. The aim of this event is to provide an important opportunity for parents to connect socially and also to fund-raise for our school, which directly benefits the children of St Agnes’. The ticket price includes live music, finger food and real casino games with ‘play money’, with lots of prizes to be won. I would like to thank Leigh Fletcher from Buxton Hampton East for sponsoring the event and also all of those who have supported this event by purchasing tickets and getting involved! All funds raised through the St Agnes’ Parents and Friends this year will go directly towards purchasing new Chromebooks (laptops) for the students to use in the classroom. Other recent upgrades provided by the P&F include the shade sails over the Locinda Street playground, the redevelopment of the central courtyard and decking area. Finally, I would also like to thank the organisers of this event, Bree Walsh and Sarah Gardner-Bibby. Ticket sales via Trybooking have closed, but if you would like to purchase a last-minute ticket, please contact Bree (bree.lidgerwood@gmail.com or on her mobile 0438 743 088). Looking forward to what will be a wonderful night - It’s not too late to join the fun!

Production-Ticket Sales OPEN TOMORROW

With just under four weeks until the production, rehearsals are starting to ramp up for the big performances! Tickets will go on sale tomorrow via Try Booking. The link has been sent out via operoo, but is also available here - https://www.trybooking.com/CKERR.

There are two shows: Tuesday 5th September at 7:00pm and Wednesday 6th September at 7:00pm. Tickets are $30 per adult and Concession Tickets (Over 2 and under 16) are $15. Children under 2 years are free on an adult’s knee. Children performing in the show do not require a ticket. Ticket prices include a nibbles and a drink at interval. Tickets to both shows are allocated seating, so it is a good idea to know exactly how many tickets you require at the time of booking. There is an option to buy a program and/or copy of video with your ticket purchase.

This Friday 11th August, we will be taking photos for the programme and next Friday 18th August we have a full dress rehearsal. On both of these days, the children need to be wearing their sports uniform please.

Finally, we are searching for parents and/or teenage helpers to assist with basic face-make-up for the students on the nights of the production. If you or your children are able to assist pre-show on either night, please get in contact with Amanda Baker (bakeram@sahighett.catholic.edu.au)

Winter Appeal

At the end of last term, our school held a Shine the Light Social Justice Day. One this day, the students were asked to bring in a gold coin donation when wearing casual clothes and they were also invited to be part of the St Agnes’ Big Sit Out. This was an act of solidarity and empathy and the participation rate from our students from Prep to Year 6 was amazing! We recently heard from Patricia Hickey - St Vincent De Paul Highett Conference regarding the amazing sponsorship and fundraising efforts from our community:

Funds raised at St Agnes’ helped us accommodate a homeless woman fleeing domestic violence last week. We paid for her to stay at an Air B&B for a week, until she could find alternate accommodation. She was very grateful. The Appeal was addressing the issue of women in dire need of housing this Winter, so it was great to be able to use the money raised for a relevant purpose. Thanks for all the food as well, it has been distributed to our companions in Highett and Hampton East.

Hooptime Basketball

Over the past two weeks, we have had our Year 3/4 and Year 5/6 students head off to Hooptime Basketball at MSAC. All students competed well, had a fantastic day and we also had a couple of victorious teams. Our ‘All Star’ boys teams from both age groups were the overall winners and we expect these teams to progress to the next level of competition. Congratulations boys! Further information will be communicate as it comes to hand.

Kelly Sports - School Holiday Program

I am pleased to confirm that Kelly Sports will be running a Holiday Program at our school in the upcoming school holidays. After a number of attempts to organise a Extend Vacation Care I am very pleased to have this onsite solution for our families. As the name suggests, Kelly Sports run a variety of sporting exercises to keep your child active during the holidays. Please head across to the Holiday Program page for more information.

School Closure Day

Next Monday 14th August, our school is closed for staff professional development. Staff will be completing CPR training and also further learning in the area of Respectful Relationships. I thank our parent community for your understanding and support as we undertake these important activities.

Father’s Day Breakfast and Celebrations

On Thursday 31st August, we will gather in the hall to celebrate all of the Dads and special male figures in the lives of our students. All are invited to this event and tickets will be available for purchase in the coming weeks. We will require parent help to put on the breakfast for the dads, so be on the lookout for this request too. We will mark the occasion with some presentations from the students in the Hall, following the breakfast. The breakfast will commence at 7.30am, with presentations from 8.15am-8.45am. More information is available across on the P&F Page

Student Safety in the Community

We learned yesterday of two incidents involving two St Bede’s College students on their way to school yesterday. These students were confronted by other young people at local train stations. The perpetrators have now been identified and apprehended by Victoria Police. With this in mind, I urge those families with older children travelling by public transport, to have a conversation with them about safe travel strategies.

Term Three School Fees

Term Three School Fees Statements have been sent and fees are now payable via EFT, cash or credit card. Please contact Shannon (sshine@sahighett.catholic.edu.au) in the office to organise payment.

Assembly

Assemblies are in the Hall on Wednesday afternoons, after lunch at approximately 2.35pm. Parents are welcome to attend. At assembly, there will be presentations from classes, student awards, birthday acknowledgements and special announcements from student leaders.

Wed 9th Aug - Year 5/6

Wed 16th Aug - Year 3

Wed 23rd Aug - Year 1

Wed 30th Aug - Year 6 Leadership

Wed 6th Sept - No Assembly (post-production)

Wed 13th Sept - No class presentation

Enjoy the rest of your week.

Kind regards,

Lachie.

HOLIDAY PROGRAMS