Parents and Friends Committee Update – May, the Mega Month for fundraising!

What a jam packed few weeks it’s been for our Junior School community! We’ve had several wonderful events that brought us together highlighting the generosity and community spirit that makes our school so special. Here's a look back at all that’s happened – and a big thank you to everyone who contributed.

Federal Election Day BBQ & Cake Stall

The BBQ and Cake Stall held at the Senior School on election day was a great success, with lots of friendly faces stopping by for a democracy sausage or a sweet treat. It was also an opportunity for the Senior and Junior P & F to work together on our first joint event for the year. A massive thank you to all the excellent home cooks that baked goods – the cakes, slices, and biscuits were a big hit! We even had the controversial Brookie caramel slice on sale! Thanks to everyone who donated supplies, helped set up, cooked on the BBQ, served customers, or stayed to clean up – your teamwork made this day a success. Speacial mention to our St Virgil’s boys involved on the day who represented our school so well.

Thanks to your efforts, we raised $2,300 on the day – an outstanding result that will go straight back into supporting our School students and initiatives.

Mother’s Day Stall

Our annual Mother’s Day Stall was a great success. This year, we sourced our beautiful gifts through Elizabeth St Pharmacy – a school family-run local business, thanks to Olivia and Matt Gillie (Sons Clancy and Seb) for organising these gifts at lower than cost price for us. The selection was of excellent value, mostly Australian-made, and thoughtfully chosen. If that wasn’t enough the Gillie family also donated a voucher for the Mother’s Day Raffle and gave their time helping out at all our recent events. Your contribution is greatly appreciated!

The children loved choosing gifts for their mums and carers. Some took their time while others knew just what to pick. We were especially impressed by the boys who helped wrap the presents. They did a fabulous job. Thank you to all the volunteers who helped run the stall – your support made it a smooth and enjoyable experience for the kids.

Mother’s Day Breakfast

This year’s Mother’s Day Breakfast was another beautiful moment in our school calendar and how about the weather! Over 300 mums and children joined us at the Junior School for a delicious breakfast including egg and bacon rolls, fresh fruit, pastries and muffins.

A huge thank you to everyone who helped make this event such a success – from the coordinators and behind-the-scenes organisers to those who set up, served food and coffee, and stayed to pack down. Your time and effort are truly appreciated. It was so special to have our senior school hospitality students getting their practical experience in making us coffee and hot chocolates. Thanks to Aaron for coordinating the team.

And thank you also to the many generous families who donated prizes for our Mother’s Day Raffle – we’re thrilled to share that it raised $1,150, which will help fund upcoming P&F initiatives and events. Please make sure when you can to support our amazing local community businesses that so generously support the school where they can.

Raffle Prizes	Winner	Value
Blundstone Boots: Donated by Blundstone Boots	Amy Johns	1 Pair of boots
Syra restaurant voucher: Donated by The Assi family	Bekki (Puglisi)	$200
Classic Facial Voucher: Donated by the Argyropoulos family	Liz Schultz	$169
Love Heart Lego: Donated by Samm Harrington	Brianna Wright	$130
Stella Arden voucher: Donated by Alex Johnson Harrington	Ally Hiras	$100
True Colours Florist: Donated by Michelle Spotswood	Hannah Jones	$100
Mix Property Group Hamper: Donated by Marc and Sam Lester	Philippa French (Trengove)	$100
Elizabeth St Pharmacy Gift Voucher: The Gillie Family	Asha George (Jobi Cheri)	$100
Chandlers Nursery: Emma Chandler and Chandler’s Nursery	Effie Argyropoulos	$100
"High Cheese for Two" at the Farm: Donated by Cole River Farm	Carena Mulligan	$98.00
These Pretty Ones: Earrings: Donated by Karryn McCullagh	Ishu Adhikari	$30

SVC Football Tipping Competition

Thank you to everyone who took part – your involvement supports the school and keeps the fun (and rivalry!) alive throughout the season.

Second-Hand Uniform Sales

The P&F has now catalogued all the second-hand school uniforms at the Junior School Office. If your son has misplaced an item, or you’re looking for a spare, please feel free to drop in. All proceeds from these sales are donated directly to the P&F and go toward supporting our students.

Finally, as we celebrated Mother's Day, we were reminded of the importance of community, care, and connection. We would like to take a moment to acknowledge that this time of year can be difficult for some in our community – especially those who have lost their mums or special loved ones. We send our love and warmest thoughts to you always.

Thank you again to everyone who has contributed time, goods, donations, or energy to recent events. We are so grateful for your continued support and look forward to many more moments together.

As always, these events can’t run without volunteers. If you would like to help in the future or have any ideas, please let Olga or Jo know in the office or contact us through the junior school P & F email; juniorpf@stvirgils.tas.edu.au

Warm regards,

Abbey Doggett and the Junior School Parents & Friends Committee

🎉 What a Day! BBQ & Bake Sale Success 🎉

Our SVC BBQ & Bake Sale fundraiser on Saturday was an incredible success—full of fun, community spirit, and heart. Together, we raised $1,282.49 to support our boys! 💙 Whether you flipped a snag, served a slice, bought a treat or brought the vibes, THANK YOU.

The day had everything—good food, great convos, music, mini volunteers stealing hearts, and a whole lot of teamwork.

A huge shoutout to the legends behind the scenes and our generous sponsors:

🌭 David & the Old Virgilians Association – for donating 500 sausages and showing up with heart (even on your birthday!)🍞Cripps Bakery – for the bread we couldn’t do without🥤Woolworths – for the soft drinks🧅Alison Wells from Psych Mental Health Centre – for the onions + extra bread🛒Ricky from Coles – for going above and beyond with donated supplies

And to our all-star team: Chris (Maintenance), Belinda (Food Tech), Jo P, Jo M, Peta, Kim, Jon, Tracey, Daniel, Chris and Joe, Troy, Nicky, Luke, Matt, Sally, Emma, Steph, Abbey, Todd, Nick, Kirsten, Louise, and so many more—your time, effort, laughs and support made this day unforgettable.

💙 Want to get involved next time? We’d love to welcome more friendly faces to our P&F crew. Come hang out, share ideas, and help us build an even stronger SVC community.

📅Our next (very productive, fun and short!) P&F meeting is on: Tuesday, 20 May 2025, 6:00pmStaff Room, School Office, SVC, Austins Ferry

📧 Email us at:parentsandfriends@stvirgils.tas.edu.au

📱Or text Maria Bond on 0400 051 252

Louise & Maria Co-Presidents of the P&F

Here’s to helping our boys, having a laugh, and building a fun, supportive crew of SVC parents—we’d love you to be part of it!

The Star

A Connected, Engaged and Caring Community

Term 2 2025 Ed.6 · 16 May 2025

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