Utilising our SPARKLE team (School Partnerships Actively Re-Imagining Kids Learning Experiences) throughout 2017, a coordinating team of volunteer parents enabled parents to opportunity to collaborate with the staff to design different learning experiences for their children which created an essential partnership between the home and school.
In what was our third year as a learning community, it was incumbent on school leadership and staff, supported by Fr Martin Ashe (Parish Priest) and the parish team, to create, nurture and maintain effective partnerships with members of the school, parish, local and wider communities.
With this in mind, in 2017 the SPARKLE team held its first formal election for the positions of Chairperson and Deputy Chairperson. They took on these roles with the mandate to establish a more representative and self-regulating parent body, leading initiatives within the school and parish community. Parents were once again generous in coordinating our School Banking program for children, our School Uniform Shop and Working Bees. The SPARKLE team represented our school on various committees including the Parish Fete Committee, Parish Fundraising Committee, the Parish Picnic Committee and our Whittlesea Show team in 2017 which strengthened their connection with the wider Community.
The SPARKLE Team should be acknowledged for their instrumental role in building our fledgling school culture with a range of social and fundraising events. This has included their ongoing commitment to the Mothers’ Day Afternoon Tea and stall, the Fathers’ Day Breakfast and stall, Feast Day celebrations, Easter Raffle, Christmas Raffle, the Beginning of the Year Family BBQ and the Christmas Family Mass celebration. This was further enhanced this year with the inaugural School Trivia Night, the Online Auction (raising funds for playground equipment) and the Book Fair.
