Dear Families,

Welcome to Term 1 Week 3! It’s been so lovely getting back into the school routine and seeing many of you around our beautiful school. I extend a very warm and friendly welcome to any new families who have joined us this year.

When a flower doesn’t bloom,

You fix the environment in which it grows,

Not the flower. (Alexander Den Heijer)

This will be my first and last Newsletter this year as P&F President as I am standing aside from the President role. I always thought two years was a good stint before new people with fresh ideas take over. Given the strange year we had last year, I did consider another year, but I may have too much happening this year to fully commit to being your P&F President. I have really enjoyed being a part of the school P&F, and I thank you all very much for supporting me throughout the last two years. I am very proud of what we, as a parent group achieved. Most of all, I have enjoyed getting to know families and working with our amazing children on different things. To Phil and the teachers and staff of Holy Trinity, thank you! You all are the base of our community and I would not have enjoyed my last two years as much without you.

Mark Bauer has also decided to step down from the Vice President role after many dedicated years. Mark, as you know, is a huge asset to our school and has done an enormous amount for the P&F, mostly behind the scenes. I can’t thank Mark enough for his support and contribution, but most of all his friendship. Please now enjoy some rest!

P&F President, Vice President and Assistant Treasurer

If there is anyone interested in volunteering for either the President or Vice President roles, can you please email through your interest to philippa.brearley@cg.catholic.edu.au. You will need to be available for the AGM next week (6pm) and the first P&F meeting for the year will be held straight after.

If you would like to chat to me about what the roles entail, please feel free to email me at htpspfpresident@gmail.com.

Thank you to Paul Osborne who has agreed to another year as P&F Secretary, and to Annette Cannell who will do her last year as Treasurer. If anyone is interested in an Assistant Treasurer role this year, with the intention of taking over as Treasurer next year, can you please email Annette at htpspftreasurer@gmail.com.

P&F Annual General Meeting – next Wednesday 24 February at 6.00pm in the library

You are all welcome to the P&F AGM next Wednesday night. It will give you a really good introduction to the year ahead and it’s where a calendar of events is discussed and finalised. The three central focuses for the P&F are Community, Charities and Fundraising. I am sure the new Committee will continue the good work the Holy Trinity family have built up over many, many years.

 A quick rundown on the P&F (for newbies)

The four positions above are the minimum official roles we must fill. We have many, equally as important roles that make up the P&F. We couldn’t do what we do without many wonderful people throughout the year (Jenny, Cheryl, Mark and Rach, Lisa, Kim, Rowena, Niki, and many more volunteers).

We have three things we like to focus on in the P&F: Community; Charities, and Fundraising.

Community – There will be a number of community based services and activities throughout the year that we would love to see as many of our families participate in. For example, we have our wonderful uniform shop, our fabulous tuckshop, there’s BBQs, vacuuming of the school by parents (that actually saves the school thousands of dollars each year), Mother’s Day and Father’s Day stalls and breakfasts, a parents revue night (fun and laughter in Term 3), and a casserole bank (provides home cooked meals for families that could do with a helping hand).

The P&F have also established a Facebook page (Holy Trinity Community). This is a closed group only for Holy Trinity parents and teachers, and offers another avenue for communication.

Charities – The P&F supports two charities throughout the year. Our local charity is L’Arche who offers supported living in community households together with a rich social and cultural life, for adults living with intellectual disability. Our International charity is a sponsor child, Lydia, through Global School Partners.

Fundraising – Throughout the year the P&F hold various fundraising events and activities to contribute to our charities, but also support some school improvements. Have you noticed the out door learning area at the end of the Kitchen Garden (outside the Kindy rooms)? OK, so we didn’t pay for all of it, but we contributed a large sum towards the works.

  Again I thank you for allowing me the privilege of holding the position of P&F President for two wonderful years. I still look forward to meeting and chatting with as many of you as I can, just in the role of parent. I wish the new look P&F committee much success. Here’s cheers to a wonderful school year. I think I’ve said enough, and for the last time, thanks so much for reading!

Cath Day

P&F President