Welcome to week 7! The time is flying past and we are only a couple of weeks out from the Easter break. So much has happened and is planned for the coming weeks that the restraint of 2020 COVID is dimming. All things Fete, Fete and Fete are occupying spare moments this week. Last night we held the final meeting before the biannual fete and we also conducted the Annual General Meeting for our parent body, the P & F. It is timely to thank the outgoing office bearers for their dedicated and generous efforts in the past years to support the fundraising ventures to finance additional school resources. Mrs Bianca Jones has stepped down as President after leading our committee for the past couple of years. I personally thank Bianca for her leadership and generous nature. So too, her Vice-president Mr Aaron Walker has finished his term and I am appreciative of his enthusiasm and positive attitude for helping our school. Mrs Jody Miller is also finishing up as our incumbent treasurer, a role she has filled for many, many years and she has brought her financial acumen and passion for our school to this role. It has been a delight to work with these wonderful people for the good of our students, staff and school. We have been blessed to have others step effortlessly into these roles last night and offer their time, generous spirit and energy. Mrs Sonya Ward will assume the position of President and Mrs Carmen Clark will be her deputy. We are still on the lookout for a new treasurer who will work alongside this new committee. So too we are also looking for any interested parents who might like to offer their services and coordinate some of our sub-committees like the Garden Viewing Committee, Street Stall coordinator and other fundraising ventures. Please contact the school if you are interested.

The Fete will take place on Friday 12 March from 5pm until 8pm. We hope that you will come and join with us and help us raise valuable funds. It promises to be a wonderful community night with a host of different food options, games to play and prizes to win. Please tell all your friends to come and be a part of a fun night. In the efforts of being COVID safe we will have sign in points at the major entrances and we ask you to be mindful of COVID safe protocols and practices. There will be several COVID marshals moving around the crowd if you have any queries.

The Fete raffle will also be drawn in the latter stages of the night. We are grateful to Chambers Garage and Blackies Power Equipment for their generous support of the raffle. If you have tickets still at home, whether they be sold or unsold, they MUST be returned to school asap. This is extremely important that we can account for all raffle tickets that have been issued.

Thank you to all the families who have already donated items for the Chocolate Wheel, Drinks stall and lolly bags. If you still have items to donate to the fete please send them in asap as the committee members will be organising the prize bundles and lolly bags on Wednesday in preparation for Friday night.

This Wednesday I will accompany our School Captains, Jack Murphy and India Bodycott, to Canberra to represent our school and indeed the archdiocese students at the funeral service for our beloved Fr Kevin Barry-Cotter. It is difficult to put into words all that Fr Kev did for our school but he has left an indelible mark on our schools and the charism of our school. His passion, love and wisdom are hallmarks for how we can live our lives and he lived a life determined to make memories and share his faith with all. Our school is so much the richer for his service. A second funeral service and internment in the Adelong cemetery will take place on Thursday where several members of staff will represent the school community. Vale Fr Kevin Barry-Cotter.

Mrs Nicky Trinder

Principal