The PCA – Bringing us together

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The Parent Community Association (PCA) commenced 2022 with great excitement and optimism for a better year ahead with many events and activities planned as we emerged from the pandemic restrictions and moved towards reuniting our School community. Our parent welcome events and coffee mornings organised by our School’s wonderful team of Year Level Representatives were very popular with infectious enthusiasm from parents to catch up face to face with their peers as COVID-19 restrictions continued to ease. The Kitchen Garden Working Bee in March was a huge success. A full team of energised parents and children transformed the Garden; neatening, clearing waste, putting the finishing touches on the chicken coop, and making it ready for Autumn planting. It was all about revitalising the soil in preparation for planting seedlings. A change to the management of the Garden has led to each of the planter boxes being allocated to Year Levels and School Groups and these beds are now primed with fertiliser, blood and bone, and lime. There was some serious gardening expertise among our green-fingered group with one of our volunteers performing a master stylist grooming of the lemon trees and espalier apple, and another landscape gardener polishing off listed tasks with great speed. No matter the level of skill or proficiency, our PCA was immensely grateful to all of our team for giving up their morning to volunteer to keep the garden growing and thriving for the St Michael’s community to enjoy its spoils. To finish the day, our volunteers enjoyed the special treat of homemade pizzas from ingredients grown in the Garden and cooked in the School’s pizza oven, located in the Garden. It was an extremely rewarding day for all involved. Our School’s Twilight Chorals by Candlelight at the end of Term 1 was a wonderful evening for students, staff and families to be on campus together. The choraling-students performed beautifully while the candles glowed and lights glittered as the sun set and darkness fell. Our parents, students and staff enjoyed barbeque food and treats from the stunningly beautiful parent-created PCA bake sale. One of our largest number of PCA volunteers was rallied to support this event and assist at the popular Second-Hand Uniform sale. It was an opportunity to create wider community connections and especially to build friendships. Our PCA’s annual Mother’s Day Lunch was held beachside overlooking the bay at The Views - Life Saving Victoria, Port Melbourne. An apt location to celebrate parents as lifesavers and universal superheroes. It was a wonderful day enjoyed by over 170 parents, creating new connections within, and across, year levels. There were many laughs, and gifts to take home. Student Leaders took this relaxed opportunity to encourage our School’s wonderful spirit of giving and promote

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their Merry Month Of May campaign. Many raffle tickets were purchased and donations contributed to these causes. Our Mothers left with smiles, new friendships and their gifts ready to diarise next year’s event. The PCA also supported the School’s Giving Day on 26 May by donating $5000 in match funding through the PCA annual grants program. The PCA supports the growth and development of the School’s Scholarship program, which provides opportunities for students who may face financial hardship, thus promoting diversity and inclusion within the School. The popular Second-Hand Uniform (SHU) service continued to provide our School community with opportunities to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle, aligning with the School’s values. This parent-run service ensures the School’s sustainable approach to clothing is realised by our students. The high quality and wide selection of uniform items delivers value, especially now students can access the service during their School day. The proceeds from these sales support the PCA School grants program. This service encourages parent-volunteers to apply and support us. It was with great excitement that our community anticipated our revamped PCA Trivia Night, after missing this signature event for the past two years. This year, the tables sold within six minutes so luckily we negotiated extra capacity at the venue and offered a second release of tickets. This is the most popular event in the PCA’s calendar. This year, after many years with parent, Brian Nankervis, as the highly entertaining Master of Ceremonies, the event was hosted by the wonderfully flamboyant Sasha Starr and held at the Timber Yard venue in Port Melbourne. The event was designed for fun together for our many trivia lovers, with an Absolutely Fabulous theme of sequins and sparkles. A wonderful night was had by all. The finale to this year’s PCA activities will be the return of the biennial Community Festival scheduled for October. Planning is well underway with a steering committee organising this entertaining community gathering on campus. This will be a wonderful day of celebration that brings the St Michael’s and our wider Community together, positively promoting what the St Michael’s community represents, the talent of our students while strengthening relationships. The day will be filled with student music performances, amusement rides, food, stalls and entertainment. Parents are welcome to get involved in supporting the success of this major event. The PCA invites all to join in and celebrate what our community has to offer – there are some great surprises in store! Our PCA also extends a big thank you to all our parent volunteers past, present and future, who ensure the PCA can create a sense of belonging for all of our parents so they can contribute to their essential role in our student’s educational success at St Michael’s Grammar School.

1. PCA Trivia Night 2. PCA Mother's Day Lunch 3. Twlight - Chorals by Candlelight 4. PCA volunteers Kristine Curwood, Cintia Gonzalez-Pell and Diana Nutting (OM 1980) at Twlight