In our final newsletter for 2021:
- Notification of Term 4 GM Minutes
- Fundraising and events (including some great photos)
- Information on Transport, Multiform Orders, Parent University, Business Directory & Sustainability
- Reminder of our New Families program – we still need some volunteers
- Thank to all FOTV volunteers
- 2021 Wrap Up from Jason
Final FOTV General Meeting 2021
Our final meeting for 2021 was held over Zoom on Thursday 25 November, 2021. Thank to to all that joined!
If you missed it – you can find the agenda and minutes here.
Remember you will need the password – this was distributed via private channels.
Fundraising and Events
Gingerbread Folk Fundraiser
We had tremendous success with our 2021 Gingerbread House Kit Fundraiser, selling double our 2020 amount and raising $2020.86 for Friends of the Village. Over half the kits were collected from Lisa’s home (so good to meet lots of new faces!) and the rest were sent on to the school who kindly looked after the distribution from there. Gingerbread house creativity is underway in many LLV homes … photographic proof below!
Sugar Freezies Day
On Friday 26 November, LLV took part in No Nasties Project’s Sugar Freezies Day. All students were given a delicious, healthy icy pole and in return, donated money towards the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, an organisation that does extraordinary work gifting culturally appropriate books to Indigenous families and running programs to inspire communities to tell and publish their own stories. We thank all of you generous and lovely Villagers who raised a wonderful $1930 to give to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.
Graduation Dinner
Friends of the Village were thrilled to be asked to provide a special welcome mocktail (bellini, anyone?) to our graduating Villagers and their families on the night of their Graduation Dinner. This was a beautiful event, so thoughtfully prepared and beautifully executed by the school. The staff and students involved should be so proud. It was great for the FOTV team (Lisa Griffiths, Danya Webb, Sam Leith and Briana Mandile) to see the students celebrating their hard work and achievements in what has proved to be an especially challenging final year of school! Congratulations to all our graduating students.
Thank you morning tea for the teachers and staff at LLV
On Wednesday 15 December…..We were pleased to coordinate an end of year morning tea for the excellent teaching, administration and support staff of our wonderful school.
Thank you to all the families who sent in delicious treats – the staff room was awash with goodies and we received reports that everyone was delighted with their special feast!On the last day of school, we hand delivered some beautifully wrapped Westfield gift cards to every one of the eighty one staff members who make Lindfield Learning Village the place that it is.
A shout out to wrapping elves Danya Webb, Shiroma Epa and Scottie Witt who helped Lisa package up the gift cards. And a big thanks to all of you for your generosity – the gift cards were so appreciated by the staff and were a wonderful gesture to show them all how much we value their work. In addition to the gifts, we also distributed the group together cards we had compiled, chock full of gorgeous photos and heartfelt messages from students and their families.
FOTV New Families Program
Thank you to everyone who participated in our welcome Zooms earlier this month. Existing LLV families generously shared their wisdom, tips & tricks (Thank You!) and new LLV families felt informed, engaged and ready for Day 1 2022!
As we enter the holiday period, we’d like to remind you to sign up for or to be a Parent Buddy so we can continue connecting with and helping our new families feel welcome to our village. (For new families see the link at the bottom of this section). For our current families click here to to put your name down.
We’d also love you to sign up for our stage-based meet-ups happening in January! These events are a great way to catch up with your existing friends and make new ones. (For new families see the link at the bottom of this section) For our current families click here to join.
Kindergarten | Saturday 15 January, 10am Queen Elizabeth Reserve
Stage 1 | Saturday 8 January, 10am Queen Elizabeth Reserve
Stage 2 | Sunday 9 January, 10am Queen Elizabeth Reserve
Stage 3 | Saturday 8 January, 2pm Northbridge Baths
Stage 4 | Saturday 29 January, 2pm Northbridge Baths
Our WhatsApp groups for 2022 are currently being created – we will email these out once they are up and running.
***For New Families: please go here to sign up for FOTV emails and the New Families Program 2022***
Reminders and updates from our working groups
Transport
A reminder to write some letters to your local and state MPs as part of a campaign to improve public service to & from LLV. Our advice is that form letters don’t work and what stands out are individual letters telling personal stories. Please see the email from Chris McLean (sent from “FOTV Comms” on 10 December) that has some tips for talking points to include and contact details for your MPs (and shadow MPs).
Parent University
Our Business Directory
Are you the owner of a small business that the LLV community can buy from or use the services of? The recently launched FOTV Business Directory aims to bring attention to businesses run by your fellow LLV parents! Please submit your details via this form and we’ll let you know when your listing is live! Here’s a snapshot of which businesses are up there now. Click the image for more details…..
Sustainability – Planting Native plants at the school with the kids
Planting native plants help in preserving biodiversity and providing food and shelter for insects and birds. We received a grant from the council to enrich the native plants in the school.
All multiform orders for items in stock were fulfilled and delivered to classrooms (or the LLV front office) in the last week.
For items left at the front office, if you weren’t able to collect these by the last day of the year (Thursday 16/12) they will be available for collection on the first day that the school is open next year: Friday 28 January 2022.
Orders placed now for items in stock, can also be made available for collection on Friday 28 January; or can be sent home via your children in the first week of term. Please indicate your preference via the Notes field during checkout.
Orders placed from now until the end of the year, for items not in stock should be ready by mid-February. (CoVID allowing!)
The only exception are out-of-stock polos – these won’t be in stock until the end of Term 1 due to these needing to be custom made.
Before ordering please note the number next to “Current Stock of this Product” (underneath the Item Name and Price). If the number is negative (or zero) it means we are out of stock.
Thank you to all our volunteers
Friends of the Village is powered by a dedicated group of parent volunteers who donate their (significant) time, skills and (sometimes) money for the benefit of all members of the LLV community. The FOTV Leadership Team is often the most visible but there are a heap of other parents leading and participating in FOTV working groups that ensure the success of all FOTV events, activities and initiatives. Special shout out to the following:
Community Events: Hayley, Lucie, Briana, Daniela, Amelia, Sam
Sustainability: Tanya, Naama, Kim, Anushe
Elves: Kareena Totonjian
Socialites: Sugandha, Anna, Jane, Bec, Louise, Ruth, Karen, Sam, Kath, Prathima, James, Adelina, Jenny
Technology: Shikha, JasonH
Parent University: HelenS, HelenL, Amanda, Frances, Katie, Bronwyn
Multiform: Greti
Fundraising: Joy
Transport: Chris M
2021 Wrap up from Jason (President, FOTV)
2021 really defined Friends of the Village as an enthusiastic, supportive and caring parent & carer community. Two incredible events (media coverage in April and Term 3+ Lockdown) brought the best out of this new (but expanding) community. The solidarity of support for our under-fire teachers and principal in the wake of the media barrage was a proud moment for me, the de-facto representative of our fantastic community; thanks to all of you for making my job so easy.
It didn’t take long for our support to be validated as our teachers created and delivered a great learning-from-home experience that kept our kids engaged, their minds active and our concerns allayed. To paraphrase parts of an article recently posted to the LLV Parent Facebook page: our kids increased their understanding of who they are, further recognised what they can do and reflected and dreamed about all the problems that they can use their skills and abilities to solve. Again, as a tight-knit community, we came together to show our appreciation for team LLV via words, images & videos of thanks and a small gift.
In addition to thanking the generous contribution from our FOTV working group leads and members (above), I’d like to extend my heartfelt thanks to the 2021 FOTV Leadership Team. We’ve spent many hours and nights-up-late planning, implementing and reviewing FOTV initiatives, always driven by the vision of delivering a great parent and carer experience for all ‘friends’ of this village. I’d like to highlight that there is a lot of (not so obvious) behind-the-scenes work related to financial management, governance, technology and systemisation which lays the foundation for all the wonderful events and engagement activities that our villagers have been able to enjoy and participate in. All members of the Leadership Team in 2021 have contributed significantly to the Village vibe; it has truly been a team effort! So thanks to Kathy, Julie, Angela and Ben for all your hard work earlier this year for FOTV; and a huge, embracing bear-hug thanks to Chris, Alyssa, Lisa, Sharon and Danya for everything you do for our Village – you should be proud of the great contribution you’ve made to one of the most energised and vibrant parent & carer communities in NSW!
Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from the FOTV Leadership Team
(Jason, Lisa, Alyssa, Chris, Sharon & Danya)!!
Messages from our community
