Newsletter No. 16 | Term 3 Week 9 | Friday 13th September 2024

Prayer

Holy Spirit, you are the giver of many gifts which God wants to give me very personally. Open my heart and my mind as I prepare for Confirmation. Help me to know that you are confirming all the goodness that I am and all the goodness that I will become. Increase my desire to know and follow Jesus as his disciple with a grateful and courageous heart. Amen.

Principal's Message

Leanne is currently on Long Service until the start of Term 4.

A Message from Mandy

Welcome to Week 9!
On Tuesday we had a lovely trip to Schultz Organic Farm in Timboon. We were very lucky to get to  taste test the products and I must say they were delicious! The children asked where we could get them and apparently Jo’s Pantry stock them. We got to have a tour of the farm and learnt it is the longest running rotary dairy in the district, operating for 40 years!
Metal pipes run the milk up to the factory from the dairy and they pump through up to 25,000 litres of milk daily!

We had our River Detectives event yesterday and the children enjoyed the experience with Bec from Corangamite Catchment Authority.

Thank you again to Ken who has generously given his time to sort out attaching a latch on a cupboard for us. We appreciate your assistance and availability Ken!

Next term we will welcome two students from ACU for placements. Charlie Grist, a former student, is in his 3rd year and will be in the 2/3/4  classroom and Catherine Wood, in her 1st year, will be in the 4/5/6 room. We hope they enjoy their time at our school.

As you know by now, Allira will be leaving us for Term 4 and the 2025 school year. We wish her all the best with her new learning and experience. We look forward to her returning in 2026 with a wealth of  knowledge and ideas to share with our staff.

Warm wishes,
Mandy

A Message from Allira
I wish to share the news that I have accepted a new job at Lake Colac School for Term 4 and 2025.

My time at St. Brendan’s has been an incredibly enriching experience. Over the past three years, I have had the privilege of working with some of the most talented, dedicated, and supportive staff members. I have been truly fortunate to have had so many memorable experiences and opportunities. The best part about my role, however, has been working with the incredible students at St.Brendan’s who have been a constant source of enthusiasm and energy. Seeing our students learn and grow is and has been infinitely rewarding. The entire St.Brendan’s community has been a source of inspiration and joy, and I am deeply grateful for the connections I have made.

The decision to move on is driven by my desire to embrace new challenges and continue my personal and professional growth. This new role represents a unique opportunity for me to learn and develop in ways that I believe will ultimately benefit me personally and professionally. Additionally, I hope to bring what I will learn back to St.Brendan’s one day. 

I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to each and every one of you. To the staff, your unwavering support and camaraderie have made my time here truly special. To the students, your enthusiasm and curiosity have been a constant source of motivation and joy. And to the parents and families, your partnership and trust have been invaluable.

Thank you to everyone for making my time at St.Brendan's so memorable.
Allira Kluver

School Attendance and Absentee Notification
Please ensure you are logging onto PAM, calling or emailing the school to advise if your child will be away or late to school prior to 9:30am each morning. This is a very important matter and we wish to ensure each child arrives to school safe.

Bush Excursion
We are heading off to our bush excursion on Thursday the 19th September. The children will participate in a bush walk along the Beachy Trail and be involved in experiencing bush play. Everyone will need to wear very warm old/farm clothes with lots of layers. Waterproof pants, rubber boots and raincoast would also be a handy addition. Please ensure students have a packed lunch and water bottle.

Footy Colour Day
The children will be able to attend school representing theur favourite footy team, whether local or national, on Friday 13th September. We ask for a gold coin donation and the proceeds will go towards our Mission Day Contribution.

Friday Fun Groups
Friday Fun Groups are going really well. The children are rotating around the activities in their sport houses. The activites are Sustainability, Running and Knot Tying.

Bike Camp
The Year 3 and 4 students will be attending the Bike Camp on Thursday 10th October and Friday 11th October next term. We ask that the children in these classes get their bikes checked and ready for the event. They will also need a swag or mattress, pillow and sleeping bag, and a helment that fits correctly with adjustable chin straps. It would be beneficial if the children could build up some stamina by practicing riding in the holidays.

Toasties
We ask that parents make sure the names of the children are clearly marked on the baking paper and/or paper bag the toastie is in. This helps alleviate any confusion around whose sandwich it is. Thank you for your support with this.

Warrion Flower Show
The Warrion Flower Show approaches! It is only 6 weeks away!
Each year at the Flower show, the St Brendan's parent community, holds a BBQ and stall.
Our efforts at this event forms a key part of our annual fundraising commitment.
There are many ways that familes can contribute, but we need to meet to discuss and plan. New ideas and energy most welcome!!
The meeting is being held next week, on Wednesday 18th September in the hall, between 2:30 and 4pm.
This time bridges the school pick up time, so if you can only attend just before/ just after pick up time, we've got you covered! 

Class Awards
Congratulations to Brennan, Declan and Evie for receiving the Class Awards last week!

Prep/1 Classroom

Newsletter Week 9

We’ve had a wonderful couple of weeks in Prep/1. There have been several incredible events and excursions that the students have really enjoyed. Congratulations to all students for their enthusiasm and exemplary behaviour whilst out and about. It's so rewarding to see how much the students gain and learn from these experiences.

Literacy: Over the past couple of weeks, we have been learning about narratives in Prep/1. The students have enjoyed learning the story of “The Three Billy Goats Gruff” and engaging with the story through role play, questioning and sequencing.

Word work: In Foundation, students are learning the sound /th/ like in that. We have been building, reading and writing words containing this sound. Grade 1’s are working on the sound /l/ like in paddle. There are 5 different spellings - <l> <ll> <al> <le> and <il>.

Maths: Students have been learning about time this week. They have been practising reading on-the-hour and half-past times on both analogue and digital clocks. We have also been learning about the sequence of events, ordering time frames, as well as the days of the week and months of the year.

Allira Kluver
akluver@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 9 of Term 3!

We had a fantastic trip to Schultz Organic Farm on Tuesday. The day went smoothly and it was very well planned. Thanks again to Alice for organising it. The River Detectives session was a hit also and the children enjoyed participating in the event.

I have been out of the room a lot completing Principal duties, and I am looking forward to spending time back with my class! I really miss them!!

Homework went out last week, and there will be no homework activities for the rest of the term. I encourage all the class to read nightly and please have it signed in your diary. Diaries and reader folders are checked every day.

Literacy: The class have been listening to our class novel Storm Boy. They will complete a book report when it is finished. In Writing we have been working on alliteration and creating our own sentences.
The Year 2’s have been exploring the /n/ sound and the Year 3&amp;4’s the /ee/ sound. They have been learning different spellings of the sounds.

Maths: In Maths the Year 2’s have been revising the months of the year and the seasons associated with them. They have also been practising quarter to and a quarter past hours.
The Year 3’s have been practising the time to five minute intervals and the Year 4’s to one minute intervals. We will finish Time next week and complete a post test.

The Star of the Week award goes to Charlie Ferrari. Congratulations on your excellent effort!
Kind regards,

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

4/5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 9 of Term 3! We’ve been very busy over the last couple of weeks, it’s hard to believe that it’s nearly the end of the term.

Winter Sports: We’ve been busy attending our Winter Sports events. We have one more event left, this is on Monday 16th September at St Mary’s Primary School. Students are to wear their sports uniform.

Cows Create Careers: Last Monday our two calves, Mickey and Minnie arrived. They are 3 and 5 week old Angus calves that we’re raising for two weeks. We’ve been feeding them milk each morning and have been leading them around, brushing them and cleaning their pen. We thank local farmers Sam Simpson and Mark Billings for their generosity in giving us this opportunity. 

Schulz Organic Dairy Excursion: We thoroughly enjoyed going to Schulz Organic Dairy on Tuesday, a big thank you to Alice for organising! Here are some of our reflections from the day:
What did we learn?
That they heat the milk to a certain temperature to kill bacteria.
They had about 19 different seeds to help the soil health.
They milk 450 cows every day.

Our favourite things:
“All of it was really good”
“Tasting the milk because it had cream on the top (non-homogenised)”
“When we got to see the rotary dairy because it was interesting to see it”

 What did we find interesting?
The cream was so thick on top of the glass milk bottle that when it was tipped upside down it didn’t spill.
If calves are hungry, they will moo.

Literacy: In Phonics we’ve been working on words that have the sound /ee/. Some words include; between, extreme, approximately and committee. We’ve also been working on Poetry and have continued to read our class novel, Boy Overboard.

Numeracy: In Numeracy the Year 5 & 6 students have been working on their Measurement unit. They’ve been calculating the perimeter of shapes, with Year 6 students also converting between units of measurement. Whereas, Year 4 students have been working on their Time unit. Students have been practising telling the time and converting between different times. 

I hope you have a lovely week,

Tahlia Whytcross
twhytcross@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Wattle Day
Wattle Day: Celebrated on the first day of Spring, which was September 1st, 2024 this year.

We celebrate the wattle to recognise its important significance to Australia. The green and gold colours: symbolise the colours of our nation eg Olympic uniforms. The wattle surrounds the Australian coat of arms as the flower of hope and resilience, just like our country. Wattle will burn in bushfires very quickly but on the other hand , it’s one of the first species to regenerate, it’s very tough. Wattle gives people a burst of happiness as it brightens up a grey wintery day. St Brendan’s Primary celebrated wattle day this year because we were invited to visit Sharyn’s newly established wattle farm that’s just down the road from the school. 

The students learnt that there are over 1000 different types of wattle species in Australia, and some species have edible seeds. Wattles are high in protein and can be used in coffee, cakes, scones and bread. Sharyn sells her ground wattle seeds to restaurants.
To celebrate the day the students Made wattle seed scones-Painted wattle pictures using steel wool and cotton buds-Created wattle day badges. 

Alice Armistead 

River Detectives
On Wednesday 11th September Bec from River Detectived came to school to teach the students about water bugs and how they are indicators of water quality. Children seperated bugs into species groups, identified them and then they got a score for water quality.

SHULTZ ORGANIC FARM EXCURSION

Birthday Corner

Wishing a very big Happy Birthday to everyone who is celebrating their special day! Especially:

2nd October - Issy Coates (9)

4th October - Evie Carlon (6)

6th October - Ava D'Altera (12)

Important Dates

Catholic Culture

St Brendan's Coragulac & St Joseph's Pirron Yallock Mass Times

St Brendan’s Coragulac: 9.30am Sunday Lay-led  /  Mass 5pm 4th Sunday of each month
St Joseph’s Pirron Yallock: 10:30am Mass 1st Sunday of each month

Our Diocesan Community

https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ODC-July-2024-web.pdf

Click here to read all the news in the latest edition of Our Diocesan Community.

The Sacrament of Eucharist and Confirmation will be celebrated at 5.00pm on Sunday 22nd September at St. Brendan’s Church.

We wish  the candidates all the best and we hope they find joy and the light of Christ in the experience.

Good luck to: Caleb, Jordy, Archie, Jerry, Brennan, Eden, Ivy, Ayla, Aden, Issy, Liam, Ruby and Rebekah.

Community News & Events

Bluewater Sensory Quiet Time Pool Session
When: Every Saturday between 1-3pm
Please contact Bluewater Colac if you have any questions.