Newsletter No. 19 | Term 4 Week 3 | Friday 25th October 2024

Prayer

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

The Warrion Flower Show was once again a fabulous success. It is amazing how quickly it seems to come around each year! I really love this event. It has such a wonderful, warm and welcoming feel to it. It is always a delight to see the children's entries - once again we had many children winning prizes. Well done to all of our students who put in an entry. You are all winners in my eyes!

I would like to extend a big thank you to Sophie for putting in many hours behind the scenes. Phenomenal effort! I would also like to thank everyone in our parent community who was able to help out. Not everyone was able to attend but as with other fundraisers we have, people step up where they can. Even replying to organisers and letting them know you appreciate their hard work puts a pep in the step of the people calling out for help. I would like to also say a special thank you to Sister Gerri who helped out on the barbecue. We loved having you with us on the barbie Sr Gerri - a masterchef at work!

Special thanks also to Leigh Balcombe, Noel and Lisa McLeod, Mark and Kristy Robb, Ben Phillips and Melissa D'Altera who all did the pack up at the end. It was cold and late and pack up is never much fun! Also a big thank you to all of our local businesses and families who donated to our Spring raffle, including Worldly Goods, Colac Pharmacy, Wondering Hair Stylist, Eve Skincare, Nancy Abraham and our wonderful parents.
Thank you to all, what an amazing community we have!

Staffing Announcement

I am delighted to announce that we have appointed Gerard Douglas to the positions of Assistant to the Principal and Senior classroom teacher for 2025. Gerard is a member of the Leadership Team at Lisieux Catholic Primary School, Torquay where he is currently in the role of Acting Assistant to the Principal.

Gerard's first school was St. Mary's in Colac. He then moved to Torquay where he worked at St. Therese and then Lisieux. In his fifteen years in education, Gerard has taught Year 1/2, Year 3/4, and Year 5/6. He has also held leadership positions in Numeracy, Sustainability, Learning Diversity and Religious Education. Gerard's experience will be an invaluable asset to our school.

Gerard has many connections in the Coragulac area, including his wife Amy who went to school here at St.Brendan's! Amy is from a large family (daughter to Marg and Jim Allen) and Gerard commented that being part of a big, local family has meant he has attended many baptisms and weddings at St. Brendan's Church. Gerard and Amy have four young children, all under 9 years of age, so he is very in tune with the demands of parenting in today's world!

Gerard has played footy for Alvie Football Club which almost makes him a local. Maybe he'll be persuaded to don the red and white again.

We look forward to welcoming Gerard to St. Brendan's. We are really excited to have him on board.

2025 Staff PD and School Closure Days

Next year, our governing authority DOBCEL, has made the suggestion that using the three days between Easter Monday and ANZAC Day for staff to collaborate with the other schools through Professional Development would be an excellent use of time and an extremely valuable educational experience for our school staff members. During this time, our Staff will be engaging in collaborative professional learning development with St. Mary's and Sacred Heart.
**So just a heads up, it means that the holiday break for students at the end of Term 1 will be three weeks long and we will return to school on Monday 28th April to start Term 2. 

Congratulations to Melody Baker

For the second year in a row, Melody has been announced as winner in Vision Australia's Poetry Competition. Melody won first place in the Student Creativity category with an acrostic poem titled 'Empowerment of the Earth'.
From the judges: " It's always a delight to see what people can make out of one word. This one was informative, creative and beautifully written".

Empowerment of the Earth
By Melody Baker 

Empowering people to keep our oceans
clean and safe is
My dream and to save all the living
creatures under the sea.
People need to understand that plastics
can end up killing our sealife and
Our ocean would be better if people
could think about their actions of where
their plastics go.
What if we learnt to re-use our resources
and
Encourage people to understand that we
can change the way things are and help
the sealife, like
Re-using plastic bags and milk bottles
and old clothing because the
Material can suffocate the sealife, and
damage the environmental habitat
of those animals.
Every animal is a one of a kind, that can
never exist again if they go extinct.
Never throw plastic on the ground because
it will end up in forests and oceans and
can cause animals to die out.
Together we can save this earth!

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS
Please note that Monday 4th November and Tuesday 5th November will be School Closure Days. 

Swimming Program

Just a reminder that Swimming starts tomorrow. The procedure will be the same as for Term one. Please ensure you give permission on PAM and contact Grace in the office if you have any questions.

Playground Fun

Thank you to Mark, Kristy, Brennan, Eden and Ivy for donating your climbing frame to the school. The kids love it!

Bush Excursion to Bambra Bushland Reserve

On Wednesday 30th October the whole school will be heading to Bambra Bushland Reserve for a Bush Excursion. Please ensure to give permission on PAM.
The purpose of the bush excursion is:
To encourage children's willingness to engage with nature.
To encourage play and creativity in an unstructured environment.

PLEASE NOTE:
Students are to dress in old clothes, coats, waterproof shoes and a wide brimmed hat, it can be the school hat or any other wide brimmed hat. In keeping with our Sun Smart policy, we ask that caps not be worn.
No money is required.
Students are to bring a full lunchbox, marshmallows provided.

Basketball Tournament

I would like to congratulate the following 9 boys who participated in the Colac Division Basketball Tournament: Caleb Price, Brennan Robb, Archie Robb, Jerry Robb, Jackson Scott, Charlie Ferrari, Jordy Price and Liam Wilson. The boys have really loved their basketball this year, spending many playtimes and lunchtimes practising their skills. The boys did a fabulous job, showing that practice really pays off! Although it was great to see the improvement in their skills, the best part was seeing the fun they had out there.
A BIG thank you to Kynan for being such a fabulous coach!

Australian Dairy Farmers Visit

On Monday we had a visit from Ron Page from The Australian Dairy Farmers Association. He kindly brought along yoghurt for each child in the school and a colouring book and pencils for the Prep/ones. There were some very excited children!

The ADFC have been very supportive of our school, kindly donating a box of fruit each fortnight. Thank you ADFC!

3/4 Bike Camp

Week one of this Term our Year 3/4's headed off on their Bike Camp.
Some our students have written about their time on camp:

My Favourite thing on the bike camp was that we got to bring lollies and we got ice-cream and my Dad came and we went to the Skate Park. - Liam

We got lollies and ice cream and we got to ride our bikes on cool bike trails and the skate park. We got to go to the pub for tea and it was very fun and we went with friends. - Charlie F

Bike camp was so fun. We went to the Lolly Shop and the Park / Skate Park. - Izzy

The Bike camp was amazing! I really liked riding about on our bikes and going to the lolly shop. - Declan

We loved the Bike Camp! We got lollies and ice cream and lastly we went for a bike ride. - Finlay

Child Safe Standards

As mentioned previously, in 2023 the Government revised the Child Safe Standards and increased them to 11 standards. We take the Standards very seriously at St. Brendan's, always ensuring the safety of our children. Over the next few Newsletters we will be revising the standards with you.

Child Safe Standard 1 - Organisations establish a culturally safe environment in which the diverse and unique identifies and experiences of Aboriginal children and young people are respected and valued.

Child Safe Standard 2 - Child Safety and Wellbeing is embedded in organisatinal leadership, governance and culture.

Child Safe Standard 3 - Children and young people are empowered about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them and are taken seriously.

Managing Fire Risk at St. Brendan's

St Brendan's is listed as a BARR school. This means that we are listed on the 'Bushfire at Risk Register'.

This year our school has been classified as at the highest risk. This has required us to do an audit of our outdoor area and dispose of items which were okay before, but now would be seen as a potential risk factor. There has been a lot of work done around the school while I was away to meet the new guidelines, including disposing of the tyres, mulch, logs and other objects and materials. I would like to thank Grace, Mandy and the other staff for working so hard to meet the requirements and ensure that our school is as safe as possible in the event of a fire. 

For more information on Managing Fire Risk at St. Brendan's you will find a poster in the shelter shed or click on the link below which will take you to our school website.

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.

Wellbeing 

“Mindfulness can help children calm their minds and make the most of their life, setting them up for career and relationships. It reduces their anxiety and improves concentration, productivity and sleep.”

Dr Michael Carr-Gregg

Please click the link below to view School TVs videos and resources on the topic of Mindfulness.

Whooping Cough

The incidence of Whooping cough cases is continuing to increase across Victoria, particularly among school-aged children.
Whooping cough is a very contagious infection, mostly spread through coughing or sneezing. 
Symptoms include:

• blocked or runny nose

• tiredness

• mild fever

• severe bouts of coughing, often followed by a ‘whooping’ sound on breathing.

Whooping cough can lead to life-threatening infections in babies.
If your child is unwell, they should not attend school. Please see a doctor if you or your child develops whooping cough symptoms. Early diagnosis and treatment will help reduce the spread of the infection.

Students diagnosed with whooping cough must not attend school
If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, they must not attend school for 21 days after the onset of the cough, or until they have received 5 days of antibiotic treatment.

You must notify the school if your child is diagnosed with whooping cough.
To further reduce the spread of infection to your child and the school community, the Public Health and Wellbeing Regulations 2019 require that some students who were in the same classroom as a student diagnosed with whooping cough should not attend school.

Your child should not attend school for 14 days after they were last exposed to a person diagnosed with whooping cough, or until they have taken 5 days of a course of antibiotic treatment if they are:

• aged less than 7 years; and

• not fully vaccinated with 3 doses of whooping cough (pertussis) vaccine.

This exclusion is required by law – refer to the School exclusion table for primary schools and children’s services. If your child is diagnosed with whooping cough, please contact the school to let us know. Your support in keeping our students safe and well is greatly appreciated. For more information about whooping cough, refer to Whooping cough on the Better Health Channel.

Vaccination is the best way to reduce the risk of whooping cough. The Department of Health recommends staying up to date with immunisations, including booster doses. A free booster dose of the pertussis vaccine is covered under the national immunisation program for students aged 12 to 13. If you are unsure about your child’s vaccination status for whooping cough, please discuss with an immunisation provider, such as your doctor.

STEM

Over the last 8 weeks we have had the privilege of using Sphero Balls borrowed (for free) from an organisation called CSER through Adelaide University. We - the students and myself - have gained many skills through the use of the spheros.  

The students have been amazing, so engaged and so busy they are probably unaware that they have learned

*how to log in and out of the Sphero Edu App on their ipad 
* to log in to their account and then pair up with a sphero 
*  to aim , drive , and change the colour of the sphero
* students from Grades 2-6 have learned to program the sphero's movements and sounds using program blocks. 
* work cooperatively with a partner to complete set tasks   
* to problem solve to complete set tasks - especially is if first and even second attempts were unsuccessful!

Currently all students are designing and building either Sphero Bots - which sit over the sphero and move (looking like a robot) or Sphero Vehicles - which look like a car or ute and also fit over the sphero and can be driven by controlling the sphero
There is lots of engineering skills developing as students are building their bots or vehicles and then having to consider modifications to their design to get them working  or to improve efficiency.  

We acknowledge the generosity of CSER for giving us the opportunity to have the use of the spheros for this length of time and at no cost. 

-Liz McGuane

Prep/1 Classroom

Welcome back Alice.
Literacy: We have successfully completed writing our recounts which will be displayed for all to read.  Next week we will start on persuasive writing.  I think we have lots of students who might be very good at this genre of writing!

Word work: In Foundation, students are learning the sound /ck/ like in chick and black.
We have been building, reading and writing words containing this sound. 

Grade 1’s are working on the sound /air/ like in pair. We are focusing on 4 different spellings - <air> <ere> <are> and <ear> and recognising other possible spellings for example <ayor> as in mayor or <eir> as in their.

Maths: We have been doing lots of counting, writing numbers and playing some fun maths games.  This week will finish our unit on 2D and 3D shapes and our next unit is measurement - volume and capacity.

Readers: Alice, Mel and I have been very impressed with the Prep and Grade 1 students bringing their readers every day. Thank you parents for your support. The students told us all the different times they can do their daily reading  - in the morning, after dinner, in bed, after school. Anytime is a great time for reading!

Kind Regards,
Liz  & Alice

Liz McGuane and Alice Armistead
lmcguane@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

aarmistead@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 3!

We welcome Charlie Grist into our Class on Monday the 28th October. We hope he enjoys getting to know everyone and being back at St. Brendan's.
Charlie will be observing in the classroom for several days, then teaching two lessons in the first week. He will then build up his teaching load over the following weeks.

I would like to thank Alice, Andre and Marilyn for taking great care of the 2/3/4's in my absence. I look forward to seeing everyone next Wednesday when I return.

Homework: Whilst I am away, I ask that the children continue practicing their times tables and reading nightly.

Religious Education: Our focus this term is Gift. The students will unpack the concept of 'Gift' and what it means to them. They will identify their own gifts and the gifts of others. We will also look at the gifts of the Holy Spirit - wisdom, understanding, right judgement, courage, knowledge, understanding, and wonder and awe. We will look at mission around the world and prepare for our annual Mission Day.

Integrated Curriculum: Students will be involved in the connections of the geographical world as they learn about different environments, climate zones and natural vegetation. They will reflect on the connection Indigenous cultures have with our land, and the names and meanings of Indigenous places throughout Australia.
The children will design their own artificial nation. They will consider the location, climate and values of this created place.

The Star of the Week award goes to Issy Coates. Congratulations on your excellent effort!

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

4/5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 3!

I hope everyone had the chance to drop into the Warrion Flower Show. Thank you to all who assisted with our stall. A big congratulations to Melody who came first place in the Braille House Literacy Competition. Melody wrote a poem about empowering people to stop littering. Well done, Melody!

SRC: Congratulations to Harriet and Zayne who are our SRC representatives for Term 4. I know you will both do an amazing job!

Homework: There will be no homework for Week 3/4; new homework will be sent home in Week 5. However, children are expected to be reading for 20 minutes daily and recording this in their diary. Thank you.

Religion: For Religion this term our theme is Solidarity. We’ve begun our unit by unpacking the meaning of solidarity and relating solidarity to the mission of the Catholic Church.

Integrated Curriculum: For Integrated Curriculum this term our theme is Connections - Data and Decisions. We’ve kicked off our unit by budgeting needs and wants, learning about human, natural and capital resources and analysing different employment industries. 

I hope you have a lovely week,

Tahlia

Tahlia Whytcross
twhytcross@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Birthday Corner

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

6th November - Kyle Wright (7)

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.

Community News & Events

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