St Brendan's Catholic Primary School Coragulac eNewsletter

Prayer

Let us put into practice our call to do good to all,
and take time to love the poor and needy,
those abandoned and rejected,
those discriminated against and marginalized.

-Pope Francis

Principal's Message

Dear Families,

Mission Day was once again a fun and fabulous day! Thank you to our students, parents, staff and extended community for all that they did to make this day a huge success. Since I began at St. Brendan’s, I have been struck by the generosity of the St. Brendan's community to look out for those in need. This generosity of spirit, led by the parents and extended Parish community, has certainly rubbed off on the children. Through projects such as Mission Day, our children are learning valuable life lessons such as how doing God’s work can make a difference in the life of others.

The Cake Auction was one again in full swing. Thank you to everyone who baked goods and/or came along to support the Auction. We are extremely grateful for the support we received from our extended community - parish, ex-student, extended families, and it was great to have Justin McInerney from Catholic Education Ballarat joining us again.

Congratulations to the following winners:

Best Dad Cake: Justin McGuane
Best Mum Cake: Adele McGuane
Best Grandparent Cake: Nancy Abraham
Best Student Cake: Ava D’Altera
Best Community Cake: Davina Campbell

Each year the money we raise is donated to Caritas Australia, an organisation that supports some of the most needy in our world. This year, we will share the money raised with the Caring Centre in Mongolia, to feed the children and assist in purchasing a school bus to ensure their safe travel, with a portion of our money also going to Timor Leste.

Along with fellow Parish member Lucy Darcy, former St. Brendan’s teacher, Ann Maree Convrey has travelled to Timor Leste several times to help the community. Last week Ann Maree came to our Assembly to tell us about her experiences there. Ann Maree.shared some facts about Timor Leste and showed us some photos of the Ainaro Hospital. Previous funds raised by Ann Maree and Lucy have gone towards purchasing children's cuffs for the blood pressure monitor. A portion of our Mission Day money will go towards purchasing a mannequin for the doctor to take out into the community to teach CPR.

Pre-Prep Program

Last week we were delighted to welcome our 2025 preps! They were a very settled group, settling in within minutes of arriving! We look forward to seeing them again each Friday for the next two weeks!

2025 Planning Day

On Tuesday, the teachers will be spending the day planning for 2025. We are excited that Gerard Douglas (our new 5/6 teacher) will be joining us for this day. It will also be a good opportunity for him to meet the students.
With the teachers out of the room, the school will be divided into two groups with Andre Delorenzo taking years 3-6 and Dani Allan taking years Prep-2. It should be a fun day for all!

Class Awards

Congratulations to Kaitlyn, Luca, Lewie, Eden and Charlie who have received Class Awards over the last two weeks. What amazing role models you are to your fellow students!

Farewell to Kathryn and Charlie

We have been very fortunate to have two student teachers at our school this Term, Kathryn Wood and Charlie Grist. Both staff and students have enjoyed having them at school and have appreciated the effort they have gone to, building positive relationships with both staff and students. We will miss them!

We thank them for the way they have thrown themselves so wholeheartedly into their placements and wish them all the best for their future careers.

Kathryn:
I have loved getting to know the students and staff, they have all been so welcoming and kind to me during my time here! I’m so grateful to have had the opportunity to do placement in the year 4,5,6 classroom!

Charlie:
I have thoroughly enjoyed my time at St Brendan's Primary School. Coming from the local rural area and attending primary at St Brendans myself has brought back many fond memories. It’s been a unique experience to return to a place that played such an important role in my own childhood. I am glad the school has continued to develop its ‘community’ feel, and it’s heartwarming to see how much it has evolved while still holding on to values of connection and support.

As a studying teacher, I have felt incredibly fortunate to intertwine these values in a positive and inclusive learning environment where all students are respected and strive to achieve their personal best. Mandy has been a great mentor and there are multiple teaching characteristics I will look to incorporate into my own teaching. I am very thankful for this opportunity which has been a great learning experience and I look forward to seeing how St Brendan’s continues to grow and evolve in the near future.

SRC Meeting

As you will be aware, our SRC meeting last week was somewhat overshadowed by a ‘tornado’ so not too much was achieved in Terms of decision making. I think the biggest decision the children made was to run! However, we did manage to agree that the icy pole money will go towards our Vinnie’s Christmas appeal.

I still laugh every time I watch the video and hear the children screaming. It was certainly a meeting we will never forget!

Vinnie's Appeal

Once again we will be collecting household goods/food items for our Vinnie’s Christmas Appeal. Vinnie’s are always very appreciative of our contributions.

Next week we will begin collecting for this year’s Appeal. There will be a basket at the front office where you are invited to drop off any non-perishable food items that you wish to donate. Check out the list below for ideas:

Tins and fruits, vegetables, canned meats.
Soups, beans, noodles, pasta, pasta sauce.
Hygiene products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soaps, shampoo, deodorant, sanitary items, cleaning products.

Icy Poles

As we are in Term 4 and heading into (possibly!) the warmer weather, our Grade 6 students will once again be selling icy poles at lunchtime on Fridays. These will be $1 each and will be sold each Friday until the end of the term.

School TV (Respectful Relationships)

Initiating conversations about respectful relationships with children is crucial for their emotional and social development. By addressing topics like kindness, empathy, and communication, parents create a foundation for healthy interactions. These discussions promote awareness of boundaries, consent, and mutual understanding, fostering a safe environment where children can thrive. Teaching respect from an early age equips kids with essential skills to navigate friendships and romantic relationships, building a future based on empathy and equality. Open dialogues about respect empower children to recognise and value their own feelings and those of others, cultivating a positive and harmonious approach to all relationships.

Click on the SchoolTV link below to learn more about the importance of developing resilience in our children.

School TV

Child Safe Standards

This week we will be looking at Child Safe Standards 7 - 9.

Child Safe Standard 7 - Processes for complaints and concerns are child-focused.

Child Safe Standard 8 - Staff and volunteers are equipped with the knowledge, skills and awareness to keep children and young people safe through ongoing education and training.

Child Safe Standard 9 - Physical and online environments promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

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.

Prep/1 Classroom

Today the Prep/1s headed down to our two school bee boxes with our resident beekeeper, Graham McNabb. (See pictures below)

Mites in bee hives have become a bit of a problem in Australia so we were checking the bee box for mites. If there are mites there, a 'sugar-shake' conducted with icing sugar does the trick. The students went armed with icing sugar but did not need to use it as there were no bee mites in our boxes. They are making their way into Victoria but it looks like our bees in Coragulac are safe for now. Phew!
We would like to say a BIG thank you to Graham for volunteering his services to give our children this wonderful, informative and hands-on experience.

We celebrated Mission Day yesterday and would like to say how proud we are of the Prep/one's for their great ideas and hard work on their stalls. The Preps did an amazing job on their first Mission Day and we look forward to seeing what the students come up with next year!

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

aarmistead@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Prep/One Bee Visit

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 7!

We have our annual Mission Day celebration and activites today, and we hope everyone enjoys a wonderful time. It is a treasured event on the calendar and the children really love raising money and helping less fortunate.

We say goodbye and thank you to Charlie Grist, as he finishes his placement with us today. It has been fantastic to have Charlie in the school, the children have loved having him here. We wish him all the best with the rest of his course and his teaching career.

The Year 3' and 4's attended Bike Camp and now it is the Year 2's turn for a night out! The year 2/s will have their event on Tuesday 10th December. They will go bowling and walk over to La Porchetta for dinner, further details will be sent out soon.

Religious Education: Charlie has been teaching R.E curriculum during his time with us. The class have looked at the creation satory and conncted it to Indigenous culture, focusing on their respect and care of the land. The children have also been preparing for Mission Day and creating postrs for their stalls.

Integrated Curriculum: The children have been making maps and flags for the artificial nation they have designed. They have been creating facts specific to their individually created island. Dioramas will be produced representing the climate and other interesting things connected to the original design. This is an opportunity to see the incredicble imaginatin and creativity of our class.

The Star of the Week award goes to Jess Beardsley. Congratulations on your excellent effort!

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

4/5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 7!

I hope everyone enjoyed Mission Day, it was a great success! I would like to extend a big thank you to Kathryn who has been on teaching placement in 4/5/6 since the beginning of this term. Kathryn has been a wonderful asset to our class and is going to make a fantastic teacher one day. Good luck with your studies, Kathryn!

Homework: Spelling and Maths homework was sent home on Monday. This is the last homework for the year and is due back to school on Friday 29th November.

Religion: In Religion we’ve been studying different Catholic Saints, specifically St Brendan and St Mary MacKillop. We’ve also begun looking at The Parable of the Prodigal Son. Through this, the students have been learning about old rituals and history of the Jewish religion.

Integrated Curriculum: In Integrated Curriculum we’ve been working in groups designing new inventions. We are going to be creating presentations to ‘pitch’ our inventions like in the TV show, Shark Tank. Students have begun brainstorming and designing their inventions.

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:

24th November - Annie Lamb (6)

Important Dates

Term 4

Thursday 21st November - Mission Day

Friday 22nd November - Swimming
- Pre Prep Program Session 2

Friday 29th November - Pre Prep Program Session 3

Tuesday 10th December - Transition Day

Thursday 12th December - Graduation Mass and Carols Night

Tuesday 17th December - Learning Conversations

Wednesday 18th December - Surfing in Lorne (Students Final Day of the Year)

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