Newsletter No. 2 | Term 1 Week 2 | Thursday 10th February 2022

Prayer

Heavenly Father, 

We give you our hopes, worries and fears as children at school this year.

We pray that you would fill their hearts with excitement and calm their worries with your love. 

Please go before them, help them make friends, enjoy the activities and build relationships with their teachers and carers. 

May we learn to entrust them each day into your care, and as we do may they grow in confidence and independence. 

Father, may joy abound in their hearts as they enter this new exciting season of their lives. 

In Jesus name. 

Amen.

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

I hope you have all adapted to the routine of being back at school. Everything looks to be going really well from the school’s perspective. If there is anything we can assist you with please let us know. 

This is the first year in some time that the school year has not included testing days at the start of Term 1. This is the new norm for all schools in the Ballarat Diocese. Teachers will still be assessing students but this year they will be managing it around their normal school day and their planning days on Wednesdays. I will also be supporting the other teachers by teaching some of their classes so that they can spend individual time with their students. 

This week I have been spending an hour a day in the Prep/1 room to release Allira for testing and I have absolutely loved it. I used to teach Prep for many years so it has been fun to pull out some of  the old tricks and spend time with our youngest students. They have given me plenty of reasons to laugh and smile!  

Last night we had a School Advisory Council Meeting. I would like to thank the parents who give up their time to support the school by being a voice for the parent community. It is not easy to find time when we have young children and the many other commitments we all have. Your generosity is much appreciated. You will find a short summary of the meeting later in the Newsletter. 

In this week’s Newsletter, I have included two extracts from the Executive Director of Catholic Education, Tom Sexton’s, most recent Newsletter. One extract can be found in the Curriculum section about learning through play and the other one in the Catholic Identity section with a focus on ubuntu.. If you think you have heard of these somewhere before, I have written about them both in Newsletters last year, so it is good to know that we are on the same page.

A reminder that Monday is a Pupil Free Day. Teachers will be completing the second day of the Professional Development focused on teaching writing. I hope you all enjoy the ‘long weekend’.

Have a wonderful week ahead.

Warm Regards,

Leanne Eastman
PRINCIPAL
principal@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

SURFING EXCURSION - Families Welcome

A reminder that the surfing excursion is on Wednesday, 16th February. All school families are welcome to attend, maybe some of you can get out there and show us how it’s done!

Prep students are welcome to come along, however, the bus is full so Prep families would need to provide their own transport. We would love to see you there. Hopefully,we can get some warm weather. 

MEET AND GREETS

On Tuesday 15th February and Thursday 17th February we will be conducting ‘Meet and Greet’ sessions. These 10 minute meetings give parents the opportunity to meet their child’s teacher and tell the teacher about their child. You know your children best and it is extremely helpful for us to learn more about them. It is also a wonderful opportunity for teachers and parents to build positive relationships with one another. We hope you can make it.

The sessions will run between 2pm and 4.30pm each day. Please book your session using PAM. Instructions on how to do this are listed below.

PLEASE NOTE: If the times listed do not suit, please arrange another time with your child’s teacher.

SCHOOL ADVISORY MEETING

Last night we had our first School Advisory meeting. Please note the following points: 

• Thank you to Sam Day and Sophie Allibrandi who have finished their time on the Council. We have truly appreciated their input and their willingness to support the school in this way. I would also like to thank Sophie for taking on the role of Chairperson last year. The role was made all the more challenging with Covid restrictions and I thank her for being prepared to adapt to changing conditions and collaborate with the parent community and myself to help inform decision-making in the best interests of our students and school community.
• We welcome Julie Baker to our School Council. Thank you for taking on this role Julie. We look forward to working with you. 
• We thank Gayle McNabb for taking on the role of Chairperson for 2022 and Mark Robb for taking on the role of Secretary. Your willingness to fill these roles is much appreciated.

School Council 2022:

Chairperson: Gayle McNabb

Secretary: Mark Robb

Maintenance: Jared Wolter

General Committee Members: Julie Baker, Hayley Beardsley, Kara Carlon,  Margaret Allen (Parish Representative) & Mandy Sutherland (School Representative).

A few points from the meeting...

Fundraising 2021: Each year to minimise the cost of school fees to families The Community Group, made up of all of the parents within the school, takes on the commitment to support the school through fundraising initiatives, with a fundraising pledge of $6000. 

Fundraising events usually include things like Bunnings BBQ's, catering for local clearing sales, creating the best stall at the Warrion Flower Show and much more. While the aim is to keep fees low and raise funds, the bonds these days create among parents and within the school community is one of the best take aways and an important component of the fabric of St Brendan's.

Speaking about community bonding... we are holding a parent get together on Wednesday 23rd February in the Hall at 9am. We would like to invite everyone for a cuppa and morning tea to welcome our families (new and old) to the 2022 school year. 

We are also holding a school Working Bee on a Friday night in March at 3.30pm (the date is yet to be confirmed and will be announced as soon as possible) followed by a family BBQ here at school. All welcome, many hands makes light work.

CURRICULUM

In Term 3 last year, I wrote that I had read the book, Let the Children Play. Pasi Sahlberg, co-author of the book states that ‘Play is how children learn, and how they form a foundation for life in society. Play is how children explore, discover, fail and succeed, socialise, flourish and thrive. Play is the foundation of childhood.’ He also emphasised that it is important to remember that we should not eliminate play from the lives of children as they get older. 

The extract below is taken from Tom Sexton’s (Executive Director of Education, Ballarat) Newsletter to Principals this week: 

"I have recently been reading Pasi Sahlberg’s newest book, "Finnish Lessons 3.0 - What can the world learn from educational change in Finland?" In the 1980’s and 1990’s Finland introduced significant changes to their education system. Finland rose to the top of the PISA rankings in 2000 and subsequently has stayed at or near the top since. While Sahlsberg, and I, don’t advocate replicating the Finnish way as there are many contextual differences between our countries, there are some very important ideas, lessons and examples we can take on board in our diocese as food for thought and to stimulate our thinking. I would like to draw attention to two specific, but very different ideas from Finland.

The first is that in theory and practice in Finland all subjects are equal including literacy and numeracy. The Finns believe all children must have equal opportunities to experience a wide range of learning, the curriculum has equal emphasis on academic and nonacademic aspects of children’s development.

The second, in my experience and based on Sahlberg’s writings, the Finns seem to have a healthier attitude to nature and risk. On my trip to Finland in 2017 I learnt the Finnish saying, there is no such thing as bad weather, just bad clothing choices. (I made a few bad clothing choices on that trip!). I observed schools that had big rocks in the playground for kids to play on, some schools opened out onto nature reserves & forests - often without fences for easy access, there are ski jumps in primary school playgrounds, all children in schools and early childhood settings must spend time outside each day.

Recently on twitter, William Doyle - who co wrote the book, Let the Children Play, with Salhberg, tweeted the following:"

RAPID ANTIGEN TESTING

Thank you to our families and students for participating in the RAT program. A reminder that this program is currently running for the first 4 weeks of Term 1. Students and staff are requested to test twice weekly on school days (we recommend Sunday and Wednesday nights). A positive result must be reported to the school ASAP.

If you are running low on tests and need more to get through this four week period please ask at the office, as we are now restocked. Tests can only be distribued directly to parents, students are not permitted to collect them. Thank you for your understanding.

FACE MASKS

A reminder that students are asked to please supply their own facemasks for their use at school. It is the choice of the families if facemaks are fabric, disposable, N95 or other, as long as they are properly fitting on the face. 

The school is being sent a small supply of facemaks from the Educaiton Department to use as 'back ups' for students where needed but this will not be enough to supply students with a new mask every day at school, and unfortunately it is not financially possible for the school to supply this number of masks either.

SUSTAINABILITY

This Term we are going to increase our recycling practice by recycling soft plastics. Soft plastics include: Plastic bags, cling wrap, bread bags, pasta packaging, frozen food bags, cereal box liners, biscuit packs (not including trays), lolly packets and more.

WANTED: Bread bags. We will use these to store all the soft plastics and take them into Coles or Woolworths each week.

HEALTHY EATING TIPS

Vic Kids Eat Well provides schools, outside hours school care, community organisations and sports clubs with clear, simple and achievable steps to making healthy food and drink options available for kids. The program focuses on areas such as:

• Refresh the fridge – give sugary drinks the boot and let water take the spotlight.
• Switch up the snacks – ditch the sweets and offer delicious healthy snacks that give kids the fuel they need.
• Change up the menu – give fruit and veggies a chance to shine.
  

CATHOLIC CULTURE

2022 - What is important?

Catholic Identity...

This week our Director, Tom Sexton, sent the following reflection through. I wrote about ubuntu in the Newsletter last year and thought it would be a good time to revisit it by sharing Tom’s reflection with you.

As our new school year starts, it is an opportune time for us to reflect upon what is important for each of our communities this year. What does the experience of the last two years offer us?

According to Dr. Jacqui Lewis from The Centre for Action and Contemplation;

“We have a choice to make. We can answer this question with diminished imagination, by closing ranks with our tribe and hiding from our human responsibility to heal the world. Or we can answer the question of who we are to be another way: We can answer it in the spirit of ubuntu. The concept comes from the Zulu phrase Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu, which literally means that a person is a person through other people. Another translation is, “I am who I am because we are who we are.”

With this in mind, who I will be is deeply related to who you are. In other words, we are each impacted by the circumstances that impact those around us. What hurts you hurts me. What heals you heals me. What causes you joy causes me to rejoice, and what makes you sad also causes me to weep.

By channeling the ancient wisdom of ubuntu, we can engineer a badly needed love revolution to rise up out of the ashes of our current reality.... The empathy that grows from listening to others, from connecting with our neighbours, and from loving our neighbours as we love ourselves can define the courses of action we take.”

Pope Francis shares with us the following wisdom:

“We can recognise the way we live together in order to choose what matters. We can work together to achieve it. We can learn what takes us forward, and what sets us back. We can choose.” 

Both these pieces of wisdom offer us insight into ways we can be, individually, in our school communities and as a greater community.

BEGINNING SCHOOL MASS is taking place on Sunday 27th February in St Brendan's Church at 5pm. We encourage all families to attend and ask that students please wear their full and correct school uniform.

ASH WEDNESDAY MASS will also be held at St Brendan's Church this year on Wednesday 2nd March at 12pm. Mass will be led by Fr. Michael and members of our Parish. All parents, families and community members are welcome to come along.

SIMON Parent Access Module (PAM)

In 2021 we began using the Parent Access Module within the SIMON program, also known as PAM. Most families created accounts on the platform and have been using it since to log absenteeism and as a means of communication between school and home. Systems such as PAM are used in most schools these days and have proven to increase efficiency and reliability.

In 2022 we are broadening our use of PAM and will now be using the platform to book excursion notes, permission notes home through PAM, book in PSGs, Meet and Greets and Learning Conversations. Stay tuned for more information in coming weeks.

Current lines of communication between parents and school are:

Newsletter (Via email)

Parent Facebook Page (Quick messages between parents and reminders from school)

Email (General messages from Leanne)

Permission Notes & other forms (Now via PAM)

To begin with we encourage all families to log into their PAM account and ensure they can still access the platform. Once this is done we ask that you book your Meet and Greet interview using the booking portal. We have included detailed instructions on how to do this below.

We would also love to see many more families using PAM to log absenteesism, so to encourage this we have also included instructions to refresh your memory.

We are here to help with all of your questions on PAM, and if you need assistance completing any tasks please phone the office and we can talk you through it.

(Click on instructions below to enlarge)

Prep/1 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 2!

We’ve had another fabulous start in week 2. The students have settled in nicely and are learning the classroom routines. They’ve also showcased their incredible creativity - I’ve been amazing at all students’ drawings, paintings and creations. We certainly have a very artistic bunch this year! 

Kenny (and his new friend, Penny) have finished their first visit to Pearl’s house this week. Over the year, he will visit a different student’s house each week. When those cheeky rabbits visit your home, write a short journal entry in the diary to describe what adventures they got up to! Apparently, last week Kenny collected eggs, climbed to the top of Pearl’s cubby house and even had a ride on her dog, Swaggy!

Take-home readers: Well done to everyone for their enthusiasm towards reading at home. All students have done a fabulous job of reading their take-home readers consistently. Keep it up! The best way to learn and improve your reading is through practise, practise and more practise.

Swimming: A reminder that swimming begins this week on Thursday. Make sure to pack goggles, bathers, a towel, drink bottle and a plastic bag for wet clothes.

Marble run: After having won the ‘Farm Safety Competition’ last year, our class has now used our prize money to purchase a new marble run set called “MagTrax.” It has been a massive hit with the students who have demonstrated their aptitude towards designing tracks for the marbles to run along. We might just have some budding engineers in our class.

Could we please ask that each student bring along one box of tissues for shared use in the classroom throughout the year? This is a small request our school makes of families in order to keep classroom expenses down.

Congratulations to all the Preps for such a smooth transition to school so far. They are all doing brilliantly! The Grade 1’s have played a huge role in making them feel welcome and assisting when needed. Keep up the great work team.

Allira Kluver
akluver@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 3! We have been loving the beautiful weather and the children are excited to start swimming this Thursday and go surfing next Wednesday.

Our Meet and Greets will take place next week and I am looking forward to catching up and discussing your child’s learning journey.

This week I have started reading the chapter book Rabbit’s Bad Habits to the class. I plan to read other books in this series and I hope the children enjoy the adventures of the two main characters Rabbit and Bear.

In Maths we have been working in our Number Busting books where we have a number to bust using any of the 4 operations: addition, subtraction, multiplication and or division.

We have also been doing mental maths sheets which will be a weekly event.

We are exploring feelings in Circle Time and the class have discussed, and are illustrating, their happy places.

Homework will be sent home next week with spelling words to learn.

In I.C. our focus is ‘Why do people make rules and laws?’ and Josh Goonan from the Colac Police will be visiting the school as a guest speaker. Josh is a former student of St. Brendan’s and is thrilled to be returning to his primary school.

We have been decorating our new prayer mat which will be used soon. A huge thank you to Deb for getting the pieces ready for all of the classes.

Kate Lawry from the Catholic Education Office worked with the classroom teachers yesterday helping plan our R.E. units for the term. We appreciate all her guidance and support.

The Star of the Week award goes to Brianna D’Altera. Congratulations on your excellent work and effort!

If you have any concerns or queries please contact me at school or by email.

Cheers,

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 3! We have been settling in well and have been having lots of fun in our room this week.

A highlight so far are the Kahoot’s that we have been creating and playing together. ‘Kahoot’ is a fun multiple-choice quiz where students can interact and earn points on different quiz topics. Each student created a 10 question Kahoot about themselves, we played them together and learned more about each other. These Kahoot’s were certainly a hit, even Mrs Eastman got involved!

This week we have also begun our Integrated Curriculum unit. Our focus question for this term is ‘What do Civics, Citizenship and Government look like in Australia?’ We will be learning about Australia’s democracy, levels of government, parliament and rules and laws. We have already had some good discussions about some of these topics.

On Friday last week we had our first ‘Buddy Reading’ session. It was fantastic to see how our big students care for our Prep/1’s. Keep up the good work guys!

Could we please ask that each student bring along one box of tissues for shared use in the classroom throughout the year? This is a small request our school makes of families in order to keep classroom expenses down.

Just a reminder that students are expected to read for 20 minutes each night and this is to be logged in their diary. Diaries are expected at school every day as I will be checking them each morning.

Have a great week and please don’t hesitate to email me if you have any questions or concerns. 

Tahlia Whytcross
twhytcross@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Birthday Corner

We would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to everyone who has celebrated their special day throughout the Summer Holidays including:

February 8th   -   Nellie Armistead (9)

Clearing Sale Fundraiser

The first clearing sale for this year is the Roache Clearing Sale at Nalangil on 18th February 2022.

All families are asked to contribute to reduce the costs associated with running event. Donations have been kept to under $10 per family. If people feel they need to swap they are welcome but need to self-arrange. We thank everyone for contributing especially those manning the BBQ on the day.

Important Dates

Acknowledgement of Country

At St. Brendan’s Primary School we pay our respects to the traditional owners of the land, the Gulidjan people and pay our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

We will respect the land, animals and waterways, from the roots of the earth to the tops of the trees. Through the example of our first Australians, we understand that if we look after the country, then the country will look after us.

About Us

School Vision:   'For you I have a destiny and a hope.'                    

PARISH PRIEST: Fr Michael O’Toole                  PRINCIPAL: Mrs Leanne Eastman

SAC CHAIRPERSON: Ms Sophie Alliband          CHILD SAFETY OFFICER: Mrs Leanne Eastman