Newsletter No. 5 | Term 1 Week 5 | Thursday 3rd March 2022
Prayer
It has been a devastating week for many people in Queensland and New South Wales. We pray for those who have lost lives, for families who have lost loved ones and homes, and for communities decimated by the devastation. Comfort them all Lord, and give them a sense of hope and the courage to move forward.
We also pray for the people of Ukraine who are experiencing the horror that comes with war, and the realization that their lives will not be the same for a long time, if ever.
God of peace and justice,
We pray for the people of Ukraine today.
We pray for peace and the laying down of weapons.
We pray for all those who fear for tomorrow, that your Spirit of comfort would draw near to them.
We pray for those with power over war or peace, for wisdom, discernment and compassion to guide their decisions.
We pray for all your precious children, at risk and in fear, that you would hold and protect them.
We pray in the name of Jesus.
Amen.
Principal's Message
Dear Families and Friends,
It was wonderful to see so many families at our beginning of year Mass on Sunday night. All ten of our Year Six students were there, with their families proudly watching on as they were presented with their leadership badges. Thank you to all families across our school community who attended. Thank you also to Fr. Michael for saying such a lovely Mass and thank you to the members of our Parish community who are always very welcoming to our school families and join us so often to celebrate school masses and special events.
It was very special for our Year Six leaders to have their photo taken with wonderful faith leaders in our community, Sr. Marg, Sr. Gerry and Fr. Michael.
ASH WEDNESDAY
Yesterday was Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Lent lasts for 40 days and is a time when we make sacrifices and/or make an effort to do good deeds for others. It is a time to renew our hearts and work hard at living in the example of Jesus.
Each child has taken home a sheet of 40 deeds for 40 days. You may like to stick it on the fridge and do each daily activity as a family.
STATE YOUTH LEADERSHIP CONFERENCE
On Monday, our Year Six students were up bright and early to attend the State Youth Leadership Conference. The bus departed at 6.30am, a big thank you to all families for ensuring that their children were there on time.
The Conference was excellent. The speakers were inspirational, both for the students and Tahlia and I. There were many life messages for us all to take away including that your age does not determine your ability to achieve extraordinary things and that you are a leader in life by being yourself, have confidence in who you are.
Tahlia and I were very proud to take our students to the conference. They listened attentively, joined in confidently with whole group activities, confidently approached guest speakers for autographs, had their hands up to answer questions in front of 800 other students and Levi and Maverick were up on the stage presenting a thank you certificate to guest speaker and young entrepreneur, Morgan Hipworth.
What a valuable learning experience this was for our students. They also loved being Melbourne. It has certainly whetted their appetites for returning to Melbourne on our camp later in the year. Student reflections on the conference can be found below.
Student Relections on the Conference...
CASSIE
"My favourite speaker was Heather because she was very fun and entertaining. I learnt that you can do anything at any age. I was also inspired by Morgan Hipworth because he started his business at a young age. I also liked when we did the macarena together."
TILLY
"I liked the messages behind the stories, for example I learnt that you can do anything you put your mind to. My favourite speaker was Tari because she was funny and inspiring. I also had a great time meeting a girl from another school who was really nice."
DAVINA
"I liked how the speakers were enthusiastic about their job. I learnt that you can do anything if you try. I was inspired by Nasir because he helps the homeless and less fortunate people."
ANNABELLE
"My favourite speaker at the conference was Tari because she was very fun and adventurous. I also enjoyed dancing on stage."
ABBEY
"I learnt that I can do anything I put my mind to. My favourite speaker was Morgan because I liked his story. I also liked dancing on stage with all of the other schools."
LINDON
"I loved how large the buildings were. I was very inspired by Morgan Hipworth’s story and the sound of his wonderful flavours of donuts."
MAVERICK
"I liked that we got to sit up at the front of the conference because we could see the speakers really well. I also liked going on stage with Levi."
INDI
"I enjoyed driving to Melbourne and seeing the big buildings. I also liked listening to Morgan’s story because it was really inspirational."
LEVI
"I like that Maverick and I got to go on stage and give Morgan a certificate. It was scary and exciting to stand in front of 800 people."
JASMINE
"My favourite part of the day was when we got to listen to the speakers' backstories and achievements they have done in life."
SCHOOL SPORTS - NEXT WEEK (HELP NEEDED)
Our School Sports will be held next Wednesday, beginning at 9.30am.
This is an exciting event on the school calendar. It is always great that we can have families, extended families, friends and ex students some along to join in the fun. A barbeque lunch will be provided. We hope to see you there!
HELP NEEDED FOR:
Line-marking: Tuesday (during the day or after school)
Setting up: Barbeque / Scorer’s table Etc. (9am on the morning of)
Cooking the barbecue: Aprox. 12.30 - 1.15pm
If you can help with any of these tasks, please contact Gracesyn or Leanne.
BEES UPDATE
Today our Year 2/3/4 students walked up to a neighbouring farm to rob our beehive. We thank Gayle and Graham for making this possible, it really is a wonderful learning experience for our students. The frames were brought back to our school and the honey was then extracted from them. Next, the honey was spun in the big spinner where it is eventually drained to the bottom of the drum ready for filtering and pouring.
Thanks again to Gayle and Graham for giving up your time to ensure that our students can have such a valuable hands-on experience and learn so much about the life of bees.
SCHOOL MAINTENANCE
It has been a bit difficult to find a suitable date for a working bee so we thought we would scrap the day and give people the opportunity to complete task in their own time. A whiteboard will be placed out the front of the school with a list of tasks. We invite you to select a task and cross it off when you are finished.
Many hands make light work so the more people who help out the better. Thank you in advance for doing your part.
Tasks include:
- Spreading the pile of bark chips around the adventure playground area.
- gardening maintenance, cutting back shrubs etc
- Weeding the gaga pit
- Moving the sand form the long jump area to the gaga pit
- Painting the train
- Painting outdoor bench seats
- Guerneying / cleaning the white picket fence
KANA IS BACK!
Please Read and respond to the school office or Leanne by THIS Friday if you are able to assist in any way...
The 62nd Colac Kana Festival will be held on Saturday, 19th March. Kana has not been held in the last couple of years so this will be a wonderful opportunity for the community of Colac and surrounding areas to get together.
We are hoping to enter the school in the street parade. In order for this to go ahead, we will need strong support from the parents, carers and families.
If there is anybody out there who would like to help organise the event it would be appreciated. We will need access to a truck, a team to decorate the truck and strong participation from families on the day. Children, as well as some staff and parents, ride in the back of the truck.
The theme of the parade is “Heroes and Villains”. Children will have lots of fun dressing up to this theme!
Have a wonderful weekend,
Leanne Eastman
PRINCIPAL
principal@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
Student News
STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE COUNCIL
Our first SRC Meeting was held last Friday at 11.20am. We were a bit light on with three SRC children not at school on Friday. However, we had a lovely morning tea and some good discussion.
The SRC decided that they would like to have a Crazy Hair/Crazy Clothes Day. Given that it is Lent and we are collecting money for Project Compassion, it was unanimously decided that the gold coin donation would go to this cause. The dress up day will not be until the last week of Term. Final details will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
AUSLAN & SEESAW
You will receive a note today regarding the implementation of a new school/home communication platform, SeeSaw.
If you need assistance with using Seesaw, please come into school and we will walk you through it.
To begin the process of using Seesaw, we will start by sharing some AUSLAN videos so that you can practise signing at home with your child.
It should be fun to all go on the learning AUSLAN journey together.
SCHOOL CONCERT
Exciting news!
This year we are planning to have a school concert. It was originally planned for Term 3 but we will need to move it to Term 2.
The school will be engaging the services of the STOMP Dance Company. The instructors will be here to work with the students one day a week for five weeks, and they will also be there on the night to guide the children. It should be lots of fun, and it is always a wonderful learning experience for children when they have the opportunity to perform in front of an audience.
- The night of the concert will be Monday 6th June 2022 -
Rapid Antigen Testing
Thank you to our families and students for participating in the RAT program. The government have extended the RAT testing time frame until the end of Term 1 and will be regularly supplying schools with more tests. If you need more tests, they can be collected from the office.
Catholic Culture
During Lent we usually make a sacrifice and give something up. This Lent we would like you to have a go at completing '40 Deeds for 40 Days'. Each family should receive a copy of the poster this week, if not please contact the school and we can give one to you.
It is a lovely opportunity to do good deeds as a family and to discuss how we can help others and be positive. Thank you to Mrs McGuane for organisng this for us to participate in.
PROJECT COMPASSION
Lent begins March 2nd this year. As a Catholic school we use the time of Lent to raise funds for Project Compassion, a Catholic based charity ran by Caritas Australia.
This charity works to promote justice and uphold dignity for people living in less fortunate countries. Over the coming weeks we will share information about Project Compassion with you.
In the meantime, your child will be bringing home a donation box for you to start thinking about how you can support others less fortunate. Your child may like to forgo an icy-pole one day and instead donate their 50 cents to the family donation box.
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 packets
- Cereal box liners
- Biscuit packs (not including trays
- Lolly packets
Prep/1 Classroom News
WEEK 5!
Literacy: This week, the Preps have been introduced to the letters n, o and p. They have been practicing sounding out words containing these letters and are doing a spectacular job. The Grade 1’s have been learning about words containing /th/ such as thin, thank and cloth.
For writing this week, we have been investigating what a good recount looks like. Students have also had a go at developing their own weekend recounts. Milly’s 5th birthday party was a common topic - lots of students chose to write about this very exciting event. Who knew there were unicorns in Gellibrand?
Home Reading: Keep up the excellent home reading everyone! Please send reader folders and word list booklets (aka Home Reading Practice Books) into school every Monday so I can sign diaries and add new word lists.
Maths: We have continued our unit on place value and it has been fantastic to see the Preps confidently representing numbers 1-10 and the Grade 1’s representing the teen numbers.
Religion: On Tuesday students made pancakes to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. As we enter Lent, students were encouraged to think about the significance of Shrove Tuesday and the lead up to Easter. This week we also explored the school grounds and discovered lots of sacred places such as St.Brendan’s Church and the Grotto.
Integrated Studies: Our history unit so far has been fascinating! This week, we have considered our own family histories. We learnt that students in our class have ancestry from all different countries across the world including: Italy, Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Africa (Zimbabwe), New Zealand and England. If you haven’t already, please email me and let me know a) where your family originates from and b) what does your child’s name mean? And, why did you choose it?
Highlight of the week: Sophie Carlon organised an activity for all the students this week. Sophie is exceptionally creative and loves nature. She brought in some acorns and showed the kids how to make little people! Well done Sophie!
Allira Kluver
akluver@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
2/3/4 Classroom News
Hello everybody!
Thank you to our families and parishioners who made it to our Beginning School Mass. It was a lovely celebration and the Year 6’s represented themselves, our school and their families beautifully. The pledges they shared were thoughtful and we look forward to them being showcased this year.
On Tuesday we all participated in making pancakes for Shrove Tuesday. The children had a great time in the hall making their own pancakes and of course consuming them!!
On Wednesday we were lucky enough to have Father Michael back at St. Brendan’s to say Ash Wednesday Mass. The children were excellent and I had people comment on how great they were.
This week in Literacy we are looking at Giraffe’s can’t Dance by Giles Andreae.
The book is about accepting that everyone is different, embracing your own differences, and building confidence and self-esteem. The class were asked to choose their favourite part and the Year 2’s responses are below:
My favourite part was when Gerald started to dance because he couldn’t before. (Charlie).
My favourite part was when Gerald could dance because he liked it. (Claire).
My favourite part was when the cricket helped him because Gerald was sad. (Jordy).
My favourite part was when Gerald could dance because it made Gerald happy. (Eden).
My favourite part was the cricket because he taught Gerald how to dance. (Matilda).
In Maths we have been modelling Place Value numbers using the Place Value flip charts. The children have really enjoyed this activity and are showing great understanding of how to represent numbers.
Homework has been sent home with new spelling words to learn and a contract to complete. The new spelling words for Year 2 are ‘ea’ and ‘ee’ words, the Year 3’and 4’s have ‘ck’ words. Homework is due back on Friday.
The Star of the Week award goes to Jackson Scott. Congratulations on your excellent 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 6! What another busy week, from Melbourne, to pancakes and lots more!
It was wonderful to have all of our Year 6 students attend the Beginning School Mass on Sunday evening. The students read their pledges to the community, these outlined how they are going to be a good leader of our school this year.
On Monday myself, Mrs Eastman and the Year 6’s attended the ‘Dream and Lead’ conference in Melbourne. It was an early start, but it was definitely worth it! Highlights from our day include; being inspired to chase our dreams and goals, lots of dancing, meeting new people and Levi and Maverick speaking on stage in front of 800 people. I would like to share a quote from Wil Massara, a speaker at the conference; “Your age does not determine your ability to achieve extraordinary things”.
In Maths this week we have continued with our Place Value unit. The students have been learning how to compare large numbers using the greater than, less than and equals sign, we have also been learning how to round large numbers. The Year 5 students have been working on numbers in millions and Year 6 students have been working on numbers in billions.
Today instructions were sent home for families to connect to ‘Seesaw’. This is an app designed for communication between school and home. Please let me know if you need any help setting this up.
Homework was sent home on Tuesday afternoon; this is due back at school on Monday.
I hope you all enjoy the long weekend, 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 26th - Millicent Carlon (5)
March 1st - Lindon Baker (12)
Important Dates
MARCH
4th - Pupil Free Day (School Review Process Begins)
9th - School Sports Day
11th - Swimming Session 4
11th - 18th - Leanne on Long Service Leave
18th - Swimming Session 5
28th - School Advisory Meeting 7pm
APRIL
8th - Last Day of Term 1
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 Gayle McNabb CHILD SAFETY OFFICER: Mrs Leanne Eastman