Newsletter No. 11 | Term 2 Week 2 | Thursday 5th May 2022
Prayer
Principal's Message
Dear Families and Friends,
We are excited to be holding our annual Mother’s Day Celebration tomorrow morning at 9am. We invite all mothers, grandmothers, aunties and significant others to join us. The children have been busy preparing some lovely surprises for you so we hope that you can make it along. I know that it is not always possiblet to be there, we will endeavour to include the mothers who are unable to make it in some small way.
When reflecting on the importance of mothers I came across a couple of reflections to share.
One is a light reflection on motherhood and the other is a more poignant reflection from Invocare Australia.
The following reflection comes from Invocare Australia:
Mother's Day
Mother’s Day is a time to celebrate the joy of being a mother and of having a mother and knowing the warmth of her love. It may also be a day to quietly remember a Mum who is no longer with you - you feel the gap that her passing has left and you honour her legacy and all that she meant. It is a day to think of Grandmothers and extended families and the link that mothers are in keeping family ties and traditions together.
For some, Mother’s Day means only sadness - their child may be estranged or their dream to bear children may not have been fulfilled. Or perhaps they are the mother of a child who has died. When asked, how many children do you have, this mother may struggle with the answer - do you mention only the ones who are living or do you say there is one more and count your other son or daughter too?
So Mother’s Day has many meanings and it can be a time when joy and sorrow come hand in hand. To honour these many meanings, here are some special reflections on Mothers and Motherhood.
"You never appreciate all the things your mother did for you until you find yourself doing the same things for your kids."
Linda Poindexter
"The greatest thing she'd learned over the years is that there's no way to be a perfect mother, but a million ways to be a good one."
Anonymous
"My mother was the most beautiful woman I ever saw. All I am, I owe to my mother."
George Washington
"The most beautiful necklace a mother can wear is not gold or gem, but her child's arms around her neck."
Man of Honour
"A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never cared for pie anyway."
Tenneva Jordan
"All mothers are working mothers."
Anonymous
"To a child's ear, "mother" is magic in any language. "
Arlene Benedict
"A mother instinctively protects her child. A grieving mother instinctively protects her child's memory."
Anonymous
"A man loves his sweetheart the most, his wife the best, but his mother the longest."
Irish proverb
"God could not be everywhere, so he created mothers."
Jewish proverb
The second reflection on mothers is a light hearted song about the role of mothers. It is very clever and very relatable! Just click on the link. The Mom Song
We wish all the mums, grandmothers, and other mother figures in our lives a wonderful Mother’s Day. We also remember the mums who are no longer with us but who helped to shape us into the people that we are and continue to live on in our hearts.
Have a beautiful day with your children on Sunday.
Leanne Eastman
PRINCIPAL
principal@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
Prep Enrolments for 2023
Our Open Day is happening on Wednesday 18th May at 11.30am. We would love our school families to spread the word with their extended family or friends considering enrolling their child next year, so we have the chance to meet them and they have the opportunity to tour the school.
We would like all 2023 enrolments to be finalised by the middle of Term 3. Therefore, we ask that all existing families that have a child starting in Prep next year, submit their enrolment paperwork as soon as possible. Enrolment packs are available now for collection from the school office.
Student News
WOW WALL
This week we have created a Wow Wall in the front entrance to the school.
The purpose of the Wall is to celebrate the fabulous work, deeds and general achievements of our students. It will be fun for the children to see who makes it onto the Wow Wall and it will hopefully inspire them to do their best in all that they do.
Congratulations to Ivy, Eden and Kaitlyn who were the first students to make it onto the wall. All three girls were at school every day in Term 1. Perfect Attendance! Well done girls!
Other additions to the wall are Izzy for her fabulous writing skills: Sophie and Pearl for their Maths work using matches, and Levi & Abbey for being able to do double dutch skipping after only one Sport lesson. Well done to all!
Feel free to drop in at any time to check out the amazing achievements of our students.
HOME READING
- Please Note -
Take Home readers: In order to support learning in the classroom the school asks that children read at home each night. Take Home readers are sent home daily. Please record your child’s reading in the book provided. We encourage students from Grade 2 up to form the habit of recording their own reading.
As stated in the Parent Handbook:
Grades Prep/1/2 are encouraged to spend 10 minutes daily reading with their parents.
Grades 3/4/5/6 children are asked to read for 20 minutes each night
10 Benefits of Home Reading
1. Children who read often and widely get better at it.
After all, practice makes perfect in almost everything humans do, and reading in no different.
2. Reading exercises our brain.
Reading is a much more complex task for the human brain rather than watching TV, for example. Reading strengthens brain connections and builds NEW connections.
3. Reading improves concentration.
Children have to sit still and quietly so that they can focus on the story when they are reading. If they read often, they will develop the skill to do this for longer.
4. Reading teaches children about the world around them.
Through reading a variety of books children learn about people, places, and events outside of their own experience.
5. Reading improves vocabulary and language skills.
Children learn new words as they read. Subconsciously, they absorb information on how to structure sentences and how to use words and other language features effectively in their writing and speaking.
6. Reading develops a child's imagination.
As we read our brains translate the descriptions we read of people, places and things into pictures. While we are engaged in a story we are also imagining how a character is feeling. Young children then bring this knowledge into their everyday play.
7. Reading helps children to develop empathy.
As children develop they begin to imagine how they would feel in that situation.
8. Reading is fun.
A book or an e-reader doesn't take up much space and is light to carry, so you take it anywhere so you can never be bored if you have a book in your bag.
9. Reading is a great way to spend time together.
Reading together on the sofa, bedtime stories and visiting the library are just some ways of spending time together.
10. Children who read achieve better in school.
Reading promotes achievement in all subjects, not just English. Children who are good readers tend to achieve better across the curriculum.
NAPLAN
NAPLAN helps governments, education authorities and schools to see whether young Australians are reaching important literacy and numeracy goals. It provides information about how education programs are working, areas for improvement, and which schools need support in the teaching and learning of literacy and numeracy.
Students in years 3-5 will begin their NAPLAN tests next week. The testing days are as follows:
Writing: Tuesday 10th May
Reading: Thursday 12th May
Language Conventions: Friday: 13th May
Numeracy: Tuesday 17th May
CONCERT PRACTICE
Next Wednesday will be the first practice session for our school concert. We are excited to get started and look forward to working with the STOMP Dance Company to prepare the students for the big day. Be prepared that there may be lots of dance practice at home requiring you to sit in the audience!
Catholic Culture
CATHOLIC IDENTITY
On Sunday we celebrated Mother’s Day and in the Catholic Church, the most famous and revered woman is Mary, the Mother of Jesus.
Mary is described as a woman who was pure of heart, a woman who loved her son and a mother who eventually had to endure the pain of watching Him being humiliated and crucified before her eyes.
The song Gentle Woman, describes many of the qualities of Mary, a woman we can truly look up to:
Hail Mary, full of grace,
the lord is with you.
Blessed are you amoung women, and
blest is the fruit of your womb, Jesus.
Holy Mary,
Mother of God, pray for our sinners
now and at the hour of our death. Amen.
Gentle women, quiet light,
morning star, so strong so bright,
Gentle Mother, peaceful dove,
teach us wisdom, teach us love.
OUR DIOCESAN COMMUNITY MAGAZINE
Please find below the link for the April 2022 edition of “Our Diocesan Community”. The magazine is an excellent platform to continue to share the good news stories of our schools, parishes and agencies across the diocese.
If you have a good news story that you would like to share the Pastoral Ministry Office welcome articles and photos for publication in ODC and the diocesan e-News. Please forward to odc@ballarat.catholic.org.au .
School Photos
Annual school photos including sibling photos will be taken at St Brendan’s Catholic Primary School by Arthur Reed Photos on Friday 13th May 2022.
Please note the following details:
- We ask that students wear the full school winter uniform on this day.
- Year 6's may wear their hoodies.
- Many students wear boots to school these days which is more appropriate clothing for our environment. If you do have black shoes at home can you please have your children wear them for the photo shoot? If you do not have any black shoes, that is fine.
There is no need to return any forms or money to school for school photos.
Unique image codes will be issued to all students on individual flyers on photo day so families can register online to view images when they become available in the webshop.
Registration is simple, just follow the 3 simple steps on your child’s personalised flyer once you receive it and remember to add the codes for all your children attending this school.
When images are ready to view and in the webshop, all parents who have registered will be notified by SMS and email.
Once registered, please wait for notification that 2022 images are online to view before making your purchase.
Prep/1 Classroom News
Welcome to week 2!
A big thankyou to Miss Alice who has been holding down the fort this week while I've been away! It sounds like the student had an absolute ball.
Literacy: This week we are beginning to learn how to write information reports. We have an extremely exciting project happening in the classroom. With the help of the very knowledgeable Abbey Campbell, we are planning on hatching some baby chicks. The students will learn all about chickens over the next few weeks which will culminate in them writing information reports.
Maths: We have continued exploring place value again this week! The Preps have been investigating more and less. They have been finding numbers that are bigger and smaller using number lines. The Grade 1’s have been skip counting by 2’s, 5’s and 10’s.
Religion: We look forward to the Mother’s Day Celebration this Friday! Students have been working hard to prepare for the event and are very excited.
Home Projects: I hope everyone has been hard at work thinking about their home projects. Students have been tasked with completing something at home entirely independently. In week 4, they will be invited to talk about their projects.
Please contact me if you have any queries or questions.
Allira Kluver
akluver@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
2/3/4 Classroom News
Welcome to Week 2!
We are excited and looking forward to our Mother’s Day celebration on Friday. The children have been busy working on gifts for their precious mums and writing their thoughts and feelings about them. It is always a beautiful and heartfelt event and we hope you can all come along and be part of the celebration.
We are thrilled to start our concert practice next week. It will be a fantastic opportunity to showcase the creative side of our students.
This week in Literacy we are working on persuasive texts. We have started investigating persuasive and emotive language. We are currently writing texts to persuade others not to litter.
Our spelling focus for Year 2 is ‘oi’ and ‘oy’, for Year 3’s and 4’s ‘silent w, g and l’.
Our EPIC reading total is at 500 books. A tremendous effort 2/3/4’s!
Our Integrated Curriculum question is ‘How can we design using digital technologies?’ In this unit we will explore a range of digital systems with peripheral devices for different purposes, and transmit different types of data.
Homework this week is the completion of the thank you to Peter which was sent out on Tuesday with each child. A note was attached explaining the task.
NAPLAN testing for Year 3’s and Year 5’s will begin next week. There has been a slight amendment to the delivery of the tests. On Tuesday the Writing component will be administered, on Thursday the Reading, on Friday the Language Conventions, and the following Tuesday the Numeracy testing.
We thank Brianna D’Altera and Jerry Robb for representing our class as SRC’s in Term 1. They did a fabulous job! This term the new SRC’s are Aden Coates and Grace Bayne.
Star of the Week award goes to Caleb Price. Congratulations on your excellent work and effort!
Cheers,
Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
Birthday Corner
We would like to wish a very big Happy Birthday to everyone who has celebrated their special day this week and during the school holidays, including:
May 11th - Ruby Wilson (6)
Important Dates
MAY
6th - Mothers Day Celebration 9am in the Hall - ALL WELCOME
10th - NAPLAN Writing
12th - NAPLAN Reading
13th - School Photo Day
13th - NAPLAN Language Conventions
17th - NAPLAN Numeracy
20th - St Brendan's Feast Day
20th - Walk to School Day / World Bee Day
27th - Little Learners Program Begins
JUNE
3rd - Little Learners Program
8th - School Concert
10th - Little Learners Program
13th - Public Holiday - NO SCHOOL
15th until 17th - Year 5/6 Melbourne Urban Camp
24th - Last Day of Term 2
Junior Sports Competitions in Term 2
Colac Indoor Sports Centre is looking forward to offering junior sports competitions for Term 2.
TABLE TENNIS COMPETITIONS
Grade 5 + to Adult. Enter your child or join them also in a fun competition Thursday's.
INDOOR CRICKET COMPETITIONS
Monday after school Grades 1-4 & 4-6.
Adult/Teenager Sports Starting Term 2: Indoor Cricket, Rebound Netball & Table Tennis.
Call Paul to register a team or individually on 52314788 or text 0425792949
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