Newsletter No. 32 | Term 4 Week 5 | Thursday 3rd November 2022

Prayer

In Catholic tradition, November 1st is All Saints Day and November 2nd is all Souls Day.

All Saints Day is a day dedicated to the Saints of the Church and on All Souls Day we remember and pray for our loved ones who are no longer with us.

Lord, 

Hear our prayers and gratitude for all who we remember, especially for those who we have loved and miss.

May they rest in peace.

Amen

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

I hope everybody enjoyed the long weekend and is feeling ready to take on the final stretch of the year. Hard to believe really!

Pre-Prep Program

Today we were excited to welcome our 2023 Prep students to school for their first session of Pre-Prep. The children had a great time with Miss Kluver and settled in so well that we think they could start school tomorrow! We look forward to getting to know our new students  over the four weeks of the Pre-Prep program. There is lots of fun to be had!

Colac Show Winners

On Thursday we were delighted to receive an email from the Colac Show Committee to announce that some of our students had won prizes in the Colac Show Art Competition.

Congratulations to all of the following children...

Best Exhibit Overall - Junior Artwork - Matilda Carlon 

Prep - Painting or Drawing: 

1st Place - Jessie Beardsley 

3rd Place - Luca Letteri 

Year 1 Painting or Drawing 

2nd Place - Sophia Carlon 

Year 2 Painting & Drawing 

1st Place - Matilda Carlon

Student Wellbeing

Last week I attended the final Ballarat Diocese principal’s gathering for the year. One item on the agenda was the launch of the new Catholic Education Ballarat Wellbeing Framework. It is well known that a positive wellbeing has a significant effect on overall performance. I am sure that we can all relate to the fact that when we are feeling fit, healthy and positive we are more likely to achieve and experience success, and it is no different for children in our schools. Wellbeing and successful academic outcomes go hand in hand, so it is important we give the wellbeing of our students the attention that it requires.

The new framework is an excellent model for addressing student wellbeing in schools. The framework can be seen below:

Student Wellbeing Survey

To guide us in our decision making when planning for student wellbeing in 2023, the students will be completing a wellbeing survey. It is important to us that we know our students well and listen carefully to what they say and how they feel. The results of the survey will help to guide us with social and emotional initiatives and programs that we put in place in the future.

World Kindness Day 

On Monday November 14 we will be celebrating World Kindness Day.  I will be working with our Year 6 leaders and the SRC to plan how we can celebrate this day at St. Brendan’s. Stay tuned!

"The world is full of kind people.

If you can't find one, be one."

Wellbeing Project

This Term, Liz McGuane and Kate Parker have used their Wednesday STEM (Science Technology Engineering Maths)  to create tour guide books for refugees arriving in Colac. Students have selected sites around Colac which are free to visit, so that the sites are accessible to everyone. The information has been presented on collapsible books and the children have even added QR codes to give the users easy access to information. The books are not quite finished but they are looking super impressive. We can’t wait to see the finished product. 

The books will be presented to Fr. Michael who does amazing work with the refugee community in Colac.

Geelong Cats AFLW Tickets

We have two free tickets to the AFLW Geelong Cats Elinination final on Saturday night, first bounce 7.10pm at GMHBA stadium.

Please let me know by Friday night if you would like some tickets.

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Leanne Eastman
principal@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Prep/1 Classroom News

Week 5

Hope everyone enjoyed the especially long weekend! It was a fantastic opportunity to rest, relax and prepare ourselves for the last few weeks of Term 4.

Literacy: This week we are exploring the continent of Antarctica and reading the story, “Where is home, Little Pip?” We will take a closer look at some of the descriptive writing used in this story before attempting to write some of our own.

Maths: Our unit on measurement begins this week! This is very exciting because our classroom will be transformed into a vet clinic during Maths time. Students are invited to bring in their favourite patient (soft, animal toy) from home next Monday to conduct a range of measurement tests on. We look forward to this hands-on activity.

Religion: In week 6, the Prep/1’s will be leading the school liturgy. All families are welcome to come along - Thursday at 2.30pm.

Integrated Curriculum: Students have exceeded all expectations with their dioramas. The creativity and ingenuity has been impressive. They have now placed 3D objects inside their scenes. I cannot wait to see their finished products!

Allira Kluver
akluver@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 5 of Term 4! I hope everyone enjoyed their long weekend and managed to stay warm and dry.

Homework: Just a reminder that homework was due back at school last week. There will be new homework handed out next Monday.

Mission Day: Mission Day is fast approaching and we have been busy planning and creating for our stalls.. We are very excited!

Writing: This week in Writing we have been finishing our games. We have been creating our games using art supplies and we will be testing them out in the following weeks. The students have been doing an excellent job and they all look fantastic!

Maths: In Maths this week we have been working on Time. Year 5 students have been converting between 12 and 24 hour time and Year 6 students have been calculating the elapsed time between events.

Religion: This week we have continued to investigate Pope Francis’ encyclical Laudato Si’. We have been unpacking the six chapters of the letter and are completing a reflection.

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

CSC Year 7 Information Evening & Transition Information

Colac Secondary College Year 7 Information Evening is on Monday, 7^th November and commences at 7pm in the Performing Arts Theatre.  The Information Evening will cover IT Information, Year 7 Camp, Orientation Day, School Operations and much more. CSC teachers and staff are looking forward to seeing you all there on the day.

Early next week we are expecting to be sent a list of dates and times for Primary School visits. These visits are to discuss respective primary school students transitioning to Colac Secondary College and allows College staff to meet students and ease any concerns they may have moving into secondary school. We will keep you updated as soon as information is received.

For all transition queries for CSC please contact the Year 7 Leader, Dean Felekos on (03) 5231 9800 or via email at dean.felekos@education.vic.gov.au

Birthday Corner

Happy Birthday to everyone who has celebrated their special day this week!

Important Dates

Cororooke Market

Cororooke Hall is having a market on Saturday 19th November from 9am until 1pm. Stalls inside are $15 and stalls outside are $10. Families and/or children are invited to run a stall. Food stalls will need to hold a StreaTrader Certificate from the Colac Otway Shire.

Garden DesignFest

Garden DesignFest is a series of Open Gardens that showcases privately owned, professionally designed gardens and will be held on  19 & 20th November in regional Victoria (Ballarat, Euroa, Macedon area and Geelong). 

Open Gardens in our area include:

Bronte Payne Inverleigh, Christian Jenkins Newtown, Stephen Read South Geelong, Anne King 'Black Lake' Scotsburn, Janene Byrne Ballarat, Mark Bickerdike Buninyong, Nicky Barnett Buninyong, Paal Grant Buninyong, Paddy Milne Ballarat & Creswick, Ricky McLeod Buninyong and many more. For more information visit: https://gardendesignfest.com.au/gardens/2022-gardens/

The 'Kylie Rose Blake' Garden at Scarsdale will be a particular highlight of the showcase: https://gardendesignfest.com.au/garden/kylie-rose-blake-garden/

For tickets to the Open Gardens visit: https://gardendesignfest.com.au/tickets/  Funds raised support the Youth Suicide Awareness Charity.

Christmas by the Lake

Mixx FM and Red Door Dance and Theatre Co are joining forces for Colac's inaugural Christmas by the Lake to fundraise for Colac Area Healt Foundation's new Wellbeing Centre Long Road Appeal. On Saturday 3rd December from 6pm until 9.30pm Mixx FM is running a CHRISTMAS BONANZA on Colac Lake's Foreshore. Live music, performances, food vendors, fireworks and of course... Santa will be there!

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