Newsletter No. 35 | Term 4 Week 8 | Thursday 24th November 2022
Prayer
The first day of Advent is the first day of a new Liturgical (or church) calendar and begins a four week period of preparation in anticipation of the nativity of Jesus at Christmas.
The First Sunday of Advent
We wait with HOPE.
Lord
You are our hope in this sometimes chaotic world.
This Advent, help us to slow down, listen to your voice, and focus on what’s really important.
We place our hope in you as we prepare our hearts to celebrate your birth on Christmas Day.
Amen.
Principal's Message
Dear Families and Friends,
With the way the weather has been lately, we were certainly blessed with the beautiful day we had for Mission Day. Thank you to everybody who helped out in some way, either by baking a cake, helping your children to organise their stalls or attending on the day. A special thank you to the Day family for once again bringing the train along and to Alice for bringing in her horses. The Parish community was also a great support as always, thank you to all!
We raised a total of $1970.40 for the people in the rural region of Emdibir, Ethiopia. The funds will go towards helping them to build a goat-rearing centre.
A Gift for the Refugees of Colac
On Wednesday, Fr. Michael came out to school and was presented with the Tour Guide books that our students made for new arrivals in the Colac community. The amount of work that has gone into the books and been phenomenal and they look absolutely superb.
Congratulations to our students for the care and perseverance they showed to produce the books and congratulations also to Mrs. McGuane and Miss Parker for leading this wonderful initiative.
Wishing you all a happy and safe weekend.
Leanne Eastman
principal@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
Pre - Prep Program
Last week our Pre-Prep students joined us for Mission Day. They joined us with the Liturgy, the Cake Auction and took time to check out the stalls. It was terrific to see that they were so comfortable and happy to join in with the festivities. This Friday will be the last day of pre-Prep. We will meet the children again when they join us for Orientation Day on Tuesday 6th December.
End of Year Excursion
This year, the end of year excursion will be on the last day of school for students, Friday 16th December. We will all be heading down to Camperdown for the day and taking in sights such as the Botanic Gardens & Arboretum, Mt Leura, Bullen Merri Lakes, Lake Gnotuk and of course the playground in town!
The excursion will complement our Integrated Studies unit which has been focused on Geography. It should be a valuable and fun experience for our students.
More details to follow soon.
Prep/1 Night
On Monday 5th December we invite all Prep and Year 1 students to our annual end of year activity night. Students will stay on after the completion of school at 3.15pm and enjoy afternoon tea and games such as cubby building and other outdoor games.
Casual clothes for the afternoon are optional. If your child would like to bring a change of clothes, please send them along in a bag and they can change after school.
We ask parents to collect their children from school at 5pm. If you have any questions about the night or if your child has any dietary requirements please let us know as soon as possible by emailing Allira at akluver@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au .
2/3 Night
On Wednesday 7th December we invite all Year 2 and 3 students to our annual end of year activity night. This year we will be meeting at Colac Ten Pin Bowling at 4pm to play a game as a group before walking over to La Porchetta for dinner at 5.30pm. The school will cover the cost of bowling and dinner.
We ask that parents please drop students to the Bowling Arcade and then collect them from La Porchetta at approximately 7pm. It might be a nice idea to arrange some car pooling if that makes things easier. Students can come in casual clothes, but please remember to be wearing socks. If you have any questions please email Mandy at msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au .
Year 6 Graduation Dinner
A reminder that this year we have combined our Graduation Mass with our Christmas Carols night and it will be happening on Friday 9th December from 5pm in the Church. All Year 6 students are required to attend to receive presentations.
Following the Graduation Mass this year we are excited to invite all Year 6 students to a celebratory graduation dinner at La Porchetta in Colac at 7pm. The school will cover the cost of dinner but we ask parents to please drop their Children at La Porchetta and then pick them up again at approximately 8pm. Parents are welcome to stay and have dinner with us at their own expense, if they would like. Please RSVP for booking purposes to Gracesyn at admin@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au .
Vinnies Appeal
Last year we collected household goods/food items for our Vinnie’s Christmas Appeal. It was a huge success and Vinnie’s were 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.
- Christmas cakes, puddings, biscuits, lollies.
- Baby foods, formula, cereals, muesli bars, school lunchbox items.
- Hygiene products, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soaps, shampoo, deodorant, sanitary items, cleaning products.
Bread Tags
Trinity College is collecting bread tags to support the funding of wheelchairs for the needy. (see details below). This is a great initiative and we thought we would help them out. There will be a box in the front entrance of the school where the children can drop bread tags.
Plastic Lids
We are collecting bottle lids again. This time we will be recycling them to create a piece of Art in the school. There will be a box for this in the hallway. There are going to be a lot of collection boxes in the hall so be sure to choose the right one!
Prep/1 Classroom News
Congratulations to everyone on a very successful Mission Day! From all reports, it sounds like it was a big hit.
Literacy: This week in literacy, we have been practising expanding our sentences. Starting with a ‘kernel’ sentence, we have been trying to provide the reader with more details by answering the questions; Who? What? Where? When? And why? Students have been producing some excellent writing as a result.
Using the kernel sentence “She steals the kids’ sandwiches,”
Issy expanded this and wrote, “Gretal steals the kids’ sandwiches because Pearl never feeds her in the morning.”
Sophie wrote, “Gretal steals the kids’ sandwiches because she’s very hungry.”
Maths: Our unit on measurement is well underway and students’ have been more recently learning about area. Area refers to the surface that a shape covers. We have practised measuring the area of our footprint and discovered that Liam has the biggest foot in our class!
Religion: In RE, we have begun making ‘little boxes of sacred things.’ We have been discussing the idea that in Catholicism, describing something as sacred means that it has a connection to God or is worthy of worship. Over the next few weeks, we will add a variety of symbols and items to our boxes that represent things that are sacred.
Integrated Curriculum: Australia is our continent of focus this week! The kids sure know a lot about our homeland. We have been considering the connection that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have with Country and why particular sites around Australia are really important to them.
Keep up the home reading!
Allira Kluver
akluver@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
2/3/4 Classroom News
Welcome to Week 8!
What a spectacular day we had for Mission Day! It was a joyous event with beautiful weather, excited children, lovely guests, great stalls, and a wonderful liturgy prepared by Miss Whytcross and the 5/6’s. We are truly blessed to have such a wonderful school and community.
In Literacy we have been learning about anagrams. Anagrams are a word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another, such as spar, formed from rasp.
We have also been creating super sentences which focus on adding description. For example: The dog ran down the road. The small, frightened dog ran quickly down the quiet, dusty road.
In Maths we have completed a post-test for Statistics and Probability and are investigating Measurement.
Homework this week is a bit different! The children have been asked to complete an A-Z about a topic of their choice. For example, if they choose flowers A=azaleas, B=bottlebrush etc… New spelling words have also been sent home to practice.
In Integrated Curriculum we are learning facts about another continent, South America.
We are researching more facts about the countries within this continent.
Fun Fact: Did you know there are only 12 countries in South America?
The Star of the Week award goes to Nellie Armistead. Congratulations on your excellent work and effort!
Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
5/6 Classroom News
Welcome to Week 8 of Term 4! What a great day we had on Mission Day, well done everyone! A special shout out to the Year 6 students who ran the cake auction, you all did a fantastic job.
Leadership Groups: Last week the Social Sunshine Creators held a ‘Swip, Swap Toy Day’ where students were invited to bring an old toy to school and swap it with another student. The day was a huge success, well done guys! Last week the Happy Helpers also ran a whole school game of Capture the Flag at lunch time which was a lot of fun!
Homework: New homework was sent home on Monday, this is due back on Friday 2nd December.
Writing: This week in Writing students have been writing their narrative stories. They are coming along very nicely.
Maths: In Maths this week we have been working on Probability. Year 5 students have been writing probability outcomes in fraction format and Year 6 students have been writing probability outcomes in fraction, decimal and percentage format.
Religion: This week in Religion we have been brainstorming ways that we are sustainable at school. We are going to be creating ‘Simple Daily Gestures’ powerpoints that will include things that we do at school that help care for the environment.
Integrated Curriculum: This week in Integrated Curriculum we have been finishing our paper mache world globes for our assessment task. Students are labelling lots of different places on their globes and are also adding facts that they have learned over the term.
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
Sport News
Yesterday the children at St.Brendan's were lucky enough to be visited by 2 AFL Victoria representatives. The children participated in the AFL Primary Play program. This is a free program for primary aged children. The AFL Victoria representatives, Taylor Hassett and Jayden Hodge ran 2 sessions, one with the junior half of the school and the second with the senior half of the school.
The sessions went for 50 minutes and taught the children the fundamentals of AFL through fun and engaging activities.
The children thoroughly enjoyed this experience and thankfully it didn't rain too much during sessions- Father Michael even joined us for a handballing activity!
We look forward to more AFL Vic clinic sessions in 2023.
A huge thank you to AFL Victoria, Taylor and Jayden for a great 2 hours of footy skills!
Kate Parker
kparker@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
Important Dates
NOVEMBER
25th - Pre Prep Program
29th - Trinity Small Schools Transition Day beginning 8.45am
DECEMBER
5th - Prep/1 Night
6th - Orientation Day at St Brendan's (All students move up to their 2023 classroom for the day)
6th - Trinity ALL Schools Transition Day beginning 8.45am
6th - CSC Small & Catholic Schools Transition Day 8.55am - 3.15pm
7th - Year 2/3 Night
9th - Graduation Mass & Christmas Carols Night
9th - Year 6 Graduation Dinner 7pm at La Porchetta
13th - Wide Smiles Dental Visit
13th - CSC ALL Schools Transition Day 8.55am - 3.15pm
13th & 14th - Learning Conversations
16th - Whole School Excursion to Camperdown & Last Day of Term for Students
20th - Last Day for Staff
Big Summer Read
The Big Summer Read is taking place at Colac Library and Apollo Bay Library these summer holidays! The Big Summer Read aims to combat the ‘summer reading slide’. The 'Summer Reading Slide' is a known trend where students reading naturally regresses slightly over the Summer holiday period. The program encourages children to keep reading by supporting them with reading logs, a user-friendly website, milestone incentives and we can't forget to mention... a statewide prize!
The Big Summer Read runs from 1 December 2022 until 31 January 2023. To register and for terms and conditions please see https://www.grlc.vic.gov.au/
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