Newsletter No. 1 | Term 1 Week 1 | Thursday 2nd February 2022
Prayer
Dear Lord,
Thank you for the gift of our school, St. Brendan’s.
We pray for our children, that their year at school is full of love, joy, learning, fun and personal growth.
We pray for our families that they experience joy in watching their children grow and flourish at school. May they also look out for each other and feel the fulfillment that comes with being involved in school life and experiencing a deep sense of connection and belonging.
We pray for our staff that they be guided with enthusiasm, knowledge, strength and love that they need to carry out their role.
Help our whole community to be more like you and to treat each other as we would like to be treated. May our words and actions be positive and kind so that our school can be more beautiful every day.
AMEN
Principal's Message
Dear Families and Friends,
Welcome to the 2023 school year!
I would especially like to welcome our new students; Lewie, James, Teddy, Esther, Kyle, Emily-Rose and Charli. They already seem right at home! A big welcome also to the new families in our school.
We are so happy to have you with us and we really hope you enjoy your time at St. Brendan’s.
I hope everyone had a fabulous break and is feeling rejuvenated and ready to embrace the new school year. The beginning of the school year is always fresh and exciting. It was great to see the children on Friday. They seemed really happy to be back at school, happy to see their new friends and teachers, and filled with a sense of anticipation for the year ahead.
When I drove back to school for the first time after the holidays, I was struck by how beautiful the school looks with the new artworks out the front. The added bonus is that the vibrancy of the outside of the school matches the vibrancy on the inside, with students being provided with robust learning and lots of fun. I feel very proud of the school that we have and feel positive that we will all work together: students, parents, staff and the wider community, to make it a great year for everyone.
On Friday, our staff joined staff from St. Mary’s, Sacred Heart and Trinity College to celebrate Mass at St. Mary’s Church. Fr. Michael spoke about seeing things with ‘fresh eyes’. On Monday, staff began working on a new Vision and Mission for our school. I invited them to walk around the school for 15 minutes and look at it with fresh eyes. It was a really valuable experience. They saw many wonderful things, as well as coming up with ways we can make our school even better. I invite you to take a walk around the school and look at it with fresh eyes. Come and tell me what you see, positive or negative. I would love to hear it.
For new parents, the Newsletter comes out each Thursday so please take the time to read what is happening at our school. There is always a lot going on and we would not want you to miss anything.
The staff and I are excited for the year ahead and look forward to working with all children, families and the extended community to make this a great one for everybody at St. Brendan’s. I thank the Staff for the hours that they have put in before school begins to ensure that everything is ready to go.
Warm Regards,
Leanne Eastman
principal@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au
BEGINNING OF YEAR SCHOOL MASS
YOU ARE INVITED
Date: Thursday 9th February 2022
Time: 9.15 am
Please Note: Year 6's will be presented with their leadership badges at this Mass.
Following Mass there will be a Morning Tea in the Hall.
ALL WELCOME!
YEAR SIX LEADERS
Introducing our Year 6 leaders for 2023: Audrey, Ayla, Lexie, Tallow, Joe and Jimmy.
Our leaders have already made a great start to the year and we know that they will be wonderful role models to our younger students.
We asked the Year 6s what they were looking forward to this year:
Audrey: Buddies
Ayla: Helping the younger students
Lexie: Our Year 6 hoodies
Jimmy: Sitting on the chairs in Assembly and the Year 6 hoodies
Joe: Sitting on the chairs in Assembly, Buddies and the Year 6 hoodies
Tallow: Sitting on the chairs in Assembly and the Year 6 hoodies
There are some bonuses that come with being in Year 6! We wish them all the very best for their final year of Primary School.
MEET AND GREET APPOINTMENTS AVAILABLE
Each year teachers and parents take part in ‘Meet and Greet’ sessions. The session runs for just 10 minutes. This is a time for parents/ carers to meet with the class teacher and tell them about your child. This may include strengths, weaknesses, hobbies, family life, concerns, medical issues and anything else that you may like to add.
Some children will have the same teacher as last year so the teacher will know them pretty well. If this is the case with your child, do not feel that you have to attend the Meet and Greet sessions unless you feel that you would like to do so. However, if you have the time, you are more than welcome to come in and have a chat.
Meet and Greet Session Times:
Monday 6th February: 3.30pm - 5.00pm
Monday 13th February: 3.30pm - 5.00pm
A timetable has been sent out on PAM. If you would like to take part in a Meet and Greet session, please select and book a suitable time. If these times do not suit, please feel free to arrange a suitable time by emailing the classroom teacher.
SWIMMING
A reminder that swimming begins THIS Friday, 3rd February. Swimming lessons are held at Bluewater Fitness Centre in Colac between 1.30 & 2.30pm. The bus will depart St Brendan's to drop students there at 1pm and return to school at 3pm. Please return your child's permission note first thing tomorrow morning if you haven't done so already. If we do not receive a completed permission form your child will be unable to attend the excursion.
Please note: After we sent the permission note home Bluewater contacted us to change our swimming schedule due to a clash at their end. As a result there will be no swimming next week on February 10th. That session has been moved to March 10th. Swimming lessons are now running on the following dates:
Session 1: Friday February 3rd 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Session 2: Friday February 17th 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Session 3: Friday February 24th 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Session 4: Friday March 3rd 1.30pm – 2.30pm
Session 5: Friday March 10th 1.30pm – 2.30pm
THANK YOU
I would like to say a special thank you to the following people:
- Bridget Newcombe: For going above and beyond to ensure that our school looked beautiful to begin the school year.
- The Armistead Family: For caring for the chooks and guinea pigs over the holidays
- Jane Robb: I spied her doing some gardening along the path from kinder to school
- Hayley Beardsley and Allira Kluver: For coming in during the holidays to remove the old soft fall from the playground area.
- The children for doing a great job of spreading the new soft fall during their outdoor learning lesson.
2023 STAFFING
Our classroom teachers: Allira, Mandy & Tahlia...
WEDNESDAY TIMETABLE
Wednesdays are hugely popular with our students. Our specialist teachers do a fabulous job of providing a day of fun learning in extra-curricular subjects. This year, each class will also spend 40 minutes on Wednesdays with their class teachers participating in a wellbeing lesson from The Resilience Project program.
Please note the Wednesday Timetable for Term 1 below. Our Prep students will take part in the Specialist program in March when they will be attending school full time.
SCHOOL CHAPLAIN
This year we welcome Sue Bath as our our new school chaplain. Sue joined the staff on Friday for Mass and a staff preparation day. We are really pleased to have her on board.
Sue brings a wealth of experience to the role and has worked at a number of schools in the Colac area. This year she will share her work between St. Brendan’s, Sacred Heart , Beeac Primary School and Birregurra Primary School. Sue is looking forward to beginning her time at St. Brendan’s and will spend the first Term with time in the classrooms getting to know our students and supporting them where needed.
Sue will be at school on FRIDAYS. If you would like to come and have a chat to Sue at any time please feel free. She would love to see you.
AUSLAN
This year our Language Other than English (LOTE) will once again be AusLan. For new families, the method of teaching Auslan will be different to the traditional model.
Instead of a one hour language block, teachers will spend 15 minutes each day teaching Auslan to the students. The program model is known as the Teachers as Co-Learners model. In this model, teachers and students are on the learning journey together.
We plan to continue to find ways in which we can share the learning with parents so that we can all go on this journey together.
Learning Auslan will increase our understanding of deaf and hard of hearing people, it will teach us about being inclusive of people with disabilities and it will also be lots of fun! We look forward to getting it underway.
SCHOOL ADVISORY COUNCIL
The Annual General Meeting for the School Advisory Council will be held on Monday, 6th February at 7pm. ALL WELCOME
PLEASE NOTE: We will be requiring at least two new parents to join the School Advisory Council as some members are no longer at St.Brendan’s due to their children moving onto secondary school.
If you would like to be part of it, please let Gracesyn or myself know. If you are interested but would like more information please drop in for a chat. There is also some information below regarding the purpose of a School Advisory Council. We look forward to welcoming you.
New parents are more than welcome to join us on the Advisory Council.
The The School Advisory Council is intended to:
- provide a voice for members of the school community
- actively support, in collaboration with the local parish, the Vision of the school
- provide input into and support for strategic planning and directions
- actively support and promote child safety practices including the National Safeguarding Principles for Child Safe Organisations
- provide input and contribute advice in the processes of school improvement and school review
- support the Principal in meeting his/her responsibilities and accountabilities for educational outcomes, effective stewardship of resources, and annual reporting
- actively support the Principal in the encouragement of family engagement
- support the ongoing sustainability of the SAC and its members in its succession and learning
WOW WALL
Some of our students have already made it to the WOW wall. A great effort for the first week back!
- Well done to Nellie and Lexie for doing a fabulous job of cleaning the train. If anyone wants to hire them to do some work we highly recommend them!
- Supershooter! Liam shot a behind the board swish goal. Amazing!
- Ivy and Jessie were already hard at work cleaning the yard on Day 2. (I think we had some visitors over the holidays). Well done girls!
PARENT COMMUNITY
The St. Brendan’s parent community prides itself on being a strong group that works together to support the school in many and varied ways. If you see the call for help via a note or the Parent Facebook page, it would be great if you could answer the call. Many hands make light work and school communities that work together create communities that thrive. Let’s all roll our sleeves up and help out where we can.
PARENT HANDBOOK
The Parent Handbook is designed to inform parents about many aspects of our school. Click on the link below to access the Handbook:
SCHOOL UNIFORM
Please note the details below regarding the school uniform. We ask that parents do their best to ensure that children are in the correct school uniform. The students came in looking very fresh on Tuesday.
The school uniform details listed below can be found on the school website:
https://www.sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au/
Our school uniform shop is located on campus and open by appointment only. To arrange an appointment to view the uniform shop please phone (03) 5233 1464 or alternatively orders may also be placed through the front office.
Please ensure that your child wears the correct uniform to school each day. This means adhering to the following uniform requirements:
Summer Uniform
- Blue, gold and white checked dress with collar, white socks OR
- Navy school shorts, navy socks, short or long sleeved light blue polo with school logo and navy edge collar
- Navy knitted school jumper with gold and royal blue trim
- School hat with school logo
- Black leather traditional heeled school shoes or boots
- Navy or white hair trims
Winter Uniform
- Navy Winter tunic or kilt, light blue short or long sleeved polo with school logo and navy edge collar OR
- Navy school pants or shorts, light blue short or long sleeved polo with school logo and navy edge collar
- Navy knitted school jumper with gold and royal blue trim
- Navy socks or navy tights
- Black leather traditional heeled school shoes or boots
- Navy or white hair trims
Sports Uniform (To be worn on Wednesdays)
- Navy school sports polo with gold side panelling and school logo
- Navy unisex sports shorts OR
- Navy sports skort OR
- Navy double knee school tracksuit pants
- Navy school sports rugby jumper with gold trim collar and school logo
- Sneakers with white socks
- School hat with school logo
- Navy or white hair trims
School Bag
Navy blue school bag with gold school logo
Optional Items
- Plain navy beanie with no other colours or branding (Winter only)
- Plain navy coat with no other colours or branding (Winter only)
- Plain navy scarf or gloves with no other colours or branding (Winter only)
Catholic Culture
SACRAMENTS
Baptism: Are you interested in having your child baptised? The parish will be offering any interested families the opportunity to have their child baptised in 2023.
Other Sacraments: We are currently deciding whether we will run the sacramental program for Reconciliation, First Eucharist and Confirmation this year or 2024, this decision will partly be based on numbers so please let us know as soon as possible if you are interested.
If you are interested in finding out more about Baptism or completing sacraments and have any questions please contact Liz McGuane on 0427041072.
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: TBC CHILD SAFETY OFFICER: Mrs Leanne Eastman