Newsletter No. 11 | Term 2 Week 1 | Thursday 27th April 2023

Prayer

Lord,

Through your supreme sacrifice you gave us a spirit of faith, hope and joyful living. 

May this spirit linger in our hearts forever.

Amen

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome back to school. I hope you all enjoyed a lovely Easter break. Autumn has arrived with cool mornings, cool evenings, beautiful sunny days and the lovely changing colours of the leaves on our trees. This photo was taken in the backyard of the place we were staying at on a trip to Bright in the holidays. Simply stunning! 

 “There is something so special in the early leaves drifting from the trees — as if we are all to be allowed a chance to peel, to refresh, to start again.” — Ruth Ahmed

Like the trees, we have had a chance to refresh and we are ready for the Term ahead.  We look forward to an exciting Term with our Mother’s Day celebrations, Open Day, St. Brendan’s Feast Day celebrations, Catholic Education Week, Year 4/5 Bike Camp and lots of other valuable and exciting learning opportunities for our students. As usual at St. Brendan’s, there is much to look forward to.

Unfortunately, I have finally succumbed to Covid-19 and will not be at school this week. Actually, it was on the holiday to Bright that it swept through the family. It has hit Mum the hardest which brought home to me the importance of us doing our best to isolate ourselves in order to protect the most vulnerable in the community. 

The timing is not ideal as I will be attending a Professional Development Seminar on Monday and Tuesday of next week. I will be back at school on Wednesday and I am really looking forward to seeing everyone. In the meantime, if there is anything you need to run by me, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Leanne Eastman
principal@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

ANZAC Day Ceremony

Today our Year 5 and 6 students travelled in to the Memorial Square to join other Colac and District schools for an ANZAC Day ceremony and laying of wreaths. Everyone represented St Brendan's in a very respectful manner and proved once again how they are excellent leaders of our school.

Our beautiful wreath was created by Howard's Flowers in Cororooke.

Fr. Bob McGuire

At St. Brendan’s we teach our children about living out the Gospel values. Scripture was written many years ago, but how is it relevant today? What is each scripture trying to teach us and how do we put this into action?

There would be few better examples of living out the Gospel values than the example set by Catholic priest and social justice campaigner Father Bob Maguire. 

Last week, Fr. Bob died. An ABC News article on April 19th paid tribute to the life of Fr. Bob. He has been remembered by family, fellow activists, politicians and people from all walks of life as a great man who devoted his life to society’s less fortunate, a friend of the poor and downtrodden.

Well-known identity Eddie Mc Guire knew Fr. Bob from his early days attending a Catholic school in Broadmeadows. He stated:

"Early on, you realised that you had the sense you had to give back to the community, not because Bob put it over your head that that's what you had to do, you just realised.

"He imbued what he believed to be his religion, not the pomp and circumstance of it, he really imbued the sense of what he believed Jesus was about, that you gave everything, that you stood with the sinners, that you looked after people." 

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese described Fr Bob as a "great Australian".

"An irrepressibly cheerful champion for all those battling disadvantage, he dedicated his life to brightening the lives of those most in need," the Prime Minister said on Twitter.

Fr. Bob was an interesting character who, in some people’s eyes, could push the boundaries and challenge authority, but he made a real difference to the people who needed it most. He worked tirelessly to make their lives better and let them know that they were loved and valued without judgment. What a wonderful example for our children, and us all.  

May we all learn from the example of Fr. Bob and may he rest in peace.

Mother's Day

We will be holding our Mother’s Day celebration on Friday, 12th May at 9.15am in the hall.

The celebration will be followed by a morning tea and we invite all mothers, grandmothers and significant women in our lives to join us for this special day.

A reminder too that if you would like to participate in the Colac Mother's Day Classic, taking place on the morning of Mother's Day, St Brendan's has registered a team that you can join. Details on how to register are listed at the end of the newsletter.

In a monumental effort for a small school we have already raised $1,813 within our online Mother's Day Classic portal, so we would like to say a very BIG thank you to everyone who has donated. It's not too late if you would like to make a small donation, we would love to reach $2000. Again the link at the end of the newsletter can be used to make a donation.

Uniform

At this time of year the weather can be quite unpredictable (actually that could be said for any time of year in Victoria)! 

For this reason, the first two weeks of Term, children can wear either their Summer or Winter uniform. We will move to wearing Winter uniforms on Monday 15th May.

4/5 Camp to Timboon

We have had to make a change to the date for the Year 4/5 bike camp.

The Camp is now taking place in Week 6 on the 29th and 30th of May. Details and camp permissions will be sent home to families in the coming weeks.

Catholic Culture

Stations of the Cross

On Good Friday, Trinity College ran an ecumenical service and invited community groups to attend and represent their organisation. This year Audrey Rock came along and participated as a representative of our school. Audrey did a fabulous job and I thank her for her willingness to attend and her excellent contribution. I would like to also thank Sophie Alliband and Harriet Rock for their kindness in representing the St. Brendan's Community. It was a last minute request and they generously stepped up and did a fantastic job. We are so blessed to have such amazing people our school!

Easter Helpers

Brennan, Eden and Ivy Robb had the very important job of lighting candles at the St Brendan's Parish Easter Vigil at the beginning of the school holidays. Eden and Ivy also did a wonderful job handing out Easter Eggs to the kids (the young and the young at Heart!).

Our Diocesan Community - March 2023

The 'Our Diocesan Community' magazine aims to share the good news stories of our schools, parishes and agencies across the diocese. Follow the link below to read the March issue of the magazine.

If you have a good news story to share with others in the diocese, ODC welcome articles and photos for publication in the magazine and the diocesan e-News.  Please forward submissions  to odc@ballarat.catholic.org.au

Community Book Club

Our next book club night is fast approaching and we would love to see some more parents come along! It is such a great social night.

Our current Book Club read is 'Educated' by Tara Westover, and we will meet in Week 4 of this term on Monday, 15th of May at 7.30pm in the Hall. If you are looking for a copy of the book, the Colac and Geelong libraries have some available, or you can purchase online at Booktopia using this link: https://www.booktopia.com.au/educated-tara-westover/book/9780099511021.html 

We have an Instagram page! For reading motivation and to stay up to date with what we are recommending follow @community.bookclub on Instagram. If you have suggestions for future Book Club reads please email them to gwatts@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au . 

Even if you haven't been able to finish the book before the night (or even start it), we would still love you to join us for a drink and a nibble. We can't wait to see you there!

Birthday Corner

Wishing a very big Happy Birthday to everyone who has celebrated their special day this week and throughout the school holidays! Especially...

22nd April   -   Jordon Price (9)

Important Dates

MOTHERS DAY CLASSIC EVENT

This year we are taking part in the Mother's Day Classic to help those affected by women's cancers. The Colac event is taking place on Sunday 14th May at the Botanic Gardens with two categories on offer; the 3.3km run which begins at 9am or the 3.3km walk which kicks off at 9.05am.

We have created our own fundraising team called 'St Brendan's Coragulac' and we would love it if you could register to join us in walking or running on the day. If you can't make it on Mother's Day please feel free to leave a donation in  lieu of participation. To register or donate with 'St Brendan's Coragulac' go to: https://www.mothersdayclassic.com.au/fundraisers/StBrendansCoragulac11182 

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: Mark Robb          CHILD SAFETY OFFICER: Mrs Leanne Eastman