Newsletter No. 19 | Term 3 Week 5 | Thursday 10th August 2023

Prayer

A Prayer from Mary MacKillop

Whatever troubles may be before you, accept them bravely,

rememberig whom you are trying to follow. Do not be afraid.

Love one another, bear with one another, and let charity guide you all your life.

God willreward you as only he can. Amen.

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

The Trivia Night was a great success and there is a real buzz around the place after what was a great night. We managed to raise $2100 for the school which goes a long way to ensuring we reach a yearly goal of $6000. Well done everyone!

Thanks to all who contributed in some way, either by donations, buying raffle tickets or by turning up on the night. A big thank you also to our amazing parents who organised such a fabulous event. I would like to give particular thanks to our mini-committee: Sophie, Tracey, Hayley, Lauren, Kristy and Bianca. Bianca sent out emails to businesses far and wide and managed to snag some big prizes. She clearly sends very persuasive emails!

 A special thanks also to Sophie for compering the event. Sam Pang will have to watch his back, Sophie did such a good job, her next gig may be the Logies!

Congratulations to the following people:

• Lauren Mitchell and Ben Phillips whose table won the Trivia competition - a bunch of smart cookies! 
• Adele McGuane and her Mum Carole Swanson who won first prize in the raffle 
• The Bayne family who won the Reverse Raffle 
• The staff Barbie table for winning best dressed table 
• Ben Phillips for making one of the best paper planes I have ever witnessed in flight - Teddy would be proud!

Have a great weekend everyone!

Leanne Eastman
leastman@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Excursion to Wildlife Wonders

Today we were fortunate to go on another bush excursion, this time heading to Wildlife Wonders in Apollo Bay. It was a wonderful opportunity for our students to experience the nature tour and wildlife sanctuary in the Otways. 

The children toured the nature and wildlife sanctuary, and had the opportunity to encounter beautiful Australian animals living freely, as they would be in the wild. There are many amazing Australian animals that call Wildlife Wonders home such as koalas, potoroos, bandicoots and more.

Students who felt that they were up to the challenge, took part in a one and a half hour walk through the Otways. The terrain was quite steep in parts but the children were steadfast and strong.

We are very thankful to Thomas Carr Campus for generously providing us with this opportunity and would especially like to thank Vanessa Tait for organising this experience, accompanying us on the excursion and providing the Thomas Carr bus to drive the seniors to the starting point for the walk, and the Junior students to their smaller bush walk destination. It was a great day for all and supported our continued focus on sustainability and conservation. 

Sofia: "I liked hearing what the person was saying and wearing the earpiece."
Matilda: "I liked watching all the animals especially the wallabies and emus."
Archie: "The female makes a drum sound."
Eden: "I learnt that gum leaves are actually poisonous but koalas can eat them and I didn't know that koala's poo smelt nice, like eucalyptus."
James: "I liked the beach."
Brianna: "The name for animal poo is scats."
Audrey: "I enjoyed walking along the beach and looking at the ocean."
Lexie: "I liked jumping in the mud."
Grace: "I liked seeing all the animals, especially the pademelon."

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Insight SRC Survey

Thank you to the randomly selected families who have completed the Insight SRC surveys. 

The closing date for the surveys to be submitted has been extended to 11th August so there is still time if you haven’t had a chance to complete it yet. Thank you!

Pupil Free Day Monday August 7th

On Monday the staff spent the day formulating our new School Vision and composing a new  School Prayer. Both tasks were goals emanating from our 2022 School Review. 

The day was extremely productive and we are happy to say that we are close to being ready to share the new Vision and prayer with the school community.

The new school logo is also nearing completion. It will be taken to the School Advisory Council for final approval and will then be shared with the wider school community. 

There have been questions around the need for a new school logo. After discussions with various groups of people, it was noted that the current school logo does not include our school name or representation of our Catholic identity. We have been mindful of including elements of our current school logo, as it is an attractive design and we see it as important to merge a bit of the old with the new. 

We hope your children enjoyed the opportunity to have a long weekend.

Let It Grow Project - Whole School Project

How is everyone going with their ‘Let it Grow’ Projects?

Don’t forget that this project is open to all students, staff and parents/carers. 

What is the Let it Grow project? 

Each person takes on a new challenge with the idea being that it is when we step outside of our comfort zone and take on challenges, that we truly grow. We are never too young, or too old, to grow!

We are never too young, or too old, to grow!

You may remember last year that the Prep/1 class took on the challenge. Children did things such as doing the family shopping, making waffles for the family, learning to saddle a horse and even driving a tractor! It will be fun to see what everyone chooses to do. 

What will everyone in your family do? It should be lots of fun trying to decide!

The end date for the challenges has been extended to Monday 28th August. 

We will be in touch with you shortly in regards to the presentation of each child / teacher / parent/carer’s ‘Let It Grow’ project. We are planning to celebrate it with an EXPO or some sort of community event. Stay tuned!

Winter Sports

The Year 5/6 students will be participating in Winter Sports at Elliminyt Primary School this Friday. The children have been enjoying the Friday sports, both the competition and the opportunity to make new friends. Lots of fun!

River Detectives

Last Friday, our senior school “River Detectives” boarded the school bus and headed to the Gellibrand river that flows through the Carlon family’s property.

They engaged in water quality testing using a range of scientific techniques. They tested the ph: acidic/alkaline levels, turbidity, salinity, temperature and phosphorus levels.

We will visit this site again later next term, compare the results and investigate what happens to water quality as the seasons change.

We will also compare water samples taken from other water sources such as underground water and tank water.

The children really enjoyed the outdoor classroom and the relevance this topic it has to their lives.

Father’s Day

The Annual Father’s Day Archery Competition will be taking place on Wednesday 3oth August from 5pm - 6pm. We would like to invite all fathers, or grandfathers, or uncles or significant others to join us for a special Father’s Day celebration. 

Come along  and join us for pizza and family fun.  Pizza will be $10 per family. All are  welcome to come along and cheer on our amazing bowmen! Who will be St. Brendan’s number one archer this year? Will Matt Lamb defend his title?

Puppy Wanted

Wanted: A Jack Russell/Fox Terrier or other small breed pup. A family is in search of a new pet to love! They are happy to arrange and pay for vaccinations etc. If you know of anything for sale please contact the office.

Catholic Culture

Assumption Mass

Next Tuesday 15th of August we will be holding a Mass for the assumption of the blessed Virgin Mary.  Our Lady, Mary, was the woman called by God to be the mother of his only son, Jesus Christ. The Assumption feast day is celebrated as a holy day when Catholics are called to attend Mass in Mary’s honour.

Mass is at 12.05pm in St Brendan's Church. ALL WELCOME.

Our Diocesan Community Magazine

The Our Diocesan Community Magazine shares the good news stories of our schools, parishes and agencies across the Ballarat Diocese. If you have a good news story to share with others in the Diocese, the magazine welcomes articles and photos for publication in ODC and the Diocesan e-News. Please forward submissions to odc@ballarat.catholic.org.au .

St Brendan's Coragulac & St Joseph's Pirron Yallock Mass Times

St Brendan’s Coragulac: 9.30am Sunday   /   5pm 4th Sunday of each month
St Joseph’s Pirron Yallock: 10:30am Lay-led   /   Mass 1st Sunday of each month

Wellbeing News

International Day of Peace 2023 - September 21

Peace is fundamental to the enjoyment of all human rights and consequently, to a productive society.  The Peace Crane Project introduced the idea of children across the world coming together to say…”Peace in the world” through the folding and displaying of paper origami cranes.  It is designed to give children the opportunity to express themselves creatively as they seek to spread the message of peace within their local communities.

Japanese legend states that folding 1,000 origami cranes grants a wish.  Origami cranes have become a symbol of peace through the story of WWII survivor Sadako Sasaki, a Japanese girl who folded a thousand paper cranes to be granted one wish – to live.  Her story has inspired people all over the world to fold and display origami cranes as a symbol of peace.

This year to help celebrate International Day of Peace we are going to challenge ourselves to fold 1,000 paper origami cranes to display at school.  Over the next few weeks our students will be busy learning how to fold cranes and we would ask that as a family you might become involved by folding some at home to add to our total.

Instructions and paper will be available at the office to collect and take home if you would like to be a part of our expression of peace in 2023.

Sue Bath - Chaplain
sbath@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 5. Halfway through the term already!

I hope everyone enjoyed their extra day off and we look forward to our excursion today to Wildlife Wonders in Apollo Bay.

Book Week is drawing closer so get your costumes ready!

Religious Education: Our focus this week has been Mary MacKillop. We learnt about her life and how she dedicated herself to helping others. Last Friday, the children worked in small groups to draw pictures reflecting on Mary’s beliefs and mottos. The work is displayed on the front doors of the school.

Literacy: In morphology we learnt about the suffix ‘ed’. It can sometimes say ‘t’ as in looked, id as in rented, and d as in helped. We are revising prefixes and suffixes and how they are added to base words. The children have been presenting short plays that are giving them the opportunity to work on expression, volume and pace when reading.

In Writing, we have been working on spine poems. The class are producing great results and showing excellent creativity in their work.

Numeracy: We are currently investigating fractions of shapes and items. The children are learning about numerators and denominators. The Year 4’s are also working with equivalent fractions. Claudia is teaching this unit of work to the class.

Integrated Curriculum:  The Year 2’s and 3’s are creating and developing characters and settings for their stories. Then they will be using technology to enhance their creativity.

The Resilience Project: This week Claudia took the Year 2/3/4’s for our lesson. The children reflected on what empathy is and described characteristics of an empathetic person. They also created their own empathy superhero and motto.

Homework: Homework has been sent out and we are revising basic mathematical concepts.

The Star of the Week award goes to Aden Coates. Congratulations on your excellent effort!

Cheers,

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

4/5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 5 of Term 3!

Writing: In Writing we have been finishing our Poetry unit. Specifically, we have been using pictures as writing prompts, brainstorming verbs, adjectives and similes and then writing Spine poems. We have been really enjoying writing these poems.

Maths: In Maths Year 4 students have been learning about Fractions. We have been learning about equivalent fractions, improper fractions and mixed numbers. Year 5 and 6 students have been learning about Geometry. Year 5 students have been learning how to use protractors to draw and measure angles. Whereas, Year 6 students have been learning about complementary, supplementary and vertically opposite angles.

Religion: In Religion we have continued to focus on our scripture piece, Luke 8:1-3 ‘Some Women Accompany Jesus’. We completed a ‘bibliodrama’ (role-play) about our scripture and we have been reflecting on the characters and their actions in the scripture.

Integrated Curriculum: In Integrated Curriculum we have been learning about the marketing process. First, we brainstormed products that we could create with different craft materials. Each group then decided on the product that they are going to create. Next, students wrote their own surveys and surveyed other students over the school. The students are going to analyse these survey results and use them when they design and create their products.

Homework: Homework was sent home at the beginning of last week and is due back to school this Friday 11th August.

Tahlia Whytcross
twhytcross@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Book Club

It's hard to beleive that we are reading our 5th Book Club novel! Book Club has been a wonderful way for our school and Parish communities to come together and catch up socially on a regular basis, we know that we have had parents reading along at home who haven't been able to make it to meetings so we would love to see you there next time if you can make it!

We have found that things get busy towards the end of the term so we have pushed our next Book Club social night out to Week 1 of Term 4. We are also excited to share that our next Book Club will be held at the Austral Hotel Colac, everyone is welcome to join us for dinner and some book chat at 6.30pm on Monday 2nd October. We hope to see you there!

Our current read is 'Mr Smith To You' by Kerry Taylor. The blurb reads... 'For most of his 76 years, Bill Smith preferred solitude over socialising, horses over people and confidentiality over confidantes. As a jockey, he was known for always turning up already fully kitted out in his silks. But now, in his advancing years, a fall lands him in full-time care and it becomes impossible to maintain his privacy. Nurse Maureen Bannon resents having to look after ‘the geries’, especially grumpy old buggers like Mr Smith, but when she discovers Bill’s secret an unlikely alliance is formed. Bill was assigned female at birth, a fact that shaped his life but never limited his ambition.'

Christmas Book Club

At our last meeting we also pre-picked our final read for the year which will be 'Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas' by Adam Kay. We wanted to share this with everyone to allow ample time to find a copy of the book as we have found library hold lists in the past to be very long!

We will discuss this book at our Book Club Christmas Party on Monday 27th November.

If you are looking for something to read in the meantime Adam Kay's first book 'This Is Going To Hurt' is a very funny, very short book that will put a smile on your face. A good option to read before 'Twas The Nightshift Before Christmas'.

Birthday Corner

Wishing a very big Happy Birthday to everyone who has celebrated their special day this week! Especially...

9th August   -   Caleb Price (11)

Important Dates

Damian Lettieri has joined the Variety Bash with Car 460 - Chateau!

In 2023, we're hitting the road with the Variety Vic Bash to make a difference to kids in need! 

Along our journey, we'll be presenting grants and much needed equipment to kids who are sick, disadvantaged or have additional needs. We can't wait to meet the kids who will benefit from your generosity very soon. Donations from legends like you support the work for Variety - the Children's Charity year round, to assist kids who might otherwise go without the vital help they need. 

Help us help kids reach their full potential and donate today via the link below!

Rural Australians for Refugees Group

We're welcoming a refugee family into our Colac community. Can you help? Contact below.