Newsletter No. 21 | Term 3 Week 9 | Thursday 7th September 2023

Prayer

Father's Day Prayer

God our Father,

We thank You for the gift of fathers and those who love us like fathers.

Bless all these people with strength, wisdom and love.

Surround them with peace and joy. 

Amen

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

Last night we held the Father’s Day Archery Competition. Congratulations to our sharpshooter Ross Panther for taking out the title. Ross was closely challenged by Jim Beardsley, who has finished runner up two years in a row.  Maybe it will be third time lucky Jim!

This year we  combined the Father’s Day night  with a School Disco, it was a really fun event.  The children absolutely loved having their dads at school and I am pretty sure the dad’s loved watching their children have fun at the disco! I know your support meant alot to the children. Thanks to everyone who was able to come along and to Sophie for helping to give the hall a disco vibe!  The mum’s are calling for a similar type of event on Mother’s Day. Stay tuned!

Next Friday is the last day of Term. In keeping with the bus timetable for the last day, school will be finishing at 2.15. 

Have a great week,

Leanne Eastman
leastman@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Footy Gate

This year we have had a number of opportunities for families to answer calls to help out, or join in with fundraising and community events. More recently we have had the Trivia Night, the Footy Gate and the Father’s Day/Disco event. There have been many calls for assistance and there have been many answering the call. Thank you!

I would like to  acknowledge and thank Kristy Robb (along with Mark) for doing such a great job of organising the footy gate fundraiser. It can be a tough task filling the spots, but you have done well. Thanks to everyone for supporting where you could.

Kate Parker

I would also like to let you know that Kate Parker  is taking Maternity Leave from the end of this Term, with a return pencilled in for the beginning of  Term 3, 2024.  We wish Kate all the best with the arrival of her second child and look forward to her return.

In Kate’s absence, Darryl Harty will take on the role of Sport teacher. Darryl is a former Spots teacher and also former Principal at Forrest Primary School. We look forward to having Darry on board. I will be taking on the role of Learning Diversity Leader until Kate returns.

Thank You Claudia

Throughout most of Term Three we have been fortunate to have Claudia McLaren at our school for student placement. During her time here, Claudia has built wonderful relationships with students and teachers, has worked hard to create inspiring lessons for our students, and has stepped in to help out in any way that she could. Thank you Claudia!

Claudia finishes her training this year and will begin teaching in 2024. We wish Claudia all the best for her future teaching career. She will make a wonderful teacher!

School Logo

As you are aware, the school has been in the process of designing a new logo. The reason for this has been to create a logo that shows more about our school, such as the name of the school, a cross to represent the Christian aspect of our school and any other aspects deemed important to represent on the logo.

We have narrowed it down to two logos and have asked families and students to cast a vote. Your opinion matters to us, the school belongs to us all. If you have not had an opportunity to vote, please check your emails and submit your choice. If you have already responded, thank you for your vote. 

We will let you know the result by next week. One of the first things to do will be to put the new logo on the school bus. Exciting!

OPTION 1: The boat represents St. Brendan the navigator. The adult and children represent the community (children, parents, teachers), the cross on the sail represents journeying through Christ and the telescope represents our spirit of exploration and adventure. We are active learners journeying beyond the familiar and pursuing connections to the world around us.

OPTION 2: This logo represents Red Rock. The path and cross represent journeying through Christ and the sun represents a bright future.

School Chaplain

A reminder to all families that our pastoral care worker, Sue Bath, is available on Fridays if  you or your child requires any extra support at school. Please contact me if you require more information.

Paper Cranes for International Day of Peace

As we head to International Day of Peace on 21st September, the students, staff and families have been busy making paper cranes. 

The story of Sadako and the Paper Planes is based on the life of Sadako Sasakin, a child in Japan, who developed leukemia when she was exposed to radiation from the bombing of Hiroshima. Sadako spent her last days in a hospital bed making paper cranes.  The idea for the paper cranes is based on a Japanese legend that requires at least one thousand paper cranes to be folded to earn a wish. In our case, the wish is for world peace.

So far, we have made approximately 250 paper cranes, We are getting there! Anyone who would like to join us with making the paper cranes is more than welcome. We have plenty of paper at the office so feel free to come and collect as many as you like.

Let It Grow Project - Whole School Project

We will celebrate our Let it Grow Projects at a special Assembly on Thursday 14th September at 2pm. ALL WELCOME. 

If you need a reminder about the Project read below: 

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!

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. 

Warrion Flower Show 

The Warrion Flower Show is taking place on Wednesday 25th October. This is in the fourth week back at school after the holidays. The school will once again have the backspace to set up a bbq and a stand for the tombola jars. 

Feel free to start making up some tombola jars whenever you are ready. Last year we made 285 jars!  Let’s see if we can top that total this year. For any new families who are unsure what to do, please come and see us so that we can fill you in. The jars are always a big hit at the Flower Show.

Fishing Rods for Year 5s!

The State Government has committed money to  provide 95,000 Little Angler Kits to grade five primary school students and all students in specialist schools.

They are wanting more kids to catch a new hobby - fishing - because it’s a healthy and active pastime that gets them into the great outdoors and experiencing nature with friends and family.

The kits include a fishing rod, reel with line, tackle box with some hooks, sinkers, swivels and a lure, as well as a Kids Guide to Fishing – all FREE!

The kits will be distributed through primary schools between 16 October and 4 December 2023, in time for the summer holidays.

You can visit their FAQs page for parents/carers wanting more information regarding the Little Angler initiative: https://vfa.vic.gov.au/recreational-fishing/featured/little-angler-kit-project 

Book Fair Thank You & Library Reminders

Thank you to all of our families who supported the Book Fair that we had running in the hall throughout Book Week. We sold just under $1000 worth of book product which is an amazing effort from such a small school. These sales allowed us to choose $200 worth of free books from the fair for our school library.

Take a look at all of our new books! These have all been available for students to borrow since last Thursday so you may have already noticed that your child has brought one home to read.

A reminder that library happens every Thursday so please remember to pack your library bag and return your books weekly so you are able to choose new titles to loan.

Please make sure that all library books are returned before the end of the term. Have a look at home for any books you might have misplaced throughout the term and return them to the library before next Thursday 14th September. Thank you.

Catholic Culture

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

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 9! Another busy term nearly done!

The archery night was a great success and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. Our school disco was lots of fun and it was lovely to see the children having such a happy time together. A great effort from Ken and Ben who had a go at the Limbo!

Religious Education: We have been reflecting on the principles of ‘The Common Good’ and created posters in pairs that represented what it means to us.

Literacy: We have been learning about prefixes and suffixes of base words. Our class has been identifying the prefix ‘in’ and the suffix ‘y’.  We are currently working with ‘or’ graphemes in spelling and revising the 100 Most Used Words. In Writing, we have been using word webs and what if? scenarios to help us construct narratives.

Numeracy:  The Year Two children are revising months and seasons, and learning about quarter to and quarter past on analogue and digital clocks. The Year Three children are revising five minute intervals on the clock, and investigating right angles, acute angles and obtuse angles. The Year 4’s are learning about elapsed time, and angles including right, acute and obtuse.

Integrated Curriculum: The Year Two’s and Three’s have been producing excellent sets and are nearly ready to start videoing their stop motion animation.

Storyboard: Kid Island is run by Sam Smithers and Ruby Rock, two young people who represent all the people on the island. They work hard to protect their environment from strangers and people who want to steal their precious gems and money. Children from a neighbouring island are planning an assault to rob them and are arriving in submarines. What will happen? Stay tuned!!

The Resilience Project: This week we have focused on understanding the importance of not taking things for granted. The children created a map of gratitude for things they appreciate in their homes.

Homework: Homework has been handed out with new spelling words to learn. The grapheme focus this week is the ‘or’ phoneme.

The Star of the Week award goes to Matilda Carlon. Congratulations on your excellent effort!

Cheers,

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

4/5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 9! Wow, we are nearly at the end of Term 3!

Homework: A reminder that homework is due back to school this Friday 8th September.

Writing: In Writing we have been working on our picture story books. Students have been writing their stories, planning the layout for each page, typing and illustrating. We are enjoying the process of slowly watching our stories come to life.

Maths: In Maths Year 4 students have been learning about time. Students have been working on elapsed time and converting time. Year 5 and 6 students have been learning about Measurement. Students have been learning how to calculate the perimeter and area of shapes. We have also been looking at converting between units of measurement.

Religion: In Religion we have been learning about the Catholic Social Teaching - Care for our Common Home. Students have been reflecting on what it means to care for our earth and they have written poems about this. Here is an example from Ava...

“The Earth is dying.

All our rubbish is multiplying.

We can save it, it is worth trying.

The earth will be better and clean.

We should pick up litter instead of being mean!

The earth’s temperature is getting too hot!

We could save it or maybe not.

We will ruin our own home!”

Integrated Curriculum: In Integrated Curriculum we have been creating posters to advertise our ‘Coragulac Market’ on our Storyboard. The students have also begun creating posters to advertise their own products. The products are: Octo-Roctos (toy octopus), Fantasy Figurines (clay creatures), Dog Toys, Gorgeous Gold (handmade jewellery) and Sleepy Sheepy (toy sheep). 

Tahlia Whytcross
twhytcross@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Important Dates

The Lego Club

Join other LEGO fans on Tuesday 12th September from 4-5pm at the Colac Library to explore your creativity and see where your imagination can take you. Ages 5+ Play and build with LEGO. Take up the weekly challenges or freestyle your own brick creations. Please note bookings are no longer required for this session. You are welcome to drop in on the day! Please don't attend if anyone in your group is unwell on the day of the program. Thanks for doing your bit to keep our community safe. Participation in The Lego Club is FREE.

Cobden Miniature Railway & Mini Golf

Cobden Miniature Railway Park provides miniature train rides, 18 hole Mini Golf, canteen, children's playground and barbecue facilities. Train rides will be runnning on Sunday 17th September from 11am - 4pm, with each ride lasting approximately 10 minutes, the total track length is approximately 1.8km which includes an under and over pass, trestle bridge, two tunnels and two stations. The cost is $2.50 per train ride, $6 per adult & $3 per child for mini golf.