Newsletter No. 26 | Term 4 Week 9 | Thursday 30th November 2023

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,

On Thursday, the whole school went into Colac to view the ‘Making a Scene at Christmas’ display of 300 Nativity scenes from around the world. It was quite fascinating to see how different countries depict the Nativity scene, and to hear how interpretations of the Gospel story have developed. For instance, the Gospels do not give a number for the amount of kings or wise men that visited Jesus. It is thought that the number ‘three’ came from the fact that there were three gifts, gold, frankincense and myrrh. Children were able to see and smell frankincense and myrrh, and hold a coin minted in the time of Jesus.  As we head into the Christmas season, it was wonderful to reflect on the true meaning of Christmas.

Have a wonderful week.

Leanne Eastman
leastman@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

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YEAR SIX GRADUATION AND CAROLS NIGHT

Please join us to celebrate the graduation of our year 6 students on Thursday 7th December at 5pm. We will formally farewell them during our school liturgy. During the liturgy, our 2024 Year 6 students will also welcome their new Prep buddies. 

Year 6 students are permitted to wear casual clothes and the rest of the school will be in school uniform. 

I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our Year 6 students. They have really stepped up as leaders and we have appreciated the way they have willingly taken on anything that has been asked of them. We have watched these children grow over the years and are extremely proud that they are now ready to take on the new experiences and challenges that will come with heading into secondary school. Congratulations to you all. We will miss you at St. Brendan’s!

The carols will begin straight after the liturgy and should take about half an hour. We will then round off the night with a whole school gathering of pizza and fun.

We look forward to seeing you there!

THE WIZARD OF OZ

Georgie Leerson (Director and Producer) and Courtney Barrow (Choreographer and Creative Consultant) from Act and Imagine, will be at school on Wednesday 6th December for the Workshop - Audition Day. The children will not need to do anything before then but if they are keen, they may like to familiarise themselves with the songs and perhaps do some practise. This is not essential though, as the workshop will be an opportunity for this to happen.

This is an exciting opportunity for our school and all children will be part of the production. 

ADVISORY COUNCIL

Last week we had a School Advisory Council meeting. I would like to advise that the following people have served their two year tenure on the Council and thank them for the time that they have given to represent the parent cohort at St. Brendan’s:

Mark Robb, Hayley Beardsley, Kara Carlon and Jared Wolter. 

The contributions of all council members have been truly valued. I would especially like to thank Mark for taking on the role of Council Chair and contributing in so many ways, always there to lead through his actions.

We are looking for four new members to join the team. We meet once a Term, occasionally twice if needed. It is a great opportunity to represent the parent community and to lend your voice to decision making at our school. I would like to emphasise that this is not a fundraising committee, but rather a time to get together for a chat about what is going on in the school. As a Principal, I really appreciate the support of the Advisory Council.

Please let myself or one of the current Advisory Council members know if you would be interested in joining our team. 

There will be a meeting on Monday 11th December at 7pm.  I look forward to welcoming new members as we head into 2024.

CLASS END OF YEAR CELEBRATIONS

Next week the year Prep - 4s will be participating in some fun after school activities. 

Monday 4th December: 3.30 - 5.00pm Prep /1 Fun Activity Night at school

Tuesday 5th December: 4.00 - 6.30pm 2/3 Bowling Night in Colac followed by fish and chips in Memorial Square

LAST DAY FOR STUDENTS

We are all looking forward to our surfing excursion in Lorne on the last day of school, Friday 15th December. 

We invite all families to join us on the day. The long range forecast is indicating that it will be a warm day, perfect for a surf!

Catholic Culture

Our Diocesan Community Magazine

Please find below the link for the November 2023 edition of the 'Our Diocesan Community' magazine.

The 'Our Diocesan Community' magazine shares the good news stories of our schools, parishes and agencies across the 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 to odc@ballarat.catholic.org.au .

Vinnie's Christmas Appeal

Thank you to the families who have contributed to our Vinnie’s Appeal. We will be taking our baskets of goodies into Vinne’s NEXT Friday, 8th December,  we have one week left to collect. Donations can be dropped into the office area.

Thank you!

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

P/1 Classroom News

We are nearing the end of term! Time has certainly flown by these past few weeks. Congratulations to everyone for a productive end to the school year. We have some important events and dates coming up to be aware of:

• Prep/1 night at school: 4th December

• Graduation/Carols: 7th December

• Transition Day: 12th December 

• Learning Conversations: 13th December

• Surfing and Last Day: 15th December

Literacy: This week in Literacy we have been learning how to write character descriptions. We used our model text, “Edward the Emu,” to help us learn about sentence structure. We’ve also been exploring a couple of spelling conventions which have helped us to identify which spelling to use in different situations.

• Preps: are working on the spelling <qu> and reading words such as quick, queen, quit

• Grade 1’s: are working on the sound /air/ like in hair, share, there and mayor

Maths: We’ve been revisiting subtraction in Maths. Students have modelled situations involving subtraction using a range of different manipulative eg. counters, tens frames, number lines and connecting cubes. Students learnt how to tackle questions involving finding the difference.

Religion: Students have enjoyed exploring the Christmas Story this week. We’ve looked at both Mathew’s version and Luke’s version of the events leading up to the birth of Jesus. We then had the opportunity to creatively reflect upon the story and create our own nativity scene!

KK: At Christmas time, students are invited to participate in KK. On Friday this week, we will be drawing names out of a hat to determine who each child will be buying for. We usually spend no more than $5 on a small gift for that person. (If this is not feasible for you, please let me know and I can organise a gift on your child's behalf.) Label the gift, "To K.K. from (your child’s name)" so that no one will know who it is for. The idea is to keep your K.K. secret until the day when you give out the gift. Please don’t spoil it for others by telling people who you have.

Well done on a successful week!

Allira Kluver
akluver@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 9!

Yesterday we travelled into Colac to see an incredible sight at the Uniting Church. They are hosting nativity scenes from all around the world. We are so lucky to have had the opportunity to view them.

We had a video call with Sofia in Columbia yesterday which was amazing. It was lovely to chat with her and catch up on her experiences in Columbia.

Next Tuesday the 2/3’s are meeting at the bowling alley to have a fun game together. Then we are headed to the park in the Memorial Square for a play and fish and chips. The forecast is warm weather so I advise everyone to bring a drink bottle with water. Further information was posted on PAM.

Learning Conversations are coming up soon and I look forward to discussing your child’s progress with you.

We have nearly finished another busy year and I wish you all a restful, safe and Happy Christmas with your loved ones. I look forward to seeing you in 2024!

Religious Education: This week we have looked at the genealogy of Jesus and how it dates back to King David’s father Jesse, in the Old Testament.

K.K. Our K.K. names will be drawn out this week. K.K. is when we draw out a name and we buy a gift for that person. The gift is to the value of $5 and will be handed out on the last day of school. Label it to K.K. from(your child’s name) then no one will know who it is for.

The idea is to keep your K.K. secret until the day when you give out the gift. Please don’t spoil it for others by telling people who you have.

Literacy: Our class has been revising the content we have learnt this term and all the prefixes and suffixes in our Morphology books.

We have finished our presentations to the class, and I must say, I was really impressed by them. They were well researched and presented clearly and confidently. Great job 2/3/4’s!!

Numeracy:  We have been investigating area and the measurements associated with it. We are looking at capacity and volume this week.

Integrated Curriculum: This week the children have been working on their imaginary community, Fairness City, and focusing on the rules for their citizens.

Homework: There is no homework for the rest of the year.

The Star of the Week award goes to Eden Robb. Congratulations on your excellent effort!

Cheers,

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

4/5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 9 of Term 4! We have a busy few weeks ahead with Christmas activities and Graduation, I can’t believe how quickly this term has flown by!

Kris Kringle: Our K.K. names will be drawn out on Friday. K.K. is when we draw out a name and we buy a gift for that person. The gift is to the value of $5 and will be handed out on the last day of school. Label it to K.K. from (your child’s name) then no one will know who it is for. The idea is to keep your K.K. secret until the day when you give out the gift. Please don’t spoil it for others by telling people who you have.

Writing: In Writing we have been publishing our character descriptions. We have also been completing some Typing Club practise and doing some creative Christmas writing.

Spelling: This week we have been focusing on the spellings for the sound /o/. Year 4 students have been looking at words such as wanted, oddity and chopping. Year 5/6 students have been looking at words such as conscious, quarantine and economy.

Maths: In Maths Year 4 students have been working on Chance. They have been discussing the outcomes of different chance events. Year 5/6 students have been working on Data. They have been creating different graphs using data and interpreting this information.

Religion: In Religion we have been discussing Advent. We have reflected on how we can show Hope, Faith, Joy and Peace in our lives.

Integrated Curriculum: In Integrated Curriculum we have been practising our presentations of our powerpoints on Illiteracy, Sanitation, Poverty and Malnutrition. The students have done a fantastic job collecting information about their topic and presenting this in powerpoint form.

Leadership Groups: Over the past couple of weeks, the Wellbeing group have been running games at lunchtime. Well done to Jimmy who ran a basketball game and Audrey who organised a range of board games for children to play.

Tahlia Whytcross
twhytcross@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Birthday Corner

Wishing a very big Happy Birthday to everyone who has celebrated their special day recently and who will celebrate throughout the Christmas holidays! Especially...

5th December   -   Audrey Rock (12)

8th December   -   Lewie Panther (6)

13th December   -   Claire Beardsley (9)

15th December   -   Sophia Carlon (8)

21st December   -   Joseph Bayne (12)

31st December   -   Ivy Robb (7)

Important Dates

SALVATION ARMY - CHRISTMAS CHEER 2023

If you are experiencing financial hardship the Colac Salvation Army is offering toys for children aged under 13 years and also hampers this Christmas. You can attend the Salvation Army to register on the days listed below.