Newsletter - 31st May 2023
Upcoming Dates
7th, 14th & 21st June: Combined Schools' Days at St Brendan's, Dunnstown
5th June: Year 5 girls to Loreto College for SEED Day
8th June: School Photos - full winter uniform please
12th June: King's Birthday Holiday
21st June: Healthy Harold and the Life Education Van visit both schools at St Brendan's
23rd June: Last Day of Term 2
10th July: Term 3 starts; Pupil-free day; Staff Professional Development Day
11th July: Students commence Term 3 classes
12th, 19th & 26th July; 2nd, 9th, 16th, 23rd & 30th August; 6th & 13th September: Combined Schools' Days at St Brendan's, Dunnstown
Principal's News
Welcome to Week 6 everyone. This term continues to move along very quickly with only three and a half weeks left. Winter starts this week and we are fast approaching the middle of the year. My Dad always made a point of mentioning the winter solstice day which is on June the 22nd – the day with the shortest amount of daylight. I didn’t know that there was an actual time as well. This year it is 12.27am.
Sicknesses
I am sure that we are all aware, that COVID is spreading quickly again and there are also a variety of different viruses lurking around that are making many children and adults very unwell. I ask that if your child is feeling sick, please keep them home until they are well again. This way we can try to keep everyone in our schools as sickness-free as possible.
Disco
There is a lot of excitement building for the disco on Friday night. The Parents and Friends from both schools have combined to organise a disco for the children at the Dean Hall on Friday, the 2nd June. The invitations have gone out and the children are very excited.
As this is an out of school event and off site, it will be parents’ responsibility to look after their own children on the night and all children must have a parent with them for the time they are attending the disco. This event is for families of St. Brendan’s and St Mary’s only. Thanks to all that have had a part in organising this event.
School Photos
Next Thursday, the 8th of June, the school photos will be taken. Each child has taken a form home and they need to be returned on Thursday. Children need to wear their complete winter uniform, including the school jumper, not tracksuit top.
Working With Children Check
As part of our Child Safe Policies and Procedures, it is a requirement that all adults that come into our schools require a Working with Children Check. The volunteer’s check is free and can be applied for online or through a post office.
We have a register at school that records all of our parents that have a WWCC. If you have one already, please bring it to the office and we will record it. If you do not currently have a check, please apply for one and then let the office ladies know when you have it. These are needed for coming into the school to help out, excursions and basically being with the school children at any time and are required by law. We ask that these be made available by the beginning of Term 3. Please see me if you have any concerns around this.
Sacramental Program
This week an email will go to all families that have indicated that they wish to have their children participate as part of the Sacramental Program this year. Children in Year 2 and above can receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation and children in Year 3 and above can be part of the program for Eucharist and Confirmation. The program is transitioning this year to a Parish based program that is family and school supported.
The preparation for Reconciliation will take place on Monday, the 19th of June from 3.45pm–5pm at St. Brendan’s school. A parent must be present with their child. Louise and Inez will run this session and there will be some follow-up activities needing to be completed at home. The actual ceremony will be on Thursday, the 22nd of June at the Bungaree Church at 5pm.
The program for Eucharist and Confirmation will commence early in third term with more details to follow.
Long Weekend - King's Birthday
A reminder that Monday, the 12th Of June is a public holiday and there will be no school for anyone on this day.
Welcome
Last week we welcomed Jeremiah to St. Mary’s. He has begun school in the Foundation class and has settled very quickly into the daily routine of school life. Katie, his Mum, is around most days, so please say hello to her and make her feel welcome.
On Friday, the 9th of June at 2.30pm, we will have a cuppa and catch up at St. Mary’s for parents from both schools that can make it and take the opportunity to meet our new Mums – Maree and Katie.
Stay warm and go gently everyone as we manage winter, busy times and many sicknesses.
Inez
Senior Room News
On Friday, we had a visit from Allanah from the Eureka Centre. She held a session on the flags and symbols of Australia. We learnt about the Australian, Indigenous and Torres Strait Island flags and what the colours and symbols represent.
We also explored different symbols, icons and logos that are uniquely Australian.
Pat: I really enjoyed learning about what the different colours of the flag mean. I learnt that colours of the Aboriginal flag like red means the sand and black means the skin colour and yellow means the sun. The symbol in the middle of the Torres Strait Islander flag is a tribal hat they wear and the green on it stands for the grass, black stands for the people, the blue is the sea. There is a star on the southern cross that has 7 points for each state.
Kamden: I liked learning about the Torres Strait flag and many more. I also learned that the English vs gold miners fight went for 15 minutes because the English men were winning so the gold men gave up and the gold miners men were dying. We also learnt about Australian icons, symbols and logos.
Tara: I learned that on the symbol Torres Strait island flag looks like the hat that the only men used to wear which was called the White Dhari. It is used between Papua New Guinea and Australia, it's a dance for Performances and Cultural Ceremonies.
Will: I was really surprised to discover that the miners and the soldiers' fight went for 15 minutes.
Evie: I really enjoyed learning about the different flags such as the Eureka flag. Did you know that the Eureka Rebellion went for 15 minutes? It was the English vs gold miners. The English won the fight.
Leo: I learned that Aboriginals use ochre for their paintings on rocks to warn other Aboriginal tribes of danger. Ochre comes in all different colours but the main colour they use is red. Ochre is made by crushing a rock into dust and mixing water to make the paint that Aboriginals use.
Chloe: I really liked learning about the different flags and symbols, icons and logos. I learnt that the black represents the skin colour of the Torres Strait Islanders, green is the land and blue is the sea. That is the meaning of the colours on the Torres Strait Islander flag.
Sullivan: I really enjoyed learning about the flags. The Eureka flag represents the fight that went for 15 minutes. The gold miners gave up and the British settlers won. The Australian flag has a big star with 7 points that stand for all of the states of Australia.
Other News from the Senior Room:
Tara: Two weeks ago Alexis came to visit and stayed the whole day in the senior room, she's coming in the 4th term. She is moving to our school because her family is moving to the area. We are really excited about her coming and having another new person in our school.
Evie: On Thursday, three different schools known as St Mary's, St Brendan's and St Brigid’s played netball. We all combined to make one team in the lightning premiership. The girls that played were Tara, Maeve, Chloe, Lucy, Ahia, Dakota, Clara, Kaylie and me.
We all played super well. Altogether we played five games and we were super proud of Chloe. It was her first time playing netball. She played a few halves and she played so well.
All the girls would like to say thank you to the St Brigid's girls that played with us in the Grand Final. We are all proud of ourselves for winning the grand final. It was a close game.
Sullivan: At the Footy Lightning Premiership, we won the grand final! We made a team with St Mary’s, St Pat’s Gordon, St. Brendan’s Dunnstown and St Brigid’s Ballan. We played three games that were not finals and we won all the games, then we went to the finals and won that final by 84 points. We were in the grand final and we won by 34 points and we were very happy.
Kamden: A couple of weeks ago we got our cow and we named our Picasso Cow, Dairy Queen. It is a blank white Picasso cow that we will decorate. We have an app to help us learn more about the dairy industry.
William: A couple of weeks ago we had golf clinics with Tony Collier. He taught us how to play golf. We had two clinics of golf. We practised our putting in the second golf clinic. We did a mini golf course inside.
Pat: Last Thursday we had an online meet and talked about being e-smart with schools all around Australia. We read a book about a hen who found a phone.
Leo: On Friday 26th of May it was my birthday. I turned 10 years old and I had a great day.
Junior Room Happenings
The Junior Room has been very busy since our last newsletter. We have two new students working with us, Vanessa and Jeremiah. We all love getting to know each other!
Paige: Jeremiah has 2 dogs at home. Vanessa likes bananas and apples.
Patrick: Jeremiah likes animals and he loves dinosaurs.
Adelaide: Jeremiah is funny. Vanessa is Kind
Quinn: Vanessa loves her little toy dog Chrissy.
Last week was Catholic Education Week and eSmart Week.
Quinn: We learnt how to be safe online. We read two books online with 177 other schools. The first book was The Internet is Like a Puddle. You can get stuck in it before you realise and puddles can be deeper than they look so can the internet!
Jeremiah: When your parents say don't go into a chat or game room on the internet you listen to them.
Vanessa: I liked seeing all the other children around Australia on the screen listening to the book with us.
When we were at St Brendan's at our CSD we had a golf clinic with Tony Collier. Lyndal and Louise even had a swing with us!
Paige: It was fun learning different ways to swing the golf club.
Patrick: When we played the inside golf I won a prize for the most holes in one.
Adelaide: I have never done golf before and I got to learn about it. I had to use a different club because I am left handed.
Child Safe – all on website
As is stated in our Vision and Mission, our schools ‘…are committed to the safety, wellbeing and inclusion of all children and young people.’ Our procedures and policies are now in line with the 11 Child Safe Standards and can be found on our schools’ websites under the tab – Child Safe.