PRINCIPAL - PAULA MACKENZIE

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

When I read this prayer I am very grateful that we are such a multicultural community. Each culture brings such a diverse background and we learn so much from each other. We are different yet we are the same and our students are so fortunate to be surrounded by such a wealth of knowledge and wisdom from our wider community. Although Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have lived in Australia for thousands and thousands of years, most of Australia’s population is made up of people whose families only arrived in the country within the last 200 years.

This means that everyone has different and varied backgrounds: Italian, Greek, English, Vietnamese, Irish, Korean, Canadian etc. All the different cultures that come together in Australia bring many things with them: different foods, ways of dressing, languages, customs and beliefs. Harmony Day is about celebrating these differences and learning about new cultures.

To live peacefully and happily in Australia, we have to make sure that everyone feels equal. It does not matter how different we are, we should always treat others with fairness and respect.

Some people might look or dress differently from you. Try to learn more about other people’s cultures and customs. Remember, differences are not a bad thing. They make us unique and special.

On Friday everyone was able to come dressed in their traditional dress or they could wear the colour Orange which is a symbol for Harmony Day. It was wonderful to see so many children dressed and excited about celebrating this wonderful day as a community. Here are some fun facts about Harmony Day that you may not know.

• Did you know that since 1945 over seven million people have migrated to Australia?
• Harmony Day takes place on the United Nation’s International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
• Did you know that Harmony Day began in 1999 and since then more than 25,000 Harmony Day events have been held across the country?
• Australians identify with over 270 ancestral backgrounds.
• Often, before an event, function or meeting takes place, Australians will acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land they are on. This is called an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ and it pays respect to Aboriginal culture and heritage.

Thank you to our wonderful Year Two teachers and students for presenting the Harmony Day Assembly. This was a very special assembly which highlighted our diversity and bought us together as a community. Congratulations also to Mrs Melissa Billy-Rooney for her awesome leadership in this very special day. Melissa ensured that Harmony Day was celebrated in style throughout our school community and helped the staff to truly understand the meaning of Harmony Day for our students.

PRAYER OF THANKS

This week we shared a staff prayer that had been written by our talented Year Four class. During Religion our students shared with their teachers what they were grateful for, it was a tribute to our staff and because it was freely written and they expressed themselves so well I thought I would share it with you their parents.

 

Dear God,

Thank you for the kindness of the teachers and staff of our special school, St Brigid’s.

They always listen to us when we need help. We are thankful for all of them!

Thank you for helping them teach us and make sure we always feel happy and safe.

They always do their best to make our day exciting.

Thank you for supporting them to help us make good friends. We know that we will use

These skills forever.

Thank you for assisting them in helping us to learn in different ways and continually making it fun for us. We know it’s not easy to teach us sometimes.

Thank you for encouraging them to teach us to use technology for our future. We are grateful for these skills.

Last of all, thank you for giving them the gift of patience. We understand that sometimes we can be annoying, testing and challenging at times.

God, please protect our staff and give them strength to teach us each day.

May we pray that God’s love shine through our teachers.

Amen

(Written by the students of 4A & 4B)

As I read this prayer it strikes me as a beautiful prayer of thanks that is a sound indication that we all work in harmony at St Brigid’s. I know that our staff were really touched by this prayer as it was read out in Religion on Tuesday. They felt blessed to have such wonderful students in their care. It was uplifting and joyous and really helped to put an extra spring in the staffs' step for the rest of the week. So a big thank you to our Year Four students.

DROP OFF TIMES

I would ask parents to please consider the time they are dropping off their children to school in the morning. 

We have asked for children to be at school for 8.30am so they can prepare for their day as school begins at 8.50am. The gates open at 8.10am each morning so that children can join breakfast club or play games with their friends. We are still seeing a number of children being dropped off before 7.30am this is a very unsafe practice, if you need to go to work early please consider Helping Hands so that you know that your child is in safe hands.

 

3 YEAR OLD PROGRAM

Last year when we were holding Kindergarten interviews I asked for expressions of interest in our school running a Three Year Old Program. We were presently surprised by the wonderful response we received. We had 32 positive responses from parents. Using this information we began the process of registering our school so that we would be able to provide this service. The length of the process normally takes eighteen months. With assistance from the Catholic Education Office we have been able to navigate our way and yesterday we received permission to begin our Three Year Old Program next term. This is much quicker than we expected.

The program will run for one whole day beginning at 8.50am and finishing at 2.50pm. This will allow parents to pick up their little ones before picking up older children. The requirements needed to attend are the following:

Your child needs to have turned three and they need to be toilet trained to attend this program. It is a full day program and we will only have 20 children attending with a teacher and an educational assistant. We only allow 20 students so that we meet the NQS standards of 1 to 10 ratio.  This program will run from our Three Year Old Center which is the classroom next to the Kindergarten. We have not chosen the day yet but most likely it will fall on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday as Play group will continue to run on a Friday morning.

There is a cost to the program, as a School Board we have tried to keep the price down so that it is affordable for our parents. The cost of the program is $550 per term. The program will be a wonderful introduction to school where intentional play and socialization is the main purpose.  If you are interested in your child being part of this new program please click on the link below to complete an enrolment form online. Interviews will take place shortly. More information will follow in the next Newsletter.

LINK FOR 3 YEAR OLD PROGRAM

FACTION SWIMMING CARNIVAL

What a magnificent day we had on Thursday when our students from years 3 – 6 took to the pool. The sportsmanship shown on the day was outstanding. We saw such passion and drive from our students as they swam throughout the day giving it their all. To see students assisting the teachers and encouraging each other was fantastic. A huge thankyou to our amazing organizer Mr Sam Harris and his wonderful parent and staff helpers. Sam never ceases to amaze with his leadership skills and his eye for detail. The day ran perfectly and our students were sensational. A special thanks also to Deanna Kingma who ran our morning swimming club and assisted Mr Harris in all things swimming, they make and awesome team to ensure our students do their best. Deanna’s energy and passion is just sensational and we cannot thank her enough for all she does for our school swimming club.

HEALTH CARE CARDS

If you haven't already done so please bring in your Health Care Card by the end of next week so that your discount can be applied to your school fees.  

May God bless you and keep you safe

 

Paula MacKenzie
PRINCIPAL

 

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL - MIKE SIBBALD

YEAR ONE LITURGY

Congratulations to the Year One Classes for your beautiful Prayer Liturgy ‘I am Special’.

Fr Benny was very appreciative of your reading and singing! It was also a lovely way to celebrate St Joseph’s Feast Day too!

FIRST RECONCILIATION PARENT MEETING

This is on Tuesday 26 March, at 7.00pm in the St Brigid’s Parish Church. Information pertaining to the Sacrament of Reconciliation will be provided along with some helpful information to assist your child with their preparation. It will not be a long gathering and Fr Benny looks forward to meeting at least one parent from each child who will be making this important sacrament.

SACRAMENTAL DATES 2019

Year 3 RECONCILIATION – Tuesday 7 May 2019 (5.00pm)

Year 4 FIRST EUCHARIST – Sunday 23 June 2019 (11.00am)

Year 6 CONFIRMATION – Sunday 8 September 2019 (11.00am)

Please note that the First Eucharist Mass is at 11.00am, not at 9.30am as previously advertised.

 

 

ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL - LUKE SHAW

 PARENT/TEACHER INTERVIEWS

As you are aware, our parent/teacher interviews will be taking place over the next two weeks. A link to an online signup website was sent to parents earlier this week (https://sobs.com.au/pt3/parent.php?schoolid=1677). Parents simply need to follow the prompts to select their preferred meeting time. Meetings will last for 15 minutes and teachers have been asked to ensure that they stick to this timeframe. We ask that all parents book a meeting as this is a wonderful opportunity to engage in a conversation about how your child is travelling in all facets of their school life. Teachers will share information about how your child has started the school year and how they have performed in recent testing. If you have anything in particular that you would like to discuss with your child’s teacher/s, please email them and let them know. By providing your child’s teacher with a brief outline of any particular issues you would like to discuss, they are able to prepare and answer any questions in the best way possible.

 

SCHOOL NEWS

 

FACTION SWIMMING CARNIVAL 2019

Our Faction Swimming Carnival for 2019 took place yesterday at Bayswater Waves Aquatic Centre. It was a day filled with close finishes, loud cheering, outstanding sportsmanship and lots of fun. The message for students in the lead up to the carnival was to ‘have a go’ and that participation in any carnival, and doing your best for your team, is the most important part of the day (along with enjoyment of course!).

With that being said I must congratulate Mercy Blue for taking out this year’s carnival, building on the success they had last year. I must though congratulate every student on their efforts, and all factions should be extremely proud of their performances. The competition was closer than what the scoreboard may have indicated, and this can be attributed to the hard work our students have put into their training and preparation, and also the increase in the number of students who attend swim squad each week.

I must thank a number of different people, as without a team effort, carnivals such as these do not run like a well-oiled machine. Firstly to all the St Brigid’s staff who attended, called names, organised students, scored, ran the team events, cheered and worked as a team yesterday. I very much appreciate the effort from everyone.

To the awesome number of parent helpers that I had on the carnival day and in the lead up. Thank you very much for assisting where necessary and for supporting what was a fantastic day. I am excited to work with you throughout this year across the different carnivals and well into the future. I encourage you to spread the word and encourage more members of the school community to join us, as it made for a very successful carnival. A special ‘thank you’ must go to Mrs Kingma for organising so many volunteers and for training students in the lead up to the carnival. Your work is greatly valued by the school and our parents.

Thank you to Ms Mackenzie, Mr Sibbald and Mr Shaw for supporting myself throughout the build up to the carnival and on the carnival day. Your leadership and input helps to put together a successful carnival and we all appreciate your support.

Finally, a big congratulations and thank you to our awesome St Brigid’s students. I am extremely proud of all who competed and did their best for their factions. I am looking forward to the next carnival that awaits in Term 2 to see more of the terrific sportsmanship and competition that I witnessed at our swimming carnival.

Mr Samuel Harris

Physical Education Specialist

Swimming 2019 - Final Medal Results

	1st	2nd	3rd
Year 3	Sophie Cappati	Olivia Grover	Sienna Robinson
	Neil Jain	Rishi Devadiga	Rome Kirby
Year 4	Ruby Kingma	Charlotte Rossi	Madeleine Shaw
	Thomas Giffen	Archie O’Keefe	Samuele Cappati
Year 5	Taylah Lambly	Jacinta Kiernan	Isabella Clarke Layla Turner Tamsyn Slater Erin Caldwell
	Zac Melrose Jack Keevers		Luke Vranjes
Year 6	Kasey Touchell	Ella Lambly	Brooke Taylor
	Hamish McLennan	Luke Firns	Levi Felder Rhys Coomber-Pill

 

Faction Swimming Carnival - Final Points Tally

Place	Faction	Total Points
1st	Mercy Blue	585
2nd	Joseph Gold	370
3rd	Francis Green	285
4th	MacKillop Red	260

 

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If you have any spare tiles from the Disney Words Promotion being run by Woolworths please drop them into the

Jean Ellison Centre (Ed Support)

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LIBRARY HELP REQUIRED

If any parents are interested in taking small bundles of books home to contact cover for the library, please see Mrs Darling before or after school in the library.

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PLAYGROUP

Just a reminder Playgroup has started and it is every Friday 9am – 11:30am. Breakfast is offered in the morning. We are operating in the Early Childhood Room (next to Kindy). We have had a lot of kiddies join us in the past 2 weeks and that is lovely to see. So if you are a parent, grandparent, aunty or uncle of a child aged 0-4 yrs please come and join us.

Remember to bring a water bottle, a piece of fruit and a hat!

 

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CANTEEN ROSTER

Monday 25th March         HELP NEEDED PLEASE

Tuesday 26th March         H VRANJES

Wednesday 27th March   S SOEYMA

Thursday 28th March       C TURNER

Friday 29th March           HELP NEEDED PLEASE

 

NO MEAT products will be sold in the Canteen every Friday during Lent.

PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR CANTEEN MENU                                                

 

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ST BRIGID'S SWIM SQUADStart training now for this year's Swimming Carnival.   Come along and join the St Brigid's Swim Squad.  Training takes place every Thursday morning at Swan Active, Morrison Road, Midvale, commencing at 7am.  Entry is $3.30 (no spectator fee for parents).   Swim Squad is for students in Yrs 2 to Yr 6 whom are at swimming level 5 or above.  Students can then take advantage of Breakfast Club at school which commences at 8.15am in the MacKillop Hall.  If you have any queries, please contact Deanna (DJ) on 0419 943 901.  

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FOR SALE

Extra large trampoline, delivered and assembled locally $250. Please call Mr Peter Constable 0412 980 004.

 

SCHOOL HIGHLIGHTS

2019 CHOIR CAPTAINS

 

 

 

HARMONY DAY

 

 

 

2019 SWIMMING CARNIVAL WINNERS

 

 

 

 

P & F NEWS

St Brigid’s Parents and Friends Association

EASTER EGG RAFFLE

It's Easter Egg Raffle time again. Help us to contribute to school resources by participating in our first FUNdraiser of the year by donating and/or buying raffle tickets.

There will be a prize per class to give everyone a chance to win and raffle tickets will be sold for a chance to win some sweet bonus prizes. Tickets will be sent home next week to buy if you would like to enter the bonus drawer. We will also be selling tickets before and after school in the coming weeks.

If you would like to help we are seeking donations from families of Easter Eggs or Easter themed gifts to help us create some special prizes. Please deliver your donations to the box in the front office by Monday 1 April.

The raffle will be drawn on Friday 5 April, giving us an opportunity to distribute prizes in the last week of school if any winners are not available on 5 April.

NEW: Guess How Many game

The person who guesses the correct number of Easter eggs in the jar will win! $1 per guess. Guesses can be made alongside the raffle ticket table before and after school. Winner announced 5 April.

Funds raised from the Raffle and Guess How Many will be put towards the purchase of new literacy resources such as take-home readers and classroom novels. 

We are also hoping to gift some of the donated eggs to families in need through St Vincent de Paul. 

PASSION PLAY COFFEE and CAKE - Thursday 11 April

The P&F will be running a coffee and cake stall before the Passion Play. Join us from 8.30am before the Year 5 students host the Passion Play at 9.30am in MacKillop Hall on 11 April. 

PARENTS AND FRIENDS MEETINGS

The next P&F meeting will be held on Tuesday 9 April at 9am. If you are able to attend or have anything you would like to share or suggest it would be wonderful to see you there. Young children are very welcome to come along if that makes it easier to attend. 

P & F CONTACT INFORMATION

Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Karryn - 0409 293 198

Joanne - 0418 954 821

 

SCHOOL COMMUNITY NEWS

HELPING HANDS

 BEFORE & AFTER SCHOOL CARE 

 

 

UNABLE TO MAKE IT IN TIME TO PICK UP YOUR CHILDREN? 

BOSS ASKED YOU TO STAY LATE OR COME IN EARLY? 

NEED TO HAVE SOME TIME FOR YOURSELF? 

Parents, we are here to support you and your children in before and after school hours! We offer a secure, safe and exciting environment for your children to thrive and be a part of a socialized group while you are busy. 

Please note an enrolment form and 1 days' notice is to be given to make your casual bookings for your children. 

We are here to help! Enrolment forms are available from the Education Support Room.  During out of school hours and weekdays. 

Vacancies Available Now!

P: 0484302073

E: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

 

COMMUNITY NEWS

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

PILATES CLASSES

Commencing Tuesday 19th February in the MacKillop Hall 

Then every Tuesday thereafter

From 5.15pm to 6.15pm

$12.00 per session or $60.00 for 5 sessions

All proceeds go to Cambodia

All equipment supplied, just bring a water bottle

Enquiries to Elaine 0433 900 703