Newsletter Term 1, 2024 Week 0

Principal's Update

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Welcome back to SBLM 2024!  I hope you have managed to have a lovely break with family and friends. 

We welcome our new families to our school community. 

We also welcome our new staff members to our school community: 

Mrs Anne Neems (4G) Mr Brendan McMahon (4R) Miss Kara Lees (5B) 

Mrs Ebony Mills (6G) Mrs Karina Moolman (1G) Mrs Allyse Cresta (Learning support teacher) 

Mr James Wells (Library) Mr Brett Pickett (Collaborative coach release) 

Mrs Kate Kennedy and Mrs Andrea Crosara (Front Office)

Kindergarten

A huge welcome to our excited Kindergarten 2024 children!  Their first day at St Brendan’s is today, Friday 2nd January.   

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Swimming Carnival

Today is our St Brendan’s swimming carnival, what a wonderful day to have a carnival!  Thank you to all our parent helpers, our Year 6 colour house captains and all of our wonderful participants. 

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Parent Charter

Catholic Schools Broken Bay has developed a Parent Charter.  Please have a read of the Parent Charter as it is extremely important to be aware of your roles and responsibilities being part of a Catholic School community.

We don’t hear a lot about COVID restrictions anymore, however, if your child has cold and flu symptoms please keep them at home and mark them absent on your Compass app.   

Positive Behaviour for Learning

In 2023 St Brendan’s developed our own Positive Behaviour for Learning (PBL) SBLM reward and discipline policy.  During the year, being a new initiative, we tweaked it to allow for students to be rewarded for following our SBLM expectations and also to allow for behaviour modification when needed.  I would like to share with you an amended flowchart indicating the steps involved in our SBLM discipline policy. 

Thank you for sending your children back to school in their full Summer uniform, hair tied back (boys and girls), fully black shoes and huge smiles! 

You will receive a parent paper copy of our school monthly calendar for upcoming dates and events.  For further events, you can add to this calendar as new events pop up. 

One date in particular is our annual Parent forum.  This forum (discussion) may be 40 mins duration and is an opportunity for you all to be updated of school goals for 2024 and review our 2023 school goals and whether we are on track.  This is also an opportunity for parents and carers to bring any suggestions to the forum that will add to our school improvement! 

I would also like to invite you all to attend our opening school mass at 9am on Thursday, 8th February where our captains and student leaders will receive their badges.  On this day also at 1.30pm I invite you to attend our Aboriginal smoking ceremony near our oval to start the year! 

Sadly, we have had some families who are grieving for the loss of their loved ones.  Please keep all of our community in your prayers especially those who are facing challenges at this time. 

God Bless, 

Charlene Reid 

Principal 

OPAL BUS PASSES

All eligible students travelling between home and school on buses must hold an Opal Card.  Last year, many students lost or misplaced their Opal cards and were unable to tap on.  We have lobbied for additional buses due to the number of students on particular buses, and on each occasion, we have been told that the data they use is from the Opal cards when your child taps on the bus.  Please check with your child to see if they still have their Opal Card, and if not, please organise a replacement through Transport NSW.  Click HERE to replace or apply for an Opal Card. 

MEDICATION / REQUEST TO ADMINISTER MEDICATION

We are legally required to have personalised authority from a GP or Specialist to administer any type of medication to students.  This includes over-the-counter and prescribed medication.  Any medication brought to school must be handed in at the office together with a signed Request to Administer Medication Form.  We have attached this form for your convenience.  Unless on an excursion, all medication is administered in the office.   Please ensure your child's medication is within the expiry dates.  If your child has an asthma or anaphylaxis plan, please ensure you provide the office with an updated plan.  You will receive a Compass email notification when your child's medication is getting low.  We thank you for your cooperation. 

COMPASS SUPPORT

Please ensure you have access to the Compass Portal.  You can access Compass via an APP on your mobile phone or on a desktop computer. Compass is our main source of communication to all families and is used for:

• Sending out newsletters.
• Posting notifications.
• Parents - submitting absence notes.
• Completing digital permissions for excursions and incursions.
• Reporting.
• Canteen

If you are having any problems accessing or navigating Compass, please call or come into the office at any time.  

Please note that you do not need to enter any notes on the Compass Portal when your child is late, or picked up early from the school.  In this event, please attend the office first and sign your child in or out of the school using our Compass Kiosk.  The office ladies can help you do this! 

KISS AND DROP

To make the process of the afternoon collection at Kiss and Drop as efficient as possible, we ask families to mount a sign on the back of the passenger sun-visor so we can identify who belongs in each vehicle.  If you require a sign for your car, please complete this form. the form below:

SCHOOL HATS

We are a Sun Safe School and require all students to wear a hat when outdoors.  We do have school hats for sale from the office at the cost of $18 each (cash only).  Please ensure your child has a hat and that it is clearly labelled with their name.  If your child does not have a hat, they need to play in the silver seat area to ensure they are protected.  We have limited spare hats we can issue at school, but it is much more hygenic for your child to have their own hat.  

STUDENT SPOTLIGHT!

We would like to congratulate and acknowledge the following students who are competing in the Central Coast Branch Nippers Championships this Sunday:

The Lakes SLSC

Jaegar H (Year 3)

Oliver M (Year 5)

Harry P (Year 5)

Evannah S (Year 5). 

Catherine Hill Bay SLSC

Macy L (Year 3)

Logan P (Year 3)

Savanna L (Year 3)

Noah C (Year 4)

Ethan G (Year 4)

Vallie F (Year 6)

Logan P (Year 3)

Saxon L (Year 6)

Speedo Sprints are also this weekend in Maitland, and we wish Kiarni W, Samantha M and Rahnie S the very best of luck there also!

The children have all been training hard and are looking forward to having a fun weekend competing and cheering on their teammates. 

Congratulations also to the students who competed in the Swimming Country Championships at Charlestown:

Kiarnie W (Year 3)

Samantha M (Year 5)

Kailani S (Year 5)

Rahnie S (Year 4)

Valli F (Year 6)

Logan B (Year 4)

Rain R (Year 5) also competed in the Athletic Country Championships in Wollongong!  Well done Rain!

WELCOME BBQ

We warmly invite you to join us on Tuesday, 20 February 2024 between 4:30 pm and 6:00 pm for a Welcome Back BBQ.  For catering purposes, please complete the form below.  We will serve from the canteen area.  Drinks will be available for purchase.  It will be a great opportunity to reconnect with each other.

Welcome BBQ RSVP

PARENT-TEACHER-STUDENT GOAL SETTING INTERVIEWS

On Tuesday, 27 February 2024 we will be holding Parent-Student-Teacher Goal-Setting Interviews. We will open the conference settings in Compass shortly and ask that you book a meeting time with your child's class teacher.  At these meetings, a smart goal will be set for your child in the area of English or Mathematics and a goal for Social and Emotional Learning (SEL).  There will be a range of time slots across the week for you to choose from.  These meetings are a great way for you to connect with your child's teacher and provide valuable information to support your child in reaching their potential at school. Where possible, we ask that you bring your child with you for these meetings. Students need to be part of this process as it builds their self-awareness as a learner. 

Religious Education

School Updates

Smoking Ceremony & Acknowledgement of Country

Parents and families.

We warmly invite you join us to attend a Smoking Ceremony & Acknowledgement of Country with Tim Selwyn from Girra Girra Aboriginal experiences,  at St Brendan's Catholic School at 1:30pm on Thursday 8^th of February, 2024

Awards

Community News

Music Bus Lessons at St Brendan's, Lake Munmorah

The Music Bus has opened its Term 1 enrolments and is inviting new students to apply.

Classes offered include: · Keyboard (Prep-y6) · Ukulele (Prep-y6) · Drums (y1-y6) · Guitar (Y2-y6) · Singing (Prep -y6.

Lessons are:  

• 30-minute duration - once per week
• Held in the hi-tech music classroom on wheels on site
• Cost $20 per week ($22 drums) payable by the term on commencement

If you wish to take part in Music Bus, please complete this expression of interest form.

https://app.smartsheet.com/b/form/ee4627a5204c46158e1ab17e7c8069c6

Many thanks for your continued support.

Compass Calendar