Newsletter Term 1, Week 3 2023

Principal's Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Week 3.

I would like to thank you all for being involved in the school community so early on in the year including our Opening School Mass, our parent forum, painting our Religious Education wooden dolls and last night our Welcome BBQ!  We have covered a lot in such a short time and you have embraced many changes along the way, the children have had a voice in their dojo rewards and our SBLM expectations.

Our Opening School Mass and badging of our new student leadership team was lovely.  Thank you Miss Foskett for coordinating this very special event.

Thank you for taking the time to attend the Welcome BBQ last night, I do hope we can continue building connections throughout the year with one another.  Here are some photos from our Welcome BBQ…

Welcome BBQ

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 10

Next

Today we held our first weekly awards assembly run by our newly elected year 6 leadership students who will, no doubt, do an amazing job.  You are all very welcome to join us each week on a Friday afternoon at 1.50pm in the school hall.  If the assembly includes a class/grade performance the assembly may need to start closer to 1.20pm.

So far the scheduled grade assemblies will be:

Year 5 – Term 1, Week 9 – 31^st March

Year 4 – Term 2, Week 4 – 19^th May

Year 6 – Term 2, Week 6 – 2^nd June

Kindergarten – end of Term 2 (date to be confirmed)

Year 3 – first half of Term 3 (date to be confirmed)

Year 1 – second half of Term 3 (date to be confirmed)

Year 2 – Term 4, Week 3 – 27^th October

Next week, Friday 24^th February our assembly will begin at 1.40pm to allow time for Yasmin Catley MP to present special certificates from her office to all student leaders in recognition of their dedication and service to St Brendan’s.  All parents and carers of the student leadership team are invited to attend (you will not receive a separate Seesaw invite).

Afternoon dismissal assembly

I would like to ask that all parents and carers that do not need to rush off straight after school please stay for the afternoon very quick assembly.  This gives the children consistent practice to be supervised and stay safe at all times from the classroom to the silver seats and any important announcements to be made including any change of plans for students during afternoon dismissal.  Some students have organised alternative arrangements, however, if you have not organised alternative arrangements please allow your child to join us for the afternoon assembly and be dismissed from the silver seats.

This week I have engaged in meetings to start the discussion and process to refurb the toilet blocks to allow for better ventilation and supervision.  Also we have approval for the drainage issues to be rectified on the oval.  There are many areas targeted for rectification including the playground, the internal fencing, undercover walkways, more seating, repairs to pipes, painting of the poles, installation of further bubblers for the children in stage 3 etc.  There are many projects and wish lists currently being discussed.

Our PAG (Parent Advisory Group) is gazetted for next week, Tuesday 21^st February from 6pm-7pm in the Year 5 collaborative space.  If you have any agenda items please email them to me at Charlene.reid1@dbb.catholic.edu.au I will need these agenda items on or before Monday please.

A parent term planner, month by month will be published for your fridge.  This will need to be a working document because as you are aware things crop up unexpectedly and will be communicated on Compass for you to write into your own paper planner.

Congratulations to all our swimmers attending the CCC Swimming Carnival on Monday at Mingara indoor pool!

PUPIL FREE DAY

For your forward planning, I would like to notify you of a pupil free day on 24^th April.  This is the Monday before the ANZAC day public holiday!  We tried to make this convenient for parents to perhaps make for an extra long weekend!  Our staff will be continuing our professional learning focused on 123 Magic and Emotional Coaching K-6.

SPORTS COLUMN

Within the newsletter you will have the opportunity to share your child’s sporting achievements/participation/acknowledgement.  For this to happen you will need to email me a short blurb and photo (optional) less than 150 words before the Monday of the week the newsletter is published. It’s wonderful to acknowledge achievements, reaching goals and enjoying participating in active play.  The SPORTS COLUMN will be at the end of the newsletter, a little bit like reading the newspaper with the sport section at the back of the paper!

God Bless,

Charlene Reid

Principal

Week 3 Award Recipients

Religious Education

We invite you to join us as we mark the beginning of the Lenten season with prayer and reflection.

Ash Wednesday is an important day in the Catholic community as it marks the start of the Lenten season, a time of spiritual renewal and preparation for Easter. During Mass, we receive ashes on our foreheads as a sign of repentance and a reminder of our mortality. This act of humility helps us to reflect on our own lives, to acknowledge our faults and shortcomings, and to seek forgiveness and God's mercy.

We hope that you can join us for our Ash Wednesday Mass or Liturgy.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

It's not too late, you can still enrol for the Sacrament of Reconciliation by using to this link www.trybooking.com/events/landing/997684 Students in Year 4 (or above) are invited to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation at St Brendan's Catholic Church, Lake Munmorah or St Mary's Toukley. Your child must be Baptised and Confirmed. 

Cricket with our Parish Priests!

We're excited to announce a special event that will help us build stronger connections with our parish and school community. We're inviting all members of our school community to join us for a friendly game of cricket with our very own parish priests before our Family Mass.

This is a great opportunity to get to know our parish priest outside of church and to bond with fellow members of our community. So dust off your cricket whites, grab your bat, and join us for an afternoon of fun and friendly competition. We can't wait to see you on the field (oval)! When the cricket fun is finished we will head to the Church for our Family Mass.

Please RSVP here https://forms.office.com/r/gSUpStAiKd

School Map

Please see below an updated version of the School Map. 

Playgroup

Do you have any little ones? St Brendan's has a FREE playgroup for newborn to school age children. Come and meet other parents in the community. Little ones will be guided through fun and engaging activities.

Playgroup is held in the school hall on Monday (during the school term) from 8.30am to 9.30am. Morning Tea is provided. 

Parent Engagement Coordinator

Shrove Tuesday

Traffic and Parking Safety around School

Sports Column

This weekend we participated in regionals for little athletics NSW. At this event St Brendan’s School was represented by 6 students. Marni O, Chelsea R, Aston R, Lexi G, Noah R and Rain . The students represent three different athletics clubs, Eastlakes, Mingara and Wyong.
The students had to attend zone and place 1st and 2nd to progress to region, the same applies for Region to State which is held in March at Sydney Olympic park.
Some of these talented athletes have progressed to state which is an amazing achievement.

Marni O competed in shot put and discuss,
Rain R competed in hurdles, 100m long jump and 200m
Noah R competed in javelin and long jump
Chelsea R competed in triple jump and long jump
Aston R competed in shot put, 100m, 200m and discuss
Lexi G competed in 70m, hurdles, discuss and shotput.

Compass Calendar