Newsletter Term 2, 2024 Week 8

Principal's Update

Dear Parents and Carers, 

Welcome to Term 2, Week 8! 

Year 6 students are away at Canberra this week (Wednesday through to Friday). Miss Foskett, Mr Ward, Mr Lobb, Ms Mills and myself are with our three Year 6 classes. Many stories and learning opportunities to share with you upon our arrival back to school no doubt!  I would like to thank our Year 6 staff who have taken the time away from their own families to support your Year 6 children in Canberra these last three days and two nights. 

Thank you to our First Responder parents and carers who joined us last Wednesday for our First Responder Day.  We also want to recognise and thank those parents and carers who are First Responders who had to work that day and could not join us.  Our school were a field of dress ups including Police, Ambulance, Paramedics, Doctors, Nurses and even Spider Man!  This day was to “thank you” all, however, I feel you all went above and beyond as always for our school community with your thoughtful responses in the hall and bringing your resources including trucks and cars in for our children to view and also the forensics finger printing!  “Thank you” so much, I hope you got as much from your visit as we did! 

I have sent a letter to Year 2 parents and staff informing of the new changes commencing this week in Year 2Blue.  We would like to wish Mrs De Lemos and her family all the very best with the upcoming birth of their second child.  Thank you Mrs De Lemos for your amazing contributions to the children and families at SBLM, you will be missed and very much welcome to come back to us in the future.  In the meantime Year 2 Blue will be taught by our very talented teachers, the return of Mrs Mind and also Miss Kennedy. 

Next term we also welcome back Mrs Anderson who will be job sharing with Miss Bevan on Year 2Green.  We also welcome back Mrs O’Brien who will be job sharing with Miss Lees on Year 5Blue.  It is very exciting to have Mrs Anderson and Mrs O’Brien return after their maternity leave and also very pleased that Miss Bevan and Miss Lees will continue to teach their class for the remainder of 2024.  

The Bishop, Bishop Anthony Randazzo, will be visiting the Central Coast next term.  We are delighted to welcome Bishop Anthony to St Brendan’s on Grandparents’ Day.  Bishop Anthony will be saying our mass for us and joining us for morning tea after mass in the hall with our Grandparents on Friday 26th July.  If you are a class parent, please contact Victoria Price, our Parent Engagement Coordinator if you are able to assist on the day at our morning tea. We will be serving scones (jam and cream), tea and coffee and need assistance from class parents or other parents and carers to set up the hall ready for after mass please and cut up some fruit. 

Cyber bullying, bullying online is a prominent concern in the lives of not only our children, but adults too.  However, as adults we tend to have more coping strategies than our young.  Therefore I urge you to be aware that your children may be on group chats etc which is fine, however, some chats that have been brought to my attention could potentially be very hurtful and harmful.  Please, as parents, monitor your children around social media, their phones and devices.  Who are they chatting with? What are they saying to each other?  If you have not heard of “Do it For Dolly Day” please look it up for some insights in the dangers of bullying online and via messenger.  

Many students attended the TechMatics day held on Tuesday this week at St Peter’s. Well done to a handful of Stage 3 children -Kai, Elliott, Flynn, Elsa, Poppy, Oliver, Jaiden, Chevy, Marcus and Nate who “stretched their minds” on this day engaging in problem solving, coding, technology challenges and many fun activities including sphero golf!  

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Uniform update

I have asked our uniform supplier, Yeronga Uniforms, who will be taking over our uniform supplies in September to provide us with amended samples. I really appreciated the feedback received about our uniform samples hanging in the foyer and look forward to showing you further samples. 

Upcoming Events

There are many gala days coming up!  Actually a netball gala day today for Stage 3 (Friday 21st). I wish you all good luck, have fun and congratulations on your participation.  There is also a stage 2 netball gala coming up. 

Congratulations to all the children who have been completing your Children’s University tasks.  Thank you to Mr Chandler and Mrs S who have supported you along the way.  There is a Children’s university excursion next week on Tuesday at Ourimbah University!  I look forward to sharing some wonderful photos of the activities the children will be involved with in the next newsletter. 

Our Years 4 and 5 children are invited to attend St Brigid’s High School musical next Wednesday at 12pm.  This sounds like a wonderful production and I’m sure the children’s talents will shine throughout their performance enjoyed by all. 

Spirit of St Brendan's Awards

We are approaching our Spirit of St Brendan’s Awards to finish off the term.  I am looking forward to presenting these awards.  Your child’s teacher will provide further information, please check your Seesaw account. The date set down for Spirit of St Brendan’s Awards to be presented will be Friday 28th June HOWEVER some children are attending the Stage 2 netball gala day, therefore their awards will be presented on a different day to be confirmed by their teachers. 

Reports and Parent/Teacher Interviews

Our teachers have been extremely busy updating assessment data and writing reports ready for Semester One reports to be made available to parents and carers on Compass Friday, 28th June.  Parent teacher interviews are offered in Week 10 this term unless otherwise communicated by your child’s teacher.  Please check Compass to book in your interview time. 

Book Week

Over the holidays please get ready for Book Week Fair and parade.  The dress up book parade will be Thursday 25th July (Week 1 Term 3). 

End of Term Reward

End of term reward this term will be in Week 10, Thursday  4th July. We have booked a Drumming company to come to St Brendan’s.  Children will be invited to participate in drumming routines lead by the drumming company.  Congratulations to all the children who have followed our SBLM expectations this term and we look forward to another positive term next term with fabulous behaviours. 

Year 6 Celebrations

Our Year 6 end of year celebrations are underway.  If you would like to be included in the “reply all” Year 6 parent celebration committee please let me know and I can add you to the emails.  We have some dates for you to save: 

Year 6 stalls - TBC 

Mass – Monday, 9th December 5.15pm 

Dinner – Tuesday, 10th December, 5pm at The Doylo 

Beach day – Toowoon Bay, 17th December 

Whole school save the date: 

Disco – 24th September at The Doylo (year 6 fundraiser) 

K-6 performance – Shine Bright, Live Meaningfully – St Brendan’s Strengths on Stage – 28th August (ticketing to be published asap) 

Future Pupil free days in 2024: 

Friday 5th July 

Monday 22nd July 

Monday 14th October (TBC) 

God Bless, 

Charlene Reid 

Principal  

First Responders Day

I would like to personally thank all the parents who came along to our First Responder's Day and spoke to the children about their role in the community.  The children's has such an amazing experience learning about what you do. It was amazing to have an Ambulance, Forensic Kit, Police car and Fire Truck onsite for the children to explore.  We appreciate that there were many First Responders that could not join us due to work commitments.  To you all - we genuinely thank you for all you do!  

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Reports:

To access your child's report, go to your Compass app and open your child's dashboard by clicking on their photograph. You will then see a "Reports" tab in the top right corner of the app.  When you click on "Reports" you will see all of your child's reports.  If you have any issues, please do not hesitate to pop into the office.

Parent-Teacher Conferences:

In Week 10 we will be holding our Semester 1 Parent-Teacher Conferences.  The Compass Conference Booking platform will be opened over the weekend.  These conferences will be held in classrooms and you are encouraged to bring your child along, although we appreciate that this is not always possible.  Please arrive 5-10 minutes early to ensure all of our .  There will be seats outside classrooms and in the hall for those parents waiting.  As Mrs Beveridge may not available in Week 10, we have rescheduled her Parent-Teacher Conferences to Week 1 of next term and we will open her bookings next week.

Grandparents Day

Please RSVP here: https://forms.office.com/r/LMAwmmrFg6

Important Information for Volunteering Parents & Friends

The participation, involvement and help of parents/carers, close relatives and other volunteers are welcome and appreciated for various activities both in school and on excursions. We recognise that parents and carers are the primary educators for their children and we strive to uphold NSW Child Safe Standard 3: families and communities are informed and involved and National Catholic Safeguarding Standard 3: partnering with families, carers and communities.

It is important that all volunteers and contractors are aware that they may be subject to child protection legislation and may require a WWCC. This means all volunteers must:

• Sign on at the front office, and get a visitors badge from the office as per school procedure.

• Complete the CSBB Contractor and Volunteer Engagement form

• Follow our commitment to Safeguarding and not engage in any inappropriate behaviour towards any children. 

Although volunteers are technically not employed by the school, they are considered to be ‘employees’ under the Children’s Guardian Act 2019 and need to be aware that complaints about inappropriate behaviour towards a child or young person is subject to investigation.

If you have not yet completed the CSBB Contractor and Volunteer Engagement form, can you please do so. 

Religious Education

School Updates

Updates to Bus Timetables

Please see communication from Busways regarding revised operating times commencing Term 3 2024 which will affect some of our buses. 

PEC Walk n Chat

Yesterday, Victoria Price (Parent Engagement Coordinator) & Naomi Hepplewhite (Parent Engagement Coordinator St Brigid's) hosted a Walk n Chat at Lakes Beach Surf Club. It is a fantastic initiative to get to know our PEC's and other parents and also discuss a range of important topics. We really hope more parents can join us, we would love to gather feedback about any future parent engagement events so be on the look out for that. 

CHESS TOURNAMENT

Please see the flyer below for information regarding the chess competition to be held at St Brendan’s next term. This is a wonderful opportunity for students to compete against other chess players from Central Coast primary schools.
If your child is interested, knows how to move each chess piece, and can complete a game independently, please email Mr Murphy at daniel.murphy1@dbb.catholic.edu.au to register their interest.
Please note that the number of teams we can enter is limited, and as such, preference will be given to students who participated in Chess Club last term.

Awards

SBLM AWARDS

SBLM Focus - Weeks 7 & 8

Use kind words and actions.

SBLM Focus - Weeks 9 & 10

Show determination and perseverance.

Week 7

Week 8

Community News

GO4FUN

Go4Fun is a 𝗳𝗿𝗲𝗲, 10-week healthy lifestyle program for children between 7–13 years old to enjoy along with their families.

Group activities and games

Feel good about eating healthily

Reduce screen time and make new friends

Rewards and prizes for the kids

👨‍👩‍👧‍👧Positive health changes for the whole family

Term 3 programs will take place at:

The Entrance Community Centre, Wednesdays 4–6pm, starting 24th July

Gosford Olympic Pool, Thursdays 4–6pm from 25th July (Aboriginal program for everyone run by Bungree Aboriginal Association)

1st Woy Woy Sea Scouts, Mondays 4–6pm, starting 29th July

Go4Fun online

To find out more information or register, visit go4fun.com.au or call 1800 780 900. Places are limited, so get registering now!

Compass Calendar