Newsletter Term 1, Week 5 2023

Principal's Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 1 Week 5! 

I would like to remind you about our Playgroup that started last week in our hall from 9am.  This group provides the children time to familiarise themselves with St Brendan’s environment and it allows for socialisation.  This group also provides a social platform for our adults too! 

If you know of any families wishing to enrol their children at St Brendan’s in the near future and 2024, we have our Open Days scheduled for 28th March and 30th March.  On both days the timeslots are from 9-10.30am and 5-6.30pm.  If your Year 6 child received a note asking for permission to help with our tours, please return this note asap so we can organise our schedule. 

Mr Banks is preparing our athletics carnival on Monday, 13th March at the moment.  Please let us know if you are available to help. 

Congratulations to all the children from St Brendan's to Mingara Swimming Centre on Monday 20th February for the CCC Swimming Carnival. Their efforts and behaviour were outstanding. The students were great ambassadors for our school. We had some very pleasing results and the following children will participate in the Twilight Broken Bay Carnival at Mingara Pool on Tuesday 14th March. Congratulations to Oliver M, Kiarni W, Samantha M and to the Junior girls 4x50 metre relay team comprising of Annabella M, Sophie L, Kiarni W and Samantha M. 

For other representative sport pathways please keep your eye on the csnsw.sport website, especially if your child is in Years 5 and 6 and specialise in a particular sport e.g Touch, Netball, Soccer, football, AFL, golf etc.  If you are interested in participating in the trials please contact Mr Greg Banks (greg.banks@dbb.catholic.edu.au) for further details and an application form. 

I would like to welcome Mrs Samantha Beveridge to our year 6 Green classroom.  Mrs Beveridge started teaching Year 5 Green this week on Monday.  Here is a little intro from Samantha. 

Carpark

The above markings indicate where children are dropped off in the morning/afternoon at our kiss and drop.  The white rectangle is the zone for pick up and drop off.  If you are approaching the zone you may drive up to the red rectangle (marked number 1), the following car drives up to the blue rectangle (marked number 2) and the third vehicle drives up to the yellow rectangle (marked number 3).  The remaining cars are asked to wait in a single line behind these vehicles until the zones are free of cars.  When moving from these zones please use your indicator (blinker) and look behind you for cars driving through. 

All children should be entering and exiting these cars on the left hand side please. It is far too dangerous for children to enter and exit on the right hand side due to cars driving through. 

I understand everyone is busy and we are governed by “time”, however, one of our important priorities at St Brendan’s is for everyone to stay safe.  Please help us keep our community safe by respecting others in the carpark and beyond. 

During the raining mornings, a witches hat will be placed near the entrance to the carpark to direct ALL cars through our carpark first before entering the boat round about.  We need to follow this process otherwise the cars block the carpark and the flow of the traffic is obstructed. 

We are very lucky to have such a large carpark and access, therefore when parking could you please be sure to park within the lines as there are some parents who need to unstrap toddlers and remove them from their back seats.  If cars are parked over the lines, this makes it very hard with limited space. 

DOJOs

After consultation with the student leadership team, we would like to confirm our dojo rewards for the end of term reward and the accumulation of dojos throughout the year: 

End of Term 1 reward = Inflatable obstacle course (if available) OR bike day (TBC) 

Yearly accumulation of points: 

80 dojos = 15 mins ipad time in class 

120 dojos = Principal Award at assembly 

180 dojos = 15 mins early out to oval for play before eating time – children will be supervised. Children may be able to invite a friend to join them. 

200 dojos = Principal Award at assembly 

250 dojos = Wear an item of clothing to school e.g.Crazy hat/sport cap/crazy socks/shoes PLUS children will receive a Super Dooper/treat 

300 dojos = Principal Award at assembly  

350 dojos = Movie and popcorn in the hall/Year 5 collaborative space 

Congratulations to our staff members who are excited to share their news! 

Mrs Stephanie Mind and her husband are excited to share their news of a new baby on the way! 

Also, Mr Daniel Murphy and his wife Mrs Gemma Murphy are excited to share their news of a new baby on the way! 

We wish them well and can’t wait to meet your new additions to your beautiful families. 

Cowan and Lewis is our uniform suppliers.  Their number is 94499777 and email sales@cowanlewis.com.au.  If you need an Exchange Form for any uniform exchanges or refunds please visit our office and collect a form or email them directly.  We are currently investigating the option for girls to have shorts or culottes with a peter pan collar shirt for summer as well as their existing check tunic.  Boys will also have access to a shirt that is designed to be worn outside their shorts instead of being tucked in whilst wearing their summer uniform.  I will be sending out a survey to all parents and carers for your feedback please.  Samples will be available in the office for you to see shortly. 

God bless, 

Charlene Reid 

Principal 

Learning every day counts

Learning every day counts! Small amounts of time off add up and can have a significant impact impact on student learning.  If you are experiencing challenges with getting your child to school, please do not hesitate to reach out to Mrs Jacqui Fletcher, Assistant Principal for assistance.  

Just a reminder:

• If your child has a partial absence (they arrive late or leave early), this can only be entered on Compass by our Office Staff or through the Compass Kiosk when you drop off or collect your child.  You must walk your child into the office if they are arriving late.
• If your child is absent for a full day, you need to enter an absence note on Compass providing an explanation. 
• When entering absence notes the code TRAVEL is only for those people who have Principal's leave.  It is not to be used if you are running late or stuck in traffic. 

Compass Support:

Jacqui Fletcher will be available in the office on Monday, 6 March 2023 between 8:00 am and 9:00 am if you have any problems with Compass and need support!

Religious Education

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

Week 4 Award Recipients

Week 5 Award Recipients

Bike Day

Dear St Brendan’s Kids, Parents & Staff,

Welcome to the SBLM Bike & Scooter Day! We are excited to run it as an extension of our Rocky Trail Academy program. – The Rocky Trail Academy is one of the event concepts by Rocky Trail Entertainment Pty Ltd, which was founded by us, Juliane and Martin Wisata, Cosmo’s parents. Cosmo is in Year 2 and we enjoy riding to school most days – we are really looking forward to offering some of our know-how and resources for the Bike and Scooter Day this year!

You can visit the full details about the day via the link below. The password to enter the site is sblmbike

CCC Swimming

Congratulations to all the children from St Brendan's to Mingara Swimming Centre on Monday 20th February for the CCC Swimming Carnival. Their efforts and behaviour were outstanding. The students were great ambassadors for our school. We had some very pleasing results and the following children will participate in the Twilight Broken Bay Carnival at Mingara Pool on Tuesday 14th March. Congratulations to Oliver M, Kiarni W, Samantha M and to the Junior girls 4x50 metre relay team comprising of Anabella M, Sophie L, Kiarni W and Samantha M.

Sports Column

Below is a photo of Oliver M, Harry P and Oliver Mac at the NSW SLS Championships last weekend. Oliver M placed 12th in the u9 Board final out of approx 120 kids in his first ever state final! Oli also joined the u10 boys for the swim teams in the heat which was a great achievement! All the boys had a fantastic carnival and lots of fun together. Well done boys!

Well done to Nate in Year 5 on his excellent reporting for the Newcastle Knights!

Upcoming

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. 

Compass Calendar