Newsletter Term 1, Week 7 2023

Principal's Welcome

Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 1 Week 7, our second last newsletter for Term 1 and hasn’t it flown and still more to come!

• NAPLAN Years 3 and 5
• Bike Day – 22^nd March
• Cricket before our Family Mass on Saturday 25^th March
• We are approaching our 4^th Sunday of Lent preparing for Easter
• SBLM First Reconciliation Sacrament – 28^th March
• SBLM Cross Country – 29^th March
• Easter Hat making day – 31^st March
• Groovin the Green – 31^st March
• Easter Hat Parade – 3^rd April
• End of Term Reward Day – 4^th or 5^th April (TBC)
• Holy Thursday – Holy Week liturgy – 6^th April
• Last Day of Term 1 – Thursday 6^th April
• Pupil Free Day – Monday 24^th April (Vacation care available)
• ANZAC Day public holiday – Tuesday 25^th April
• First Day of Term 2 – 26^th April

I would like to acknowledge and thank all our parent helpers at our SBLM Athletics carnival on Monday.  Thank you for getting involved and assisting us at our wonderful carnival.  Thank you to Mr Banks who coordinated the carnival and for our staff who engaged in all the activities at Mingara track. The day was very successful, the children were cooperative, engaged and encouraged others and yes, the weather was good too!

Athletics Carnival

NAPLAN

I would like to congratulate our Year 3 and 5 students who are currently in the middle of sitting their NAPLAN, 2023.  We wish them well and look forward to the data NAPLAN provides us to assist us guide our learning.

SBLM Positive Behaviour for Learning

Strive High

Be Alive in Christ

Let’s Learn

Make Good Choices

It’s time to evaluate how our PBL (Positive Behaviour for Learning) is going!  Introduced this year is our new PBL known as SBLM.

We have implemented a school wide discipline approach mainly focusing on the positive behaviour for learning where children are awarded dojo points as an end of year reward and also being rewarded with their accumulative scores throughout the year!  These dojo rewards were outlined in our last newsletter. Therefore we have two reward systems happening at the same time, one for the term and one for the whole year! Our 123 Magic is connected to our reflection room and will determine whether the children will participate in the end of term reward. This does reset each term.

As a staff, we are evaluating our Reflection Room consequence.  We know by making not so good choices there is always a consequence.  Our consequence was introduced at the beginning of the year as missing the end of term reward if a child was to be in the Reflection Room 3 times or more within the current term.  With consultation from parents at our parent forum and staff feedback we have decided that each individual reflection room will be assessed by our collaborative team made up of executive and reflection room staff, class teacher, parent and child to assess whether the consequence will involve missing the end of year reward or participating in part of the reward after completing significant community service.  The community service may involve missing play times to help clean up the school environment, assisting teachers and staff members or assisting other students with their individual needs during lunch time for a week before the reward day.  Ultimately, our goal is for behaviour modification.

Congratulations to our swim team who competed at the Broken Bay Primary Swimming carnival on Tuesday evening at Mingara.

Following are their fantastic results:

Kiarni W 1^st 8 yr 50m Freestyle

Samantha Mc 5^th Junior girls backstroke

                              5^th 50m freestyle

                              4^th Junior butterfly

                              1^st junior breastroke

                              2^nd junior Individual medley

Junior Girls relay 4^th: Anabelle M, Kiarni W, Sophie L, Samantha Mc

Ollie M 7^th 9 yr 50 m freestyle

Logan B 8^th 9yr 50m freestyle

Caritas

Thank you so much for your generous donations toward our mission fundraiser, Caritas, Walk for Water.  Miss Foskett has some very exciting news in our Religious Education section of this newsletter!  I know of many children earning money by doing chores around the house, helping their neighbours and family members!  What a wonderful way of raising money and helping others along the way.  You are truly “Alive in Christ”.

God Bless,

Charlene Reid

Principal

Religious Education

Walk for Water Day

Today students had the opportunity to carry buckets of water to raise money for Caritas Australia and were able to show solidarity with young people and women who spend millions of hours each year collecting water. Through the fantastic efforts of St Brendan's students and their families we have been able to raise over $1000

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 

Week 6 Award Recipients

Week 7 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

Sports Column

Alexia did really well at State Combined Athletics Carnival at Dubbo and is happy to share with the school. The carnival involved competing in 6 events ( Hurdles, Long Jump, Shot Put, Discus 100m and 800m)and dependent on your time or distance you receive points which are tallied to work out the overall places. Overall she came 4th in the State and did 3 pbs. 

AFL Come and Try Sessions

On Saturday we are doing Girls “Come and Try Sessions” Across 2 locations on the Central Coast, with AFLW Star Eilish Sheeran.

The 2 clinics will be tailored to girls from ages 5-15, for new or existing players, to run through skills and games before getting a chance to get a photo or autograph.

What: AFL Girls Come and Try Sessions

When: March 18th

Where: Adcock Park, West Gosford (10am-11am) , Don Small Oval, Tacoma (2pm-3pm)

Age: 5-15 years

Cost: FREE

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. 

Seasons for Growth

In Term 2, we would like to commence the 2023 Seasons for Growth program at St Brendan’s. Loss at any time can be challenging. We recognise that when changes occur in families through separation, divorce, bereavement (of a parent or significant other), or other loss experiences, young people may benefit from learning how to make sense of these changes. To support our children and young people, we are offering an Australian evidence-based education program called Seasons for Growth. 

Seasons for Growth is a small group program that supports children and young people to learn change is part of life, naming and caring for feelings, problem-solving, making good choices and developing a peer support network. The children will attend the weekly sessions of 30-40 minutes, during the school day for eight weeks, concluding with a 'Celebration' session. Each child is given a journal to record their experience and learning during the program. Group Companions will promote mutual respect, trust and confidentiality. It is important to note that it does not provide counselling or therapy. 

Please see Compass for further details

Vacation Care program for April now available

CatholicCare’s Vacation Care service offers a wide range of activities catering to children of differing ages and interests.

We also head out and about on a range of fun local excursions each holiday period.

We provide a stimulating and enjoyable environment and activities which harness the children’s interests and strengths whilst respecting their need for leisure.

We hope to see you there!

The school program can be downloaded from https://www.catholiccaredbb.org.au/vacation-care

St Brendan's ELC

If you or someone you know has a preschool aged child, take a look at St Brendan's ELC located on St Brendan's Primary School grounds. St Brendan's Early Learning Centre prides themselves in providing a safe environment, where play and discovery provides opportunities for children to explore new interests, problem solve and think creatively. Enquire today by giving them a call or email!

Compass Calendar