Newsletter October 15th, 2024

St Brigid's Primary School Ballan wishes to acknowledge respectfully the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we live, work, learn, play and gather. We pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging.

Take care and God bless,

Jayne Bosworth

'Inspire us to act justly and to reverence all God has made.'

Excerpt from St Brigid's Prayer

We extend our warmest wishes to Victoria Rosewarne, who will be taking leave for the 2025 school year. Victoria has exciting travel plans ahead, and we are thrilled for her as she embarks on this new adventure.

Victoria is an asset to our team and her child centered approach, dedication and exemplary teaching has positively impacted so many at St Brigid’s. We look forward to celebrating Victoria this year and hearing about her adventures throughout the 2025 school year.

Please join me in congratulating Victoria on this exciting adventure and wishing her well in her future endeavours.

October is Mission Month and this Sunday 20th October is World Mission Sunday. World Mission Sunday is a day dedicated to the great work of Mission. To celebrate this event, Catholic Mission is inviting all of us to answer our call to be missionaries. Pope Francis’ message for World Mission Sunday this year reflects on the theme: “You shall be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). He reminds us that, every Christian is called to be a missionary and witness to Christ.

On Friday 1st November, students and staff are invited to wear crazy socks to celebrate World Mission Month along with a can of food to support Catholic Mission. Throughout Mission Month, students and staff will learn about, pray, advocate for, and financially support children and communities in need around the world.

Save the date - World Kindness Day/School Colour Run is being held on Friday 15th November. Further information to follow.

St Brigid's Cup is being held on Wednesday 6th November - more details to follow. 

All children are expected to be at school ready to begin by 8:55am. Arriving on time for school is important for a number of reasons.  The first 10 minutes of school is a vital time of the day when the day's routine and structure is established.  It is a time for ‘tuning in’ and focusing on the learning intentions for the day.

If your child is unwell or absent, you are required to notify the school as soon as possible on the day of absence, via a phone call through to the office or through our school Parent Access Module (PAM). If there has been no contact from the family in the morning of the absence, a sms from the office regarding your child’s absence from school will be sent. Upon receiving a sms, families are expected to phone through to the office to inform the school of their child’s absence.

Students who arrive late or leave early are expected to be signed in/out at the office by a responsible adult. 

Each year, teachers undertake the work of creating class lists for the following year and many hours are spent on this task. Please be assured that teachers use their professional knowledge of students and their professional knowledge of what is best for each individual child when considering groupings. In assigning students to classes, teachers are asked to consider various factors.

Parent/Carer 2025 class requests of a serious nature, need to be emailed to Jayne - jbosworth@sbballan.catholic.edu.au prior to Friday 25th October, 2024. Requests submitted after this date will not be considered. Please note requests are not guaranteed.

Grandparents day will take place on Friday 22nd November and will consist of a Liturgy at 9:00am followed by activities. More information will be circulated early in Term 4.

Our school disco will now take place on Friday 8th November at the Mechanics Hall.

Tickets are available via the Spriggy Schools App.

On Sunday 24th November, we have the opportunity to host a Bunnings BBQ (Creswick Road). For this to proceed, we will require a number of volunteers. Please fill out the following survey, if you are able to assist on the day.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/M7RYS5M

Our P&F are in the process of creating a St Brigid's School Cookbook. Please click on the following link to submit your recipe or collect a hard copy from the office: 

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/DCDNJBT

Whole school prayer/Assembly will again take place in Term 3 from 9:00am - 9:20am. The timetable is as follows:

Assembly Schedule Term 4

We have now transitioned to full summer uniform.

Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct summer uniform to school each day including bringing the St Brigid’s school bag to and from school daily. A navy wide brim hat is also required. If your child does not have a hat to wear they will need to play in the sheltered area only during breaks.

Children are able to wear sports uniform each Wednesday and on classroom nominated sports day as directed by your child’s classroom teacher.

Our next P&F meeting will take place this Thursday 24th October from 3.15pm - 4.00pm in our school Library. An active P&F committee allows families the opportunity to play a valuable part in providing social and fundraising activities.  Please attend this meeting if you are interested in joining our P&F committee.

Any help would be greatly appreciated as all funds raised contribute to resources and materials to support your children in their holistic development.

All of the timetabled events (to date) for the school year can be found on our school calendar which can be accessed through PAM and via this newsletter.

On Monday 21st and Tuesday 22nd October we will welcome External Reviewer Sheridan Coverdale, Catholic Education Ballarat’s Education Consultant Jo-Anne Bond and Principal Colleague Garth Kydd for our External School Review. Throughout the two days, the panel will meet with staff, students and parents to gain insight into our school.

Our last school review took place in 2019 and throughout this year, we have had the opportunity to reflect upon our key successes and areas for growth leading into our upcoming review.

Monthly statements are being emailed and would appreciate all accounts being paid by 5th December, 2024. if you have any queries or need to know your balance please contact Tracey in the office. 

SZappp Mobile Application is a fantastic way for communicating and making information or resources available to our St Brigid's school community. 

Please follow the instructions in the below guide on how to install the SZappp and register an email account for communication.