Newsletter October 29th, 2024

This week the Catholic community celebrates two significant feast days - All Saints Day (1st November) and All Souls Day (2nd November). In commemorating these two feast days, the Church celebrates the role of people who have gone before, who are recognised officially by the Church community or not, for their work in bringing about the Reign of God, or by partnering with God in bringing God’s great dream for creation to reality. Another way of expressing this is they have been sharers of the Good News.  In these two great celebrations, the Church community acknowledges with joy these bearers of the Good News and remembers them in prayer.

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.

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.

October is Mission Month and 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.

This Friday 1st November, students and staff are invited to wear casual clothes and crazy socks to celebrate World Mission Month along with a gold coin donation 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.

Tuesday 5th November, 2024

(Melbourne Cup Public Holiday)

St Brigid's Cup will take place on Wednesday 6th November - see flyer for details.

On Friday 15th November, we will celebrate World Kindness Day. Part of this day will be the facilitation of a colour run. On this day, children are invited to wear casual clothes including a white or black tshirt that can be coated in colour. Information regarding this fundraiser, including a permission form on PAM, will be distributed this week. This year we are hoping to raise money to purchase outside play equipment and furniture for our recently paved area.

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. 

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

Tickets are available via the Spriggy Schools App.

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. 

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 contact the office if you are able to assist on the day during the following times:

10:00am - 1:00pm

12:00pm - 3:00pm or

2:00pm - 4:00pm

Bunnings BBQ Roster

Our school is holding a St Brigid’s Christmas Raffle. We are currently seeking donations for this raffle and would greatly appreciate it if you could make a donation to contribute to our raffle. We will be promoting the raffle prizes, donations and businesses on our St Brigid’s Facebook page. All money raised from this raffle will go back to our school. 

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

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. 

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

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.

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.