Newsletter January 29th, 2025

Dear Parents, Carers and Families,

It is with great excitement that we begin our 2025 school year.

Today we welcome children in Years 1- 6 to St Brigid’s and we look forward to welcoming our Foundation students to school tomorrow. It was wonderful to see happy faces enter the school grounds this morning. Excitement filled the air at recess and lunchtime as the children explored the new play spaces. I wish all children a happy and productive year of learning.

A very warm welcome to our many new children who will commence at St Brigid’s this year. We are really looking forward to fostering connections with you.

This year, we welcome the following new staff members to St Brigid’s - Ms Jasmine McIlvena (Year 2/3) and Mr Callum Stevens (Year 4/5). We also look forward to welcoming Miss Emma Anticaglia back to St Brigid’s. Ms Tamara Wilson (STEM teacher) has accepted a teaching position in Ballarat and therefore a STEM teaching position has been advertised. Ms Victoria Rosewarne will teach STEM for the duration of February.

Saturday 1st February is the feast day of our patron saint, Saint Brigid. Saint Brigid was born around 451 AD in County Louth, Ireland. Brigid was renowned for her generosity and compassion to the poor and the sick, often giving them the food from her own table. Brigid, and some of her friends who also wished to devote their lives to Christ as nuns, chose the Beatitude ‘Blessed are the Merciful’ when they took their vows.

Brigid built a convent settlement and continued her work from that base, travelling about the district caring for the poor and converting many to the Church. She is renowned for her leadership and faithfulness to the Church.

We look forward to recognising St Brigid’s at our beginning of year Mass on Monday 3rd February at 9:30am - all welcome!

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

A big congratulations to Year 4/5 teacher Callum, Katie and big brother Nate on the arrival of beautiful Ava Lee Stevens. Ava entered the world on Monday 20th January and both Katie and Ava are doing really well!

We are delighted to share the wonderful news of the arrival of Maddison Rae, Andreana's beautiful granddaughter who was born on January 3rd. Congratulations to Andreana and family.

This week, Before and After School care are running an outdoor program. Please note that drop off (Before School Care) and pick up (After School Care) will remain at the gates near the Church carpark. Thank you for your understanding.

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.

Specialist classes will commence this week. Please see specialist timetable below:

** Please note, children will now need to wear their Sports Uniform each Tuesday.

This year we will be participating in a swimming program from Foundation - Year 6 at the Salt Water Swim School in Bacchus Marsh. This will consist of a 5 day intensive swimming program, where children will participate in a 45 minute lesson each day.

Swimming and water safety is included in the Health and Physical Education Curriculum from Foundation to Level 10. This means that schools must ensure that they are implementing a swimming and water safety program that meets the requirements of the curriculum. Development of knowledge and skills relating to survival swimming and basic water safety can significantly reduce a child’s drowning risk and enhance community safety.

Class groupings attending are as follows:

• Year 4/5S; Year 5/6B - Monday 10th February - Friday 14th February
• FC; FA; Year 1S; Year 2/3W; Year 2/3M - Monday 13th October - Friday 17th October

Further information regarding times of lessons and travel details will be sent via PAM.

Secondhand Uniform Items - seeking donations

The senior students are holding a Pop-Up Secondhand Uniform Shop on Tuesday 11th February 8:45am-9:00am & 2:45pm - 3:00pm on this day.

We are looking for donations of any St Brigid's uniform, particularly smaller sizes for our new Foundation children commencing school. Each item of clothing will be sold for a gold coin donation.

Please make sure the items are in excellent condition and washed prior to donating. 

We are very grateful for the support received each year.  Thank you for your assistance with this.

Welcome to St Brigid's Primary School's Parent Access Module or PAM.

PAM is the home of your school related, student information and will be used for medical profiles, excursion/camp permissions, parent teacher interviews, absences and daily messages. Please follow the instructions below to set up your account.

Step 1:
You will need to set your own access password. To set your password click on the link below. This will take you to the PAM login page. Click on the 'Forgot Password?' link and follow the prompts.

PAM Login

Step 2:

Download the SIMON Everywhere app to access PAM on your preferred
device/s. Search 'SIMON everywhere' in the app store and download. Once
downloaded, click on the 3 lines in the top left corner, click on 'add school',
select 'St Brigid’s Primary School' then enter the login details that you set up
for PAM in Step 1.

Step 3:
Please complete the medical profile for each of your child/ren and upload any action plan if applicable. Please Note: It is the parents/guardians' responsibility to update their child/ren's profiles, to inform the school of any changes. This profile will be the main school medical reference for camps and excursions. 

If you are experiencing any difficulty with the setup process, please contact the office.

Parents and families will be provided with the opportunity to touch base with their child’s classroom teacher through our Parent/Teacher conversations that will take place on Tuesday 11th February and Wednesday 12th February. The conversations will take onsite at St Brigid’s.

Booking details including interview times will be circulated within the coming week.

Ensuring the safety and well-being of all our students remains a top priority. A reminder that from the commencement of this year, the official school drop-off time will be 8:30am, with the front office doors locked until this time,

Last year, we noticed an increasing number of students arriving before 8:30am, often when the office and other areas of the school were unsupervised. From this year, students who arrive earlier than 8:30am will need to remain in the outdoor area under the supervision of a parent, carer or family member until 8:30am.

For families requiring supervision prior to 8:30am, we encourage you to make use of the Before School Care program offered through Camp Australia, which is available from 6:30am. This is a great option to ensure your children are well cared for before the school day begins.

All children are expected to be at school ready to begin by 8:55am. Arriving on time for school is important. 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. It is very difficult for children arriving late to ‘catch up on this missed information. Parents are expected to phone through to the office the child’s absence on the day, 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 confirming the child’s absence from school will be sent.

Outstanding School Fees for 2024 statements will be emailed this week and 2025 School Fee information will be emailed also this week.

Payment options are via direct debit, EFTPOS at the school office, cash, cheque, credit card or internet banking. An early payment discount of $100 is offered where the family fee account is paid in full by 28th February.

Direct debits are available fortnightly, monthly, or termly payments. Payments will commence on the 13th February. 

Please return your form to the office by Friday 7th February.

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.