Newsletter February 5th, 2025

Dear Parents, Carers and Families,

We have had a terrific start to the school year. It has been wonderful to see students eagerly arriving at school each morning, settling into their classrooms, forming connections with their peers and teachers and engaging enthusiastically in their learning. We are grateful for the ongoing support from parents and carers, which has played a significant role in this smooth transition.

Looking ahead, we have an exciting term planned, full of learning opportunities, activities and community events. We encourage families to stay connected with us through our newsletters, website, Facebook and Instagram pages to ensure you don’t miss out on any updates.

On Monday, we gathered with staff, students, families and community members to celebrate our Beginning of Year Mass. In recognition of Saint Brigid’s feast day on Saturday, we took time during the Mass to reflect on Brigid’s life and our hopes for the 2025 school year. We also had the privilege of presenting our School Captains with their badges. A big thank you to Mrs Winter for preparing our beautiful Mass.

We are very much looking forward to seeing families at our Welcome Picnic this afternoon from 4:00pm. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with current and new families.

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 very warm welcome to Year 5 student Anaya and family who will join our St Brigid’s school community this week.  Anaya will join our Year 5/6 classroom.

Parents, carers 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 place onsite at St Brigid’s. Bookings are open, all families can book a suitable time through PAM/SIMON Everywhere.

To help us really get to know your child as a person and a learner, and to assist with guiding our conversation, please answer the questions on the sheet below and bring the sheet along with you to your child's Parent/Teacher Conversation next week. If you require a hard copy please collect one from the office.

Suzanne Beaver will again be at St Brigids every Tuesday this year. 

Suzanne is available for individual sessions with children. Common issues addressed are managing strong emotions, self esteem, friendship issues, anxiety, and family challenges such as illness, grief and separation.

Suzanne is also available for individual sessions with parents. Topics can include a range of parenting challenges, i.e. managing strong emotions, school reluctance, helping your child form strong friendships, and helping your child to navigate family separation.

Suzanne can also assist you in finding the right external support for your child and family.

This is a great service provided right here at school. Please don't hesitate to contact Suzanne with any concerns you might have. Contact Suzanne by phone on a Tuesday or by email any day sbeaver@sbballan.catholic.edu.au.

You can also access the service through the office or your classroom teacher.

Whole School Prayer/ Assembly will commence in Week 4 and will take place on a fortnightly basis at St Brigid’s Church. To ensure uninterrupted Literacy time and as specialist classes will take place each Friday, we will need to move assembly to Monday afternoons from 2:30pm.

This term we will have three assemblies:

• Monday 17th February, 2025 @ 2:30pm - Year 2/3W facilitating
• Monday 3rd March, 2025 @ 2:30pm
• Monday 17th March, 2025 @ 2:30pm

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.

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.

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.