Newsletter December, 15th 2020

While this year has been challenging for all of our students, that is particularly the case for both our Foundation students and our Year 6 students.  The Preps have demonstrated both resilience and independence as they have had to navigate their way through their first year of schooling without all of the support normally available.  It is wonderful to see just how they have grown and flourished. Each of them have coped extremely well with the changing circumstances and have come to thoroughly love being at school.  Well done to each of you.

For our Year 6 children - all of the traditions that have been in place for many years have been cancelled, changed or altered. Yet they too have shone a grit and determination as they have worked their way through their final year of primary school.  It will be interesting to hear in years to come what our students may remember and talk about in regard to 2020.  As each of them head off along a variety of different paths we wish them well and thank them for all they have given and been to our school.  In each of their farewell speeches and also as part of their graduation they each share a quote about life, leadership and doing your best.  As you leave our door we say to you:

Be true to yourself:  You have brains in your head
You have feet in your shoes
You can steer yourself
Any direction your choose -  Oh, the places you’ll go (Dr Suess)

Farewell and good luck to:

Ciaran Boland
Leo Card
Noah Cardona
Tom Connally
Emmy Fidler
Kayden Heafield
Cambrai Hodge
Jack Hollitt
Cora Houston-Connellan
Will Lewis
Nadia Marinovic
Niamh Mauriks
Abigail Mulgrew
Oliver Nuner
Quinn Pearce
Joseph Seketa
Bailey Zeestraten

Final Liturgy and Assembly:

We will conduct our final liturgy on Thursday at 2.30 p.m. outside on the oval weather permitting.  We will pause to show gratitude and thanks for coming through this year, and we will also make a final farewell to our Year 6 students.  Additionally, the school captains for 2021 will be introduced to our community.  Year 6 parents only are welcome to attend this assembly, but of course we need to remember physical distancing during this time.

We sadly must say farewell to a number of families who are finishing their time within the St. Brigid’s community. Unfortunately, due to the circumstances of this year we are unable to farewell in the traditional manner, at our end of year school mass. However please know you will all remain very much in our hearts and there will be a small gift commemorating your time with us heading your way very shortly.  We bid adieu to:

Joanne and Justin Boland (Ciaran), Steve and Anna Connally (Tom), Rachel and Noel Heafield (Kayden), Rachael Hodge (Cambrai), Melissa Hollitt (Jack), Rebecca and Thomas Houston-Farley (Cora), Vicki and Trevor Lewis (Will), Roisin and James Mauriks (Niamh), Michelle and Robert Zeestraten (Bailey).

Last week we had an important group of visitors to St. Brigid’s for the signing of the DOBCEL transfer agreements. Our party included;

Tom Sexton, Executive Director of the Catholic Education Office, Terry Harney, one of the directors of DOBCEL, Father Gary Jones, Governing Authority of St. Brigid’s school, Father Ed Moloney, supervising Priest of our Parish, Lin Bowers and Marie Shanahan from our parish, Laura Sims representing our School Advisory Council, and two of school captains, Joseph Seketa and Joel Card.

After a short prayer service the governance of St. Brigid’s school was officially signed over to the new company DOBCEL (Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Limited) - a company formed to oversee the legal and compliance requirements of schools in our Diocese. There should be no noticeable changes to the operation of our school on a day to day basis as a result of this transfer.

We apologise for the delay in sending out our student reports this semester. Reports will be released on PAM today. Last week we had a major outage of our internet services which meant the reports could not be accessed both at school and by staff at home.  

In looking at your child/ren’s reports, it is important to remember that growth is not just measured in terms of the movement of dots on a progression scale, it is also demonstrated through many other aspects of learning such as attitudes, and dispositions, and most importantly the capacity to apply and demonstrate skills independently. The development of such qualities and dispositions has been very vital during 2020.

When looking at your child’s ‘growth dots’ it is important to remember that within each growth point there are a large number of skills and  knowledge to be achieved.  A child may not have had the opportunity to demonstrate the full range of learning within the year we have experienced. Teachers need to have clear evidence on a number of occasions of each of the aspects within a ‘band’ of learning - if they have not seen regular application of skills they cannot fairly say the skills has been achieved.

However, I believe all students should be absolutely applauded for their efforts throughout this difficult year. They have had to endure some very trying times, yet each of them has been able to have a positive approach to life and to school in particular and they all should be congratulated for their efforts.

Please find attached again for your information,  the letter from the Executive Director of the Catholic Education, Ballarat Tom Sexton, regarding these reports.

We sincerely thank and acknowledge all families who have ensured that their school fees are paid in a timely manner, especially at a time when we have had so many other financial challenges as a result of COVID 19. As the school year draws to a close, it is expected that all fees are paid to date. Please contact the school office if you are expereiencing difficuly meeting your 2020 fee commitments.

For 2021, all families must complete and return a fee payment arrangement form. The form and corresponding information was emailed to families last week and a hard copy sent home with the eldest in the family. They are attached again below for your reference. Please return your Fee Payment Plan form by this Friday 18th December. Please contact the office should you have any queries.

Some Key dates for Term One 2021.

Wednesday 27th January :  Staff return to school

Thursday 28th January:  Professional Learning Day for Staff - Learning Dispositions

Friday 29th January:  Professional Learning Day for Staff: Visible Learning

Monday 1st February:  ALL STUDENTS return to school  

On this day all parents are invited to join us for a cuppa and most importantly a face to face welcome to the school year. Weather permitting this will be held in the shelter shed outside the Year 5 and 6 classrooms.

Thursday February 11th:  Opening School Mass 1.30 p.m.

Thursday 25th February:  Colour Run and Welcome Barbeque

Tuesday 30th March:  School Photos

Thursday 1st April:  Last day of Term One

Thank you to Laura Sims, Peta Miles and Kirsten Jeandet who along with their children have been undertaking some considerable research around suitable shorts and long pants for our girls to wear.  Unfortunately, grey is not a colour that is readily available in suitable styles for girls, so we have made the decision to allow our girls to wear either a navy blue skort (a pair of shorts with a flap across the front to give the appearance of a skirt) in summer, or long navy blue pants in winter. The navy is still in keeping with our uniform as it is a part of the sports uniform.  Both of these items will be available from Beleza Uniform Shop.  The girls can begin wearing these from the beginning of 2021.

Attached is a letter outlining Beleza Uniform Store opening hours.

Congratulations to our Year 5 students who undertook their leadership speeches last week.  This was done in a very safe COVID manner and was recorded for all classes to view and were also posted on Seesaw.  Each child did a fabulous job and it was so impressive to see each student speak in such a passionate way about their desire to be a school captain.  Furthermore, although not everyone can become a school captain each child demonstrated they were worthy of the role.  The school captains for 2021 will be announced as part of our final liturgy on Thursday.

We are happy to advise that we can offer our families After School Care for students again at St Brigid's, Monday to Friday, throughout the school terms in 2021. We are grateful for all the work Teagan, Karen and Caz put into the program making it a huge success and fun for all the children attending. Our numbers continue to grow and we welcome new families. If you are interested please contact Jodie in the office for further information. 

Parish Update

Christmas Mass Times

Dec 24 (Christmas Eve)

Clarkes Hill 6pm, Springbank 6pm, Gordon 7.30pm, Bungaree 8pm

Dec 25 - (Christmas Day)

Ballan 9am, Dunnstown 9.30am