Newsletter February 15th, 2022

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 in Week 5 – Monday 21^st February and Tuesday 22nd February. The conversations will take place via Google Meet or phone call. The conversations are being held from 3:15pm until 6:30pm both days.

All families can book a suitable time through PAM/SIMON Everywhere

On Monday 31st January, our staff joined online with those from St. Alipius, Ballarat East and St Michael’s, Daylesford to participate in a professional learning day facilitated by Corwin Australia. This day launched the second year of a three year commitment where we will focus on Visible Learning. One way to think about Visible Learning is children taking ownership of their own learning.

Visible Learning is the result of the research undertaken by John Hattie to understand what provides the most success in learning.  It is based on over 68,000 studies and 25 million students.

Our Visible Learning overarching goals for this year include:

• Continuing to develop a shared understanding of the type of learners our school is aspiring to have through learning dispositions, explicitly teach these and provide opportunities for students to reflect on them regularly;
• Share assessment information with students, and provide processes and opportunities for students to articulate where they are at in their learning, how they are progressing and their next steps;
• Develop the use of success criteria in learning to provide challenge for all learners and make these visible to learners throughout the lesson;
• Continue to articulate a clear picture of the type of feedback culture and practice our school aspires to have, linking feedback to the use of learning intentions and success criteria and making this visible to learners.

We look forward to sharing our Visible Learning journey with you this year!

Within the next week you will be invited to participate in the ECSI Survey which will assist us in better understanding how our Catholic identity is expressed in work and practice here at St Brigid’s.

The Catholic University in Leuven was commissioned by the Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd (CECV) to design a process and tools, based on sound research, to accomplish the goal of understanding our current Catholic identity and where the school community might like to see itself in the future. 

The ECSI Survey is a key element of this process and I write to request your participation. The online survey gathers responses from students in Years 5 and 6, all staff and a representative sample of parents.

You are asked to complete the survey online; it may take up to an hour to do so. Try not to get caught up in the questions, simply respond intuitively.

Keeping a record of your individual user code and password will allow you to complete the survey over two or more sessions.

The survey is only available through the project website; instructions for Survey Completion for Parents will be sent via PAM within the next week.  Your responses to this survey are guaranteed to be kept anonymous.

If you have any questions, please contact me through the school office.

Thank you for your consideration of this request and for your anticipated participation.

Enrolments are now open for the 2023 year. We have a Foundation 2023 online information session on Monday Monday 28th February at 9:30am. Onsite tours will commence in Term 2. Please spread the word!

Preschool Storytime at St Brigid’s will commence on Wednesday 16th March for prospective new families and current siblings.

Our school captains will again be organising the selling of Zooper Doopers every Friday at Lunch time.  The cost will again be 50 cents.

Just a reminder in line with the current Covid restrictions Hot Lunches will return in Term 2.

Earlier this term, we farewelled Michelle Weir in her role as cleaner at St Brigid’s. We acknowledge Michelle’s wonderful work and thank her for her time, care and dedication to St Brigid's over the years. Michelle’s presence will certainly be missed and we wish her the very best of luck in her future endeavours.

Nicci and Gunther Damons who are now doing the cleaning at St Brigid’s. Nicci and Gunther own the business ‘Ahh So Clean’, and are the parents of Ivy in Year 3.

This week, Lyle Greenwood will commence working at St Brigid’s in the role of maintenance. Lyle was operations manager at Shade ‘N’ Sails for 14 years and has been heavily involved in the building industry over the years. Lyle will work at St Brigid’s each Wednesday.

Welcome to St Brigid’s Nicci, Gunther and Lyle.

All children are expected to be at school ready to begin by 9:00am. 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.

Term One – Key Dates

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.

Term 1:

• Please note; Foundation students will not attend school on Wednesdays until Wed 16th March

Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct uniform to school each day. The St Brigid’s uniform consists of the following:

UNIFORM – BOYS:                                     

Grey shorts (Term 1 and 4)    Grey trousers (Term 2 and 3)                             

Blue school logo short sleeved shirt / polo t/shirt                    

Grey school jumper                                                    

Grey socks with black shoes (no runners)                    

Navy blue school logo hat (Term 1 and 4)                              

UNIFORM - GIRLS:                                       

Blue summer dress or navy skorts (Term 1 and 4)     

Winter tunic/ navy trousers (Term 2 and 3)

Light blue or grey socks (Term 1 and 4) 

Grey socks or stockings (Term 2 and 3)                                            

Pale blue skivvy / shirt / Logo polo

Grey school jumper                                                      

Navy blue school logo hat (Term 1 and 4)                      

Black shoes (no runners)                                                                                             

SPORTS UNIFORM:

School logo Rugby Top

School logo Polo Shirt

Navy blue shorts /navy netball skirt/navy blue skort

Navy tracksuit pants NO LEGGINGS

White socks

Runners 

Navy blue school logo hat (Term 1 and 4)

Sports Uniform is only to be worn on Wednesday and as directed by the class teacher.

Second-hand uniforms are available for sale.  Please enquire at the school office.

School Uniform is a parental responsibility. If your child is not wearing the correct uniform (including socks) a note explaining the reason must be given to the child’s teacher or the school office.

Mass Times:

Korobeit Sat 6.30pm ~ Creswick 8.45am ~ Daylesford 10.30am

The read the lastest Gordon Parish News please click on the link below: