Newsletter March 29th, 2022

May the glory and the promise of this joyous time of year bring peace and happiness to you and those you hold most dear.

And may Christ, Our Risen Savior, always be there by your side to bless you most abundantly and be your loving guide.

Dear Members of our St Brigid’s Community,

As we approach week 10, it is important to pause and reflect upon the many events, activities, celebrations and successes of Term 1.

A key highlight occurred last week as we facilitated our Moorabool Sports Day. It was lovely to observe the happiness on the faces of each child as they participated in their events! How terrific also to be able to welcome families to this wonderful event. Next week, on Tuesday 5th April, we hope to see many families at our welcome BBQ at Mill Park. This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet new and existing families, staff and children. 

Please continue to keep members of our staff and community who are unwell in your thoughts and prayers.  I have spoken with both Pete Mullane and Ricky Whitcher who are currently recuperating at home and I’m pleased to report that both are travelling well and adhering to medical advice.

Performing Arts will continue in Pete’s absence and Mrs Andrea Byvoet will be teaching 5/6W for the majority of the time in Ricky’s Absence. We really look forward to seeing both Ricky and Pete back at school when they are feeling better! 

As a school we are beginning to move very closely to the end of our first term and our church is moving into the most significant and in many ways, the busiest time of the liturgical season as we move towards Easter. Next week as a school, we will commence our school based celebrations for Easter with all classes reflecting upon the events of Holy Week. We look forward to sharing our reflections with our community.

Have a wonderful week everyone and I look forward to seeing you soon!

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

On Thursday 24th March,  staff engaged in a wonderful day of professional learning with a focus on Catholic Social Teachings. We were so fortunate to welcome Fr Justin who facilitated our morning session with the overarching goal of working towards developing a culture that embeds the Catholic Social Teachings throughout the curriculum and community and also encourages our children to develop a post critical understanding of the Catholic faith. We look forward to working with our children and community to explore further the Catholic Social Teachings.

On Friday 25th March, staff participated in a day of comprehensive First Aid training facilitated by Pulse CPR. It is a requirement in all schools for staff to complete full first aid training every 3 years with CPR, Anaphylaxis and Asthma training completed yearly.  The day was a great combination of theory and practical exercises and was of great benefit to us all!

On Tuesday 5^th April, at 5pm all families are invited to a welcome BBQ at Mill Park Reserve. This will be a wonderful opportunity to meet new and existing families, staff and children. Sausages in bread will be available. A tour of the new landscaping area at St Brigid’s will also be arranged for interested families. We are really looking forward to seeing you on Tuesday 5^th April!

Congratulations to all of the students who celebrated the Sacrament of Reconciliation last week. Many  thanks to Therese Winter and Fr Justin for their preparation and participation. A big thankyou to all of the parents who as first educators of their children oversaw the home based activities.

Every blessing to:

Kiara Grigg, Chloe Muscat, Ned Conroy, Maya Filo and Esther Seketa 

Spanning across the six weeks of Lent each year, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australian schools, parishes and supporters together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world.

(Week beginning Monday 28th March)

We are now in the fourth week of Lent with the Project Compassion story of Rosalie.

Rosalie had a tough childhood. Her father passed away when she was just two-years-old and her mother struggled to look after the family on her own.

In the Democratic Republic of Congo, women are traditionally responsible for household tasks, with limited employment opportunities outside the home. Rosalie's mother found it difficult to afford food and clothing, let alone school fees, and Rosalie had to drop out of school.

Then, when she was just 15 years old, Rosalie was forced to join the army. In recent decades, the DRC has experienced ongoing political instability, violence and conflict, and the recruitment of child soldiers is all too common.

A very big thank you to the staff and volunteers who organised and facilitated each event. Congratulations to all of our wonderful children for their amazing efforts on this day!

The following awards were presented to: 

Anni Clarke 9 year old girls champion and record holder for 100m & 400m

Kiara Grigg 10 year old girls champion

Ned Conroy 10 year old boys champion

Ailah McFall 11 year old girls champion

Maddison Buttigieg 12 year old girls champion

Thank you to the families who have registered interest in the possibility of joining St Brigid’s Parents and Friends Committee.  An active P&F committee allows families the opportunity to play a valuable part in providing social and fundraising activities.  If you are interested in attending a meeting to find out more about possibly joining our P&F committee, please indicate your interest by clicking on the following link:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc4tQtTHXnyIpBFLRWtTCuhDp8btPcIJ1pkn3uEg6wVX7Z-yw/viewform

As in past years we will once again be conducting our Annual Easter Egg Raffle. All families are asked to donate an Easter related item for our raffle. Raffle tickets for the Easter Raffle will be sent home with the eldest in the family next week. The raffles will be drawn at our Welcome BBQ on Tuesday 5th April. 

In May every year, students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 take part in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN). NAPLAN was first introduced in 2008 and has become a routine part of the school calendar in Australia.

NAPLAN, which is a part of the National Assessment Program (NAP), is how governments, education authorities and schools can determine whether young Australians are reaching important educational goals. States and territories determine when their schools commence NAPLAN Online.

This year our school will commence the transition from a paper based to online assessment-NAPLAN Online. Moving to NAPLAN online brings many new opportunities for students and teachers that are limited or not possible with paper-based tests. The year three Writing test is the only test that will continue as a pen and paper assessment this year. It is through the Online National Assessment Platform that we will administer the tests. Children will complete the tests via a secure locked down browser on a suitable device.

Some of the main benefits of students taking part in NAPLAN Online include:

• Better assessment – and more precise results. NAPLAN Online uses a tailored test or adaptive design, where the test automatically adapts to individual student performance and asks questions that match the student achievement level, allowing the student to demonstrate their knowledge. This provides teachers and schools with more targeted and detailed information on students’ performance on the tests. Tailored testing also provides an opportunity to broaden the scope of the assessments.
• Faster turnaround of results. Delivery of assessments online significantly reduces the time it takes to provide feedback to schools, students and parents, so teachers can respond more quickly to learning needs.

As technology develops, ACARA aims to further refine the delivery of the tests to best use the available technology to provide increasingly sophisticated assessments and valuable feedback to teachers, parents and education authorities.

Students in Years 3 and 5 will be participating in practice testing sessions over the coming weeks.

Just an update from Beleza Uniform's in Ballarat on the supply of the St Brigids new school jumper. The jumper has been made and shipped however it is coming from overseas and will hopefully arrive in store by the end of April. Thank you for your patience, we will advise any updates when supplies are in store.

Congratulations to Kyriae Fidler who was recently awarded the The Grey Wolf badge. The Grey Wolf badge is the peak award for Cub Scouts.

Kyriae has been a member of 1^st Ballan since the end of 2015 when she joined Joey Scouts, a few weeks before starting primary school. In late 2018 she gained her Joey Promise Challenge badge – the peak award for that section.

As part of the Grey Wolf Kyriae had to organise and lead a 4-hour hike, learn how to sew herself a dress with a zip and puffy sleeves, learn how to cook on a campfire, set up tents and demonstrate that she knew basic knots and how to use a compass.

The badge was presented on March 20 at Barongarook during a 1^st Ballan Family Camp for local members including Joeys, Cubs, Scouts and Venturers. The children spent time at the camp making shelters from materials in the bush, exploring waterfalls, checking out the glow-worms at Lavers Hill and learning how to navigate a high ropes / zipline course.

1^st Ballan Cub and Joey scouts meet every Monday from 6.30pm at the Uniting Church Hall in Inglis Street. A new Scout hall is going up a few doors down and should be finished by 2023.

Ballan also has a Scout group for kids aged 10-15 – and now a Venturer unit for 14 to 18-year-olds.

A reminder that St Brigid’s parents are invited to complete the ECSI Survey online which will assist us in better understanding how our Catholic identity is expressed in work and practice here at St Brigid’s. Keeping a record of individual user codes and passwords will allow parents to complete the survey over two or more sessions.

Please refer to the following instructions to access and complete the survey:

1. Access the surveys at https://www.ecsi.site/au/user/
2. Enter the case-sensitive password Ghj654 and click login
3. If you’re a new user: Click the New user button 
4. If you wish to continue a previous session: Enter your User-ID and Password. 
5. Enter your school’s Survey Access Code D241pG so that your input will be linked to your school 
6. You are now logged in. Displayed on the screen is your unique User-ID and Password (case sensitive)
7. Save this information (write, print, or email it) to access the website at a later time
8. From this point forward, please follow the on-screen instructions to complete the surveys

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:

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: