Principal's Report
School Holidays
During the recent school holidays the grandparents of one of our students (Henry in the SLC) volunteered their time weeding and planting new seedlings in our Well-being Garden.
Also during the school holidays one of our very talented Dad's, Justin de Waard of Building Unlimited Pty Ltd rebuilt the wooden deck on the Junior side of the school. It looks even more amazing now with a couple of coats of decking oil.
We are very fortunate to have such generous families within our community which is what makes St Bridget's an amazing community to be part of.
Professional Development
On the first day of Term 3, the staff and I participated in some professional development around staff well-being. The session was conducted by Katrina Bourke a life coach who has been working with us around our well-being as individuals and as a staff. During this session and as a staff, we developed a hope map as a way of presenting the pathways and obstacles to achieving our hopes. This hope map is displayed in our staff room as a way to track our progress in achieving our hopes this Term.
Following the professional development session and to continue the theme of staff well-being we shared a meal together and learnt how to play lawn bowls at North Balwyn Bowling Club. We learnt very quickly how difficult and strategic the game of lawn bowls is.
New students
At the beginning of this Term we welcomed some new families to our school. Darren a Year 4 student who transferred from another school joined our Senior Learning Community and also we welcomed 7 international students from China. The international students are here to experience our education system as well as being immersed in the English language and are here for a short term stay. Please make all our new families welcome when you see them around the school.
Sport
During Term 3, the students in the Senior Learning Community will participate in an additional Interschool Sport Round Robin. The competition has been established between other small schools like ourselves including St Timothy's in Vermont and St Christopher's in Glen Waverley. The teams are mixed across the 3 schools which allows our students the opportunity to play with students from the other schools as well as to make some new friends.
Visit to Genazzano FCJ College - Mary Poppins
Our school was invited to attend the Year 7 and 8 dress rehearsal of the school production of Mary Poppins at Genazzano FCJ College in Kew. Our students from Year 1, Year 2 and Year 4 attended the afternoon session at Genazzano. This was great preparation for our own school production which is booked for 24th October at Siena College. These opportunities are an important way for us to foster positive relationships with other Secondary Catholic Schools in our area.
Confirmation
Last week our Year 5/6 students attended their Confirmation Retreat along with the catechist children from our Parish. The retreat was held at Don Bosco Retreat Centre in Lysterfield and it is a lovely location for a day of reflection. The day was led by Father Chris Ford and the children discussed and completed activities around the Gifts of the Holy Spirit which include wisdom, understanding , counsel, fortitude, knowledge, piety and fear of the Lord. The children then had time to read a personal letter written by their parents about what Gifts of the Holy Spirit they possess.
Later in the week the children received the Sacrament of Confirmation during a Mass led by Monsignor Anthony Ireland and Father Mark Reynolds. Our School Choir were also present to support our Year 5/6 students and sang beautifully.
Warm regards
Robyn Thomson
Principal