Term 3, Week 6

Here we are in week 6, of Term 3. So many developments, changes, new opportunities for growth and an opportunity to refocus on what we do at St Brigid’s and why we do it.

School Closure Day

The week began with St Brigid’s staff gathered together on Monday 14th August, to connect, share our passion for teaching and learning, our individual values, and revisit our shared school values. We discussed what makes St Brigid’s the school of choice, for us as educators, and for our students. This led to the sharing of feedback from parents, students and staff, looking forward to an even stronger future.

It was warming to see the connections between all stakeholders, and what they value about St Brigid’s; our close community and small school connections, student empowerment, student led learning, wellbeing support and genuine care, faith and social justice actions, student leadership opportunities, unique community events and celebrations, to name a few.

Collectively, parent feedback indicated the need for us to share learning and teaching programs, foci, interventions and extensions that we are providing at St Brigid’s. We will regularly share more of this through SeeSaw posts, assembly discussions, newsletter pieces, and social media posts.

We understand that we are on a journey, and there are also things that require change, and improvement, and we will inform you of these plans along the way.

We thank you for your continued support, honesty, collaboration and care. We understand that school and family partnerships are pivotal in creating the best learning opportunities and pathways for our students.

MACS 2030

Monday was a great precursor to my Catholic Professionals Conference on Thursday afternoon, where I was fortunate enough to join 250 other professionals and listen to inspiring presentations from both Arch Bishop Peter Comensoli, and our new Executive Director of Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools Dr. Edward Simons. Dr. Simons bravely stated the challenges faced by many Catholic schools at this time. Finances are tight, new state schools are offering state of the art facilities, families are becoming distanced from their Catholic faith, and enrolments are decreasing in our sector. Then he shared the hope, the faith and new vision. MACS 2030: Forming Lives to Enrich the World. The themes are intrinsically tied to the things we value in our community, faith, learning, leaders and communities. He spoke of engaging learners' heads, hearts and hands, learning from mistakes, showing bravery, and taking risks. Our religion is an active religion, we need to be committed to the journey and building up the Catholic school presence, making our schools the school of choice.

#TogetherEngageFullyandFaithfully.

Hands, Hearts and Minds in Action

Thanks to the kind donations from our generous community, and the active involvement of the Mini Vinnies, we were able to take the non-perishable goods to the Gisborne Foodbank. They were very appreciative, showed us around, as well as presented us with a certificate. Macedon Ranges has had a marked increase in food scarcity and many more families are accessing services such as Food Bank to provide for their families.

A Call for Kindness

This week our school focussed on the “Call for Kindness” campaign. This included whole school activities, both in the classroom, at lunchtime, and in the community. We listened to guest speakers share their experiences from their unique perspectives, on areas of kindness, mateship, connections, resilience, and community. It was great to hear the learnings that students shared after listening to the guest speakers. We have a few speakers to go Friday morning, and then the week will culminate in the grand finale, whole school event at Gardiner oval, Friday lunchtime.

We send big thank yous to Ryan Irwin (police officer), Andrew Dunne (St Vincent de Paul), Ruby Watts (VFL Carlton), and our ex St B’s students Tyson Hamilton, Maya Barker, Asha Connors and Zoe Thornton for giving up their time and sharing their wisdom. Not to mention our current leaders, Tom Bourke, Lily Thompson, Luke Buttigieg and Coco Sud, who will speak Friday morning. The journey of our students from St B’s to where they are now, is a true indicator of where life can lead you when you have a community behind you. Their leadership, confidence, and insights were exemplary.

Here are some pictures so far, with more to come!

#AlwaysChooseKind

Wellbeing Updates

Lulu’s an inspiration

Lulu’s presence in the learning areas has been not only calming but inspirational. Luka Sarac chose to write a letter to Lulu and then read it to her. Lulu is definitely making her mark! Zoe Mifsud enjoyed taking Lulu for a walk around upon her arrival at school.

Ashlee Laws Provisional Psychologist

Ashlee has joined us in her capacity as a provisional psychologist, working two days per week for the next 8 weeks. Ashlee has been a great asset to our wellbeing team, and has been actively working in the learning spaces, with individual students, and with groups of students, supporting them in various areas of social and emotional development.

Safety Update

We understand that at times students need additional support in different areas. Just as we have literacy and numeracy intervention, we also have behavioural support and interventions. The school yard is one such place where some students have challenges. We ensure that we have additional support staff allocated to children, both individually and in small groups, in addition to the regular staff on duty. We provide appropriate programs for children, liaise with parents, and implement specific strategies and scaffolds to ensure students play safely, as well as learn the skills that will enable them to have successful friendships, and good life skills. Just as outcomes, and consequences, are not discussed in relation to learning programs with other families, nor are these things shared. However, it is important for families to know, we do have child safety as a priority and there are always extra people your children can come to, should they need some support, assistance or have any concerns about anything. This is to ensure that we are all safe and can play happily together. If you have anything specific on your mind, please contact me for a chat.

Building Update

Building works continue to progress well. However, we have made some additional changes to the plans, and as such, works have been pushed out to mid October. The senior space will now have glass sliding doors through the middle, which create a more flexible working environment. We also have internal work happening Saturday 26th August near the ramp. This means we will have to move and relocate the planning resources which will create some additional challenges for space, for approximately a month. If you are able to help move some of the larger items next week, please let me know.

Upcoming Events

Please utilise the Parent Google Calendar, as this has up-to-date events.

Don't forget to check out our Facebook and Instagram posts!

#StB’sisLivingItandLovingIt!

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