Principal's Report

Dear families,

Welcome to Term 2! I hope you all had a meaningful Easter break, and enjoyed time with loved ones and had the opportunity to reflect on Christ’s sacrifice for us all. 

I am excited to be preparing my first Deputy Principal's report for our community, as Gerard is taking some well deserved long service leave. He will be returning on April 30, and we will have a day of handover before I take a month of leave from May 1 for a pre-planned trip. During my absence, Jillian Wright, who many of you know, will be returning to St Brigid’s to teach my timetabled classes and assist the leadership team. We thank Jillian for being willing to assist our College in this way. I would also like to share the good news that we have a new teacher, Paul Chiita, joining our team at the end of this month. Please make Paul and his family welcome as they move to Horsham and become part of the St Brigid’s community.

The last week of Term 1 was a very busy one for our college. Thank you to all of the parents and carers who attended Parent Teacher Interviews either in person or remotely. The partnership between home and school is such an important part of your child’s educational journey. Research suggests parent interest in their child’s education results in higher levels of motivation, a more positive attitude to school, and enhanced relationships with their teachers (Australian Council for Educational Research). We concluded the term with our Easter Liturgy, taking the opportunity to farewell Father Matt and thanked him for his service to our community. Our flag raising ceremony was part of this service, where we raised our Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags on our newly installed flag poles to demonstrate our respect, recognition, and commitment to our continued walk of reconciliation with our local community. We thank all of our special guests for sharing in this important event with us, particularly Moonahcullah man, Uncle Alan Murphy, for attending the ceremony and addressing our students at the assembly.

On Monday our staff attended professional development to continue to learn about and implement the ReLATE program. The focus for our session was to help staff understand student behaviour and provide knowledge and skills to enhance how we create safe, predictable and supportive learning environments.  This week our year 9 students have enjoyed 3 days in Anglesea surfing, sea kayaking and mountain bike riding. We pray for their safe return this afternoon and a restful weekend for staff and students who attended.

Looking forward, our college community will be recognising Anzac Day during an Assembly at 11:30 am on Wednesday next week, and with our student leaders participating in the Dawn Service on Thursday morning at Sawyer Park. The Bright Sparks program will commence after school on Monday 29 April, and Open Day is Monday 6 May. Please share information about these opportunities with your friends and families.

Blessings

Fiona Friberg

Deputy Principal