Dear Parents, Carers and Friends of St Brigid’s,

We congratulate our past student Emma G on her Co-College Captain role at Kilbreda for 2027. Kilreda said "Emma leads with grace, enthusiasm and joy. Through Community Action, SRC, Peer Support, and as a Student Ambassador and Class Captain, she has shown a wonderful ability to connect with others, take initiative and bring people together". We wish her all the best as she takes on this prestigous leadership role and we know she will be a wonderful leader, like she was here at St Brigid’s.

We would also like to congratulate Annie B and Matilida D for also being elected to the Kilbreda 2027 Leadership Team. Annie as Environmental Action Leader and Matilda as Heath and Wellbeing Leader.

Emma, Annie and Matilda, we are so very proud of you!

Congratulations

Congratulations to Inara (Year 5) who will participate in the Spelling Bee State Championships. We are so proud of Inara and we will keep you updated on her progress.

Staff carpark

If you need to park in the staff carpark, please be aware of pedestrians crossing the driveway. Please do not reverse out onto the road and beep your car horn when you are leaving to warn pedestrians. It is difficult for both pedestrians and drivers to see due to the hedge.

Parents, children and visitors to the school please use the footpath entrance to the school office rather than using the staff carpark driveway.

District Basketball

Congratulations to the Year 6 District Basketball Teams, who represented St Brigid’s so well on Monday. Both teams won 3 of their 4 games, which was an amazing result but not quite enough to reach the finals. Thank you to Chantel, Lance and Nate for coaching and supporting the students on the day.

Enterprise Agreement Update

We are conscious that there have been several media reports about ongoing industrial relations disputes in the Victorian education sector. At the time of writing there is an inprinciple agreement with the State Education Union and the Victorian Government. This inprinicple agreement does not include Catholic or Private Schools. See below for the current situation and what it means for St Brigid’s.

St Brigid’s operates under the Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2022, a four-year agreement that expired in December 2025.
Since early 2025, the School has, in collaboration with other Victorian Catholic school employers, been seeking a fresh cooperative workplace agreement. These negotiations have been led by Victorian Catholic Education Authority (VCEA), the peak body for Victorian Catholic schools.
The parties have not yet concluded a new enterprise agreement.

While the Catholic sector negotiations are separate from the State Government negotiations, VCEA has, consistent with the 2022 agreement, committed to pay parity with state school teachers and staff. As a result, the state school outcome will, in large part, flow through to St Brigid’s.

Once concluded, the new agreement is likely to result in substantial cost increases for all State and Catholic schools. Using the latest State Government pay offer as a guide, key features will include:

Salary increases of at least 28.3% over four years, with an initial 12.75 % increase
Significant increases in staff allowances, including daily allowances for staff supervising camps

Rest assured that we are monitoring the situation closely and that we will work with the Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools to understand and mitigate the impacts this may have on school operations. Information on the negotiations is available on the VCEA website.

Social Media

It has come to the school's attention that some students are using social media platforms before reaching the minimum age requirement set by these platforms, which is typically 13 years old. Additionally, some students are uploading photos, images, or messages of/or about their peers without permission, which violates platform community standards and respectful behaviour guidelines.

We ask all parents to regularly check their child’s online activity to ensure social media is being used responsibly. Please take a moment to discuss online safety with your child and encourage them to reach out to you if they ever feel uncomfortable or unsure about something they encounter online.

Issues arising on social media frequently spill into the school environment, impacting friendships and student wellbeing. When conflicts occur outside of school hours, we ask parents to work together to manage and resolve the situation respectfully. While we continuously reinforce online safety concepts at school, active parental guidance at home is essential.

Our students participate in online safety education through classroom lessons provided by Inform and Empower. Every child navigates the digital world at a different pace, so supporting them with consistent guidance helps ensure their online interactions remain safe, positive, and respectful.

You can read “Let’s Talk About Being Safe Online”, available on the eSafety website, for helpful information and guidance.

There are also a number of apps available to parent that can be used monitor your children's phones. We encourage you to investigate these apps.

Save the Date - St Brigid’s Art Show

We are delighted that our 2026 Art Show will be held on Thursday 8 October from 6:30pm - 8:00pm. The children have been working so hard (and in secrecy) in the Art Room to make sure we will all have a wonderful night of seeing the artistic talents of our children!

This year's theme is 'Every Child is an Artist’, a concept that will connect across all special areas of our community life.

The Art Show is always a highlight of the school calendar, providing an opportunity to celebrate the creativity, imagination and artistic talents of every student. Families will have the chance to view a stunning collection of artworks created throughout the year and experience our school transformed into a vibrant gallery space. Further details will be shared next term.

MACSSIS

Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys (MACSSIS): 31 August –18 September 2026

Every year, we pause to listen to our students, families and staff to gauge how our learning community is travelling. This feedback is invaluable to our progress as an effective school community and is backed by evidence-based research and best practices.

A significant and formal way in which we engage and gather data is through MACSSIS, the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools – School Improvement Surveys.

MACSSIS is a set of surveys that have been built specifically for Catholic schools in Melbourne by the School Effectiveness team at MACS, in partnership with researchers at Learning First and in wide consultation with principals in Catholic schools in Melbourne.

In 2026, students, families and staff are invited to participate in MACSSIS via our secure and purpose-built online platform. The online platform is where our school leaders will access the summary reports that visualise the results of the student, family and staff surveys.

The MACSSIS survey platform is operated by an independent supplier, ORIMA Research Pty Ltd. The platform meets the high security and privacy standards for handling student and school data.

Students at our school will be provided with supervised sessions, where teachers are on hand to help and answer any questions. Families and staff can complete the survey anytime during the three-week window via an emailed link and password. Feedback has indicated that previous surveys were completed across a range of mobile devices and different web browsers. Schools will be providing more information about MACSSIS throughout Term 3, via newsletters and social media.

Our community’s opinions are critical to understanding how our school is performing – MACSSIS is a key data source for guiding the ongoing work to improve our school.

All participation is invited, welcomed and 100 per cent voluntary. The surveys are not a test; they are an inclusive way to support the work we are already doing to improve our school. Everyone has the right to refuse to participate, or withdraw from the survey at any point before, during or after completion of the survey. Please notify the school if your child does not wish to participate.

If you would like more information, please contact the school.

Father's Day Breakfast

FATHER'S DAY/SPECIAL FRIEND BREAKFAST

We warmly invite you to our Father's Day celebration! Enjoy breakfast treats and the company of our school community.

7:30am-9:30am

Friday 4th September

Brigid Hall

Toddlers are welcome but must be supervised by their parent at all times.

Please RSVP via Nforma by Tuesday 1 September.

We hope to see you there!

Don't forget if you would like a photo included in the powerpoint display please email your photo to: riscameron@hotmail.com

F-Year 2 Disco

Much excitement was had at our Winter Christmas Disco on Friday night. A huge thank you to: Giselle, Megan, Claire, John, Garikai Scottnes, Tom, Zoe, Alex and all the others who helped with set, clean up and on the night!

Book Week Parade - TOMORROW

We look forward to seeing you all at our Book Week Parade first thing tomorrow morning! We can't wait to see all the children in their Book Week costumes and the staff look forward to making their big reveal!

Term 3 Celebration of Learning

Our Celebration of Learning will take place on Wednesday 16th of August at 8:45am. We look forward to showing you what we have learnt this Term.

End of Term 3 Dates

A reminder to families that students will finish Term 3 at 3:15pm on Thursday 17th of September. Friday 18th of September staff will be undertaking professional development here at school. TheirCare will open. We encourage families to book early as places are limited.

Warm regards,

Wendy Sullivan

Principal

St Brigid's News and Events

Artist Spotlight

Synergise Sports