St. Brendan's Primary School Newsletter
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A message from our Principal

Dear St. Brendan's School Community,

 

Dear School Community,

 

It has been a fantastic start to the year, and I am enormously proud of how our students have settled into their new classes. Despite the hot weather this week, they have remained cool and focused in their classrooms, and it has been wonderful to see.

I would also like to acknowledge the tremendous effort our staff have put into preparing for the year ahead. We are truly blessed to have such a dedicated team here at St. Brendan’s.

 

As you know, we have now launched Magnify, which includes the implementation of the InitialLit program in our Junior Years. This evidence-based, whole-class literacy program is designed to provide all children with the core knowledge and strong foundations they need to become successful readers and writers. Our Middle and Senior Years are now implementing Ochre, a high-quality curriculum that presents new materials incrementally, connects new content to prior learning, and offers students many opportunities to practice. This curriculum supports literacy and numeracy in Years 3–6, and numeracy for Foundation–2.

 

As part of the Magnify rollout, Catholic Education Sandhurst Ltd has granted an additional Professional Learning Day to all primary schools across Sandhurst. On April 1st, we will join with St John’s Euroa and St Joseph’s Nagambie for a professional development session with Knowledge Society. The team from Knowledge Society will run a Leaders and Teachers Master Class to help us implement consistent and effective behaviour management practices, creating positive learning environments where both students and staff can thrive.

 

We are excited to invite you to our Hello Night in Week 4. Classrooms will be open from 4:00–5:00pm, allowing you children to take you on a guided tour of our school, including our specialist areas (be sure to check out the Japanese room!). At 5:00pm, the classrooms will close, and we invite all families to join us in the courtyard to mingle. 

 

We will have Azem Elmaz from People Supporting People offering a food truck with sausages and rice dishes. EFTPOS will be available. Please refer to the Hello Night Flyer, which has been distributed through our usual communication channels, for more details.

On the following pages, you will find further information regarding reading at home with your child, information about when your child is unwell, details about the CDF-Pay app and updated Term 1 Events.

 

Also, a reminder that our first School Assembly will be held tomorrow at 9:00am in the courtyard. 5/6 Lindon, Poppa, and Searle will lead us in prayer. 

 

We would love for you to join us as we gather as a school community for the first time in 2025.

 

Kind regards,

 

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Principal

 

 

READING AT HOME WITH YOUR CHILD

We’re excited to announce that take-home texts for students in Years 2-6 are now ready! These resources have been redistributed, and we've also added new books to both our take-home collection and school library.

 

For Year 1, home reading will start in Week 3. We have ordered new decodable books to align with our InitialLit program. Foundation students will begin taking books home later in Term 2 but will be provided with letter and word work in the meantime.

 

Reading Recommendations by Year Level:

 

Foundation:

  • Read a storybook to your child each day. Discuss the story and highlight any new words to enrich their vocabulary.
  • Teach nursery rhymes, songs, and poems, and play language games.
  • Talk about letters and sounds in your environment.
  • Home readers will be sent home in Term 2.

Year 1:

  • Read a storybook each day with your child, discussing the story and highlighting new vocabulary.
  • Teach nursery rhymes, songs, and poems, and play language games.
  • Help your child practice spelling target words linked to the sounds they are learning.
  • The Home Reading Diary (sent home in Week 3) includes a list of tricky words to practice.
  • When home readers are sent, listen to your child read, providing support with sounds, letters, and comprehension.

Year 2:

  • Listen to your child read regularly. They may enjoy choosing their own book or bringing one home from school.
  • Even if your child reads well, it’s still enjoyable and beneficial for you to read to them too.
  • Provide a balance of fiction and non-fiction books, and discuss the story, unfamiliar words, and their meanings.
  • Encourage language games, story-making, riddles, and visits to the library.

Years 3-6:

  • Continue listening to your child read regularly, whether they choose their own book or bring one from school.
  • It’s valuable to still read aloud to your child, exposing them to more challenging texts.
  • Provide a mix of fiction and non-fiction books and discuss the story, focusing on vocabulary development and comprehension.

SICK & UNWELL CHILDREN

 

A reminder that if your child is sick that they remain at home until they are well enough to return to school.  Please see attached the Parent Handbook for further advice on when to exclude and how long for. 

 

Please ensure you notify the school through PAM or calling Carmel or Kim at the front office to let us know if your child will be away unwell.

 

 

 

CDF-PAY & SUBWAY LUNCH ORDERS

St. Brendan’s Primary School will be using the new CDFpay mobile app for online Subway lunch orders, school events, fundraising at our school from the start of Term 1 2025.

 

How to register for a new CDFpay account

Important: 

  • You will not be able to use your existing CDFpay credentials to log in to the new CDFpay mobile app. You will need to follow these steps to create a new CDFpay account (you can use the same email address if desired). 
  • Register for a new CDFpay account before the start of Term 1 2025 and we will transfer any remaining balance on your account before the end of March 2025. 

  1. Enter and confirm your email address, then click ‘Sign up’.

     

  2. Check your email inbox and follow the prompts to complete your account registration (check junk/spam if lost).

     

Have questions? View CDFpay powered by Flexischools Help & Support for detailed FAQs or chat to the Flexischools Digital Assistant. If you cannot find what you are looking for, please complete the online Contact Form and Flexischools will get back to you directly. 

 

Subway Orders will become available on Thursdays and Fridays from Week 3. Orders must be placed and paid for through CDF-Pay by Wednesday at 12pm each week. Later order will not be accepted.

 

UPDATED KEY DATES FOR TERM 1

Here’s a snapshot of key dates for the upcoming term:

  • Thursday, 20th February - Hello Night 4pm-6pm
  • Friday, 28th February - Opening School Mass 10:15am 
  • Tuesday, 4th March - Shrove Tuesday
  • Wednesday, 5th March - Ash Wednesday Mass and Liturgies
  • Friday, 14th March - Harmony Day
  • Friday, 21st March - School Photos
  • Monday, 17th March and Tuesday, 18th March - Parent-Teacher Learning Conversations
  • NEW! Tuesday, 1st April: Staff Professional Development
  • Last Week of Term Holy Week Liturgies 

As you can see, there is a lot to look forward to this term! 

 

We warmly welcome and encourage parents to attend our Opening School Mass, liturgies, and assemblies. 

 

Our first school assembly will be on Friday, 7th February at 9:00am in the courtyard. Please keep an eye on the school calendar and daily messages for further details and flyers.