Principal's News

Dear Parents and Friends,

What an absolutely amazing gathering of our St Brigid’s community at our Carols last night! I could not be prouder of our wonderful students who sang loud and proud. Their joy, confidence and pride in our school were truly on display!

Another moment that made my heart sing was seeing so many of our Foundation 2026 students and their families join us. We welcome them with open arms into our St Brigid’s community!

Congratulations to our raffle winners:

1st Prize – Louise R 2nd Prize – Blake M 3rd Prize – Alfie C

I didn’t get the chance to say thank you last night—once Santa arrived, there was simply no competition!

A huge thank you to Jodie, who organised our Carols Night, prepared the students during her Performing Arts lessons, co-ordinated the entire event, as well as taking the Foundation students down to the aged care facility during the day.  It was a wonderful evening—thank you, Jodie.

Thank you to our amazing staff, who as always go above and beyond to ensure our children have the very best experiences. I am so grateful for how well we work together.

Thank you to Tracey, who managed all the behind-the-scenes organisation—raffle tickets, bread, drinks, choc tops… just to name a few!

And to Fiona—our money lady and EFTPOS queen—thank you for keeping everything running smoothly.

2026 Classes

We have now completed our first two transition sessions for the 2026 Year 1 to Year 6 classes. These sessions help us observe how children interact socially and identify any considerations for class groupings such as siblings or close relatives.

Both sessions have been very successful, with students showing confidence and settling well into their temporary groupings. On Monday 15 December, students from Foundation to Year 6 will take part in their “Meet the Teacher” orientation session.

Our staff have invested a significant amount of time and thoughtful consideration into the creation of next year’s classes to ensure every student is placed in the best possible learning environment. We sincerely thank them for their dedication to this important process.

As a reminder, decisions around class and teacher placements take into account social cohesion, friendship groupings, sibling placement, and positive academic influence. We aim for balanced groups across a range of factors including social, emotional, physical, behavioural, and academic needs, as well as an even spread of gender and year levels in multi-age classes.

Each new school year gives students a valuable opportunity to strengthen existing friendships and form new ones. Children are often pleasantly surprised at how quickly friendships grow when they discover shared interests with peers they may not yet know well. We ask that families trust the process, knowing there are many layers and considerations involved.

Books and Stationery for 2026

Next year we will streamline our approach by placing one bulk stationery order for the entire school. This ensures consistency, reduces comparisons between students, minimises distraction, and supports efficient use of classroom space.

All essential book list items—including exercise books and stationery—will be purchased by the school and are included within school fees and levies. We ask that students use the school-provided stationery in class and keep any special items for home use.

Families will only be asked to supply:

• A set of headphones (if the current pair no longer works).  These do not need to be expensive
• A box of tissues

End of School Mass & Farewell to Fr Andrew

Our End-of-Year Mass will take place on Friday 12 December at 9.00am. This will also be Fr Andrew’s final Mass at St Brigid’s. We warmly invite as many parents as possible to join us in thanking and farewelling him. Fr Andrew has been a wonderful presence in our Parish and school community, and he will be deeply missed. At the time of publishing, we are yet to be informed of who our new Parish Priest will be.

Sad News

It is with deep sadness that we inform our school community on the passing of Ben Montgomery on Friday 28th November, beloved husband of Anna and dad to Ava (3A) and Cleo (FE). 

Our thoughts and heartelt sympathies are with Anna, Ava, Cleo and their entire family and friends.  Although no words can erase their sorrow, we hope they know that they are and will continue to be, in our thoughts and prayers. The incredible strength and resilience shown by the Montgomery family during this extremely difficult time is a testament to the loving home Ben created.

Ben was a very active and passionate member of the Lyndale Cricket Club.  The Club have set up a Go Fund Me page to support Anna, Ava and Cleo.  Every dollar and kindness will go along way. Click here for a link to the Go Fund Me page.

Overdue Library Books and Class Readers 

As we prepare our library and classroom resources for 2026, we kindly ask that all library books and class readers be returned by the end of this week. Thank you for your support in keeping our resources well cared for and ready for next year.

Aussie of the Month & Light the Way Awards

Congratulations to our Aussie of the Month - November winner Arian J (1F) - Arian is a thoughtful classmate who cares about his peers.  He is always willing to share his wealth of knowledge with the class.  Arian cares about his classmates. He tries his best in all activities.

Congratulations to our Light the Way November winner - Xavier P (FE) - for showing amazing focus in class. Xavier is actively engaged in all learning, and completes all tasks to a high standard. He is able to complete work independently, and problem solves to find a solution when activities are challenging. Well done on an amazing first year of school Xavier! 

Congratulations to our Light the Way November winner - Emerson O (5/6C) - for her genuine care of her peers. Emerson consistently demonstrates exceptional focus and dedication in class, consistently delivering high-quality work. Her attention to detail and commitment to excellence are evident in every task she undertakes.

Year 6 Graduation

As we are fast approaching the end of year we thought it was timely to remind Year 6 families of the upcoming graudation events:

• Thursday 11 December - 5:00pm - Year 6 Graduation Mass at St Brigid's Church - each family will have their own pew.
• Friday 12 Decmeber - 9:00am - End of School Year Mass to be held in Brigid Hall
• Monday 15 December - Year 6 Big Day Out - Berwick Clip and Climb
• Tuesday 16 December - 7:30am - Year 6 Graduation Breakfast - Oscar's Hangout, 2:00pm - End of Year Assembly to be followed by Guard of Honour for Year 6; 5:00pm - Graduation Celebration - Parent Run Event.

We look forward to sharing these special events with our Year 6 Students and their families.

St Bede's and Kilbreda College Leaders 2026

We are so pleased to announce that 6 former St Brigid’s students have been selected as Year 12 Captains, Vice Captains and Leaders in 2026 at at both St Bedes and Kilbreda College.  Given the small number of leadership roles at both schools, St Brigid's students make up a significate representation.  We are extremely proud of all of them.

A Big Congratualations to:

Luke K

Ethan T

Seb P

Tahlia R

Lexi T

Rhiannon MJ

Winter Wonderland

Families have once again outdone themselves with our Christmas Project.  The school has been dusted with a covering of the most beautiful and creative snowflakes!  Just like a real snowflake - no two snowflakes that have come to school have been the same.  

Tuckshop

Tomorrow is the last tuckshop for the year.  The team will be open next Friday 12 December however it will be for small over the counter sales only.  Students will need to bring lunch and snack on Friday 12 December.  We would like to thank Tai and Erin for looking after us this year.   Friday is definitely our students favourite day of the week.

Nforma Changes

Just a reminder that all notices and excursion forms will now come via the Nforma platform. They will also be emailed to families.  The email address this will show up as in your inbox is Nformaparent portal.  When you open the email it will have a link to click to the relevant information.

Condolences

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Prochillo Family - Bruno, Antoinette, Amelia and Bryson (1F) on the recent passing of your beloved Mother and Nonna - Grace Prochillo.

Wendy Sullivan

Principal