Dear Parents and Friends,

What a wonderful start to Term 4!

There has been such a lovely feeling around the school these past couple of weeks.

Traditionally, Term 4 is a time of transition for our students as they prepare to move up to the next year level or to secondary school for our Year 6’s. For many of us, it’s hard to believe how quickly the time has flown, especially for our soon to be departing Year 6s. I still remember when they started in Foundation, it seems like only yesterday! We look forward to celebrating their journey at St Brigid’s with Graduation, the Big Day Out, and our end-of-year assembly.

As we settle back into the routines of school life, we remind families to keep an eye on students’ energy levels, particularly as daylight savings can make bedtime routines trickier. In addition to the rich academic program planned for Term 4, students will also complete a range of assessments to review their progress and growth. We know children do their best when they are well-rested and settled, so we thank you for your continued support.

Cubby House Update

As you may know, several generous families have donated their time and the materials to build, position, and paint our new cubby houses. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful families in our school community and we thank them from the bottom of our hearts. Once the project is complete, we will share the names of those involved. We can’t wait to see the new and improved beach hut cubbies on site, hopefully within the next month or so!

School Fees

Term 4 fee statements were sent out at the start of the term. We kindly ask that all families with outstanding balances settle their accounts at their earliest convenience. If you did not receive your statement as expected, please contact Fiona at fblair@sbmord.catholic.edu.au.

We are grateful to all families who have been in discussion with us and established payment plans. Please note that these scheduled payments continue through the final term. Your cooperation and commitment are greatly appreciated.

Sports Code Day – TOMORROW

We’re looking forward to some fantastic Sports Code activities tomorrow! The day will begin with a parade at 8.45am. Students (siblings and parents!) are invited to come dressed as their favourite sports team or sports person. Hopefully, we’ll see plenty of black and white jumpers in the mix!

After recess (11.30am–1.00pm), students will take part in a rotation of fun sporting activities led by our exceptional Sports Captains, followed by a shared lunch.

Foundation excursion

On Monday, our Foundation students headed to the Frankston Arts Centre for their much-anticipated excursion to the Pevan and Sarah concert. The children love using Pevan and Sarah’s music across our curriculum and could hardly believe they were seeing them “for real life!”

The excitement of the day was wonderful to see, from the bus ride and enjoying a snack outside the library, to posting our letters in the special mailbox, taking photos in front of the big banner, and finally finding our seats to watch Pevan and Sarah perform live on stage.

Our students represented St Brigid’s beautifully, showing lovely manners to the bus driver and theatre staff, and excellent theatre etiquette throughout the show. We are so proud of them!

Sacrament of Reconciliation

On Friday, our Year 3 students and one Year 4 and one Year 5 student received the Sacrament of Reconciliation with Fr Andrew and Fr Huy.

Congratulations to the following students:

Blake, Eva, Amilia, Vincent, Sonny, Benjamin, Lizzy, Jake, Philipa, Thomas, Nathaniel, Jack, Chloe, Isabel, Myla, Ava, Allegra, Harvey, Mekhi, Harry, Grace, Will, Amaru and Noah.

Updated MACS Policies

MACS have updated a number of policies in October. All policy information can be found on our website. Click here and scroll to the bottom of the page.

Mission Month - Christmas on the Streets

During the month of October our Catholic Community is acknowledging Mission Month. All students have been learning about Mission, what this means and how we can contribute as part of a Catholic Community.

In the 5/6 Level through our Sacramental preparation we had the privilege of learning about an important aspect of Mission - Christmas on the Street. (C.O.T.S). This was inspired by Roseanne Rafael who began this great initiative, helping through a life mission to provide some necessary but basic needs and requirements for the homeless in Melbourne. These efforts have been extended to incorporate weekly visits in order to provide for some of the needs of those who need our help on the streets regularly. The students, therefore, decided that this would be a worthwhile cause given its proximity and the fact it regularly addresses that aspect of Mission in our community.

We are asking all students to bring in coins to make a class level coin trail with the proceeds going to C.O.T.S. to purchase much-needed supplies that shall be of benefit to these people in need. So dig out your loose change and a few piggy bank coins to help us on our school’s Mission this year. This will be held on Friday, 7th November. We appreciate your ongoing support in bringing Mission to life at St Brigid’s School.

Biketober

We are halfway through our Kingston council Biketober challenge and thank you to the families who have participated so far. The aim of Biketober is to encourage sustainable transport and behaviour change toward a healthy lifestyle.

In Week One, we had 52 students, throughout the school, that walked or rode/scooted in the morning, with this number rising to 81 in Week Two. Let’s try to reach over 100 by the end of October.

MACSSIS Survey Thank you

We are grateful to all our families who participated in the 2025 MACSSIS survey. We look forward to the feedback informing us about what we are doing well and what we can do even better at. Congratulations to the Whatmore family for being the lucky winner of the $50 Voucher and thank you again to all families who participated.

Nforma Update

As mentioned earlier this year, we have begun merging several of our current applications into a single platform to simplify and strengthen communication between home and school. Over the coming weeks, we will be concluding our contracts with Operoo and Audiri. To prepare for this transition, we ask all families to log in to Operoo and ensure your child/ren’s profiles are up to date. This information will automatically migrate to the Nforma platform at the end of November.

It is essential that all families download the Nforma app and/or add it to your desktop. Please refer to the attached Nforma installation guide for step-by-step instructions.

We will continue to keep you informed as the migration process progresses.

Foundation 2026 Transition Dates & Times

We are excitedly preparing to welcome our 2026 Foundation families and students for their Orientation program. The orientation program is an exciting and enriching experience, as the children transition from a small Kindergarten setting to a larger, more vibrant school setting.

Tonight at 7.00pm we will welcome our new (and not so new) Foundation parents to our Information night. This information evening is a wonderful opportunity to meet new families, teachers and key staff who will work with your children next year. Our orientation sessions are as follows:

Thursday, October 30th : 8.45am - 10.30am
Thursday, November 6th : 8.45am - 10.30am
Thursday, November 13th: 8.45am - 10.30am
Thursday, November 20th: 8.45am - 10.30am

Calling for New School Advisory Council Members

I take this opportunity to thank Allie Donnelly for her services to the St Brigid’s community as an active member of St Brigid’s Primary School Advisory Council and Chairperson over the last 4 years. The experience and expertise that Allie has provided St Brigid’s is very much appreciated. We know you will continue to be a great advocate for our wonderful school.

The School Advisory Council acts as a supportive voice to the Principal, offering feedback on areas such as communication, school improvement, community engagement, and the wellbeing and learning of our students.

How to Nominate:

Please send an email to Wendy Sullivan wsullivan@sbmord.catholic.edu.au stating your wish to nominate for a seat on the Advisory Council and I will send through a nomination form. Please Include a brief outline of why you would like the position, your background and areas of interest. As one vacancy has become available on the Committee, we are calling for nominations to fill this positions. Also please note the application closing date of Friday 7 November. We look forward to securing a new member for our team whose skills compliment those of the members already on the School Advisory Council.

P&F Committee 2025

A big thank you to our 2025 P&F Committee for their wonderful support of our school, and especially to Hayley Olson and Lisa Blumeris for leading such a positive and welcoming team. As Hayley and Lisa take a well-earned break, we’re looking for one or two parents to take over the reins next year.

We’ll also need class representatives for 2026. If you’re interested—or happy to continue—please let me know in writing. Class reps share updates with parents and help organise a few events through the year (for example, the Foundation reps coordinate the Easter Egg Raffle).

Being involved is a great way to support our school and connect with other families. Feel free to chat with this year’s reps, Hayley and Lisa, or contact me via email:

wsullivan@sbmord.catholic.edu.au.

2026 Class Structures

Together with our Consultative Committee, staff are currently planning class structures for 2026.

This process takes into account:

Learning and wellbeing needs of all students
The strengths and dynamics of each class and year level
Matching staff expertise to year levels and teams
Industrial requirements for class sizes and workloads
Funding allocations provided to St Brigid’s by MACS.

Leadership is finalising teacher and support staff allocations and will share 2026 class placements and staffing announcements in the coming weeks.

2026 Class Placements

From the beginning of Semester 2, staff work collaboratively to develop class lists for the following year. This process carefully considers social cohesion, friendship groupings, placement of siblings, and positive academic influences. We also ensure a balanced mix of students across social, emotional, physical, behavioural, and academic needs, as well as an even spread of year levels and genders in multi-age classes.

Each new school year provides students with the chance to strengthen existing friendships or form new ones. We see this as a valuable opportunity to build important personal and social skills.

Parent Input: Parents who wish to provide relevant information to assist in the class placement process are invited to email their input. All feedback will be considered, and staff will make professional judgments based on the overall needs of the school. Please note that final decisions rest with the school. Emails must be submitted by Thursday 31 October to ensure staff have sufficient time to review all information.

‘Teacher Shopping’: Requests made purely on the basis of ‘teacher shopping’—for example, seeking a teacher based on word of mouth or past experience with a sibling—are unlikely to be accommodated. While we understand parents’ wishes, the many factors influencing class placement mean that individual requests of this nature cannot always be met. We are very fortunate to have a highly skilled and dedicated teaching team, and we are confident that all staff will continue to provide excellent learning opportunities for every child.

Helmets

Over the past few weeks I have noticed a number of children scooting to school without a helmet. This is a friendly reminder that it is the Law in Victoria that if you scoot or ride your bike you MUST wear a helmet. All little heads are precious and deserve to be protected!

School Closure Days

Just a reminder to families that next Friday 31 October is a school closure day. Staff will be onsite undertaking a professional development day. Monday 3 November is a Time in Lieu Day, to be followed by Tuesday 4 November - Melbourne Cup Day. Theircare will be open on Friday and Monday. Please book as soon as possible.

With thanks,

Wendy Sullivan

Principal

Community News and Events

Community Bank - Parkdale

Junior Rockers

Beyond Blue Fundraiser

Mentone Hockey Club

Mentone Life Saving Club

AFLW - FREE FOR U10'S

Parkdale Cricket Club

Mentone Hockey Club

Australian Girls Choir

Club Pilates