What's happening!

Congratulations to our Graduating Class of 2019

Congratulations to all of our Year 6 students who are leaving us at the end of the year – graduating on to many different schools to commence their Secondary Education. We will celebrate their time here at St Brigid’s at our End of Year Mass tomorrow, Farewell Assembly tomorrow and obviously at the Graduation Ceremony next Tuesday evening. Our Year 6 students have much to be proud of and have been outstanding leaders throughout 2019. I wish them well as they move on to new schools in 2020.

Staff Arrangements 2020

Principal– Michael Russo

Deputy Principal/Learning & Teaching Leader – Wendy Sullivan

Religious Education Leader  - Jodie Marizano

Curriculum Leaders

Teaching and Learning - Wendy Sullivan

Wellbeing -Belinda Wendt

Literacy -Carolyn Yass

STEM (Science Technology Engineering & Maths) -Suzie Ripp

ICT – Arch Cochrane

Sustainability-Wendy Mertens

Classroom Teachers

Foundation YH - Carolyn Yass & Rebecca Hampton

Foundation ZF - Zoe Finster

1/2CD - Cassandra Dirckze (New to St Brigid's in 2020)

1/2LY - Libby Young      

3/4RM - Suzie Ripp & Wendy Mertens      

3/4KM -  Angela Kavadias & Wendy Mertens

3/4FD - Loretta Flavelle & Marylene Douglas

5/6CD - Arch Cochrane &  Marylene Douglas

5/6WR - Belinda Wendt & Hannah Richards

5/6AH - Annemarie Harrison

5/6BW - Lauren Boucher (New to St Brigid's in 2020) & Andrea Williams

Learning Diversity         

Gabe Sheahan      

Learning Enhancement  

Helen Meaden

Visual Arts  

Sarah Kimball

Physical Education

Hannah Richards

ICT Information, Computer & Technology

Simon Altman

Korean

Che Soon Lee

Performing Arts

Rebecca Beckwith 

Administration

Office Manager - Tracey Stackpole

Finance Manager - Michele Wain

Library

Assist Technician - Glenn Stewart

Learning Support Officers

Sigrid Goetze, Nicolene Cotterell, Cathryn Scofield & Glenn Stewart

Music

Junior Rockers

Cleaners  

Alfie Cardamone

Maintenance

Steve Harrison

OSHC 

Team Kids

Staff Changes in 2020

Mr Matthew Ferguson is moving on from St Brigid’s in 2020 and will be working a little closer to home, taking up a teaching position at Our Lady of Fatima in Rosebud.  We thank Matthew for all of his hard work and dedication working with students at St Brigid’s over the last 2 years.  We wish him well with his future endeavours.

Emily Johnson has accepted a position as a Learning Support Officer at St Louis de Montforts.  We will miss Emily's smiling face next year and would like to thank her for all hard work with our students across all year levels.  

Mrs Louise Flourentzou is returning to Port Melbourne Primary School where she has been on maternity leave.  We thank you Louise for her hard work this year and we wish her well for 2020.

Mrs Lara Berley joined us this year working in the Year 5/6 level one day per week. Lara also worked in other levels and roles as well as the year unfolded. Thanks to Lara for her flexibility and willingness to support our staff and students whatever the role may have been. We will see Lara around St Brigid’s in 2020 in a replacement teacher capacity.

New Classes 2020

On Monday the students will meet their new teacher/s and classmates for 2020. I commend the staff who have put a lot of work into forming these groups for 2020 – as mentioned earlier, requests made by parents are considered and are part of the process for class formation. I ask that you respect the decisions made as quite often there are many overlayed reasons for your child to be allocated to a class group each year. Our 3-week process has allowed for greater capacity in relation to forming groupings that have been trialled rather than making “on paper” best decisions.

We look forward to working with you all again in 2020 as we welcome our new Foundation students, new school leaders, new buildings and new staff. Much fun and learning to be had next year.

Reports Live @ 7:00pm

Your child’s Semester 2 Reports will be available online and able to be downloaded/printed as at 7:00pm today. Please follow the link to the Portal click here.

Your username is the email address you provided to the school.  Your password can be reset if forgotten BUT, it must be at least 7 characters long, and include one that is non alpha numeric. This means that it needs to include at least one character that is not a letter or a number. Examples of these could include: *, - or /.

Semester 1 reports are also available via YEAR / SEMESTER menu in Parent Portal.

If you require a printed copy of your child’s report please contact the office by Monday 16 December – 4.00pm.

Goodbye

We also say goodbye and farewell to all of the following families leaving us at the end of 2019.  We wish them well for the future and thank them for being part of our school community.

Thank you

Many thanks must go to Fr Andrew who is an amazing leader in our community, guiding our faith journey and is so very supportive of St Brigid’s School—on behalf of the school community we wish you a very holy, happy and safe Christmas.

Thank you Families

There has been an enormous amount of goodwill and support given by the parent community to the school and the staff and we are enormously grateful for all you have done for us. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all those who have contributed to making our school a vibrant place.

There are many parents who volunteer regularly to provide services such as Tuckshop, Uniform Shop,  Book Club, P & F Activities etc. There are also parents who help with special events such as the Mothers Day Stall, Father's Day Stall, Disco, Trivia  Night and Easter Raffle. Many parents help with classroom programs, excursions and whole school activities and we are indebted to all of you who have helped and supported us this year.  

School Advisory Board

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of our School Board for the time given to sharing in discussions about significant matters relating to the school and assisting with major events throughout the year. Jason Watterson has led the Board meetings effectively and efficiently and Jim Poussard has been an excellent secretary who have kept the school informed of Board matters. I thank the School Board for their commitment in 2019. The work done throughout the year in relation to our school review, child safe standards and other governance matters have been effective and positive.  Personally, I would like to thank the Board for the tremendous support they have given me. I appreciate their interest, expertise and dedication. As we come to the end of the year it is important to acknowledge Bruno Prochilo and Gracie Ferro who are finishing there tenure.  Each has contributed greatly with their ideas, honesty and commitment to St Brigid’s.

Parents and Friends Team

I would also like to acknowledge the work of the Parents and Friends Group and extend my thanks to those who supported the many social and fundraising activities conducted this year.

Parent Class Reps

An amazing team of parents who have achieved great things amongst the various activities planned not only to raise funds but to build community and promote connectedness to our fantastic school community.  A huge thank you for all your efforts throughout 2019.  Finally, thanks to all the families who have supported the school by attending school events, functions and activities and we look forward to your support once again in 2020.

Thank You to Our Staff

I would like to thank the staff for the professionalism and dedication to their vocation.  Staff at St Brigid’s work extremely hard and what you see is a bit like the tip of an iceberg – we often take home our reflections of the day/week and evaluate how we have handled situations, how effective our teaching has been, how supportive we have been with students who have social and emotional needs, how constructive our interactions and conversations with parents have been and much more.   The teachers are themselves a community of learners always investigating contemporary learning and teaching initiatives and working collaboratively to implement strategies across the school. Our Learning Support team and programs and are a valuable asset to our teachers and students. The members of the Leadership Team have worked collaboratively in assisting the staff to achieve goals and outcomes as stated in our Annual Action Plan. I’d like to thank them for all the extra hours they have contributed to this aspect of their work.

Special thanks to Wendy Sullivan our Deputy Principal and Learning & Teaching Leader. Wendy has been a huge support to myself, the staff, the students and their families. Her amazing work ethic and “can do” attitude has certainly been very much appreciated by all in our school community. 

Also special thanks to Jodie Marziano who has worked tirelessly in the role of Religious Education Leader. Jodie has worked with staff from St Louis and St Brigid’s to support the implementation of the Parish Sacramental Program in Years 3 to 6 and the involvement of parents and staff in preparing parish Masses. 

The role of Learning Diversity Leader is a huge role in any school and Gabe Sheahan works with passion, enthusiasm and boundless energy in supporting students, families and staff. Many thanks for all that you offer and add to our community. 

The Office staff are always so pleasant and helpful. Michele Wain and Tracey Stackpole have the ability to multi-task efficiently in a very busy office, provide care and first aid to students and problem solve.  Their dedication is commendable. Thanks for being there for all of us – students, parents, staff, delivery personnel and visitors.  I am also personally grateful to both Michele and Tracey for all that they do to support me in my role as Principal.

Our cleaners, Tania and Alfie who are always so accommodating with cleaning the school to suit our needs and activities, we say thanks.

Thank you also to our Wonderful Crossing Supervisors, Colin and Denver, our kind, caring and loyal lollipop attendants who ensure our families safely cross the roads.

Finally our thanks must also go to Steve Harrison who is responsible for maintenance and grounds.  He does a fantastic job.

Thank you & Goodbye

Each week Ronnie & Betty, Terry & Nell have given up their valuable time this year to run our Story Dog Program.  Betty has worked with four of our Year 1/2 students and Nell has worked with four of our 3/4 students.  Nell and Betty's visits are eagerly anticipated by all at St Brigid's each week.  Thank you for being part of our school community this year.  Sadly we will be saying goodbye to Ronnie and Betty tomorrow.  Betty has this year been trained as therapy dog and she will be helping others in the community next year.  Ronnie & Betty, we wish you well and hope that you will pop in from time to time to say hello to all your friends here at school.  We will farewell Ronnie and Betty at assembly tomorrow afternoon.  We look forward to seeing Terry and Nell when they return to St Brigid's in 2020.

End of Term - 1:00pm Wednesday 18 December

Please note all students will be dismissed at 1:00pm on Wednesday 18 December.  The school year for all students commences Thursday 30 January, 2020.

Uniform Shop Open - Tuesday 28 January 10:00am to 12 noon

The Uniform Shop be open on Tuesday 28 January between 10:00am and 12:00noon for any last minute Uniform items.

Melbourne Stars visit St Brigid's

During this term the Prep to Grade 2 students participated in a Cricket Victoria program called the Mascot Challenge. Students worked with their teachers for 10 minutes a day on throwing, catching and bouncing skills.

On Tuesday the 10th of December we were very lucky to have to Melbourne Stars Mascot come to the school and present the students with their certificates and interact with all students during lunch time and after school. It was great to see lots of students and parents come across the road after school and play some cricket.

Tuckshop - Tomorrow - Pizza Day

Tomorrow is Pizza Day.  Unfortunately no further orders can be taken.  The Tuckshop will be open at recess and lunchtime for over the counter sales only.  There will be no hot food.

McGurn Family Adventures

The McGurn family say farewell to St Brigid's this week.  They are about to undertake a year of travelling and adventure.  If you would like to follow their journey Patrick will be writing a blog.  

Wellbeing - Praise on the Playground

Prep students are creatively problem solving who is “ IT” in a game of tag  using the nursery rhyme, Ibble Dibble. They created a lot of interest singing together from other students who paused to watch in the playground this week! Well done to our future leaders who included everyone and used a positive strategy to find a solution. 

Having read a recent report published by the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY), young people told us they wanted their parents, carers and support people to:

Focus on the positive, express pride in their achievements often and express acceptance of who they are as a person.

Remind them that their parent, carer or support person loves them unconditionally, and is always there to help.

Offer practical guidance and assistance in tackling stresses and other problems at school and in life generally.

Encourage and support them to follow their own aspirations and make their own decisions for their futures, rather than being pressured to follow their parents’ or carers’ dreams.

What's on next week....

Friday 13 December

11:30am - End of Year Mass - St Brigid's Church Mordialloc - All welcome

2:30pm - Farewell Assembly - All welcome

Monday 16 December

New Classes 2020 - Meet the Teacher

Tuesday 17 December

8:15am - Running Club

9:00am - Year 6 Graduation Day Out

Wednesday 18 December

1:00pm - SCHOOL FINISHES FOR THE YEAR

Merry Christmas to All

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our families a very happy, safe and Holy Christmas and every best wish for a fantastic 2020. A new decade begins…..

Michael Russo

Principal