Congratulations to our Graduating Class of 2020

Congratulations to our 2020 Graduating class

Congratulations to all of our Year 6 students who are leaving us at the end of the year to commence their secondary schooling in 2021. We will commence their celebrations and farewells tomorrow, Friday 11th December with our End of Year Liturgy at 11.30am and Assembly at 2.00pm. Both these events will be recorded and the link will be placed on SkoolBag.

On Monday 14th December, we have our Year 6 Graduation Liturgy at 5.00pm followed by the awards ceremony. Due to the change in restrictions our Liturgy will now be held at St Brigid’s Church and 2 family members may attend.

This is the time where much will be said about our 2020 Graduating class, recognising their achievements and successes over the last 7 years. It will also be the time that we talk about the COVID layer that has impacted on their last year of primary school.

The parents have then organised a celebratory dinner with all Year 6’s at the park on Governor Road. On Tuesday 15th December the Year 6’s have their Big day out, which is Rock Climbing and Pizza at Chelsea Park.

Our Year 6 students have much to be proud of and even though we have not been at school all year due to the global pandemic, they have been outstanding leaders and I wish them all the very best as they move into new learning opportunities.

We look forward to working with you all in 2021 where we will welcome our new Foundation students and new staff to our St Brigid’s community. Much fun and learning to be had next year.

New Classes for 2021

Foundation - Mrs Yass and Mrs Kimball

1/2 team -

Cassie Dirckze, Ellen Behrendt, Suzie Ripp & Rebecca Hampton

3/4 team

Angela Kavadias, Libby Young, Loretta Flavelle

5/6 team

Arch Cochrane, Lauren Yap, Annemarie Harrison and Heather Hughes

Literacy Support - Andrea Williams

Wellbeing, Sustainability and Enhancement - Belinda Wendy

Learning Diversity - TBA

Education Support Officers

Glenn Stewart, Cathryn Scofield, Sigi Goetze & TBA

2021 Meet the Teacher

On Monday 14 December the students will meet their new teacher/s and classmates for 2021. I commend the staff who have put a lot of work into forming these groups for 2021 – 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 4-week process has allowed for greater capacity in relation to forming groupings that have been trialled rather than making “on paper” best decisions.

Reports Live Tomorrow from 6pm

Your child’s Semester 2 Reports will be available online and able to be downloaded/printed as at 6:00pm tomorrow. 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 have any issues accessing your child's report please email the office on the address below and we will send a return email on Monday 14 December with your child's report.

office@sbmord.catholic.edu.au

Virtual Art Show

We really hope that you had time to view our Virtual Art Show sent to families on Tuesday. You should all be so proud of the amazing work completed by your children. In case you missed it. Here is the link. We have appreciated some wonderful comments sent to us by our families.

Thank you so much to you and your team for bringing us the Virtual Art Show! Working at a school myself, I know how hard this year has been in terms of events and all the changes we’ve had to make and I’m so glad you continued to bring us the Art Show, even in its altered format. We cast it onto our TV so we could see it a little better and Dash and Kit presented each piece to us. We were blown away and so proud of them, it was great to see how creative they (and all of the kids) have been and we could see how proud they were too. So thank you for bringing some light into what’s been a crazy few months for everyone ...we appreciate it.

Please pass on our thanks to all those involved in creating the art show. It was amazing to not only see our boys’ work, but also the whole school. Well done St Brigids!

Goodbye

We also say goodbye and farewell to the following families leaving us at the end of 2020. We wish them well for the future and thank them for being part of our school community.

Bates	Blackett	Bolton
Dow	Gartner/Barraud	Gonsalvez
Hempel	Hong	Marie-Jeanne
Mathews	Ojaimi	O'Loughlin
Paoli	Pengilly	Rayias
Ripp	Robinson	Schultz
Sweeney

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.

This year has certainly shown us the strength of the community we have at St Brigid's. During COVID, we all pulled together to make sure our students had the best opportunities they could. I thank you for the bottom of my heart for the work you put in with your children to ensure they were successful at home.

Thank you to the 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 throughout the year. Jason Watterson has led the Board meetings effectively and efficiently and Jim Poussard has been an excellent secretary who has kept the school informed of Board matters. I thank the School Board for their commitment in 2020. 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 Jim Poussard who is finishing his tenure. Jim has contributed so much to not only the School Board but our school community as well.

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.

The COVID layer has certainly added a steep curve to our professional learning and how we can teach children remotely. I have to commend all staff for learning on the job and giving our students, engaging and interactive lessons!

Special thanks to Jodie Marziano our Deputy Principal as well as her role as Religious Education Leader in both schools. Jodie has become Queen of Recording! She has recorded Confirmation, Assemblies, Liturgies and Graduation. Her amazing work ethic and 'can do' attitude has certainly been very much appreciated not only me but all in our school community.

The role of Learning Diversity Leader is a huge role in any school and Gabe Sheahan has worked with passion, enthusiasm and boundless energy in supporting students, families and staff. Many thanks for all that you have offered and added 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.

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

Fee Statements

Statements have been emailed to all families today, this includes outstanding balances due and payable. Families with a NIL and credit balances will also receive a statement reflecting the same. Please check your statement and if you have any queries contact Michele Wain - mwain@sbmord.catholic.edu.au

St Vincent de Paul Collection - Thank you

Our Students have all enjoyed our annual Christmas Casual Clothes day today in support of the Mordialloc Chapter of St Vincent de Paul. A huge thank you to the St Brigid's Community for filling our foyer with donated food, pantry staples and Christmas goodies. St Vincent de Paul will be in tomorrow morning to collect and distribute the goods to those in need.

End of Term - 1:00pm Wednesday 16 December

Please note all students will be dismissed at 1:00pm on Wednesday 16 December. The school year for all students commences Thursday 28 January, 2021.

Uniform Shop Open - Tuesday 27 January 12:00pm to 1:30pm

The Uniform Shop be open on Wednesday 27 January 12:00pm and 1:30pm for any last minute Uniform items.

What's on next week....

Friday 11 December

11:30am - End of Year Liturgy - Filmed

2:00pm - Farewell Assembly - Filmed

Monday 14 December

New Classes 2021 - Meet the Teacher

5:00pm Year 6 Graduation St Brigid's Church - Year 6 Students and two family members only.

Tuesday 15 December

9:00am - Year 6 Graduation Day Out

Wednesday 16 December

1:00pm - SCHOOL FINISHES FOR THE YEAR

Merry Christmas to All

I would like to take this opportunity to thank the St Brigid's Community for the wonderful support you have given me as I start my Principal journey. The words of encouragement, emails and phone chats have made me feel so very appreciative of how we work so well as a community. I wish you all a very safe and happy Christmas Break and look forward to working together in 2021.

Yours in partnership

Wendy Sullivan

Principal

Year in Review