St Brendan's Primary School

 Principal's Report 

Dear Parents, Carers and Friends of St Brendan’s,

 

It is surprising to me that we already find ourselves almost at the midpoint of the 2023 school year! Our school is a busy and exciting place to be. During the past few weeks and this week, there are so many events that have occurred or are occurring that require student engagement, effort and involvement. Some of these events include: 

 

  • Our Reconciliation Week Mass that Father Shymon celebrated with us last Thursday. Thank you to our Year 1/2 students and their teachers for preparing and sharing with the entire school a most sacred, moving and creative Mass. Thank you to Emma Chapple and our beautiful choir who led us in song making the Mass even more full of symbolism and meaning.

 

  • Year 6 students are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Confirmation on Saturday 3rd June at 6.00pm in St Brendan’s Church. This special sacrament is the third Sacrament of Initiation into the Catholic Church. In this sacrament, the candidates receive the gifts of the Holy Spirit which will guide and help them throughout their lives. When the candidates welcome and use the gifts, their lives will bear the fruits of love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. When they use these gifts, they will live lives that enrich the world. We, as a Catholic community, welcome Auxiliary Bishop Tony Ireland to St Brendan’s on Saturday.

 

  • Foundation, Year 1 and Year 2 excursion to TwistED Science in Moorabbin. Last Friday, all of our junior students left St Brendan’s bright and early to travel to TwistED Science for a day of Science, exploration, friendship, learning and fun. The excursion was chosen and designed to support the students’ inquiry learning in the area of Science. A wonderful day was shared by students, teachers and learning support staff.

 

  • Science exploration in all classes at St Brendan’s. Our school is a hive of industry and learning as students and teachers from across the school work to understand more Science. In every classroom, students are designing, making and testing all sorts of things as they explore scientific properties such as light, sound, friction and force. I am so excited to visit the classrooms during our Learning Showcase which will be held on Thursday 8th June from 2:30pm - 4:00pm. Please save the date and come to see the work your child/children are so proud to present.

 

  • Cross Country Success. On Wednesday 31st May, the following students will attend the Peninsula Division Cross Country to be held at Hastings Foreshore. I would like to congratulate the following students who will represent St Brendan’s: Evie J, Fawn J, Ted C, Zac J, Sam B, Nina C, Tody B and Judd B . I wish them the very best for a successful race.

 

Enrolment for Foundation 2024

I would like to extend one final reminder to all parents that enrolment forms are due at school by Friday 2nd June. We are trying to finalise our Foundation classes for the 2024 school year and we need to ensure that we are aware of all children in our St Brendan’s community who will join us next year. Please phone the school office if you require any assistance or advice around your child starting school next year. I am more than happy to have a discussion with you.

 

School Advisory Council (SAC)  

The St Brendan’s School Advisory Council will meet on Tuesday 13th June at 7.00pm.

At this meeting, the Council will explore:

  • Master planning for St Brendan’s School including a thorough investigation into the drainage challenges we have on our school site
  • The installation of new verandah posts on the administration building and near the Year 3/4 classrooms
  • The changes to the NAPLAN Proficiency Standards and how they will be explained to parents
  • Child Safety requirements and how this information is shared with students 

 

My Long Service Leave

Friday 9th June will be my last day at St Brendan’s before I take some long service leave. During this time, I will travel with my husband to London and then to Italy where we will spend five weeks. I will return to St Brendan’s on 31st July. In my absence, our school will be led by Mrs Bernie Turner with the support of the school’s leadership team. I would like to extend my very sincere gratitude to Bernie for taking on the role of Acting Principal in my absence.

 

Congratulations Ms Koziol

Lauren Koziol, our Japanese teacher and Little Explorers Playgroup leader, has asked me to share some exciting news with our community. She is pregnant with her second child.

Lauren will be with us until very early in Term Four. We congratulate Lauren on this very exciting news.

 

Have a wonderful week.

 

Sue

The Learning Showcase: 

 

ONLY TWO WEEKS AWAY:

 

Dear Parents,

 

You need to lock this date into your diary.  Thursday 8th June, 2.30 pm - 4.00 pm.

 

Students from each year level have been working extremely hard and we would love to invite the parents into the classrooms to see what has been happening.

 

This is a fantastic opportunity for parents/grandparents to sit and talk with their child/ren about their work and the process that occurred to get it SHOWCASE ready.

 

The students will be able to talk about each stage of the learning process and show you other pieces of work that they are really proud of.

 

What happens if I have more than one child’s work to look at?  

 

Parents are invited to walk into the classrooms from 2.30 pm and then move to other classrooms if necessary.  

 

Once you have looked at your child/ren's work, you can take them home. (After being blown away by their brilliance!)

 

If you can not attend the Learning Showcase, the students will remain with their classroom teacher and will continue to work on learning tasks, as per any other normal day.

 

Please note: 

This is not a parent teacher interview but an opportunity for your child to share their learning experience with you.

 

Parent Teacher interviews will be held on Tuesday 19th June and Wednesday 20th June.

 

We are really looking forward to meeting you all at the Learning Showcase.

 

Bernie Turner.