St Brendan's Primary School Dunnstown eNewsletter

In the spirit of Reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land in which we sit, the Wadawurrung people, who have cared for this country for thousands of years. We would like to pay our respects to the Aboriginal Elders past, present and future for they hold the traditions, memories and wisdom of Mother Earth on which we place our feet upon today.

Upcoming Dates

21st, 28th October & 4th and 11th November: Combined Schools Day St Mary's

24th November: Little Feet Big Footprints Year 6 program

11th November: Ballarat Art Gallery excursion

15th November: 2.15 pm Tony Dalton last meeting for year @ St Brendan's

6.15 pm Tony Dalton last meeting for year @ St Mary's

17th November: Junior sleepover and stayback

22nd November: 7.00 pm AGM

29th November: Year 6 orientation Catholic secondary schools

6th December: 6.00 pm Graduation end of year mass

14th December: End of year school excursion. Extreme bounce and waterpark

16th December: Last day of school for students

30th January 2023: Students first day of school

Principal's News

Over the past few weeks we have been reminded that our land is a country of many contrasts. Through the floods that many of our communities are struggling though, we are reminded of who we are, what we value and that we should be grateful every day for what is good in our lives. So many people are struggling with so much in their lives every single day.

I share this prayer with you

Let us Pray.

We remember in our prayers:

Those whose lives have been devastated,
Those who are feeling vulnerable and weak.
Those who are stranded
Those who are facing both long-term and short-term needs.
Those who are homeless in this crippling time
We pray also for all those who are meeting needs at this time:
Volunteers and community workers
Those working to rescue people who are stranded and feed the hungry.
Those supplying food, water, equipment, money and urgent supplies
Those working to clear roadways and homes that have been damaged
Police officers, emergency personnel, medical and social welfare responders
Those seeking to offer protection from theft and fraud.
We pray that each of us will play our part in responding to the overwhelming conditions of this time, and particularly in reaching out to those who are struggling to rebuild their lives.

We pray too, that we will continue to urge the Government to play its part in strengthening structures that will heal our land, restore creation, and relieve those suffering homelessness and poverty.

We make all our prayers in the name of Jesus, who reached out always to those most in need.

Amen.

Jan Barnett rsj
Josephite Justice Co-ordinator
Josephite Justice Network

Stay dry and go gently,

Inez

ACU student in Junior room

You may notice a new face around the school in the next few weeks. We welcome Kaitlyn Gatacre, an ACU student and will be in the Junior room for the next 3 weeks.

Birthdays

Happy Birthday to Jack who will be 9 on the 5th November

Happy Birthday to Billy who will be 8 on the 10th November

Happy Birthday to Oscar who will be 11 on the 15th November

Happy Birthday Boys

Staffing next year

We are at that point of the year where we begin planning for 2023. Our staffing for next year will remain much the same as this year which I am grateful for. It will provide consistency and predictability for the children after 2 years where so much was unknown.

There are a few changes to hours for some staff. Anita is going to 3 days a week; Kelly will be full time at St. Mary’s and Lyndal will be the Learning Support Officer from Monday to Thursday at St. Brendan’s, while maintaining her current teaching hours at St. Mary’s. Things may need to be ‘tweaked’ a little however, this is how things look now.

Work with Tony

Tony and I meet last week to discuss the feedback from the community meetings at the end of last term and from surveys sent home.

Tomorrow we are meeting at St. Mary’s with a small group of parents that have offered to help brainstorm around the ideas that have emerged so far. Please feel free to join us at 9am for about an hour. This will be followed up with our final meeting for the year to make a plan moving forward into 2023. We will be listening to what you have to say, your thoughts on the ideas and considering the direction we will take next year

LFBF program change of date to 24th November

Today we were going to have our final day to the Year 6 Little Feet Big Footprints program. Due to the weather, this will be postponed until Thursday the 24^th November. This will give our Year 6 children a chance to reconnect with friends before the Secondary School orientation days on Tuesday the 29^th of November.

We are thrilled to inform parents that this program will continue next year for our 2023 Year 6 students.

Transitions and ‘Going Up’ day

On Tuesday the 29^th of November, our Year 6 children will have their transition day at their 2023 Secondary schools. The children at St. Mary’s and St. Brendan’s will spend the morning in their 2023 classes with their teachers. Our Year 2s and next years Foundation children, will begin to transition into next years classes within the next few weeks.

Annual General Meetings

A reminder that our Annual General Meetings are coming up. St. Mary’s is on Tuesday the 15^th of November St. Brendan’s on the 22^th of November. Both will start at 7pm.

All are welcome to attend. Wine and nibbles will be provided.

Junior Stayback and Year 2 Sleepover

The much anticipated Junior Stayback and Sleepover will be on the Thursday the 17^th of November. Further details will follow soon.

School Fees

Just a reminder regarding school fees. As per our School Fees Policy all school fees must be finalised by the 30th November of the current school year. If you are experiencing difficulty in managing your school fees please make an appointment to discuss with Inez. Outstanding fees statements will be emailed today.

Dates

A reminder that the dates for all public events are in the school calendar and on the newsletter. Please check these regularly as it is going to be a busy time as we approach the last half Term 4.

As we know dates for 2023, they will also go into the calendar. I know many families are already planning things for next year. We will always try to give you as much advanced notice as possible however, sometimes it does take time to finalise the details.

Junior News

Last Friday we welcomed Australian Catholic University preservice teacher Kaitlyn Gatacre into the Junior classroom. Kaitlyn will be working with us to complete a 3 week placement at St Brendan’s. I am sure you will make Kaitlyn welcome when you see her and you should hear more about Kaitlyn from your child.

Last week we were so excited to have our grandparents visit us at school. We started with Kade reading an Acknowledgement of Country and then we said some prayers. We then had a chance to interview our grandparents and compared our life today with our grandparent’s life when they were younger. Next we had our photos taken and we made a collage photo frame on a paper plate for our Grandparents to take home. Finally we all shared morning tea together. We all enjoyed some yummy scones and cakes. It was a fantastic day!

Here is one thing we remember our grandparents told us:

Preston – Oma had her first birthday party when she turned 15.

Aiden – Nanna used to play with matchbox cars with the boy next door.

Lucy – I didn’t know that Granny used to work at a fruit shop and Grandpa’s job was to pass everyone the milk.

Billy – Gran and all her sisters and brothers had a horse each. Nan’s horse was Biscuit.

Adele – Both Grans used to make phones out of tin cans.

Sophie - Gran used to do skipping when she was at school.

Grandparents day

The senior students have commenced the Relationships and Sexuality program with the unit "Our Body". So far we have discussed the sacredness of our bodies and why we should respect them both physically and emotionally. We have shared the different slang terms we sometimes use for different body parts and discussed the importance of knowing and using their correct names.

Last week we listed the changes that occur during puberty and that puberty occurs at different times for different people.

We acknowledge that this topic can be a little awkward and embarrassing but we encourage the students to have courage to actively participate in the sessions, sharing what they know and asking questions. We offer a 'question box' for any questions the children wish to ask anonymously.

We have been impressed with the knowledge the students have brought to the sessions to date and continue to encourage them to share with their parents what we have been learning.

The seniors are well into our Multiplication and Division unit and so far have been working hard to learn their times tables, create and solve word problems and use a number of strategies to solve complex multiplication and division problems.

They have also been working incredibly hard in writing in order to move along our Bump It Up Wall. We have started a focus on developing characters and setting with an emphasis on ‘good, better and best’ vocabulary.

Simon everywhere App update

SIMON_Everywhere_Important_App_Update.pdf

Newsletter 2nd November 2022