Newsletter No. 18 | Term 4 Week 1 | Friday 11th October 2024

Prayer

Camino Prayer from St Frances.
Although I may have travelled all the roads, crossed mountains and valleys from East to West,
if I have not discovered the freedom to be myself,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have shared all of my possessions with people of other languages and cultures;
made friends with Pilgrams of a thousand paths, or shared albergue with saints and princes,
if I am not capable of forgiving my neighbour tomorrow,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have carried my pack from beginning to end and waited for ever Pilgrim in need of encouragement, or given my bed to one who arrived later than I, or given my bottle of water in exchange for nothing; if upon returning to my home and work, I am not able to create happiness, peace and unity,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have had food and water each day, and enjoyed a roof and shower every night; or I may have had my injuries well attended, If I have not discovered in all that the love of God,
I have arrived nowhere.

Although I may have seen all the monuments and contemplated the best sunsets; although I may have learned a greeting in every language or tasted the clean water from every fountain; If I have not discovered who is the author of so much free beauty and so much peace,
I have arrived nowhere.

If from today I do not continue walking on your path, searching and living according to what I have learned, If from today I do not see in every person, friend or foe a companion on the Camino; If from today I cannot reccognize God, the God of Jesus of Nazareth as the one God of my life,
I have arrived nowhere.

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

Welcome to Term 4. Daylight Savings is here and summer is on the way, even if it might not seem like it right now! I hope you all enjoyed a wonderful, refreshing break with your families over the holidays. It has been really great to be back at school this week. I have loved catching up with everyone, and have especially loved catching up with the children. It is amazing how they all seem to have grown so much in such a short time. 

I managed to keep an eye on all that went on in Term 3 at St. Brendan’s and it looks like there was lots of great learning and fun for our students. I would like to thank Mandy and the staff for all that they did to ensure that things ran smoothly in my absence. 

I would like to also acknowledge the many contributions that Allira has made to our school over the last three years. Allira has been granted Leave and we hope to see her back at some stage in the future. Thank you to Alice and Liz for taking on the Prep/1 teaching role for the rest of the year. The children are in great hands! As we know, Liz and Alice are both excellent teachers who teach the basics really well and also bring lots of fun and creativity to their roles.

Camino
It was such a pleasure and a privilege to walk part of the Way of St James, on a path walked by thousands of pilgrims since the 9th Century.  

The quaint small towns we passed through, the sites along the way, the beautiful scenery, the challenge of walking up and down mountains, the greetings of ‘Buen Camino’ from passers-by, the beautiful churches we visited, and the people we met, all contributed to making it a wonderful experience. 

There are points along the way where people place a stone from their homeland. I took a stone from St. Brendan’s and placed it at the foot of a cross (see photo). People take the stones for many reasons, for me, it was to say a special prayer for the community of St. Brendan’s who were often in my thoughts as I journeyed on. I think it is pretty special that a small part of our school is on a Camino path walked by thousands of people over the years. Maybe one day some of our children may take their own spiritual journey along the Camino.

The Camino culminates in pilgrims arriving at the of Santiago de Compostela. A pilgrim’s Mass is celebrated at midday each day. After the spiritual journey walkers have undertaken, it is a very moving experience to celebrate Mass with hundreds of fellow pilgrims from all over the world. The Camino journey was a profound spiritual experience, one that will stay with me forever.

Whilst walking the 320 km from Leon to Santiago, it struck me that walking for days on end can be seen as a metaphor for life. There are moments of joy, surprise, challenge, spirituality, pain, comfort, love, peace, disappointment, triumph, failure, companionship, kindness and, through it all, an overwhelming sense of gratitude for being alive.

In life, as it was with all of the ups and downs on the walk, it's a matter of pick yourself up, dust yourself off and put one foot in front of the other, just keep on walking, with God as your guide.

This mother and her three children (See picture) from Taiwan walked the whole way of St. Frances from St Jean de Pied in France to Santiago. In total this is approximately 800 km. The children were aged 6, 8 and 10. It was a joy to run into them from time to time along the way, they totally blew us away with their energy and enthusiasm.

Are there any St. Brendan’s families out there who want to give it a go?

Mandy on Long Service Leave

Mandy will be taking Long Service Leave from Monday 14th October, returning on Wednesday 30th October. During this time, the teaching role in 2/3/4 will be shared between Alice, Andre and Merrilyn Sutherland.
We wish Mandy all the best for a restful break.

Teaching Position at St. Brendan's 2025

The school has advertised for a full-time Senior teacher in 2025. Interviews will be conducted in the next few weeks. If you know of anybody who might like to apply for this position please send them my way. 

I am pleased to announce that after four years in the Senior room, Tahlia will be teaching the Prep/1 class next year. Tahlia is excited for the opportunity to take on a new challenge and I know that she will do an amazing job. As a Primary School Principal, I see it as an important step in the development of one’s skills as an educator to be open to taking on roles across all year levels. This year’s Prep students know Tahlia well and I am sure will be excited to have her as their teacher for 2025.

Pre-Prep

The school will we conducting Pre-Prep sessions on the 15th, 22nd and 29th of November. The Pre-Prep sessions are for children who are enrolled for 2025. If you know of anyone who may be interested in sending their children along please send them our way. 

Bush Excursion

As you are aware, the Bush Excursion scheduled for last Term was not able to go ahead due to poor weather conditions. The Bush Excursion will now take place on Wednesday 30th October. This Term’s Bush Excursion will be to Bambra Bushland Reserve.

More details to follow on PAM.

Year 3/4 Bike Camp

Our Year 3/4s headed off for their bike camp to Timboon this morning. Alice has put in a power of work in the background to get everything up and running. The children will be joined by Tahlia, Kynan, Geoff Wilson (Liam’s Dad) and former students Jimmy and Joe. We thank all of our helpers for giving up their time and wish both children, staff and helpers all the best for a fantastic camp experience.

THANK YOU!

Thank you to everyone who helped out with the Footy Gate fundraiser this year. It is really heartwarming to see the school community come together to help out where they can. Thanks to Kristy and Mark for organising this fundraiser. 

Total Money Raised: $2500

Thank you also to the Scott family for looking after the chooks over the holidays and for the Robbs (Kristy and Mark) for taking care of the guinea pigs. 

Your willingness to help out is much appreciated.

Warrion Flower Show

As you will have seen from Sophie’s facebook posts, our next fundraiser will be the Warrion Flower Show on Wednesday 23rd October. This is always a wonderful event, one where the school community comes together to enjoy the atmosphere of the Flower Show and raise some money for the school. The organizers of the Flower Show really appreciate our contribution to their event and it is a lot of fun.

Thanks to Sophie who has taken the lead with the Warrion Flower Show fundraising effort. Sophie has placed a form on the whiteboard out the front of school. If you are able to help out please fill in a form or respond to Sophie’s message on facebook. 

Our stall will include a bbq, second-hand vases for sale and a Spring raffle.

WANTED: Donations of second-hand vases (tiny, big or small) to be sold at our stall.

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAYS
Please note that Monday 4th November and Tuesday 5th November will be School Closure Days. 

Swimming

Please see below the following dates for our Term 4 Swimming program:

-Friday 25th October
-Friday 1st November
-Friday 8th November
-Friday 15th November
-Friday 22nd November

Permission notes will be sent out via PAM.

Sport

The Year 5/6 boys will be participating in a basketball tournament at Blue Water on Monday 21st October. They are very excited about the tournament and Kynan is also excited to take on the coaching role. Go team!

School Attendance and Absentee Notification

Please ensure you are logging onto PAM, calling or emailing the school to advise if your child will be away or late to school prior to 9:30am each morning. This is a very important matter and we wish to ensure each child arrives to school safe.

Cows Create Careers

To conclude the Cows Create Careers program, the Yr 5/6 students participated in a Zoom session with other schools. Congratulations to the Bucking Broncos group who won the competition to design a 3D model of farm. The prize was $250 awarded to the school. Well done Kaitlyn, Melody, Jerry, Jackson and Claire! 

During the Zoom session, the children had to think quickly and design a milk carton, giving it a name and a motto. They also had to include items on the carton, such as ingredients and a picture. Melody volunteered to represent the school and had to explain her design to the other schools participating in the Zoom. She was very brave! 

Congratulations to Melody who was voted as the winner of  the competition and will receive a showbag in the mail!  motto was 'belief in yourself. 

Principal of the Day!

Finlay Pigdon was our Principal of the Day in Week 10 last term.
He arrived looking very dapper and professional ready for a day of fun and productivity. Finlay went straight to work, addressing the school at line up and giving instructions for the day.

He visited each classroom several times with his clipboard, looking for students who were following the Behaviour Matrix and completing excellent work. Finlay very generously gave everyone extra lunchtime play, and provided chips and Zooper Doopers for the whole school.

Finlay spent time in the office organising and discussing important issues with me. He decided the children deserved some tech time which was appreciated by all the students.

We loved having you as Principal for the Day Finlay, you did an excellent job!
Mandy

Class Awards
Congratulations to Harriet, James, Sophie, Charli and Jess for their awards last term!

Prep/1 Classroom

Welcome back to 4th Term.

Thank you to the wonderful Preps and Grade Ones who have settled so well and have helped me settle in. Thank you to Alice and her children for spending time in the holidays to set up our wonderful classroom.

Literacy: We are learning about recounts. The children have come up with some great experiences that they are keen to write about.
Word work: In Foundation, students are learning the sound /th/ like in cloth and thank.
We have been building, reading and writing words containing this sound. Grade 1’s are working on the sound /or/ like in sort. There are 5 different spellings - <or> <a> <aw> <au> and <ar>
Maths: We are doing lots of counting by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s, learning some new maths games and focusing on 2D and 3D shapes.

Kind Regards,
Liz McGuane

Also, just a callout to all, if anyone has any spare cardboard, from cereal boxes or tissue boxes etc that you can spare, we are looking for some for our STEM projects. Thank you!

Liz McGuane and Alice Armistead
lmcguane@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

aarmistead@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to the start of Term 4!

I hope everyone enjoyed their holidays and feels refreshed and ready for our final term of 2024. We will welcome Charlie Grist, a third year student from ACU, into our class on the 28th October. Charlie is a former student and we hope he finds his time with us rewarding and exciting!
I am taking Long Service Leave next Monday and will return on Wednesday 30th October.
During my absence Alice Armistead, Andre DeLorenzo and Merilyn Sutherland will share the duties of caring for my class.

Homework: Homework went out earlier in the week, with the current spelling words to practice. While I am away please practice times tables and read nightly as homework until I return.

Literacy: This term our class novel is Matilda by Roald Dahl. Our phonics focus for the next few weeks is the ‘er’ sound for Year 2’s (fern, learn, burn, work, skirt) and the ‘ow’ sound as in tomorrow, toenail, floating, telephone, moment for the Year 3 and 4’s. In Writing we are revising learning how to write persuasive texts.

Maths: In Maths we are investigating the features of two - dimensional and three - dimensional shapes and objects. We will also look at translation – flip, slide and turn and symmetry.

The Star of the Week award goes to Declan Ellen. Congratulations on your excellent effort!

Kind regards,
Mandy

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

4/5/6 Classroom News

Welcome back to school for Term 4!
I hope everyone had an enjoyable and restful break. We welcomed Kathryn, a first year teaching student from ACU into our class this week. Kathryn will be in our room for 20 days over the next 6 weeks and is looking forward to working with everyone.

Integrated Curriculum survey: On Tuesday we sent home anonymous surveys about employment. We would really appreciate it if a family member or friend could complete the survey and bring it back to school next week so that we can analyse the data. Thank you!

Homework: Spelling and Maths homework was sent home at the start of this week. This is due back to school on Friday 18th October.

Literacy: In Phonics we’ve been focusing on the sound /oe/ and exploring the different spellings of this sound. Year 4 students have been working on words such as; tomorrow, photograph and telephone and Year 5/6 students have been working on words such as; borrowing, woeful and inappropriate. This week we have also begun studying the novel, War Horse by Michael Morpurgo.

Numeracy: In Numeracy this week we’ve continued to work on our Measurement unit. Year 4 students have been calculating elapsed time and converting between units of time. Year 5 and 6 students have been calculating the area of compound shapes.

I hope you have a lovely week,
Tahlia

Tahlia Whytcross
twhytcross@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

Birthday Corner

Wishing a very big Happy Birthday to everyone who is celebrating their special day! Especially:

11th October - Teddy Phillips (7)

15th October - Grace Bayne (11)

Important Dates

Catholic Culture

St Brendan's Coragulac & St Joseph's Pirron Yallock Mass Times

St Brendan’s Coragulac: 9.30am Sunday Lay-led  /  Mass 5pm 4th Sunday of each month
St Joseph’s Pirron Yallock: 10:30am Mass 1st Sunday of each month

Our Diocesan Community

https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/07/ODC-July-2024-web.pdf

Click here to read all the news in the latest edition of Our Diocesan Community.

Community News & Events

Bluewater Sensory Quiet Time Pool Session
When: Every Saturday between 1-3pm
Please contact Bluewater Colac if you have any questions.