St Brendan's Catholic Primary School Coragulac eNewsletter

Prayer

LENTEN PRAYER

Lord, bless us during this season of spiritual

renewal. Fill our minds and hearts with

love, that we may be a sign of Jesus to all those

living in our midst.

Principal's Message

Dear Families and Friends,

I hope you all managed to escape the heat on Wednesday. I am sure we are all feeling very grateful that the fires did not reach feared levels.

I am currently on the Melbourne Urban Camp with our Year 5/6 students. When on excursions and camps with our students, I am always struck by how lucky we are at St. Brendan’s. Our students are always a joy to take away and our smaller numbers always allow us to be more flexible and less stressed when counting student numbers in a big city!

Today we took in the sites and atmosphere of a big city and visited ArtVo, ACMI (Australian Centre for the Moving Image) and the Old Melbourne Gaol. Tomorrow we are going ice skating, visiting Lego Land, heading out for dinner and finishing the day at the Eureka Skydeck. On Friday it is off to the Queen Elizabeth market where the children always enjoy spending the last of their money. Good times!

In preparation for the graffiti we might see on our Melbourne experience, students created their own graffiti Art. Check out their great work!

Information Night

Unfortunately the Information Night and community gathering was unable to go ahead. I would like to thank the teachers for the preparation they put into the night. They were excited to meeting with you all and sharing some of what goes on in the classrooms.

If you would like to meet with any of the teachers to find out more about your child’s learning and school expectations please contact your child’s teacher to make an appointment.

Library Day

All students visit the school library every Thursday in classroom groups.

During library students are given time to browse the shelves and select up to three books to take home and borrow for the week. Students need to return these books the following Thursday in order to borrow new ones. It would be great if students used a library bag on a Thursdays to help protect the books in school bags.

Tissues for Classrooms

Each year we ask that every student please supply 2 boxes of tissues for their classroom. Tissues can be dropped at either the front office or to classroom teachers. This is a small expense but something that saves the school a lot of money over the course of the year, allowing us to use these funds on more inportant learning resources for the children. Thank you for your contribution.

Do you have a Concession or Health Care Card?

If you hold a Concession or Health Care card that was valid on 31st January 2024 you are eligible for a $510 discount on school fees (under the Catholic Education Ballarat - Family Fee Assistance Scheme) as well as an additional $125 for Camps, Sports and Excursion Funding. Please present your relevant Concession card to the front office and complete required paperwork for the discounts to be applied.

Tennis

Last week a group of our Senior students participated in the Colac Division Tennis Championships. Congratulations to Nellie, Grace, Zayne, Brennan and Jackson. A special congratulations to Nellie on reaching the semi finals. Great effort!

NAPLAN

The Naplan Testing window is 13th - 25th March. Testing is for Year 3 and 5 students.Details of specific testing dates will be sent in the next two weeks. Our message to the students is to just have a go and do their best, no pressure.

The Wizard of Oz

Costumes and Props

Things are moving along nicely for the Wizard of Oz. Thanks to all of the parents who have been helping out with the costuming. The group is being led brilliantly by Kara, who I think might have missed her calling as a costume designer. Alice has been busy making props with the students so things are moving along! Thank you also to all of the parents who have been op-shopping, sewing, crafting and attending costume meetings, Georgie from Act and Imagine has been blown away with the support from parents for the concert. We are very lucky to have you all!

If you see a call out on Facebook or email please respond if you can. If you are unable to help, even a word of encouragement keeps people going.

Tickets

Tickets for the Wizard of Oz are $5 per adult, children are free. Tickets are on sale now via TryBooking, follow the below link to purchase or scan the QR code on our posters. We plan to have a program for you to have as a keepsake on the night. Stay tuned!

Wizard of Oz Tickets

Venue

The venue is Trinity College. This means that we will be able to fit over 200 people in for the performance. That seems like a lot but I have heard on the grapevine that there are many people coming along so get in for your tickets quickly.

Show Week

There will be a lot happening on the Tuesday and Wednesday of the last week of Term. Just giving you a heads up! Please note details below:

Tuesday 26th March

9am - 12pm: Rehearsal at school

12.30pm - 2.30pm: Children bused into Trinity for microphone checks

Wednesday 27th March

9am Children bused into Trinity

10am - 11am: Full dress rehearsal 1

12.30pm - 2.30pm: Full dress rehearsal 2

6pm: Children back at Trinity to get ready for the 7pm public show

It’s going to be a big week!

Practice, Practice, Practice.

If students would like to practice their singing at home the link to the soundtrack is listed below:

Wizard of Oz Soundtrack

Wellbeing

Because parenting doesn't come with instructions, SchoolTV is a wellbeing resource implemented at our school to help support you in the challenges of modern-day parenting relating to youth mental health and wellbeing. Parenting is a learning journey and SchoolTV supports families by providing credible information from trusted sources with practical strategies to help alleviate some of the challenges being faced by young people today.

Watch video interviews with leading wellbeing specialists and browse a library of resources. Each topic is accompanied by factsheets, podcasts, books, articles, apps and other videos.

This award-winning resource helps families build relationships, foster connections, enable understanding and break down barriers to navigate a pathway towards better mental health and wellbeing for young people. It will assist you in starting those conversations on topics that can sometimes be awkward or difficult to tackle.

Parents and caregivers are the greatest influence on a young person's life and SchoolTV focuses on empowering confident parenting.

Leanne will be sending out a link to the SchoolTV Wellbeing 'barometer' survey for parents to complete, please keep an eye on your emails for this.

Explore SchoolTV today!

SchoolTV

Research shows that children with good mental health increase their ability to learn, be creative and more productive. Children rely on parents, teachers or other caregivers to recognise their suffering and get them the help they need. Therefore, it is important for parents to learn and understand how mental illness can present itself in children.

Catholic Culture

Lent is a time to prepare our hearts and minds for Easter, and the Church recommends prayer, fasting, and almsgiving as a way to focus our preparation.

These are 'The 3 pillars of Lent'.

1. PRAYER - LOVE FOR GOD

Setting aside time for family prayer during Lent draws us closer to one another and to God.

2. FASTING - LOVE FOR YOURSELF

During Lent, we “give things up” not to torture ourselves but to free ourselves! By giving up things we find pleasurable during Lent, or abstain from actions or thoughts that are not good for you, we are eliminating any stumbling blocks between ourselves and God’s love.

3. ALMSGIVING - LOVE FOR OTHERS

As a sign of gratitude for all God has given us, and as an act of love to those in need, Christians give generously to the poor and needy, especially during Lent.

Project Compassion

Lent marks the beginning of the Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. This is a Catholic Agency providing International Aid and development for vulnerable communities across Australia andaround the world.

Your child will have brought home a Project Compassion box. To help support Caritas Australia thisyear, we are simply asking for students and families to add some coins to their Project Compassion box each week and bring their coins in during the week to add to their class box.

The theme this year is ‘Compassion in Action’. Let’s see if we can all come together to make a difference this Lent!

40 Deeds in 40 Days for Lent

Throughout Lent we have a focus on completing 40 good deeds over 40 days to show our love for Jesus.
Below is a copy of the '40 Deeds in 40 Days Program' that we will be following at school and we would love if families would like to join in at home as well. This is the digital version of the program that has links for you to click on a follow.

40 Deeds in 40 Days Program

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 Sunday Lay-led / Mass 1st Sunday of each month

Sustainability

2/3/4 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 5! We are over half way through the term and that is hard to believe!

The Wizard of Oz preparations are coming along nicely and the children are very excited!

We look forward to seeing you all on concert night.

Thank you to the parents who have returned the surveys about their children. If you have not done so, please send it along when you can. It has been great to gain some insight about your child and your thoughts as well.

Religious Education: In R.E. we have discussed how in the past, people gave up something for the 40 days of Lent. We decided we would do something extra to make the lives of others easier. The 2/3/4’s reflected on this and produced pledges that we have displayed in the corridor.

Literacy: The Year 2’s are unpacking the phoneme ‘air’ and the variety of spellings associated with it. The Year 3 & 4’s are looking at the phoneme ‘f’ and the different graphemes that represent this phoneme. The children read stories which highlight these phonemes in words within the text. They also focus on reading the texts smoothly and following punctuation cues. We are currently learning about narratives and the composition of sizzling starts to make a story exciting.

Numeracy: We have been investigating how to arrange numbers from largest to smallest and smallest to largest. We have also been looking at patterns in numbers when we add 10 more and 10 less to numbers. The children have constructed a Number Busting book where they unpack number sentences that equal a specific number. For example 10: 9+1, 5x2, 50-40, etc..

Integrated Curriculum: This week the students had the opportunity to reflect on their classmates and what characteristics they possess. They went around the room and wrote down on individual pieces of paper their thoughts about them. Everyone was invited to take the sheets home and share them with their families.

Homework: Homework was sent home this week and is to be returned by Monday. The focus is Place Value and is aligned with our current Maths cycle. Part of the homework expectation is to be reading nightly and bringing reader folders and diaries to school so they can be checked. We strongly encourage this, as reading regularly, helps greatly towards becoming a confident and proficient reader.

NAPLAN: The Year 3’s will participate in the NAPLAN testing in a few weeks time. If you have any questions regarding this please contact me.

The Star of the Week award goes to Issy Coates. Congratulations on your excellent effort!

Kind Regards,

Mandy Sutherland
msutherland@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au

4/5/6 Classroom News

Welcome to Week 5 of Term 1! Wow, this term is really flying by. Our Year 5 and 6 students are very excited to be going to Melbourne for camp this Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. It should be loads of fun! Our class has also been doing lots of practise for our Wizard of Oz performance. I encourage any students who have lines to be practising these at home, this can be in replacement of reading a novel for nightly reading.

SeeSaw: A reminder to please connect to the SeeSaw app. Please scan the QR code on the invitation sent home with your child. Feel free to come and see me if you’re having trouble.

Pen Licenses: I would like to congratulate Caleb, Kaitlyn, Harriet, Grace, Melody, Nellie Brennan and Ava for earning your pen licenses this week. Well done everyone!

Handwriting and Typing: We have started working on our cursive handwriting skills during Literacy. Students have been working on diagonal joins and some have begun incorporating cursive into their handwriting throughout the day. We have also begun working on Typing Club daily to improve our keyboard skills and become quicker typers.

Maths: In Maths we have been working on Place Value. Students have been reading, writing, ordering, and expanding numbers. We have also been learning about factors and multiples of numbers.

Religion: In Religion we have been working on our Hope unit. This week students have been learning about the events of Holy Week, particularly Palm Sunday.

Integrated Curriculum: In Integrated Curriculum we have been discussing dilemmas that have been occurring on our storyboard ‘classroom.’ The students have been giving advice and making ethical decisions to the fictional characters on our storyboard. The dilemmas have been based on everyday issues or problems that can arise in our lives.

Tahlia Whytcross
twhytcross@sbcoragulac.catholic.edu.au