Term 1 Week 6 – 8th March 2024

In 2024, Catholic Education Week will run from Sunday 10 March to Sunday 17 March.

Catholic Education Week is an opportunity for all Catholic schools in the Archdiocese of Melbourne to celebrate their Catholic identity, the pivotal role they play within their local community and the strength of the sector.

The theme for Catholic Education Week 2024 is ‘In the light of Christ’. Drawn from the Melbourne Archdiocese Catholic Schools (MACS) strategic plan, MACS 2030: Forming Lives to Enrich the World.

In 2024, Catholic Education Week will run from Sunday 10 March to Sunday 17 March.

To celebrate the conclusion of Catholic Education Week 7 we will be holding a casual clothes day on Friday 15th March. We ask for a gold coin donation on this day which will go towards supporting Caritas’ Project Compassion.

GROWING THROUGH SERVICE

As we begin this year, I would like to share with you the school mantra that we have decided to use in 2024. It is derived frDear Parents,

On Thursday 22nd February 2024, MACS launched their VISION FOR INSTRUCTION which will extend to 2030. Executive director Ed Simons stated that:

‘Our Vision for Instruction has twin fundamental goals: excellence and equity. As a key part of our MACS 2030 strategy, this approach will help us achieve our vision that every student is inspired and enabled to flourish and enrich the world, regardless of their background or circumstances.’

At St Brendan’s, we will continue to challenge ourselves to ensure that current practices, programs and pedagogy aligns with the system vision. This will ensure that our children receive the best education possible to meet their individual learning needs.

Our first Open Day was this Thursday and we were very pleased with the interest that was shown. After receiving leadership training, some of our Year 5/6 children did an incredible job as the tour guides for the Open Day. The prospective parents were all very impressed with how polite, confident and informative the children were. Our next open day is on Wednesday 13th March at 9.15am.

Thanks to everyone who has taken part in our letterboxing for Open Days. It’s wonderful to see families getting involved in helping to drive enrolments at our school. You might notice that we are also advertising on a billboard on the corner of Mt Alexander Rd and Maribyrnong Rd. Look out for us as you drive by!

Mass and Sacraments

We have arranged to attend 9.15am mass on the first Tuesday of each month (excluding Public holidays, Closure days and holidays). This week’s mass was beautiful, with the children reading and new student leaders receiving a special blessing. The children were very reverent and sang with passion.

For parents of children who are making their Sacraments this year Reconciliation will be celebrated on 8th May at 5pm. We will be meeting with Fr Thang on Tuesday to confirm the 2024 dates for First Eucharist and Confirmation. More details will be provided after this meeting next week.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN will be held for Years 3 & 5 children across Australia from 13-25 March 2024. Children at St Brendan’s will complete NAPLAN on the dates below. Please see your child’s teacher for further details.

School Advisory Board meeting and Parents and Friends Committee

Last Tuesday the School Advisory Board met for the first time this year. It is always wonderful to meet with the parent community and to receive feedback and ideas around a range of topics. Thank you to the permanent members who attended.

We have recently established a Parents and Friends Committee which is primarily responsible for organising fundraising activities. We are still looking for permanent members, however, if you don’t feel you can give this level of time, please consider assisting with individual events as they arise. Giving even a small amount of time to help with a fundraising event makes a huge difference to the workload of everyone.

Onsite after hour’s activities

We are thrilled to announce that a number of sporting clubs will be using our incredible facilities after hours. These includes:

North Melbourne Cheer Squad using Gym to make AFL banners

o Thursday 6-9pm (home games only)

o Anyone interested in Assisting should contact the Cheer Squad President Annette on 0409946216

Kensington Colts Basketball Team will be commencing training in our gym several times a week after school.

o Thursday 14th March at 3.15pm - For Girls

o Friday 15th March at 3.15 - For Boys

o See flier for details

Grasshopper Soccer on Tennis courts

o Wed 4.30-5.30pm from Term 2

o More info about participation to come

Parent Helpers

It’s wonderful to see that we have had so much interest from parents wanting to help in our classrooms. We will begin this in Term 2, starting with a Parent Helper course to be held on Wednesday 17th April at 9am in the library.

Please note that all parents must have a current ‘Working with Children Check’. You can complete this online at

www.vic.gov.au/working-with-children-check

You can register for the course on a Google form that will be coming soon.

Counselling services

If you have been approached by staff or if you feel your child would benefit from accessing counselling services please talk to your GP about obtaining a Mental Health Plan and sending it to Onpsych. We cannot be provided this counselling service until we have at least 6 families who have completed this step.

Childhood and adolescence can be a difficult and challenging time. St Brendan’s will be offering counselling services to children at school through onPsych.

onPsych offers services to students, their families and the school community a no out of pocket expenses (bulk billing) service. This is done under a range of programs, including the GP Mental Health Care Plan (MHCP) and National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS).

The MHCP will entitle the child, adolescent or family member up to 20 therapeutic (counselling sessions) per year with the psychologist. NDIS services differ based on individual plans.

For more information please log on to:

https://onpsych.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/onPsych-School-Collaboration-Starter-Pack.pdf

Warm regards,

Kellie Noonan

The annual St Brendan’s Athletics Day will be held on Wednesday March 20th at Aberfeldie Athletics Track. Students are encouraged to dress in their House colours on the day, and/ or their sports uniform.

If parents/ carers would like to come to support their children, they are welcome at the venue from 10am onwards.

Junior students (Prep- Grade 3) will return to school by 1:30pm and senior students will return by 2:30pm.

If any parents/ carers have a valid WWCC and would like to assist at the event, please see the office staff by Wednesday March 14th. We would love some help from our wonderful community on the day.

We hope to see you there.

-Ms Justine

TERM 1 Dates

Sunday 10th – Friday 17th March

● Catholic Education Week

Monday 11th March

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY Public Holiday Students do not attend school today

Wednesday 13th March

● NAPLAN

● School Open Morning 9.15am

Thursday 14th March

● NAPLAN

Friday 15th March

● NAPLAN

● Casual Clothes Day – gold coin donation

● Assembly 2.40pm in Library Lead by Prep/1

Saturday 16th March

● Lego Club 10.00am-12.00pm

Wednesday 20th March

● Whole school Athletics Carnival

Thursday 21st March

● Sushi Day

● Camp parent information night 3:00–3:30pm

Friday 22nd March

SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY Students do not attend school today

Thursday 28th March

● Assembly 12.15pm in Library Lead by Gr 5/6

● Last Day of Term –School finishes at 1.00pm

TERM 2 Dates

Wednesday, 17th April

· Parent helper program (library)

Thursday, 25th April

ANZAC Day - SCHOOL CLOSURE DAY

Wednesday, 1st – 3rd May

· School Camp G4-6

REMINDERS

Lego Club commenced last Saturday and the response to it has once again been incredible.

Just a friendly reminder that Lego Club is run by Fleur who volunteers her time to facilitate the club, but that parents are expected to stay and supervise their own children.

Do you know of any families that are seeking a school to enrol their child in now or for the 2025 school year? St Brendan’s offers a uniquely personalised learning environment. It has an extraordinary staff to student ratio that ensures that every child is provided with high levels of attention, care and a learning program tailored to their needs.

For all enquiries, please contact the school office on 9376 0249. We have include an open day flyer for you to give to anyone you may know who is interested in attending a school tour.