Newsletter
St Brigid's Primary School
PRAYER
Term Three Week Eight- Sept. 8th 2022
God, bless all the fathers in the world.
Guide them to be good role models
and loving to all their children.
Help them to be a Father
like You are.
Give them grace and patience
to handle situations in a loving way
Principal - Paula MacKenzie
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
Fatherhood calls for many challenges and hardships, which every dad bears with pride and happiness. Your dad has been your first friend who has always been with you, no matter what. He is the one person who has bestowed you with unconditional love and care, without asking for anything in return. When it comes to the relationship you share with your father, there are absolutely no strings attached. He may not show it, but he is always there for you, with his unwavering support and assistance. How often do you take time out to whisper a silent prayer to God for the health and happiness of this special person in your life? This Father’s Day, take it as an opportunity to seek blessings for your father, with a special prayer of gratitude.
Remember to tell your dad how much you love him and what he means to you
Confirmation
What a perfect day Sunday turned out to be as our Year six students and their families celebrated the Sacrament of Confirmation. The Sacrament of Confirmation is the second of the three sacraments of Christian initiation. Confirmation completes Baptism, by which in the laying on of hands and the anointing with Chrism Oil, which first happened at Baptism, we are confirmed with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We are reminded of our participation in the ministry and mission of Jesus and strengthened to follow Jesus more closely.
Father’s Day Breakfast
Thank you to all the dads and children for joining us last Friday so that we could celebrate the amazing people in our children’s lives. It was a wonderful morning, and we thank everyone for joining us. A special thanks for all the photos that were sent in, the children love to see their dads up on the power point. Thank you to our amazing Year Three staff and students for the wonderful assembly that celebrated our dads.
Performing Arts
I was delighted when we ventured to the performing arts festival in Balcatta last week to listen to our choir. I was so proud of our children they sang so well. Their part singing was spot on, and their two songs were both extraordinarily well done. Congratulations to the choir and our amazing conductor Mrs Nicole Boddy and our great accompanist Mr Shaun Davis. I love listening to our choirs perform they are so impressive. Thanks also to the parents who came to support our choir, fantastic to see you there.
Optimism
Optimism is an outlook on life such that one maintains a view of the world as a positive place. Optimists are people who refuse to feel helpless and don’t give up when faced with seemingly impossible problems. They expect to succeed, believe in themselves and remain positive. Optimists generally believe that people and events are inherently good, so that most situations work out for the best in the end.
Optimism includes the assumption I can do something to change this situation for the better, whereas pessimism includes the assumption probably nothing I do will make any difference. Of course, when you're optimistic, you are more willing to take action to change things for the better, which increases the likelihood that things will change for the better; that's how optimism becomes self-fulfilling.
How do children develop optimism? As children grow and develop, they need as many opportunities as possible to experience success. Every time children achieve something they set out to do, they start to develop a belief that they can go on trying and have more successes. ‘Self-talk’ is what we say to ourselves to explain the things that happen through the day. When children are able to say to themselves that they can do something, they are more likely to succeed.
Recent research has indicated that success experiences and positive interactions with parents, teachers and significant others are critical factors in children learning optimism. The way that adults think about and talk about their experiences are very powerful in shaping a child’s beliefs about why success or failure might happen.
The more optimistic children are, the more able they are to succeed and have a sense of the future and the more they are able to make friends and learn at school.
What parents can do:
- Be a good role model - let your children hear how you make sense of a situation (your ‘self-talk’) and share your positive thoughts with your children.
- Re-phrase what your child says - say things or use different words to make more positive sense out of a situation. Child: "I never have anyone to play with." Parent: "Sometimes it’s hard to find a friend, but last week you had a good time with Mary."
- Tell your own stories of overcoming hardships - "When I was at school I thought… but then I realised . . . "
- Give encouragement - "What were your thoughts when you were losing that tennis game?", "How did your thoughts change to help you to move from losing to winning?" Help your child catch the helpful and unhelpful thoughts and stick with the helpful ones.
- Remember to share some of the old sayings:
- "If at first you don’t succeed - try, try again."
- "There’s no such word as can’t."
- "Every cloud has a silver lining." - Draw your child’s attention to media and highlight public figures or winning teams who have overcome hardship.
God Bless and may you have a wonderful weekend
Paula MacKenzie
Principal
Assistant Principal - Alan Morrison
Help Stop the Spread and Stay Healthy
With the Flu season well and truly here, a reminder to parents to please keep their children at home if they are unwell. If children come to school sick, parents and care givers will be contacted and asked to collect their child.
After School Pick-Up
We would like to remind parents and caregivers that school finishes at 3:00pm and we thank parents who arrive on time to collect their child. We appreciate that there is a fair amount of traffic at 3:00pm and therefore supervision is extended to 3.30. We ask you to ensure that all children are collected by this time. Thank you for your cooperation.
Thank you to all the parents with the kiss n drop and not parking in this lane. There is a lot of traffic in the afternoon, and it is moving quite quickly. Please remind your child/ren to keep an eye out for your car.
Why Being on Time to School Matters
Arriving on time for school ensures that your child doesn't miss out on the important learning activities that happen early in the day when they are most alert. Set your child up for success and make certain he/she arrives to school “On Time. Every Time”.
Why should I arrive for school on time?
- It is important that children arrive in school on time everyday for a number of reasons.
- It is the legal responsibility of parent/carers to ensure that children attend their registered school on time each day.
- If a child is late they miss important information about the days activities.
- A child that is late will miss school work.
- Children that arrive in good time for registration are able to talk to their friends before school and settle into the school day with them.
- A child who is arriving late to school may feel sad, embarrassed or unsettled.
- A child that is late disrupts staff and other children.
Top Tips for being on Time
- establish good bedtime routines so your child has enough sleep, and doesn't struggle to get out of bed in the morning
- invest in a good alarm clock - and engage your child with setting it each evening!
- establish good morning routines
- make sure they have breakfast (or come to our breakfast club at school)
- prepare lunches and snacks the night before
- put out uniform the night before
- pack school bags the night before - you don't want to be searching for musical instruments, books/book bags or PE kit in the morning!
- leave bag and shoes near the front door
- get into the habit of completing home learning in the evening instead of trying to complete at the breakfast table
- keep keys in the same place so they are easy to find
- build in a 'time cushion', leaving home in plenty of time in case of delays in the journey.
If you have any particular challenges or difficulties in arriving on time for school, please talk to your child's class teacher, Mr Alan Morrison (Assistant Principal) or Mr Tony Corbett (Assistant Principal).
Summer Uniform
When students return to school on Tuesday 11th October, we remind families that all students should be wearing the correct summer uniform.
Before the end of term please take this opportunity to ensure that our girls dresses are the appropriate length and all uniforms are tidy and in good repair. If you need to place an order please click the Uniform Order Form, complete the form and either sent it to uniform@stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au or alternatively you can send the form in
with your student to be handed into the office.
For more information, please see our Uniform Guidelines at Student Hand Book 2022
Assistant Principal - Tony Corbett
The Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross
By Monique Sammut | September 14, 2018
The Symbol of Redemption
On September 14, the day before the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, we celebrate the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. The Cross was a terrifying symbol in the days of the Romans. It symbolized death and was considered one of the most brutal ways to be killed. However, Jesus’ death transformed the symbol of death and despair into a symbol of hope.
On this feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross, we should remember the comforting message that death no longer means the end. The Cross is the pathway by which we can have Eternal Life. In this life, we will all have crosses – our own difficulties to bear. There is a saying that if we were all to throw our crosses in one big pile, we would hurriedly take back our own when we saw those of everyone else. We should not look for crosses, however, we should embrace the ones Jesus gives us. By taking up our Crosses and following Jesus, we will find Eternal Life!
Every feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross we should thank God for sending His Son to die for our sins and to save us! Through the gift of His life, death, and sacrifice, the gates of Heaven are opened for us.
The Fathering Project.
Parenting might be the most challenging task you will ever have, but it will also be the most rewarding. If you can consciously incorporate these practices into your daily life, your children will be well prepared.
♦◊♦
- Self-esteem. It is the foundation upon which happiness and success in all areas of our lives are built. To foster self-esteem in our children, yours must be strong. After all, you can’t teach what you don’t know. Remember to love your children (and yourself) unconditionally and allow them to fail so they can get back up. When they fail, don’t judge them. Don’t manipulate, control, criticize, or shame them. At the same time, stop telling them they can be anything they want. Praise is good but like all good things, its power is blunted when overused.
- Uniqueness. Teach your children not to worry so much about what people think of them. Don’t compare them to anyone, not even their siblings. We are all unique, and kids need to learn to embrace the totality of who they are. Being different is okay. As JFK said: “Conformity is the jailer of freedom and the enemy of growth.”
- Shame. It is a weak form of discipline. Avoid it at all costs. It teaches kids to hate themselves and resent you in the process. Shame does not teach children about guilt or to feel sorry about their misbehaviours. It teaches them to have contempt for who they are. Words of wisdom by Carl Jung: “Shame is a soul eating emotion.”
- Parental Agenda. Allow your kids to live out their dreams and aspirations. See your children for who they are and not for who you want them to be. Do not push your personal agenda on them. Dr. Shefali Tsabary explains: “Our children didn’t come into the world to be our puppets. They came here to struggle, fumble, thrive, and enjoy–a journey for which they need our encouragement.”
Don’t Overprotect. Overprotecting your children not only hurts their self-esteem, but it also fosters anxiety, insecurity, and poor coping skills. Kids need to experience a range of negative emotions, failure, and adversity. It is the only way to learn. These experiences are necessary. You are there to teach, support, and catch your children when they fall. Be validating and supportive when they experience difficult emotions. “As parents, we have a tendency to overprotect; it’s okay to try and show them all positives, but we cannot forget that the real world has teeth.” So true Johnnie Dent Jr.!
Discipline. Parenting should be 90% teaching and 10% discipline. Constant correcting is like having your boss breathing down your throat. It corrodes the parent-child relationship. Patience, repetition, empathy, and validation are what they need. It takes practice to learn all the human skills required to survive in this world. You have been here a while and might have lost sight of how scary and overwhelming this world can be. Don’t punish or timeout their emotional outbursts or send them to their rooms. It will only teach them to hide their feelings and shut you out when they are teens. Bill Ayers nailed it when he said: “Your kids require you most of all to love them for who they are, not to spend your whole time trying to correct them.
Money. Convey the value of money to your children from the time that they are little. Teach them financial literacy. Don’t buy too many toys. Teach them to practice gratitude and daily acts of kindness. Talk with them about saving, planning for the future, spending wisely, avoiding debt. Will Rogers offered this wisdom: “Too many people spend money they haven’t earned, to buy things they don’t want, to impress people that they don’t like.
Screens. Monitor not only what they watch on screens but how much they watch. Talk to them about Internet safety. Encourage them to unplug with physical activities, play, hobbies, arts, music, and involvement with real people. Remember Andrew Malcolm’s words: “The car trip can draw the family together, as it was in the days before television when parents and children talked to each other.
Chores. If you involve your children in doing chores, or helping out, from the time that they are two, you are instilling good habits. Chores not only foster self-esteem, but they also teach life skills, responsibilities, organizational skills, cooperation, and discipline. The benefit of starting young is that you won’t have to fight with them to help you when they are teenagers.
Role Model. Embody and stand by your values, and be the person you want your children to become. There is no better lesson than leading by example. Make sure your words and actions are in sync. As James Baldwin reminds us: “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.”
Extract from www.goodmenproject.com
TERM DATES FOR 2022
TERM ONE
Monday 31st January – Friday 8th April
Pupil Free Days - 8th March & 8th April
TERM TWO
Tuesday 26th April – Friday 1 July
Pupil Free Days – 5th & 6th May
TERM THREE
Monday the 18th July – Friday 23 September
Pupil Free Days - 12th August
TERM FOUR
Monday 10th October – Friday 9th December
Pupil Free Days - 10th October
Music
The 33rd Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools and Colleges has commenced for 2022. It is a time of great excitement for our budding musicians as they will share their amazing musical talents and abilities with the wider community.
In the upcoming weeks the Choral music students will be diligently polishing their performance pieces to ensure they are well prepared for their scheduled performance.
Please be advised of the important date for the Choral performance:
Choral Singing Primary - (Choir Students Only Attending)
Date: Thursday 25th August 2022
Session: 11:00am – 12:30
Venue: Vasto Club, Balcatta
Uniform: Full Winter uniform
Please come and support the music students in their marvellous endeavours and note that in order to help pay for costs of the festival an entry fee is charged. Ticketing is now via Try Booking. There are no door sales. The links are available at www.spiritofthearts.com.au
Kind regards,
Nicole Boddy
SCHOOL CANTEEN
QUICKCLIQ ORDERS
If you have placed an on line order through QuickCliq and your child is unwell or the canteen is closed, you MUST cancel your order before the cut off time of 9.00am by going on line and following these instructions:
Log into your QuickCliq account -> click Active/Cancel order -> Scroll to the right -> click Cancel against the order.
Wednesdays, Thursdays & Fridays are the busiest days for the canteen. If you can't help for the entire day, that's not a problem, we would be grateful if you could help between the hours of 11.15am to 12.30pm. As a "thank you" for your help, the canteen will provide you with lunch, a cold drink and bottomless cups of tea/coffee. Please call into the canteen and have a chat with Kylie (our canteen manager) to let her know when you are available.
UNIFORM SHOP
Uniform Shop Opening Hours
Monday 8.00am till 10.00am
Wednesday 1.30pm till 3.30pm
Uniform Order Forms can be emailed to uniform@stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au or contact Mrs Jo-Anne Vellis during open hours only on 6216 3865.
ONLINE UNIFORM ORDER FORM
If you need to place an order please click the below link, complete the form and either sent it to uniform@stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au or alternatively you can send the form in with your student to be handed into the office.
https://stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Uniform-Order-form-2022.pdf
Please note: Children in years 3 to six should be wearing their school ties as this is part of our winter uniform. As part of this uniform all students should wear clean and polished black leather lace-up shoes. For more information, please see our Uniform Guidelines at https://stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Uniform-Guideline-Booklet-2022.pdf
Welcome to Auslan
Why do I always wear black? Auslan is a visual language that is mostly signed in front of the top half of the body. Most Deaf people wear plain, dark colours to enable people to see their hands while they are signing. You’ve probably seen Auslan interpreters on the news. They always wear plain black clothes, as do Auslan teachers, teachers of the Deaf and other people who communicate using Auslan on a regular basis.
How do you gain the attention of a Deaf person? This is a question the students were contemplating last week. One thing you should not do is walk up behind a Deaf person and tap them on the shoulder. They can’t hear you coming and you could frighten them. Walk around them and wave to get their attention. Other ways of gaining attention are: tapping on a table or stomping on the floor (they can feel the vibration); or flicking the lights on and off. Never click your fingers at a Deaf person as this is considered rude.
We have recently been learning family signs and have completed family trees. This week I have included some family signs for you to practice. Have fun!
Music
The St Brigid’s Primary Choir celebrated the spirit of great things with their sensational performance at the 2022 Performing Arts Festival.
The Choral students performed at a high standard, receiving encouraging comments from their adjudicator and being awarded a Merit Certificate for their energetic and vibrant performance.
Everyone involved in the Festival this year, is to be congratulated for their hard work, courage and determination in sharing their musical talents and abilities with their community. In participating in the Festival they have demonstrated that with perseverance and a love of music “Great things are possible!”
Nicole Boddy
St Brigid’s Running Club 2022
Dear Parents/Guardians,
Due to the interest shown in previous years, we will once again be offering the St Brigid’s Running Club Program’ again in 2022. The program will begin on Tuesday 17th May, and will not only prepare students for the Inter House Cross Country Carnival, but also promote an active lifestyle and encourage participation.
The essential details are listed below;
When: Every Tuesday 3:15pm – 3:45pm
Where: St Brigid’s Primary School, Middle Swan (Meet in the undercover area at the main school oval)
Cost: Free
Year Groups: Pre Primary – Year 6
Equipment:
Students will need to bring running attire and running shoes/joggers, and get changed into their attire at the conclusion of the school day, before ‘Running Club’ commences. Students who wear sports uniform on a Tuesday, may participate in their sports uniform.
Parental Support:
This initiative is one which will be a success if we have the full support of the parents who have their children involved. It is expected that each student’s behaviour is of the highest standard and students must maintain this standard of behaviour throughout the program or they will not be able to continue participating in the program.
This will include ensuring that students are to be picked up no later than 3:50pm at the conclusion of ‘Running Club’ and that participating students stay off the play equipment/stay out of the sand pit areas.
I thank you very much in advance for your support, and if you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact myself via email, samuelharris1@cewa.edu.au or in person at school.
I hope that we can continue this enjoyable and productive program for the students of our school.
Kind regards
Mr Samuel Harris
Physical Education Teacher
Before & After School Care
Parents, we are here to support you and your children in before and after school hours! We offer a secure, safe and exciting environment for your children to thrive and be a part of a socialized group.
Please note an enrolment form and 1 days' notice is to be given to make your casual bookings for your children.
We are here to help! Enrolment forms are now online https://www.helpinghandsnetwork.com.au/register/#.
Vacancies Available Now!
COMMUNITY NEWS
CSPWA Parent Pilgrimage
Do you feel exhausted as we come to the end of a very busy term? Book Week, Science Week, Performing Arts Festival, Sports Carnivals – they all take their toll, especially if you are working outside the home as well.
Why not put some time by to recharge, by joining with our Parent Pilgrimage on Sunday 18th September. We often hear of the importance of looking after ourselves first in order to better look after the others in our lives. Spending a couple of hours on a Sunday morning experiencing the ancient faith tradition of pilgrimage provides a wonderful way to recharge the batteries and have some time to encounter God, ourselves, others and nature.
https://www.trybooking.com/CBKXV .
Regards,
Siobhan Allen
Executive Director
Enrolments are now open for VacSwim swimming lessons during the summer school holidays. VacSwim offers fun lessons at beach or pool locations. They are a great school holiday activity and they teach valuable safety skills to help keep your child safe in the water.
Enrol at education.wa.edu.au/vacswim
The Council for Catholic Women Perth warmly invites you to hear Perth's women members share their experience of the second assembly of the Plenary Council.
There will be an opportunity for questions and discussion. All welcome.
Venue : James Nestor Hall ,Catholic Education Office 50 Ruislip St West Leederville
When: Thursday 8 September, 5.30pm - 8.30pm (Light refreshments served 5.30pm - 6pm)
RSVP by Tuesday 6 September to kerrymacfarlane2@gmail.com or mob 0400 886 835
St Brigid's Primary School
Service, Courage, Peace, Acceptance
Email: admin@stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au
Website: www.stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au/
Location: 20 Toodyay Road, Middle Swan WA, Australia
Phone: 92501592
Facebook: facebook.com/stbrigidsms
Twitter: @stbrigidsms