Dear Families and Caregivers,

On Friday afternoon, we celebrate and say thanks to our mothers and all the special women in our lives who have made a difference and provided life chances to us. Once again, we will acknowledge our mothers and those significant others in our lives in the days leading up to Sunday.

This year our wonderful parents on our School Advisory Council are running a small Mothers’ Day stall, selling little gifts ranging from $1 - $6 dollars. If you wish your child to purchase a ‘pamper’ gift, they will be invited along to the stall to select their gift for mum and or that special person.

All families and Caregivers are invited to visit their child’s classroom from 1:00 pm before coming together in ‘The Curragh’ (library) for a shared luncheon at 1.30pm followed by a prayer and reflection on our mother’s and those special people in our lives.

A commitment to our school’s future.

Many families may be aware that late last year we were awarded a capital grant from the Australian government of almost $1.4 million towards refurbishment works on our buildings and grounds.

This is a great opportunity to improve our school and I am working closely with architectural team in readying the plans for tendering.

The reason I am alerting you to this commitment to our school’s future is because we were unfortunately named in a story in the Herald Sun this week. The article referred to four schools who are under review for low enrolments. Our school is not one of these schools but unfortunately we, with many others, were still named in the article.

One reason schools are reviewed is because the demographic data shows an ageing population in a particular a suburb with few young families moving in. This is not the case in Flemington. The data shows a growing population of young families in Flemington. Our school has been identified as having potential for growth and we have a range of supports in place to help us grow.

A government grant of this kinds recognises our growth potential and is not given out to schools unless there is confidence in their viability.

I wanted to share this with your family and our community as we continue to work towards a bright future for St Brendan’s.

Best wishes,

Peter

St Brendan's teachers in Year Prep 1/2 have been undertaking professional learning in Early Number and Algebra (ENA). This program provided by Melbourne Archdioce Catholic Schools is designed to support mathematics leaders and teachers in developing a detailed understanding of how children learn mathematics in the early years of schooling.

The program aims to further enhance knowledge of the Victorian Curriculum in the Number and Algebra strand, utilising the Mathematics Online Interview (MOI) and pedagogical approaches, in order to plan and implement sequences of learning.

Each day for part of the Mathematics lesson, the students have been enjoying working in small focus groups with both directed teaching and fun engaging activities to build upon their knowledge and understanding of number.

Please ask your child what they have been doing in class. There are some games particularly simple card games which they may enjoy to teach you. These could be fun games to play with the family. Have fun!

Best wishes,

Michelle Hewitt

Mathematics Leader

Reflections from our Echidnas class (Prep)

We liked Stanley Stomach because he did break dancing to break down the food. - Noah & Oliver

I liked the stomach doing a cartwheel. - Noi

I enjoyed all the show and I learnt that water is better than soft drink. - Ruby

Soft drinks have too much sugar - 16 teaspoons. - Soliyana

Dancing was fun. - Hannah

To be healthy, sleep is important. - Hermela

The dancing and show was fun. - Eliana

I liked the heart because it helped all the body. - Lucy

The first school closure day for the year will be held on Friday 19 May.

On this day our teachers will continue their professional learning in Literacy, Big Write and VCOP. The focus is on Assessment i.e. what a student has achieved and is working towards. Our teachers will learn how to identify any gaps within the Big Write philosophy to accurately inform the next steps in their teaching for student learning.

We will be exploring the Big Write assessment criteria that includes:

• features of text type/genre
• handwriting
• spelling
• grammar
• punctuation
• writer’s voice

This professional learning continues our Big Write journey that commenced in August last year.

During the second half of the day, our teachers will shift their focus to Mathematics, and in particular, the Maths Online Interview (MOI). The MOI is an online tool for assessing the mathematical knowledge of students in the early years of schooling and of 'at risk' students in the middle and upper primary levels.

Teachers will look at the growth point framework. Growth points describe key stages in the learning of mathematics. The data collected in the MOI provides teachers with powerful information to use when planning to meet student learning needs.

Schools must now complete the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD) every year. It counts the number of students who receive additional adjustments or “help” at school because of a disability. The NCCD helps governments plan for the needs of students with disability.

Visit the NCCD Information button below for further information

We apologise for the inconvenience that this may have caused.

2023

Term 2

Week 3

Friday 12 May

Kinder @ School - Ascot Kinder (2)

Mothers' and Special Friends' Day

Visit the classrooms 1pm

Luncheon 1:30pm followed by Prayer Assembly at 2.20pm

Week 4

Sunday 14 May

Mothers' Day

Monday 15 May

Visual Arts

Physical Education

Tennis

Tuesday 16

Feast of St Brendan

School celebration

Wednesday 17 May

Perfoming Arts

Thursday 18 May

Friday 19 May

Staff Training

- School closure

Saturday 20 May

Working Bee

9:00 - 12:00 noon

Sunday 21 May

Feast - St Brendan

Mass & Luncheon

10:30 am

Week 5

Monday 22 May

Visual Arts

Physical Education

Tennis

Tuesday 23 May

School Photos

Thursday 25

Breast Cancer Pink Bun Day

- Gold Coin Donation

Friday 26 May

District Cross Country

- School Squad

Help me to journey beyond the familiar

and into the unknown.

Give me the faith to leave old ways

and break fresh ground with You.

Christ of the mysteries, I trust You

to be stronger than each storm within me.

I will trust in the darkness and know

that my times, even now, are in Your hand.

Tune my spirit to the music of heaven,

and somehow, make my obedience count for You.

AMEN.’