Ever generous God,

You inspired Saint Mary MacKillop

To live her life faithful to the Gospel of Jesus Christ

and constant in bringing hope and encouragement

to those who were disheartened, lonely or needy.

With confidence in your generous providence

and through the intercession of Saint Mary MacKillop

We ask that you grant our request……………….

We ask that our faith and hope be fired afresh by the Holy Spirit

so that we too, like Mary MacKillop, may live with courage, trust and openness.

Ever generous God hear our prayer.

We ask this through Jesus Christ. Amen.

WELCOME BACK

Welcome to Term Three! It has been great seeing our students return to school refreshed and ready for a new term. I have been delighted to see how focused students have been in class over the first week of school.

The following students have started since the second half of Term Two. I welcome them, and their families, to our school community.

PRE KINDY

Nathan

Rocco

Josiah

Penelope

Ava

Jack

Bishak

Eliana

YEAR 1

Julius

Leyton

Abraham

YEAR 2

Daniel

YEAR 3

Mystique

Hunter

YEAR 5

Chalise

TALK FOR WRITING

On Monday 20 July, our teachers engaged in the first of two Talk for Writing professional development days. Talk for Writing is a unique process that uses spoken activities to develop writing skills. Quality writing is created by first expanding and developing students’ oral language skills and then teaching the necessary steps for exceptional sentence, paragraph, and text construction. Talk for Writing has the potential to dramatically improve students’ writing. The approach also offers students with learning and language difficulties an opportunity to develop stronger writing skills. Talk for Writing has been used in some classes over the last 18 months. This has seen improvements in writing structure, ideas, and confidence. We are excited to embed this as a whole-school approach, from Kindy through to Year Six. We look forward to our second Talk for Writing professional development day on Friday 21 August and providing further updates to show how Talk for Writing is being implemented in classrooms.

SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES

As a staff, it has been decided that presentation item assemblies will not take place this semester. These were cancelled during Semester One, due to COVID-19 restrictions. Schools are a busy places and it is not possible to reschedule all events that were due to take place during Semester One to Semester Two. Teachers will continue to celebrate learning through Seesaw.

For the remainder of this year, merit award assemblies will move to fortnightly at 2:30pm. These will commence on Friday 31 July.

FOUNDER’S DAY CELEBRATIONS

We look forward to celebrating our Founder’s Day on Friday 7 August. Please see Mr Mike Sibbald’s section of the newsletter for further information.

TESTIMONIALS

We are currently developing our new school website. As a part of this website redevelopment, I would like to include testimonials from parents and caregivers, sharing positive experiences of our school. If you would like to prepare a short testimonial, to be included on our new school website, please email it to admin@stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au. Thank you.

PRE-KINDY & KINDY 2021

As the new term begins, I continue to interview for Pre-Kindy and Kindy 2021. Places for both programs are filling up fast. If you are interested in enrolling your child for Pre-Kindy or Kindy next year, I encourage you to book an interview time with me through the front office. If you have friends or family who are considering educational options for their child next year, I ask that you recommend our school as an option.

PRE-KINDY 2020

Our 2020 Pre-Kindy program is now at full capacity, with a waitlist. If you know of anyone interested in joining Pre-Kindy this year, please ask them to contact the office so we can place their name on the waitlist.

PUPIL FREE DAYS – TERMS THREE & FOUR

I remind our school community that our Pupil Free Days for the remainder of the year are as follows:

· Friday 21 August

· Monday 24 August

· Monday 12 October

· Monday 14 December – Friday 18 December

FOUNDER'S DAY/MARY MACKILLOP FEAST DAY (7 AUGUST)

Next week, Friday 7 August, we will celebrate the Feast of St Mary of the Cross and her contribution to Australia, and our school through the work of the Sisters of St Joseph. Her charisma is embedded into St Brigid’s history through the Sisters of St Joseph; thus we celebrate our Founder’s Day on this day with our traditional Mary MacKillop Mass. Mass will begin at 9.00am in the MacKillop Hall and everyone in our School Community is warmly invited to attend.

Unfortunately, due to COVID 19, our traditional Mission Fete has been cancelled but each class will participate in some fun ‘Founder’s Day Activities instead. The children will still have a free dress day, with a gold coin donation.

CELEBRATION OF SACRAMENTS

First Reconciliation: Tuesday 25 August (5.00pm)

First Reconciliation Parent Information Evening Tuesday 4 August (7.00pm)

Year Three Retreat Day Monday 17 August (at School)

First Eucharist: Sunday 13 September (11.00am)

First Eucharist Parent Information Evening: Tuesday 1 September (7.00pm)

Year Four Retreat Day Monday 7 September (at School)

Unfortunately, celebration of the Sacrament of Confirmation has still been deferred to a date to be decided.

TERM 3 OVERVIEW

Parents and carers will receive term overviews from classroom teachers this week, detailing what will be taught in class in each learning areas.

KEEPING SAFE: CHILD PROTECTION CURRICULUM

I would like to remind all parents that at St Brigid’s we teach The Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum in all year levels. The Keeping Safe: Child Protection Curriculum (KS: CPC) is a respectful relationships and child safety curriculum that teaches all children and young people they have the right to be safe and they can help themselves to be safe by talking to people they trust.

The KS: CPC is delivered by teachers to children and young people each year from age 3 to Year 12. Teachers who deliver the curriculum complete training in its use. The KS: CPC fits primarily within the Health and Physical Education learning area of the WA Curriculum but can be taught across multiple learning areas.

The KS: CPS is an evidence based, best practice curriculum, developed collaboratively with child protection specialists, teachers, educational leaders and other professionals. It covers a range of topics including new additional material on current issues such as bullying and cyber safety.

THEMES

The curriculum is based on two main themes which are presented through topics and activities.

Theme 1: We all have the right to be safe

Theme 2: We can help ourselves to be safe by talking to people we trust.

FOCUS AREAS

The two themes are explored through four Focus Areas, which are examined in growing complexity in accordance with the age of the learners.

1. The right to be safe
2. Relationships
3. Recognising and reporting abuse
4. Protective strategies

More information regarding the KS: CPC will be provided in future newsletters.

If you would like to order uniforms for your children you can download an order form from our website or from the link below then email your order to: admin@stbrigidsms.wa.edu.au Jo will then process your order during uniform shop hours being: Monday and Friday mornings from 8am to 9.30am and Wednesday afternoons from 2.30pm to 4.00pm.

PLEASE NOTE: We are having issues with obtaining some stock due to the current global situation.. We have found ourselves without size 6 track pants and size 8 track top and pants and at this stage we are uncertain of when these items will be restocked by our supplier..

Our Faction Cross Country Carnival took place on the final day of last term, which happened to be a glorious day right in the middle of winter. Our students had had a limited preparation for the carnival as it was only announced at short notice due to the rules and regulations that have surrounded us throughout 2020. Nonetheless, our student has displayed tremendous levels of sportsmanship, effort and enthusiasm that made the staff and I extremely proud and all of them must be congratulated on their attitude throughout the carnival. Special congratulations must also go to Mercy Blue, who took out the overall point’s trophy at the conclusion of the carnival, as well as all of the students who received medals in their respective events.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of our wonderful staff for their assistance in preparing our students for their events, encouraging them throughout their races and cheering them on at the finish line. Your support makes my job much easier and I am always grateful for your efforts. A special thanks must go to Mr Constable who once again prepared the grounds to perfection and did all he possibly could to ensure that the carnival looked immaculate and ran as smoothly as ever. I must also single out Mrs Wayne and Mrs McConnell for the efficiency they displayed on the scorer’s table once again. Their job does go unnoticed at times, however it is of the highest importance on carnival days.

Finally, I would like to thank the parents and families who came to support our students. This year has been challenging for the school as well as the wider community, however, seeing the number of people who attended from the school community was a fantastic way to the end the term, and I look forward to seeing everyone in the near future at some of the upcoming sporting events.

The individual medal winners and overall point’s scores can be found below.

BUNNINGS SAUSAGE SIZZLE

We have been lucky to secure a date for this year's Sausage Sizzle fundraiser at Midland Bunnings. This is being held on the 24th October - so still a long way till then, but just in case you would like to pop this in your calendar. We will be looking for helpers on the day, and we always appreciate our school community coming along and supporting our school by popping down to grab a sausage sizzle or two.

YOU CAN HELP SUPPORT YOUR SCHOOL JUST BY SHOPPING AT ANY OF THE BUSINESSES LISTED BELOW:

St Brigid's P & F

Karryn 0409 293 198

Jo 0418 954 821

stbrigidspfa@gmail.com