Newsletter Term 1 Week 6 (Wednesday 9th March 2022)

Our Front Page ...........Kindergarten

Kindergarten has had a fantastic start to the year, settling into school life at St Brigid's exceptionally well!

In English this term, we have been busy learning about how we communicate effectively with others in groups. This means that we talk and listen so that others can understand what we are saying.

We are practising our communication skills by role-playing a range of different scenarios. This week we are pretending we are at the hospital. We read a story about the hospital and decided what characters we would need to include in our roleplays and some of the reasons people might need to visit the hospital. We have learned lots of new words that relate to hospitals like 'wounded', and are trying to use these awesome new words in our scenarios. As a group, we had to decide what character we were each going to be by talking respectfully in our group. We had to greet our patient and ask questions to find out what was wrong so that we could help that person get better. I wonder where we will be visiting in our scenarios next week? 

Kindergarten - Developing their communication skills through roleplay.

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Our Gospel Reflection

On the second Sunday of Lent, we move from Jesus' retreat to the desert and temptation by the devil to the glory shown in Jesus' Transfiguration. On the first Sunday of Lent, our Gospel always tells the story of Jesus' temptation in the desert. On the second Sunday, we always hear the story of Jesus' Transfiguration.

Have you ever been on a great retreat or camping trip? If so, you may have felt really close to God and to others who shared that experience with you. You may have even wished the experience did not have to end.

Peter, James and John must have felt that way when they saw Jesus in his glory talking with Moses and Elijah on the mountaintop. Peter wanted to stay up on the mountain, but it quickly became clear that he could not do so.

Faith has its high moments as well as its low moments. It is unrealistic to think we can maintain some kind of spiritual high all the time - doing so may even be dangerous. The faith of those who depend on mountaintop experiences often fizzles out. The better challenge is to learn what it means to live as a Christian down in the thick of life. Remember, our faith is more than feelings. God's love and mercy do not depend on our ability to feel "warm fuzzies" as nice as these may be.

Recall a special time in your life when you felt on top of the world. Relive the moment in your mind, this time looking for how God was present in that experience. What direction was God inviting you to go after it was over? Are you there yet? 

From Our Principal

Well we didn’t see that coming!! What a week everyone had to
deal with……At this stage we know we have families and staff still
impacted by the flooding. We have some families who lost homes, businesses, or both and many have lost their workplaces. We have had people helping with the flood effort in cleaning up, cooking, gathering supplies and assisting in Evacuation Centres. The devastation of this event will have long term effects for many. Please keep all these people in your thoughts and prayers.

However in times of strife, as usual, we saw so many pitch in to help. If you need help, please let us know. We are here to support our community in whatever way we can.

This will be a long term event for many. It is important to remember this. While a flurry of help at
the beginning is fantastic, it is the long term assistance, shoulder to cry on or even a hug that will
be required. Check in with each other. In a crisis we often forget the emotional aspects as we
complete the physical work. It is okay to stop and talk to someone, to check in on them, or have a
cry.

Meanwhile the Catholic Schools all around us face a slow and difficult journey as they assess the
damage and organise plans for places to hold school in the short term. We have offered to help in
any way we can.

I extend a big thank you to all families for your support last week whilst we juggled the many impacts caused by this devastation. Our staff shortages were critical at times last week and families supporting us made a huge difference.

As we write this Newsletter there are many primary school communities who are really struggling: -  St Joseph’s Woodburn, St Carthage's Lismore, Our Lady Help of Christians, South Lismore and St Joseph's Coraki. Given the heartbreaking images of the area, there are so many people in dire straits at this time. With the majority of the schools' population impacted severely by the flood and the entire school sites out of action, we are looking to support them in any way we can. I know that St Joseph's Woodburn and OLHC are looking at setting up temporary sites at other locations.  We will supply some furniture and other resources to assist them.

Tony Hunter,
Principal

Bishop Greg's Flood Appeal

The Lismore Diocese is receiving extraordinary amounts of offers for support for families impacted by the floods. To ensure a coordinated response we are requesting that all donations be channelled through Bishop Greg's Diocese of Lismore 2022 Flood Appeal (https://www.lismorediocese.org/)

It would be greatly appreciated if all fundraising efforts supported this appeal. BSB: 037-889 Account No: 1061 5829 Account Name: DOL Flood Appeal Transaction Details: If you wish your donation to go to a particular school, please include the school name or town in the transaction details (ie. South Lismore, Woodburn, Coraki, Lismore etc).

Flood Support

Please find attached flyer outlining where to turn to for support during these devastating times. Should you or someone you know require assistance at this time please let us know. We are all here to support each other.

A BIG Thanks to Denis

Unfortunately for us, Denis Newton has indicated that he will be finishing as Groundsman at St Brigid's from the 26th April. This decision is not because Denis wants to but due to health reasons and needing to put himself and his family before lawns, grounds and bins!!
We certainly owe a huge debt of gratitude to Denis for the way in which he has ensured the grounds are so well maintained and presented. Denis has been the groundsman here at St Brigid's since December 2014 and it is truly evident how much pride he takes in his work. This is on top of all the "little" jobs we ask of Denis and the phone calls in the middle of the night from security saying that the school alarms are going off!
Denis will take LSL from the 26th of April and then retire following the expiry of his LSL. 
Advertising has commenced to fill this very important role in our school. We have to find a person with big feet to fill the shoes of Denis. 

Parent / Teacher Interviews

These interviews are compulsory for parents / carers to attend so that the results of the assessments and learning goals for 2022 can be discussed. These interviews will occur for students in K-6 from 3:30pm on Tuesday 15^th March and Monday 21st  March. The online booking system will open on Thursday 10th March at 8:30am. To book online please follow the steps below:

• Go to schoolinterviews.com.au
• Enter the event code gwnwz
• Enter your details
• Choose teacher(s)
• Choose times
• Click Finish and your interview times will be emailed to you automatically. Check your junk mail folder if you do not receive your confirmation immediately.

If you do not have access to online booking facilities, please contact Lani at our School Office and she will be able to make appointments on your behalf.

NAPLAN Online For Years 3 and 5

NAPLAN 2022 is approaching for students in Years 3 & 5. The following information will assist our families:
# A practice test will be held here at school on Thursday 24th March. This is not a test of the students’ ability but a test of the computer and server capability. It gives students a look at the online NAPLAN and an easy way to talk about it from there.
# The actual NAPLAN tests occur on Tuesday 10th, Wednesday 11th, and Thursday 12th of May. A complete timetable will be sent to you closer to the date. During NAPLAN we really appreciate having students at school on these days to eliminate the need for catch-up tests.
# If you are concerned about your child completing NAPLAN for any reason, please don’t worry your child about it, but contact their teacher to discuss your concerns.
# An explanation of NAPLAN can be found here: https://nap.edu.au/docs/default-source/default-document-library/naplaninformation-brochure-for-parents-and-carers.pdf

Parent Forum AGM

All members of our community are invited to the AGM of St Brigid’s School Parent Forum to be held on Tuesday 15^th March commencing at 6pm in our library. The Forum is an ideal way to be involved in our learning community. There are many teams that combine to ensure that the facilities and resources here at St Brigid’s are kept up to date to enhance the learning opportunities of our students. Each team has a lead co-ordinator and they do a fantastic job within their sub group. Groups involved include – Library Team, Reading Team, Grounds Team, Fundraising Team, IT/Publicity Team, Sport Team, Yearbook Team, Canteen/Uniform Team, Parent Assembly/Class Parents/Pastoral Care Team.

If you would like to be on a specific team and can’t make the meeting, please let Lani in the Office know. I think there is something about many hands…….

Calling For Class Parents

This is an area that we would like to reinvigorate in our school as we all work together for the benefit of all of our students. It was a real disruption last year and we want to get things up and running again with our Class Parents. With the easing of restrictions, we are counting on parents and carers being allowed back into our school. We are calling for 2 parents from each class to be the Class Parent Reps so as to share the role. These parent volunteers are to support the class, the teacher, and parents in developing a positive working relationship. It is designed to help welcome parents into the class and school, and develop friendships and a social network for families. Some of the ways in which the Class Parents will assist teachers is to welcome and assist new families to the class, welcome newborns, or help farewell a student who is leaving. There are a number of things that our Class Parents can do to involve all of our families. Once we have all of our Class Parents nominated we will have a meeting to ensure that all Class Parents are clear with this important role. Activities could include organising social gatherings for class parents and families like cake, coffee, and play dates at the park, or nights out for the Mums or Dads. They might also organise a card or gift for a specific family event. Please let your child’s class teacher know if you would like to take on this role in 2022 for your respective class and then Mr Hunter will be in touch to meet with all Class Parents.

Sports News

Winter Sports Trials

Due to the recent flooding, the Diocesan Winter Sports Trials have been postponed. The new date is Friday 18th March in Grafton with a new backup date of Wednesday 23rd March. 

Diocesan Swimming

On Wednesday, 23rd February, Carter Hudson competed at the Zone Swimming Carnival in Murwillumbah. Although not successful with progressing to Polding, Carter represented our school with pride and good sportsmanship. We congratulate Carter on his efforts.

Family Connect Support

We welcome our new Family Connect Worker to our school in the next week. Ms Aanaminda Makeig will be taking on the role from Wendy Jansen. At this time we are so fortunate to have the support of this nature for the families of our school. Please do not hesitate to contact Aanaminda on the phone number listed in the attached flyer.

Happy Birthday To You ..........

Wishing the following students a very happy birthday for their most special of days:-

3rd March - Tully Booth                              5th March - Emmelyn Whiting

9th March - Kobi Nairne                 12th March - Charli Scofield-Godfrey 

13th March - Byron and Fletcher Cameron-Keed

Upcoming Dates

Please take note of the upcoming events for the month of March:

Thursday 10th - Year 5 Class Mass, 12:20pm

Tuesday 15th - Parent / Teacher Interviews; Parent Forum AGM, 6pm

Thursday 17th - Year 3 Class Mass, 12:20pm

Friday 18th - Diocesan Winter Sports Trials in Grafton

Monday 21st - Parent / Teacher Interviews

Thursday 24th - NAPLAN Readiness Test (Yrs 3 and 5); Year 4 Class Mass, 12:20pm

Thursday 31st - School Photo Day

Casino Christian School

Casino Christian School are excited to invite you to our 2023 Year 7 Information Evening on Wednesday 23rd March. 
We will start the evening at 6.30pm with some light refreshments and a short presentation in the new orange and blue A block building.
Please feel free to bring along any family members or friends who would like to attend, and if possible, RSVP to our '2023 Year 7 Information Evening' Facebook event or call the school office on 6662 5599. Thank you and we hope to see you there, Casino Christian School