Newsletter Term 2 Week 6 (Wednesday 1 June)

Wakakirri

Wakakirri 2022 - Under the very watchful eye of Mrs Kennedy, 70 students are giving up half of their lunchtime to practise our school's Wakakirri entry for 2022. This will be the third year that our school has entered this national competition, highlighting the musical and dance talents of our students. The St Brigid's contingent will travel to Brisbane on Wednesday 10th August to take part in this year's event. Fingers crossed that our students have the opportunity to perform live before the judges as COVID protocols forced us to video our performances for the past 2 years. 

Year 1 and 2 Wakakirri Practice

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Our Gospel Reflection

The season of Easter concludes with Sunday's celebration, the feast of Pentecost. On Pentecost we celebrate the descent of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles gathered in the upper room in Jerusalem; this event marks the beginning of the Church. The story of Pentecost is found in the Acts of the Apostles, which is the first reading this weekend. The account in Sunday's Gospel, taken from the Gospel of John, also recounts how Jesus gave the gift of the Holy Spirit to his disciples. There is no need to try to reconcile these two accounts to each other. It is enough to know that, after his death, Jesus fulfilled his promise to send to his disciples a helper, an advocate, who would enable them to be his witnesses throughout the world.

We previously heard today's Gospel on the second Sunday of Easter. At that time, we also heard the passage that follows, which describes Jesus' appearance to Thomas. In that context, we were led to reflect on belief and unbelief.

In the context of the feast of Pentecost, this reading reminds us about the integral connection between the gifts of peace and forgiveness and the action of the Holy Spirit. Jesus greets his disciples with the gift of peace. Jesus then commissions his disciples to continue the work that he has begun, “As the Father has sent me, so I send you.” As he breathes the Holy Spirit upon them, Jesus sends his disciples to continue his work of reconciliation through the forgiveness of sins.

This Gospel reminds us that the Church is called to be a reconciling presence in the world. This reconciling presence of Christ is celebrated in the Church's sacramental life. In the Sacrament of Baptism, we are washed clean from sin and become a new creation in Christ. In the Sacrament of Penance, the Church celebrates the mercy of God in forgiving sins. This reconciling presence is also to be a way of life for Christians. In situations of conflict, we are to be agents of peace and harmony among people.

From Our Principal

Thank you to all our school community for your support and understanding last Friday as the staff engaged in the Protected Action Strike. While we know we really disrupted your lives, we are very grateful that you could assist us.

Obviously the pay rise aspect got all the media attention but it is also the other aspects that were our reasons for participating. The staff shortages need addressing and the workload on staff that takes them away from working with our students as well as enjoying family time are crucial issues. We can all sit and complain or we can take action.

We are very concerned about the number of students who are being given days off for their birthdays or other events. School is an everyday event and should be treated as such by parents.
Attendance every day at school is crucial to ensure learning is continuous and that no learning
opportunities are missed. Sadly Covid has impacted attendance for many of our children so adding extra days off for family events, birthdays, ‘rest days’, lazy days, and the like are adding stress on the learning days. We are currently in contact with a number of families regarding low attendance rates. If your child is missing school regularly you will be invited in for an Attendance Meeting. We hope to avoid this by highlighting the need for regular and on-time attendance. Even being 20 minutes late a day adds up quickly! That is 100 minutes in a week, 1000 minutes in a term and that equates to 16 hours of learning, just like that! This is equal to about 3 days of learning a term.

Once again, it is that time when we are inviting parents of children ready to start school in 2023 to come along to our Kindergarten Information Sessions on Wednesday 8th June either at 10am or the repeat session at 6pm. If you know of anyone who has a child ready to start school next year, please let them know of this event.

Sacrament of Confirmation

We wish all the best to our Year 3 candidates who will be receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation tomorrow evening in the church at 6pm. We pray for all the following children and their families as they receive this sacrament from Bishop Greg Homeming - Ayce Harley, Ted Standfield, Emma Farrah, Elsie Laarhoven and Tyler McPherson. All members of our school community are most welcome to join in this celebration with our candidates.

Stormbirds - Flood Support

Book Club Special Offer

Place your online order before midnight Friday 3rd June, and receive $5 off.  Use Promo Code: WINTER

Issue 4 Orders due - Friday 10th June.

Australian Mathematics Competition (AMC)

Calling all Mathematics lovers!!! Once again we will offer the students of St Brigid's the opportunity to sit the AMC. Registrations will close at the end of June. This assessment paper is usually less expensive than the ICAS papers. More information and costings will be provided soon.

ICAS

Each year over a million students sit the ICAS assessments. The questions in the ICAS competitions help students to connect information from content strands of the curriculum to their existing knowledge and to real-life situations.  These assessments are optional. Payments are online only and you will need to enter the code below, which links to our School.  If you have any questions please contact Mrs Jan Condon.

Subjects Offered:                                      Year 2 to Year 6  (Digital Technologies, Spelling Bee, Science,                                                                                                                     English, Mathematics)       Cost = $19.25 each

                                                                           Year 3 to Year 6  (Writing)                                    Cost = $23.65 each

Parent Payment Code:                            EYG369

Payments Due:                                           31st July 

Assessments begin:                                  Early August (dates to be finalised and placed on our calendar) 

School Fee Support For Families Affected By Floods

We know that some flood-affected families and communities will continue to work through their response and recovery for some time. We are here to support you in whatever way we can. We understand that the financial impact of the flood event has been extensive for many families in the affected regions.

In recognition of this burden, the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Ltd (DLCSL) Board has approved support to schools and parishes to provide full (100%) or partial fee relief (50%). This fee relief will include levies and elective fees. Full-year fee relief will be provided to families that received any Australian Government financial assistance payment relating to the 2022 floods, including either the:

• Disaster Recovery Payment (property damage)
• Disaster Recovery Allowance (income).

Partial fee relief (up to 50%) may be provided to other flood-affected families at the discretion of our Principal. Although individual circumstances will vary widely, the following factors will be considered in approving partial fee relief:

• Extent of property damage
• Duration of loss of income
• Other factors as appropriate.

If you would like to request the fee relief outlined above, please contact St Brigid's School, Kyogle either via kyogp@lism.catholic.edu.au or phoning 6632 1988 and ask to speak with Mr Hunter. We ask that you present documentation indicating you are receiving the relevant Disaster Recovery
payments when making your application. Fees that have already been paid can be refunded or carried forward as a credit for 2023. Please indicate in your application which of these options you prefer.

I thank you again for your ongoing support of our school. Our families and communities remain in our prayers. Please don’t hesitate to contact the school on kyogp@lism.catholic.edu.au or by phone on 6632 1988 should you have any questions. All enquiries will be treated with the utmost respect for the privacy of each family.

Sport News

Our School Athletics Carnival has been scheduled for Thursday 21st July with the back-up date being Friday 22nd of July. The carnival will be held at the Kyogle High School Oval. More information will be sent in the Newsletter next week. There will be a lot of important information which explains the plan for the day. If you are available to assist on this day, please let Mrs Love know via email leanne.love@lism.catholic.edu.au

PBS Focus

Our PBS Focus this week is:

We follow the 4 SERS and follow teacher instructions at all times. 

Do We Have The Correct Information?

It is important that our school has your correct contact details. If you have moved house, changed jobs or are in any doubt about what contact numbers (including Emergency Contacts), and emails we have on record, please contact Lani in the school office to check and if necessary, update your information.

Happy Birthday to You ...

6th June -     Eedie Batson     

Upcoming Dates

JUNE

Tuesday 7th - Parent Forum Meeting

Wednesday 8th - Kindergarten Information Session 10am & 6pm

Monday 13th - Queen's Birthday Long Weekend

Friday 10th - Year 4 Showcase (2:15pm)

Friday 17th - Year 2 Showcase (2:15pm)

Wednesday 22nd - Dance Night Spectacular

Thursday 30th - School Photos / Last day of Term 2 for students

Friday 1st July - Pupil Free Day

JULY

Friday 1st - Pupil Free Day

Monday 18th - Term 3 commences

Trinity Catholic College Open Day