Newsletter Term 4 Week 10 (Wednesday 14th December 2022)

Our Christmas Pageant...

What a beautiful way to prepare for Christmas. Parents, friends and Parishioners gathered on the school grounds as the students of St Brigid's retold the Christmas story. Thank you to Pat Harley for allowing us to use his truck which provided the perfect stage for our performance. Our students did a wonderful job. Thank you to one and all. 

Our Gospel Reflection

This Sunday we celebrate the 4th Sunday of Advent and the Gospel Reading permits us to begin our contemplation of the mystery of the Incarnation we celebrate at Christmas: “Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about” (Matthew 1:18).

Joseph and Mary are our models for family life and for service of God. Even when the circumstances seemed unclear, Joseph trusted God. Healthy family life is built upon trust, trust in God and trust of one another.

Spend some time talking as a family about the importance of trust in your family life, including the ways in which the children trust the adults in the family as well as the ways in which the adults trust the children. Then read today's Gospel. Talk about Joseph's trust of God and reflect together on how your family trusts in God.

Pray together that your family life will be built on trust, as was the family life of Joseph and Mary. Pray together this Advent prayer, such as “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel.”

From Our Principal

As we draw close to the end of the year, it is now time to reflect on the successes, the highlights and the challenges we have all experienced in 2022.

Staff have worked incredibly hard for long hours, to be there for our students and their families. As I continually say, I believe we are incredibly blessed by the staff we have here at St Brigid's. They certainly put the students first in everything they do. I am so, so proud of the staff and how they manoeuvred through this year. I thank them for their enormous commitment to their students and their families - our community is far better because of their work. The staff will enjoy a very well earned rest over their break.

Congratulations to all the students for a year of great achievements. Their semester reports were posted on Compass yesterday (Tuesday 13th) and although looking different from past reports, they still reflect their wonderful efforts and achievements.

Thank you to our families. You don’t realise how much it means to us all to hear a THANK YOU or
WELL DONE from our parents. We have felt your support this year in many ways. We know how
crucial it is to work as a team for your child and this year that spirit has been very evident. We
thank you for your enduring support of our school.

I would like to thank those members of staff who are leaving us this year - Jess Gibson and Ella Cook. Jess will be taking up a Teacher Assistant role in Canberra and Ella will continue working at St Mary's Primary School in Casino. Thanks so much for what you have done for the students in our school and for being beautiful young people whom our students look up to and have a great deal of respect.

We wish Mrs Condon all the very best as she takes a well deserved 12 month break. Mrs Condon is an integral member of not only our school community but the wider parish community as well. Jan is a passionate educator and has passed this enthusiasm onto all students with whom she came into contact. This is particularly evident over the past 6 years with her involvement in the Extending Mathematical Understanding (EMU) Program at our school. Jan has been able to change the mindset of so many students toward Mathematics. I know that Mrs Condon is going to enjoy her time off from the busyness of school but I am also quite confident that she will not be too far away from St Brigid's.

As we end our school year please continue to keep the less fortunate, the elderly and the sick in your prayers. Please keep all families within our community who are finding things tough right now, in your prayers. I know the power of combined prayer will be felt by all of our families.

Thank you from me personally, to all our community for your encouragement and willingness to
help. You buoy me up to continue when times get tough. A kind word, a nice email or a thoughtful
message have certainly kept my "tyres pumped up" this year.

Tony Hunter,
Principal

End of Year Awards

Thanks so much to all who were able to attend our End of Year Mass today to acknowledge the end of another school year and to congratulate our Class Award recipients. Our Mass was led by Fr Erick and the theme of using our talents to the best of our ability was well and truly highlighted. We greatly appreciate the way in which the students participated throughout by reading, praying, responding, and being attentive to the Word of God.

Following our Liturgy, the Class Awards for 2022 were presented. Congratulations to the following children on receiving their respective awards for their effort and work throughout this year:

Kindergarten

Year 1

Year 2

Year 3

Year 4

Year 5

Year 6

Frankie Miller was presented with the St Vincent de Paul Scholarship by Mr Peter Kelly from the Kyogle chapter of St Vincent de Paul. This scholarship will go towards her expenses in Year 7. 

Student Leaders for 2023

At the conclusion of our Awards Presentation, our student leaders for 2023 were announced and presented to our St Brigid's School Community. We extend a big congratulations to the following students who have been elected as our School Captains and Sports House Captains for next year:

School Captains:- Georgia Pratt and Noah Laarhoven

Colahan Sports Captains:- Chelsea Hyde and Brett Argall

Doyle Sports Captains:- Loretta Faulks and Van Smith

Sutton Sports Captains:- Aleyah Frith and Carter Dowd

All student leaders will be presented with their respective badges at our Opening School Mass next year. Please keep a look out for the confirmation of date and time in the new year.

Staffing for 2023

We are very excited about what lies ahead for our students and their learning and to have the calibre and quality of all staff in our school is an absolute bonus for our “little school community”. On behalf of our Parish Administrator, Fr Erick Quinteros, I am very pleased to announce the Staff of St Brigid’s Primary School for 2023: 

Parish Administrator: Fr Erick Quinteros

Principal: Mr Tony Hunter

Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching: Mrs Vanessa Walters

Assistant Principal - Mission: Miss Kelli-Ann Bugden

Leader of Additional Needs and Pastoral Care: Mrs Loretta Morabito

School Admin Officer: Mrs Lani Campbell

Creative Arts: Ms Sarah Flocchini

Teacher Assistants: Mrs Ashling Aherne, Mrs Paula O’Reilly, Mrs Leanne Love, Mrs Stephanie Barsby, Miss Jennifer Ross and Ms Kimberley Langley

Indigenous Education Worker: Ms Stacey Newman

Student Support Worker: Miss Sereena Zanuso 

School Counsellor: Mrs Bronwyn McNulty 

Family Support Worker: To be appointed by the Catholic Schools Office and Social Futures

School Speech Therapist: Mrs Jessica Rixon 

Grounds and Maintenance: Mr Dean Barsby

Cleaners: Mr Jason Clark, Mrs Sandra Ibbertson

Kindergarten: Ms Karen Esslemont

Stage 1:            Mrs Hayley Kennedy (Year 1)                       Miss Emma Davis (Year 2)

Stage 2:            Mrs Vicki Jansen (Year 3)                              Mrs Kelly Schneider (Year 4)

Stage 3:            Miss Kayla Robertson (Year 5)                    Miss Laura Macdonald (Year 6)

Mini Vinnies Christmas Collection

Thanks so much to all of our community for your generosity over the past 5 weeks in supporting our annual Mini Vinnies and St Vincent de Paul Christmas Hamper collection. These were collected last Wednesday by the volunteers of the local Kyogle branch of St Vincent de Paul and all up, 26 hampers were put together for families of our community. They were absolutely amazed at the generosity of our school community! Thank you for your support of others in need, and for supporting your children in learning how to give, especially at Christmas time.

MAI/Best Start Interview Bookings

To book MAI / Best Start Interviews, you should notice the booking link appear at the top of your news feed. If not, you can also find it this way:

In mobile devices- click on the More tab > Conference.

Desktop or Browser - click on Community > Conference

If you cannot locate particular functions on Compass, open in browser. Some mobile devices are offering limited functionality in the mobile app.

Parent Forum Christmas Raffle

Many thanks to all families and especially the business houses of Kyogle who have supported our Parent Forum Mega Christmas Raffle. The Parent Forum will be selling tickets at the Kyogle Christmas Event to be held tomorrow Thursday 15th December from 5pm.

Therefore the drawing of the raffle will take place at 9am sharp on Friday morning (16th December) in the school grounds.

All are most welcome to come along for the draw.

Library News

Last call to return library books! if you haven't done so yet, please look around the house, under beds, and in cupboards for any home readers that might be hiding away. We need our precious books back in the library for our audit, and to be ready for borrowing in 2023. 

Notices are being handed out today for overdue books. Invoices will also be sent out for any books not returned.

Bus Travel Information

Transport for NSW information and application portal at transportnsw.info is designed to help families find all their travel information in the one place.
SCHOOL TRAVEL APPLICATIONS FOR 2023 ARE NOW OPEN: Parents are asked to plan ahead and make sure their child has a valid School Travel Pass from the start of the 2023 school year.
 A new application will need to be submitted if students are applying for a school travel pass for the first time or if they are requesting an additional travel entitlement as a result of a new shared parental responsibility situation (eg joint custody). Students who need a school travel pass for 2023 can  apply now.
 Students who change address or school, should update or renew their details before the end of Term 4, (eg progressing to Year 7). This will ensure that schools can endorse applications and current entitlements are updated and remain valid. All students in Kindergarten to Year 2 are eligible for free bus travel. If a student’s distance eligibility has changed based on their Year, (eg progressing to Year 3), the system will automatically update their entitlement if they meet the new criteria. If they do not meet the new eligibility criteria, they will receive an expiry notification via email.
 Students who have an entitlement approved under a medical condition that is due to expire will receive a notification advising them to re-apply.
 Students living in rural and regional (R&R) areas should receive their travel pass at the start of the new school year from their nominated transport operator. Note: some R&R operators do not issue travel passes. Students/parents should confirm with their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.
 For some families, last minute changes to school enrolments mean they may not have a Travel Pass for the start of the new term. In this instance, parents should contact their local bus operator to discuss their travel needs. Bus operators are flexible and understanding, particularly at the start of the school year, and will ensure students can travel safely to and from school. To best support bus operators, we encourage all students to have a valid travel pass, as early as possible, from the start of the new school year.

BPay - Preferred Payment Option

Account Payments - For families wishing to make one off or regular payments to your Fee Account, our preferred payment option is BPAY. 

The school's BPAY Biller Code is:   395004

Individual reference numbers will appear on your statement, which is automatically emailed at the end of the month. 

Positive Behaviour 4 Learning

Focus for Week 10:  We’ve made it to Week 10 and Rewards Day is this Friday! We have to remember to follow the 4SERS and teacher instructions at all times so that everyone can have a great last week at school.

Sports News

A big thank you is extended to our Sports Co-ordinator, Mrs Lee Love for the organisation and preparation that went into the staging of our annual Swimming Carnival last Thursday. A big shout out also to the parents and pool management who assisted in making sure the event was such a success. Congratulations to Doyle, the champion colour house on the day!!! Great work everyone.

Congratulations also to the following Champions and Runners-up: 

Congratulations to Frankie Miller who was presented with the Sportsmanship Award. 

A squad will be selected to represent St Brigid's at the Richmond Zone Swimming Carnival to be held at Alstonville Pool on Monday 13th February 2023. Further information will be handed out at the start of next year.

School Dates for 2023

SCHOOL DATES for 2023 for your Calendar
Staff: - Administration Day - staff return: Friday, 27 January 2023
Years 1-6: - Complete Maths Assessment Interview (MAI): Monday 30 and Tuesday 31st January 2023.
- Years 1-6 return: Wednesday, 1st February 2023.
Kindergarten: - Complete MAI & Best Start: Monday 30th January to Thursday 2nd February 2023.
- Kindergarten begin: Friday, 3 February 2023.
Parents: - ALL parents are invited to join us for morning tea on Friday, 3 February 2023, after the 9am bell on the front deck area of our school.

External support for the holidays

School holidays resource kit

Sometimes parents (and kids) need a bit of extra support during long summer holidays. Whether you just need someone to talk to or you are a parent who would like to expand your skills with a short course or webinar, check out the following links:

https://kidshelpline.com.au/

Kids’ Helpline is a 24/7 service for children and young people aged 5-25 who need someone to talk to. Kids’ Helpline is available any time, for any reason. Contact them by phone or SMS. They also offer loads of information on really important topics such as why bullying is not okay to how to cope when a new baby joins your family or a loved one dies. And although this service is mostly for kids, there’s a helpful section for parents, too.

https://www.parentline.org.au/

Parentline is like a Brains Trust for parents of kids aged 0-18. Got a question or a difficult situation? Call or email Parentline to talk it out or get a fresh perspective or some helpful ideas. Parentline is open from 9am to 9pm Monday to Friday, and from 4pm to 9pm on Saturdays and Sundays. It’s closed on public holidays.

https://www.interrelate.org.au/programs-services

Interrelate is a service that specialises in helping people of all ages navigate the sometimes tricky terrain of relationships. Not just partner-relationships, but all kinds – parent-child relationships, sibling relationships, even relationships in the workplace. Visit the website to find out what courses, programs or information may be helpful for you and your family.

Headspace

Headspace is inviting parents and carers to attend a free one-hour webinar all about practical strategies to help you support young people and their mental health in the school holidays. Visit

https://www.eventbrite.com.au/e/supporting-young-people-in-school-holidays-practical-tips-for-parentcarer-tickets-468952659027?aff=ebdsoporgprofile

to find out more or to register. All attendees will receive a digital pack of information and resources. These webinars will have a focus on supporting young people 12+ years. Please see the attached flyer.

The first 5 session dates are live on Eventbrite:

• Monday 12 December, 12-1pm
• Tuesday 13 December, 6-7pm
• Wednesday 14 December, 12-1pm
• Monday 19 December, 6-7pm
• Tuesday 20 December, 6-7pm

More sessions will be scheduled in the new year, so keep checking back through the QR code on the attached flyer.

School Holiday Contact

Our school office will be closed on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th December. If you need to contact the school during the holidays please do not hesitate to email our principal, Tony Hunter at tony.hunter@lism.catholic.edu.au

Jan's Bucket Club

Our beautiful and creative Jan Seymour runs art and craft workshops for K-6 students over the school holidays. A great way to use your creative kids vouchers!

Registration details are below.  

Online Safety Guide for Parents

The below link is a parent guide for setting up your home for online safety.  Linewize have developed a simple ABC model, that is a practical and effective way to create a safe online
environment for your family.

Happy Birthday to You

Wishing the following children all the very best for their special day this week and over the holiday period:-

15th December - Ella Jones

22nd December - Abigail Allen

1st January - Christian Hoffman

5th January - Piper Marychurch, Harper Grieve

13th January - Brooklyn Stubbings

14th January - Landan Faulks

16 January - Elliarna Devenish, Harlow Schneider

17 January - George Stephenson

19 January - Tess Cannington, Chloe King

23 January - Ruby Farrah, Yari Howes

Student Awards

Congratulations to the following students who have shown tremendous effort and were presented with awards at last week's  assembly:

Kindergarten:- Harlow Schneider, Harper Farrah

Year 1:- Raz Aquilina, Kinsley Whiting, Ryder Newman

Year 2:- Caden Brown, Eedie Batson

Year 3:- Emma Farrah, Piper Marychurch

Year 4:- Beau Dever, Noah Schneider

Year 5:- Syra Halt, Haven Capps

Year 6:- Billy Kennedy, Lila Standfield, Braythe Bateman

Principal Awards: - Harlow Schneider, Eedie Batson

Upcoming Dates

DECEMBER 

Thursday 15th - Year 6 Showcase

Friday 16th - Rewards Day at Ballina Waterslide / Last day of the year for students