Newsletter Term 1 Week 4 (Wednesday 22nd February 2023)

Our Front Page with Wildfire

Our students thoroughly enjoyed having the Proclaim Lismore 'Wildfire' worship band visit our School this week. Their music and voices filled our hall and our hearts. It provided an enriching time for our students to observe, engage and be inspired by such a wonderful group of young mentors.  

Our Gospel Reflection

In each of the three Synoptic Gospels (Mark, Matthew, and Luke), after Jesus’ baptism by John, Jesus is reported to have gone to the desert to fast and pray for 40 days. In each case, while in the desert, Jesus is tempted by the devil. As we start our journey through Lent, our Sunday readings call us to adopt the same confidence that Jesus had in the face of temptation: God’s word alone will suffice; God’s promise of protection can be trusted; God alone is God.

When Jesus resists the temptations presented to him by the devil, he draws on his religious upbringing and tradition. Jesus is able to quote from Scripture because he is the Son of God and because he was a human person who lived his Jewish beliefs fully. We who are responsible for raising children are also called upon to immerse them fully in our Catholic Christian tradition so that they too will be able to draw upon this tradition to resist the temptations they will face in their lives.

Use this Sunday as an opportunity to call your family’s attention to the importance of Scripture in our lives. Gather your family around the family Bible and read Sunday’s Gospel, Matthew 4:1-11. Recall that Jesus rebuked the devil’s temptations by quoting Scripture. Take some time as a family to talk about the words that are found in the Bible and the importance of Scripture to our faith. Perhaps the older members of the family can share a favorite Scripture passage with everyone. Younger family members can tell their favorite story from the Bible and be shown where that story can be found. In each case, encourage a deeper sharing of faith by asking each person to tell why the Scripture passage shared is important to him or her. Conclude your time together by again reading Jesus’ reply to the devil found in Matthew 4:4 (“One does not live by bread alone . . .”) and praying the Lord’s Prayer.

From Our Principal

We commence our Lenten journey today with Ash Wednesday. The Season of Lent is a time for us to focus intentionally on what helps or hinders our commitment to Christ. It may be better not to give up something but to take on something, to build up our spiritual muscles.

There are often two approaches during Lent. The first is to give up something - perhaps chocolate, ice cream, soft drink etc. The second approach is to do something like - clean your room without being asked, find peace within relationships, eat your vegetables with joy, be a friend to someone you wouldn’t normally etc.

 During this Lenten period, whether it is the first or second approach that is taken it is the act of sacrifice or thoughtfulness for another. Lent is about mindfulness, reflection, consideration and prayer to renew our relationship with God.

 Jesus retreated into the desert for forty days to prepare for His ministry. It was for Him a time of reflection and contemplation. In Lent, for us to pass time in the desert means to find occasions when we create a little emptiness and silence around us, rediscover the road to our heart, remove ourselves from the noise of external distractions and to enter into contact with the deepest source of our being and faith.

All Are Invited to Our Friday Awards Assemblies

A timely reminder that each Friday we hold our Weekly Awards and MJR Radio Assembly at 2:50pm in the Undercover Area. All parents and friends are kindly invited to this very informal presentation before we end our school week. Each and every Friday except if there is a Showcase Presentation when it will be held in the Parish Hall.

The Anniversary of the Floods

Tuesday, 28 February 2023, will mark one year since northern NSW experienced the most devastating floods on record. We would like all of our community members who were affected by the floods to know that we are thinking of them and praying for them as we approach this solemn anniversary.

Lord, in the goodness of your constant love, be with the people of the Northern Rivers as we remember with sadness the devastating floods.

As we recall that we are yet to fully heal, may we be filled with your compassion and moved to reach out in love.

As we stand alongside our sisters and brothers, we pray that they may find consolation in their sorrow, and strength as they become whole once more. Amen

Assistant Principal News - Learning

Dibels Assessments

Over the last week, students from Year 1-6  have completed Dibels assessments with their teacher. Kindergarten students will be assessed later in the year once they have started to develop basic reading skills. Depending on the year level that your child is in, will determine the assessments that they complete. The assessments are focussed on critical skills necessary for successful  readers which include: phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension. 

These DIBELS assessments are measures that help teachers and schools determine how students are performing on these important reading skills listed above. DIBELS stands for Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. These measures are designed for students in grades K-6 following extensive research done by the University of Oregon, Centre for Teaching and Learning. 

A student’s scores on the DIBELS assessment gives the school information about whether or not a student is on track for grade-level reading success. A school can quickly identify students who do not meet the goals on each DIBELS measure and provide support. Regardless of your child’s reading ability, we would always encourage regular and varied reading at home as one valuable way that families can support their child’s reading development. 

The upcoming parent/teacher interviews in Week 8 would be another wonderful opportunity to speak with your child’s teacher about your child’s reading development.

Vanessa Walters                                                                                                                                                                             Assistant Principal - Learning & Teaching

Assistant Principal News - Mission

TenTen Experience:

What an AWESOME two days we have had with the Wildfire and Youth Ministry team delivering the TenTen experience. In addition to the student workshops, the team led a choir session and Adoration in the Church. Our Faith Leaders, Rachel and Aleyah wrote the following about their experience:

"We have had Wildfire join us for the TenTen experience over the last two days. The theme of the experience was friendship. We talked about what friendship is with our peers and how we can have a friendship with Jesus. The sessions for each Stage group included music, dancing, games, learning about God and living life to the full"!

"Something we will take away from this experience is that we will talk to Jesus more and teach others who haven’t learnt about Jesus before. The energy and noise levels were sooooo high… it felt like the roof was lifting off. We most certainly weren’t using our inside voices. This experience was amazing and so much fun! We hope they come again next year and in more years to come so that others get the chance to enjoy the experience like we did".

Opening School Mass

A reminder that we have our Opening School Mass this Friday at 9.30 am. We look forward to seeing as many parents, friends and parishioners in the Church to celebrate the start of the new school year and acknowledge our 2023 leaders. 

Parish Family Mass

A warm invitation to all families to come along to our first Parish Family Mass this Sunday at 9am in Our Lady of Sorrows Church. Our mass will be led by the students of Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2. There will also be Children's Liturgy for any child up to and including Year 4. After mass all are invited to stay and enjoy a cuppa, a biscuit and a chat.

Kelli-Ann Bugden                                                                                                                                                                          Assistant Principal - Mission

Parish Family Mass

Parent Forum News

Yesterday, Tuesday the 21^st of February, the first Parent Forum Meeting was held in the School Library. This is the first meeting under the new structure of our Parent Body and it was wonderful to see faces at the Forum who we wouldn’t have seen had we continued to meet under the old format.

The meeting was very positive and as this was our first meeting of the year, Tony outlined to those in attendance why we are changing formats and the benefits of this to our school community. There was good voice in the meeting and all contributed and are committed to ensuring that the Parent Forum continues to thrive and prosper for the good of all students at St Brigid’s.

At future meetings there will be a “Youth Club” which will allow children to be supervised whilst the parents attend the meeting. This gathering for our young people will be co-ordinated by Miss Bugden and give those in attendance an opportunity to come together and join in a variety of fun and engaging activities. Other matters discussed included

• The Parent Forum catering for the Kyogle Garden Club Flower and Foliage Show on Friday 21^st and Saturday 22^nd of April
• Opportunity for a Family afternoon at the Kyogle Swimming Pool
• Teams for future meetings
• Safe on Social Parent Presentation on Monday 27^th February at 6pm

The next meeting of the Parent Forum will be the AGM to be held on Tuesday 14^th March at 6pm. There will be further details given in upcoming newsletters about this meeting so please stay tuned!!

Safe On Social Parent Presentation

With the ever increasing exposure to Social Media, this is a presentation that no parent or carer can afford to miss. We are delighted to have Madeleine West of Safe on Social come to our school on Monday 27^th February to deliver a presentation that will be engaging, entertaining and quite confronting. Madeleine will deliver information that primary school parents need to know about - YouTube, Instagram, Musical.ly, Snapchat, Roblox, Minecraft, Clash of Clans / Clash Royale, Online Gaming, Fortnite and other games and apps your children may be using now or in the future. Other areas that Madeleine will cover are:-

Using social media with awareness             Keeping personal information private
Online grooming                                                Posting and sharing photos
What is a digital footprint                              Cyber-bullying, harassment and how to report it
Strategies to build resilience                         Online gaming safety

Madeleine will be presenting to the students in Years 3 to 6 during school time and then will give her presentation to parents in the Stage 3 Rooms commencing with dinner from 6pm and the presentation to commence at 6:30pm. There will be child minding available to allow all parents to attend.

PLEASE REGISTER THROUGH THE LINK ON THE ATTACHED FLYER!! 

Don’t let someone tell you how good this evening was, witness it for yourself!!

Stormbirds 2023

Dear Families,

In 2023, St. Brigid's will again be offering the Stormbirds Program for students after the success of running the Program last year.

Stormbirds is a small group program based on the belief that change, loss and grief are a normal and natural part of life. It provides young people who have lived through a natural disaster the opportunity to examine the impact of this experience on their lives. This Program will be run over four consecutive weeks, with four, approximately 60-minute long sessions.  

We invite parents, carers and teachers to nominate students who might benefit from Stormbirds Program via the link below:

https://forms.gle/dAtxSm5uT1JNrLNB9

If you, or a teacher, nominate your child to participate in Stormbirds, a Permission Form and Information Letter further outlining the Program will be sent home with your child.

Kind Regards,

Sereena Zanuso, Student Support Worker. 

Family Connect Services

A Message from Nikki Devine our Family Connect Worker

As your school’s Family Connect worker, I am here to support families to access the services they might need to help their family thrive. I can assist families in a wide range of areas including NDIS, housing, counselling, parenting programs, supporting parents of children with anxiety through mental health struggles, family violence, addiction services and many other services that families may need from time to time.

I have a background in social work and youth work and have worked extensively in community projects. I am a qualified practitioner in many programs including Mental health first aid, Bringing up great kids and Tuning into Teens.

I care deeply about promoting family wellbeing and can help families access a wide range of support services. I welcome any of our parents/carers to make contact with me if they would like more information about the help and support I can provide.

Nikki 0429 216 841 or Nicole.devine@socialfutures.org.au

From the Wellbeing Team

This week’s strength is: ZEST

ZEST describes the ability to be enthusiastic and energetic. A person who has ZEST doesn’t do things half-heartedly! (Any chefs out there will also know of zest as the zingy grated or shaved peel of a citrus fruit. Is your mouth watering now….?)  Is the character strength of ZEST a particular strength belonging to you or someone in your family? Take a minute to consider how ZEST helps you or your loved ones handle difficult situations.

School Fees

School fees for Term 1 have now been billed. No invoices are issued, however you will be able to view your account via the Compass App.

Fastpath = Home page>More (three lines on screen)>School Fees

At the end of each month, a fee statement is emailed to each Debtor.  

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

Positive Behaviour 4 Learning (PB4L)

Welcome to all our families in 2023. PB4L is a whole school framework that helps us create positive learning environments for all students at St Brigid's.

The PB4L framework is a research based and proactive school wide system that establishes clear behaviour expectations.

Our school wide expectations at St Brigid's are:

We are SAFE       We display EFFORT     We show RESPECT    We display SELF-RESPONSIBILITY

During the year ALL classes spend time teaching the school wide expectations.

Students who adhere to these expectations throughout each term are able to participate in our Term Rewards Day. These activities vary and the students have the opportunity of nominating and deciding upon which particular activity that they would like to take part in on Rewards Day.

Focus for Week 4:  

We show self responsibility and know how we are getting home each day. We wait sensibly at bus lines, walking lines and Groom street.

Learning Assistance Program

Can You Help at St Brigid’s?

This is a call for volunteers to assist with the St Brigid’s Primary School Learning Assistance Program (L.A.P) for the school year.

L.A.P is a wonderful program that has been running at our school for over 18 years. Due to COVID restrictions we have been unable to run LAP but we are all ready to go in 2023!

You may have great skills that you could share with the children or would like to listen to children read or do other learning based activities. For example, John Harley volunteers and does gardening with a group of students in Year 5 and 6 each week. There are many children who would benefit from this great program but we can only offer it with your help.

Can you spare half an hour on a day that suits you to work with a child at St Brigid’s Primary School?

If you are interested I would love to hear from you. Please phone our School Admin Officer, Lani Campbell on 66321988 and leave your name and contact number.

If you would like more information about the L.A.P program I am happy to discuss it with you.

Loretta Morabito – Pastoral Care Coordinator                                                                                                                  

Sports News

Winter Sports Trials

Last Thursday 16th February we had 5 students attend the winter sports trials in Lismore.

Tahnesha Walker 11’s Rugby League, Normy Presbury 11’s rugby League, Van Smith Open Rugby, Chelsea Hyde Netball and Noah Laarhoven Open Rugby League. 

Congratulations to Van Smith, Normy Presbury and Noah Laarhoven who were all successful in making it to the next trials held in Grafton on March 10th.

Cross Country

A date to put on your Term calendar is the running of our 2023 St Brigid's Cross Country. This will be held on Friday 24th March with the back up day being Tuesday 28th March. Please keep on eye on future newsletters for further information.

Yours in sport,

Lee Love

Games Club

Students now have the opportunity to attend a Games club in the library each Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. These groups are run by our teacher’s aides for the first half of lunch and a different activity is offered each day. Below is a list of the activities on offer:

Monday-  Lego

Tuesday - Cards and board games

Wednesday - Guided drawing, colouring and reading

Thank you to our wonderful support staff for running these groups. 

Happy Birthday to You

Wishing the following children all the very best for their special day this week:      

February      

26th - Brodie Duley                                                                                                          27th - Ayce Harley   

Student Awards - Week 4, Term 1 2023

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

Kindergarten:- Eli Wimble, Annabelle Parker 

Year 1:- Emma Nugent, Nicholas Stubbings

Year 2:- Harrison Geobel, Louise Calvey 

Year 3:- Fletcher Cameron-Keed, Judah Marychurch, Caleb Hyde

Year 4:- Olivia Alvos, Jacquie Smith, Peyhton Bateman

Year 5:- Beau Dever, Brooklyn Stubbings 

Year 6:- Brett Argall, Rachel Ellis, Zhepplin Fear 

Upcoming Dates

FEBRUARY

Friday 24th - Opening School Mass and Presentation of Badges

Sunday 26th - Parish Family Mass

MARCH

Monday 6th - Staff Development Day / Pupil Free Day

Tuesday 7th - Stage 2 Sacrament of Reconciliation 6pm

Monday 13th - Sushi Day

Tuesday 14th - School Community Forum AGM 6pm

Wednesday 15th to Friday 17th - NAPLAN Online for Years 3 and 5

Friday 17th - Year 1 Showcase