Newsletter Term 4 Week 9 (Wednesday 6 December 2023)

Our Front Page with Year 3.

This term in Year 3 we have been learning about the different writing styles and techniques that authors use to make their stories descriptive and entertaining. This week our focus has been ‘Hyperboles’...a hyperbole uses exaggeration to enhance a story. Our writing task was to use a hyperbole to describe how hot it has been. We hope you enjoy reading our examples.

It was so hot Mrs Jansen’s hair turned into ashes and the leftover of her birthday cake melted. By Harry

It was so hot at home the trees shrivelled up and it felt like I was wearing a million trillion billion thousand jumpers. By Eedie

It was so hot there was sweat dripping from my ears. By Ella

It was so hot yesterday I could cook steak on the school yard. By Judah

It was so hot that even the fridges melted. By Fletcher

It was hot, so hot it could unfreeze Antartica. By Morgan

Our Gospel Reflection

Last Sunday was the first Sunday of Advent, which is also the first Sunday of a new liturgical year for the Church. The Advent season includes the four Sundays that precede Christmas. It is a time of preparation for the coming of the Lord. In this season, we recall two central elements of our faith: the final coming of the Lord in glory and the incarnation of the Lord in the birth of Jesus. Key themes of the Advent season are watchful waiting, preparation, and justice.

In this new liturgical year, the Gospel of Matthew will be the primary Gospel proclaimed (Lectionary Cycle A). In today's Gospel, we hear Jesus speak about the need for wakefulness, for watchful waiting, for the coming of the Son of Man.

Matthew's Gospel is dated by most scholars after 70 A.D. Most believe that Matthew wrote for a primarily Jewish community, but one that was no longer centred on the Temple in Jerusalem. These were Jewish Christians trying to come to terms with their relationship to Judaism in a new situation: Judaism after the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem. There may have been Christians who believed that the events of the world around them gave evidence of the imminent return of the Lord in glory.

The passage from Matthew we read today is rather straightforward. No one knows the precise time of the coming of the Lord in glory, so watchful waiting and vigilance are required. The passage speaks to the uselessness of looking for signs; there will be none. As a thief sneaks in during the night, so will the Lord's coming in glory be.

The question for us as members of the Christian community, then, is how do we prepare for this? Today's passage speaks more about the manner of waiting, rather than the details of the preparation. Jesus compares the vigilance required of Christians to the vigilance of a homeowner who knows the plans of the thief. If one knows that the thief's action is imminent, one remains watchful. As Christians, we know that our Lord is coming even if we cannot know the precise timing. Jesus calls us to be watchful and vigilant, like the homeowner. If we become lax in our Christian living, we may be caught unprepared.

From Our Acting Principal

It is hard to believe that we are in the middle of Week 9 with only days before we close out what has been a very busy year at St. Brigid’s. The next week is like an end of year festival with the Swimming Carnival, Year 5 Leadership Speeches, End of Year Liturgy & Awards, Pageant and Rewards Day. 

Swimming Carnival

Our swimming carnival is being held on Thursday 7th December. Students will  come to school as normal and the teachers will mark the roles before walking the students down to the pool to begin at approx. 9.30am. A detailed program will be sent out on Compass but please understand that times listed on the program are only a guide. Students are invited to wear house colours or their sports uniform.  Entry to the pool will be $3 per student unless they have a season ticket. Plesse ensure that you grant permission for your child/ren to attend the carnival through Compass.

The Forum will be holding a sausage sizzle on the day and we are still in need of helpers to cook the sausages and serve on bread. If you can spare an hour in the BBQ area, it would be greatly appreciated. I would also like to thank all the volunteers who have nominated themselves as time keepers, marshalls, place keepers or on the recording table. Our carnival would not be possible without the support of our helpers. I would also like to acknowledge the parent Forum who work in the background to support events like these, thank you.

All the very best to our house teams!

Year 5 Speeches

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, Year 5 will present their speeches on Monday 11th December in the Parish Hall beginning at 9.30am. An invitation is extended to family and friends to attend these speeches. We will be in a position to announce our 2024 Leaders at our End of Year Liturgy on Tuesday morning.

End of Year Liturgy

Next Tuesday 12th December we have our End of Year Liturgy & Awards ceremony. This is a wonderful tradition to mark the end of the school year and the achievements of all students. Families and friends are invited to join us at 9.30 am in Our Lady of Sorrows Church to celebrate this special occasion.

Rewards Day

Next Friday 15th December will be the last day for students. This will also be our Rewards day for Term 4. Please keep an eye out on Compass in the coming days for event details and permissions for your child/ren to attend this special day.

Step Up Day

Yesterday we had our Step Up Day where students moved to their 2024 classroom with next year's teacher. There were lots of fun activities going on in the classrooms as I moved around visiting with lots of excited students. 

Stars of the Week

The last couple of weeks has seen our overall attendance average drop below 90%. The ultimate school goal is to stay above the 90%. 

Congratulations to Year 5 who won first place last week with a weekly attendance of 89.56% Kindergarten was in second place with 85.82% and Year 3 in third place with a weekly attendance of 85.50%

Hampers

We have been really appreciative of the hamper items that have been donated. The food and gift donations will be made up into hampers and donated to St Vincent dePaul to support local families during Christmas. Thank you for supporting such a wonderful cause.

MAI Bookings & 2024 Beginning Dates

As we close one school year, we start thinking about dates for another year. As mentioned in previous newsletters, staff will return to school on Tuesday 30th January for an administration day. Wednesday 31st January and Thursday 1st February will be our Mathematics Assessment Interviews (MAI) for Years 1-6. The first day of school for Years 1-6 will be Friday 2nd February. 

Kindergarten will have their Best Start and MAI Interviews from Wednesday 31st - Monday 5th February and their first day at school will be Tuesday 6th February. 

We will be in a position to open the Compass Conference bookings for parents & carers to book their child/ren an interview time. Watch out for this on Compass!

I look forward to our school celebrations over the next week.

Vanessa Walters                                                                                                                                                               

Acting  Principal

Assistant Principal News- Mission

CHRISTMAS PAGEANT

We are looking forward to joining together as a school community on Wednesday 13th. Our school gates will be open and local vendors will be operating from 5:30 pm. We will have children perform the scripture based nativity play at 6:45 pm. Your children have been rehearsing their performances and every child is a part of the performance. Please let your child’s teacher know if you aren’t able to make the pageant. We encourage you to bring a picnic rug and have dinner with us on the school grounds.

Dining options include:
SCHOOL FORUM STALL:
-Lolly bags   -Quiche & salad from Cawongla Store with gf and df options.

FLAMIN TURKEY WOODFIRED PIZZAS
OOPSA DAISY GELATO & CO
COWGIRL EXPRESS:
-Milkshakes, coffee, iced coffees etc
- THE ROTARY CLUB

The children are very excited to share the Christmas story with you all. It is such a wonderful time of year, see you all soon!
Kelli-Ann Shedden,
Assistant Principal - Mission

Student Awards Week 8

Congratulations to the following students who have shown tremendous effort and were presented with their awards at our assembly last Friday afternoon:

Kindergarten - Annabelle, Eli

Year 1 - Emma, Ben

Year 2 - Oscar

Year 3 - Caius, Elliarna, Shekinah

Year 4 - Ayce, Adam

Year 5  - Parker, Eloise

Year 6 - Zhepplin, Noah

Principal Award - Hamish W

From the Wellbeing Team.

RESILIENCE and the role of communication.

So far we have talked about how important Problem-Solving and Goal-Setting are in terms of building resilience (the ability to bounce back and adapt to new circumstances). This week we look at the role of Effective Communication. Being able to express our feelings and needs clearly to others means we are more likely to be understood, and have a greater chance of getting what we need. However, we first need to identify our emotions, and needs. To do
this we can ask ourselves some helpful questions:
- What am I feeling?
- What thoughts am I having?
- What will help me to feel better?
- What would I say to a friend who was feeling and thinking this
way?
As communication is a two-way street, being able to listen to, and understand, what others are saying is helpful too. How good are your communication skills?

Positive Behaviour 4 Learning (PB4L)

PBS Focus for week 9 is: I pick up any rubbish that’s on the ground because it’s everyone’s responsibility to care for our environment. 

PBS Awards Week 8:

Happy Birthday to You

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

December

Kinsley - 10th

Judah - 11th

Alyanna - 12th

Shekinah - 12th

Upcoming Dates

December

Thursday 7th - Swimming Carnival

Monday 11th - Year 5 2024 Leadership Speeches

Tuesday 12th - End of Year Liturgy & Academic Awards

Tuesday 12th - Year 6 Afternoon at the Pool

Wednesday 13th - Christmas Pageant

Wednesday 13th - Reports Home

Friday 15th - Rewards Day/Last Day of School

Jan's Bucket Club