Newsletter Edition 2.10

Principal Reflection

Principal Reflection

Dear Parents/Carers

Over the last six months, St Brigid’s leadership, staff, students, and parents have been working with staff from Catholic Education Tasmania to commence Master Planning. During March, we held a ‘Place Vision’ workshop run by Village Well and facilitated by Fiona Graham from CET. A mixture of staff, students and parents were invited to engage in the workshop. It was an excellent way to find out students’ perspectives; they deserve a voice in their space. Please take some time to view the feedback and voices from our people. If you would like to read some information about why we should ‘Master Plan’, please read the attached information. As we progress through the stages, I will be excited to share the appropriate information with families. 

During the last week, parents and carers have had the opportunity to meet with teaching staff to discuss their child/children’s progress following the distribution of mid-year reports. When parents/carers are actively engaged in their child's education, it demonstrates the value placed on learning, which can positively influence a child's attitude and motivation towards school. Building trust, communication, and positive relationships contribute to a supportive and inclusive school community.

Formal reports and parent-teacher meetings are important opportunities to communicate and share information between home and school. Reports provide an overview of a student's academic progress, behaviour, and other relevant information. They provide a formal assessment of a student's performance in different subjects. This includes ratings in the form of A – E in years 3-6 or a descriptive five-point scale in the P -2 year levels. One of the areas that is of importance is the student’s application and attitude to learning. These areas provide information on a student’s self-management and awareness, social management, and engagement with learning. The general comment provides a brief overview of how students are progressing and areas for future focus. Reports are one tool for feedback along with feed-up – feedback and feed-forward on Seesaw and the day-to-day timely feedback to students.

If you have any difficulty accessing reports, please ensure you communicate and seek support from our front-office administration team.

Next week is the final week of term two, and there will certainly be a buzz after our school disco next Wednesday. Please support us in keeping everyone healthy by keeping children home if they are unwell.

Please note that students finish on Friday, the 7th of July and return on Tuesday, the 25th of July. I hope you all have a safe break and a rest from your daily routines.

Yours in partnership

Charlene Best 

Religious Education

Being Catholic

A person cannot be named catholic on their own.  Being Catholic involves belonging to a community.  This is how it has always been for Catholics.  The writer of the Acts of Apostles, describing the beginning of the church, said, "so it was that for an entire year, they (Paul and Barnabas) met with the church and taught a great many people, and it was in Antioch that the disciples were first called 'Christian". (Acts 11.26)

First of all, being Catholic means that the person is a Christian.  This means believing in Jesus Christ, the Son of God; that by the power of the Holy Spirit, Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary; that he was crucified, died and was buried; and that on the third day, he rose to life again.  Christians across the world, both Catholics and other Christians, share this belief.  Other religions, such as Islam, recognise Jesus as a holy man or a prophet.  But only those groups that believe in the Trinity, the three persons of the Christian Godhead, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, can correctly be called 'Christian'.

Andrea Jaffray Morf

Deputy Principal

Choir

Junior and Senior Choir

One of the special things about singing in a group is the journey you share together. Our Junior Choir and Senior Choir have worked hard to get to this point as a team. It's amazing to see how they have supported each other, grown together and developed their skills in their respective groups. Singing in a choir is not just about hitting the right notes; it's about harmony, teamwork, and being part of something bigger than yourself. Our Junior Choir and Senior Choir have embraced this, and their performances at the Burnie City Eisteddfod are a testament to their hard work and dedication.

Junior Choir at the Eisteddfod

On Tuesday morning, the Junior Choir travelled to Burnie to participate in Grade 2 & Under School Choir Section of the Burnie City Eisteddfod. As their conductor, I am incredibly proud of their performance. Their energetic and entertaining performance was accurate, and they maintained great focus throughout the entire performance. They did an excellent job of representing our school.

Leading up to the performance, there were some nerves amongst the group. However, they harnessed this nervous energy and channelled it into their performance, resulting in a wonderful and captivating performance that left the audience smiling.

The songs our Junior Choir sang were titled 'You'll Sing a Song' and 'Put Your Socks on Your Ears.' They sang these songs with great passion and enthusiasm, and their performance was truly remarkable, leading them to place second overall in their section.

After the event, we stopped at Burnie Park for some lunch and a play before heading back to school. It was an excellent opportunity for the group to reflect on their performance, and they were all thrilled with the outcome.

Our Junior Choir's commitment and dedication throughout terms 1 and 2 have been remarkable. They have worked incredibly hard, and their hard work has paid off in a big way. I look forward to seeing what our young musicians will achieve in the future.

Musically,

Mrs Rachel Bryan

Senior Choir at the Eisteddfod

Senior Choir travelled to the Burnie City Eisteddfod on Wednesday to perform two songs, Dandelions and Nobody Knows. Reflecting on the experience, we realised that our school values, including care, courage, curiosity, and connection, were strongly carried out during the day. Here are some examples:

Care:

• One of the choir members was nervous, and their friends comforted them.
• Everyone shared stories of their nervousness and positive energy before we left, which made people feel like they weren't alone in their feelings.

Courage:

• We all encouraged each other to do our best and not give up, even if we were nervous.
• We all channelled our energy and courage into each other to give positive energy.

Curiosity:

• All of the choir members showed interest in how the other choirs acted and sounded with their singing.
• We all showed curiosity by taking the opportunity to take a big leap and join our senior choir.

Connection:

• We focused intently on Mrs Bryan and the connection in her conducting, and our performance was very strong.
• We connected with each other at the park and throughout the choir journey.

Written by Grace (G5), Georgia (G5), Keeley (G5) and Ruby (G6)

Naidoc Week

Naidoc week

On Monday, representatives from the Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation, Camilla, Ebony & Shay,  visited our school to share Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledge and culture in preparation for Naidoc week.  Students in Grades 5, 2, 1 and Prep participated in story-telling sessions throughout the day and were able to view cultural tools, taste different bush tucker as well as crush ochre for painting. Students learnt about the differing roles of Aboriginal men and women, and many made kelp water carriers as well as grass weaving.

We would like to extend our sincere appreciation to Camilla and the team for spending the day with us and enriching our cultural knowledge.  Naidoc week is a time for everyone to reflect on the rich history of our region and the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander achievements and contributions to society.  This year’s theme is ‘For Our Elders’.  

Teachers will delve deeper in Term 3, week 1 when we further investigate a resource: The Orb, and the interconnections between Country, culture, identity and Community with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Northern Education Officer Belinda Downward.

Grade 2 Reflection

In Grade Two, in English, we have been focusing on verbs as part of our unit on grammar.  We’ve been learning about how verbs can often fit into four categories: moving, thinking, saying or feeling verbs.  We did an activity in small groups, selected a verb, and created a freeze frame to act it out.  I wonder if you can guess what our verbs are from the photos? 

In Maths, we’ve been focusing on mass as part of our unit on measurement.  We’ve been learning about how mass is the amount of matter or substance that takes up an object.  We’ve been using balance scales to compare the masses of different classroom objects to decide which item is the heaviest and the lightest. 

Sports

Football

Our first game of football was a great success, with all students thoroughly enjoying themselves. There was fantastic teamwork, great determination and lots of mud. Congratulations to all students, and a huge thank you to coach Danny O’Mara and all adults volunteering their time so our team can participate in this roster. Our next game is this Friday 30th, against Table Cape Primary at our home ground at Wynyard High School. Good luck! 

Cross Country Winners

Well done to all students who participated, supported and helped during our Cross Country. The conditions were not favourable; however, the students were resilient and competed with a positive attitude and a smile. It was amazing to see their support for other students, some running two or three times to encourage and motivate others towards the finish line. Fantastic effort by all!
A big congratulations to our grade winners!

Kinder: Chloe & Spencer Prep: Evie & Lachie  Grade 1: Isabelle J & Raphael  Grade 2: Jago & Evelyn  Grade 3: Isla  & Mayson Grade 4: Bailee Clark & Stefan Britza Grade 5: Ruby  & Romeo  Grade 6:  Brontee  & Connor 

WHS

Fire Evacuation Practice

In the upcoming week, we will hold an unannounced fire evacuation practice with staff & students to test our response to a potential scenario of a fire within the school.

As for lockdown drills, we recognised the worth of testing this process and have plans in place to make this practice as least disruptive as possible.

If you have queries, please call our WHS Safety Officer, Katie Ryan 0497 681 042

Upcoming Events

Book Week 2023

This year Book Week will be in Week 5 of Term 3 and the dress-up parade will be held on Wednesday, 23rd August, from 9 am - 10 am.

The theme is Read, Grow, Inspire. Students are encouraged to dress up as a character from their favourite book.  Dates and viewing/purchasing times for the Book Fair will be advertised early in Term 3.

Term dates for 2024

Community Events