Newsletter May 21st, 2025

Laudato Si’ is an encyclical letter written by Pope Francis in 2015, which focuses on the environment and the impact of human activities on our planet. The letter urges everyone to take care of the Earth, our common home, and stresses the interconnectedness of everything in our world, including social and economic factors.

Laudato Si’ Week 2025 will be celebrated 24th May - 31st May, to mark the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’ landmark encyclical. This global celebration will unite Catholics to rejoice in the progress we have made in bringing Laudato Si’ to life. Laudato Si’ highlights the importance of Catholic Social Teachings in shaping our response to environmental issues, emphasizing the need to prioritize the well-being of people and the planet in all our actions and decisions.

The theme for Laudato Si’ in 2025 is “Peace with Creation”. This theme is especially significant as 2025 marks both the Jubilee Year and the 10th anniversary of Pope Francis’s encyclical Laudato Si’.

Laudato Si’ deepens Catholic Social Teaching by explicitly connecting care for creation with core principles such as human dignity, the common good, solidarity, subsidiarity and a preferential option for the poor, insisting that ecological responsibility and social justice are inseparable and essential for the flourishing of both humanity and the planet.

Catholic Education Week is an annual opportunity for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Ballarat to celebrate their distinctive ethos and mission with their school and wider communities. In 2025, 52 primary schools and 11 secondary Colleges educate more than 18,500 students and employ over 2,500 teachers and staff across the diocese from Mildura in the north, Portland in the south, and west to Edenhope and Nhill.

The theme for Catholic Education Week 2025 is:

May the God of hope fill you with joy and peace.’ (Romans 15:13).

On Monday 26th May, Catholic Education Week celebrations will take place at St Brigid’s - all welcome!

We are seeking feedback from our school community as we explore the possibilities in relation to our St Brigid's School Uniform from 2026 and beyond. Your input is valuable in helping us make an informed and community-minded decision.

Please take a moment to complete the following brief survey.

https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/MRVYLYS

To assist with preliminary stages of planning for 2026, a friendly reminder to current families to please submit enrolment forms for siblings entering Foundation in 2026 via the ‘enrol now’ tab on our website - https://www.sbballan.catholic.edu.au/

Hot lunches will take place each Friday via the online ordering system - Spriggy Schools on SZapp.

Volunteers

We have re-introduce a roster looking for volunteers to help prepare and serve lunches on each Friday. Ideally 2 helpers are required.

If you are available to help out on a Friday between 11.30am-1.00pm please contact the school office with your dates (valid Working with Children Check is required).

The children really enjoy hot lunches and this can only happen with the help of volunteers!

Term 2 Roster:

Please find below an updated menu.

Whole School Prayer/ Assembly will continue to take place on a fortnightly basis at St Brigid’s Church on Monday afternoons from 2:30pm.

Term 2 dates:

• Monday 26th May, 2025 @ 2:15pm - Year 2/3M facilitating
• Monday 23rd June, 2025 @ 2:30pm - Foundation A facilitating

Our next P&F meeting will take place on Monday 2nd June from 3.15pm - 4.00pm in our school Library. An active P&F committee allows families the opportunity to play a valuable part in providing social and fundraising activities.  Please attend this meeting if you are interested in joining our P&F committee. Any help would be greatly appreciated as all funds raised contribute to resources and materials to support your children in their holistic development.

Suzanne Beaver will again be at St Brigids every Tuesday this year. 

Suzanne is available for individual sessions with children. Common issues addressed are managing strong emotions, self esteem, friendship issues, anxiety, and family challenges such as illness, grief and separation.

Suzanne is also available for individual sessions with parents. Topics can include a range of parenting challenges, i.e. managing strong emotions, school reluctance, helping your child form strong friendships, and helping your child to navigate family separation.

Suzanne can also assist you in finding the right external support for your child and family.

This is a great service provided right here at school. Please don't hesitate to contact Suzanne with any concerns you might have. Contact Suzanne by phone on a Tuesday or by email any day sbeaver@sbballan.catholic.edu.au.

You can also access the service through the office or your classroom teacher.

All of the timetabled events (to date) for the school year can be found on our school calendar which can be accessed through PAM and via this newsletter.

Welcome to St Brigid's Primary School's Parent Access Module or PAM.

PAM is the home of your school related, student information and will be used for medical profiles, excursion/camp permissions, parent teacher interviews, absences, text notifications and daily messages.

Please follow the instructions below to set up your account.

Step 1:
You will need to set your own access password. To set your password click on the link below. This will take you to the PAM login page. Click on the 'Forgot Password?' link and follow the prompts.

PAM Login

Step 2:

Download the SIMON Everywhere app to access PAM on your preferred
device/s. Search 'SIMON everywhere' in the app store and download. Once
downloaded, click on the 3 lines in the top left corner, click on 'add school',
select 'St Brigid’s Primary School' then enter the login details that you set up
for PAM in Step 1.

Step 3:
Please complete the medical profile for each of your child/ren and upload any action plan if applicable. Please Note: It is the parents/guardians' responsibility to update their child/ren's profiles, to inform the school of any changes. This profile will be the main school medical reference for camps and excursions. 

If you are experiencing any difficulty with the setup process, please contact the office.