Newsletter August 23rd, 2023

Last week the Catholic Church celebrated a special day to honour Mary, the mother of Jesus. Last Tuesday was the Feast of the Assumption. This feast day commemorates that Mary, the mother of God, was assumed body and soul into heaven and reunited with her son Jesus.

The feast day of this holy and momentous event stems from the middle of the 5th Century when the Commemoration of the Mother of God was celebrated each year on 15 August in a shrine located near Jerusalem. More than 100 years later, the feast also commemorated the end of Mary’s time on earth and was known as the “Dormition of Our Lady.”

Last Tuesday we attended Mass at St Brigid’s Church with a focus on Feast of the Assumption of Mary.

Big congratulations to Year 5/6 teacher Chelsea and her partner Ryan on the announcement of their recent engagement. We are so very happy for you Chelsea and Ryan!

Our prayers and thoughts are with Milly Conroy, Sophie Barton, Lilly Moshoudis, and Grace Monterosso as they celebrated the sacrament of Eucharist on Sunday at St Brigid’s Church.

A big thank you to our Parents and Friends for organising the pie drive.  Delivery to St Brigid's will be on Friday 25th August, 2023.

If you are unable to collect orders on this day they can be sent home with your child or if requested, placed into the freezer for collection the following week.

On Thursday 31st August, our P&F will be facilitating a Father’s Day Stall. On this day, children are invited to bring $5 to school to purchase a gift for their dad’s or special people in their lives.

A big thank you to all involved for organising and facilitating our Father’s Day Stall.

As we move to the latter weeks of Term 3 we wanted to confirm some important date changes for our school community so that you can plan ahead as needed. In light of the new Catholic Education Multi-Enterprise Agreement 2022 (CEMEA 2022), DOBCEL schools have needed to make adjustments to employment obligations. You may be aware that there have been ongoing negotiations regarding working conditions for educators now for some time. After a long period of negotiations, the enterprise bargaining agreement 2022 is now operational and we are required to revise some of the conditions in which we currently operate.

As such DOBCEL schools have been encouraged to adjust the end of 2023 School Year finishing dates. The last day for students in 2023 will be on Friday 15th December and staff conclude on Monday 18th December, 2023.

KidsCo will be offering holiday care here at St Brigid's:

Monday 18th December - Friday 22nd December, 2023.

Returning on Monday 8th January 2024 onwards.

Further information regarding booking via KidsCo will be communicated next term.

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.

SZappp Mobile Application is a fantastic way for communicating and making information or resources available to our St Brigid's school community. 

Please follow the instructions in the below guide on how to install the SZappp and register an email account for communication. 

As we are now in the process of planning for 2024, please ensure that all Foundation 2024 enrolments are submitted as soon as possible via the ‘enrol now’ tab on our website - https://www.sbballan.catholic.edu.au/

We have now transitioned to full winter uniform.  Please ensure that your child is wearing the correct winter uniform to school each day including bringing the St Brigid’s school bag to and from school daily.

Children are able to wear sports uniform each Wednesday and on classroom nominated sports day as directed by your child’s classroom teacher. Given the nature of Physical Education lessons, on Wednesday’s children can wear either correct sports shorts or pants.

We are currently exploring options regarding tracksuit pants, sport shorts and rain coats. More details to follow regarding these items. 

Hot lunches are up and running via the online ordering system - Spriggy Schools on SZapp.

Volunteers

This term we have re-introduced a roster to help prepare and serve lunches on each Friday. 

Thank you to those who have been added. Ideally 2 helpers are required each day. If you are available to help out on a Friday between 11.30am-1.00pm please contact the school office (valid Working with Children Check is required).

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

Mass Times:

Korobeit Sat 5.00pm ~ Creswick 8.45am ~ Daylesford 10.30am