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ST. BRIGID’S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL 25 Bayview Road, Officer Vic. 3809

Telephone: (03) 5943 2447 Fax (03) 5943 2579

Email: principal@stbofficer.catholic.edu.au Website: www.stbofficer.catholic.edu.au

Term 1 Week 7 NEWSLETTER 14th

March 2012

Dear Parents,

“God sent his Son into the world that we might be saved through him.” John 3:14-

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Jesus is the Light of the world. He brings God’s truth. The Gospel reading this Sunday, March

18th (John 3:14-21) invites us into this light. We hear Nicodemus, a

Pharisee, was a man who secretly followed Jesus but did not want

others to know. He visited Jesus when it was dark.

Jesus reminds Nicodemus that people who do good things do not

have to hide in the dark. He tells Nicodemus, and us too, that it is

necessary to ‘Come into the Light’ and not be afraid to let others

know that we are followers of Jesus and to show what we are by

the way we live our lives. “God loved the world so much that he

gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not be

lost but have eternal life.”

At our Baptism we are given a candle as a symbol of the light we

received from Christ. As children of the light we have nothing to

fear, knowing that Jesus is always with us on our journey through

life. Our response to this great love and gift of light is to choose light and not darkness. Our

challenge is to be light for others.

Loving Father,

Help us to live as children

of the light,

shining out in the darkness

and touching the lives

of others with the warmth

of your love.

Amen.

Inside this issue: Prep Enrolments 2013 for families already attending St. Brigid’s Working Bee – Saturday, March 24th 9.00 a.m. Mass – Level 3/4 Thursday, March 15th at 9.00 a.m.

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Prep Enrolments

for Established Families for 2013 School Year. Prep Enrolments for the 2013 School Year for families already attending St. Brigid’s are now

open. Enrolments forms may be downloaded from our website or collected from the Office.

Please be advised that all completed enrolment forms together with necessary documentation

and a $50 non-refundable enrolment fee for Prep 2013 from established families must be

returned to us by Friday, April 20th 2012.

Prep Enrolments for new families will be open on May 1st 2012.

Working Bee – Saturday, March 24th

“Teamwork divides the task and multiplies the success.”

As previously mentioned, we are holding a Working Bee on Saturday, March 24th commencing at

9.00 a.m. and finishing at 12 noon. Some of the tasks that we hope to complete include moving

the Library, mulching, gardening, and a general clean up of our grounds. Past Working Bees

have achieved so much and have created a friendly, cooperative atmosphere, all working hard

to help St. Brigid’s. It would be fantastic to see you all there and join in with our sausage

sizzle to finish off the morning. Please remember to fill out the Working Bee Notice and

return to school to help us with catering.

Level Mass – Year 3/4 During the term each class will be involved in a Level Mass that will be celebrated by Fr. Peter

or Fr. Jeff. Year 3/4 will be participating in our first Level Mass with Fr. Jeff tomorrow,

Thursday March 15th at 9.00 a.m. in the Multipurpose Hall. Everyone is invited to come along to

Mass with us.

School Assembly – Friday, March 16th 2.30 p.m. We will hold our next school assembly this Friday, March 16th at 2.30 p.m. in the Multipurpose

Hall. Year 3/4B will lead us in Prayer and Year 5/6W will share Class News. Everyone is most

welcome to join us as we pray and celebrate together.

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Study Tour Next term in late April/May I will be undertaking a Study Tour together with some other

principals and staff from the Catholic Education Office. The Study Tour will involve visiting

schools in Canada and being in dialogue with leading educationalists to discuss System

Leadership for innovation in education. We aim to build an understanding of how other

education systems operate and how they have sustained improved learning outcomes for the

children in their schools. We will then make a pilgrimage to Rome and meet up with Bishop

Christopher Prowse and Dr. Rose Duffy. Upon our return we will share our learning with all of

the schools in the Sale Diocese.

I am confident that I will be leaving you in the very capable hands of Mr. Simon Greely who will

be Acting Principal during my absence and our staff.

St. Brigid’s Playgroup- Friday, March 16th

St Brigid’s Playgroup now takes place every Friday morning between 9.00am and 10.30am in the

Parents Retreat. The change to Friday morning now avoids any clash on Thursday mornings with

school meetings and Level Masses.

The next Playgroup session will be held this Friday, March 16th.

Cost is $2.00 per session and all you need to bring is a piece of fruit or healthy snack for the

children to share, along with a drink.

We welcome all families with young children to attend this relaxed and social gathering.

Project Compassion During Lent we reflect deeply on how we live and look closely at what is happening in the world

around us. Caritas’ Project Compassion 2012 carries the message: “If you want Peace, work for

Justice” – Pope Paul VI. The annual Project Compassion Appeal during Lent began in 1966 and it

is now in it’s 47th year. During Lent your support and donations to Project Compassion will

contribute to Caritas’ work throughout the world as a Catholic agency for overseas aid and

development. Project Compassion boxes are available in each classroom. For more information

on the work of Caritas please visit their website:

http://www.caritas.org.au/projectcompassion

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School Closure Day MONDAY 23rd APRIL 2012 There will be no school for children on this day.

MARCH

1st Laclan 2nd Taya 3rd Emma 3rd Jacob 4th Sebastien

4th Cailan 5th Emily 7th Brodie 9th Paige 9th Olivia

19th Harry 19th McKenna 22nd Mitch 22nd Stephanie 23rd Jaimee

25th Charlotte 25th Thomas 30th Tahlia 31st Noah

Social and Fundraising Committee News

The next meeting of the Social and Fundraising Committee is this Thursday, March 15th

following the Year 3/4 Level Mass at approximately 9.45 a.m. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Updating Contact Information Forms will be sent home to every family this week with current details that we have on our

system for Emergency Contacts and Medical information.

Please read carefully, amend as necessary and return to the school office as soon as possible

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News from the Deputy Principal– Mr. Simon Greely

R.E. News The Reconciliation Parent/Child Workshops are now complete. Reconciliation families will

attend one of the Blessing of Children Masses this weekend, where the children preparing

for Reconciliation receive a special blessing up on the altar. Parish Mass times are Saturday 6

p.m. Sunday 9 a.m., 10.30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Children should wear their Sacramental Scarf/Stole

to help Parish members identify them.

P.E. News The Coles Sports for Schools equipment from 2011 arrived last week. I look forward to using

it in PE lessons and to sharing with children for playground use.

The Woolworths Earn and Learn equipment/resources also arrived.

Thank you to our fantastic families and friends of St. Brigid’s who helped collect dockets so

we could get this equipment.

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Casual Relief Teachers You will notice different teachers in your child’s classroom every now and then. Professional

development days, sick leave, camps and family appointments are some of the reasons why we

need a CRT. Please make them feel welcome. We do try and organize the same CRT if we know

a teacher will be away for a few days, for consistency for the children. Sometimes this isn’t

possible and we aim to get the best teachers we possibly can for your children and our school.

Luckily, we have a bank of very good teachers we can use here at St. Brigid’s.

Leader of ICT and Media Liaison – Mrs. Karen Inguanzo

BLOGS Thank you to all the parents who have signed and returned the blog permission forms. We are

just waiting for a few more to be returned before I can share the URL’s with you. If you are

unsure as to whether you have returned your child’s blog permission form please ask your

child’s teacher. If you have any questions regarding the blogs please take the time to speak

with either Ken or myself.

Netbooks We have introduced 31 new netbooks into the classrooms over the past few weeks. We have a

few hiccups when accessing the school server, but now they seem to running smoothly. The new

netbooks are split between the middle and senior classes.

Leader of Intervention and Wellbeing – Mrs. Lisa Piasente Helping with your child’s reading

Research tells us that parental involvement in education has a positive impact on children’s

learning. There are many ways you can be involved in your child’s learning from helping in the

classroom, taking part and helping in school-run activities, to helping with reading and other

tasks at home. However, it is important that parents know what to do when helping with

reading (for example, what to do when a child comes to a word they don’t know) so that the

child gets the same messages from both school and home. On Tuesday 17th April we will be

running a “Reading At Home” information session that will give parents knowledge about

reading and teach skills to help with reading at home. This session is also useful for those

parents wanting to come and help out in the classroom with reading and other literacy tasks.

The session will start at 7.00pm and run for about an hour. I hope to see you there.

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Performing Arts – Mrs. Petra Taylor-Smith

The Prep children have now started their Music lessons on Wednesday so we thought you'd like to read

some cute rhymes which we made up in their lesson about their teachers.

The musical 'Cinderella and Rockerfella' isn't taking place until Term 3 but we've already decided on

the CAST for this so that they can begin learning their parts. Any parent who'd like to have some

input into this event, eg. costuming, painting backdrop, props, etc. please contact the school and we can

arrange to have a chat.

We'll announce the cast at assembly on Friday if all contracts have been signed and returned. The

students will also receive a notice regarding costuming needs before the end of the week, hopefully.

Miss Hodges you are fun,

Do you like to go for a run?

You give us good work to do,

You’re as cool as Scooby Doo!

Mrs Murray you’re the best,

Sometimes we give you a rest.

You teach us well and you’re so nice,

After school you deserve a drink with ice.

Mrs Inguanzo you’re so tall,

Compared to you we are so small.

We love your hair it is so curly,

And your teeth are white and pearly.

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Community Noticeboard

Relay for Life

Friday 16th March

This year a team “Kidz for Kidz” with Cancer led by Sally Webber will be walking laps at

Akoonah Park to raise funds for Cancer for Kids. If you would like to donate or sponsor Sally,

Noah, Emmerson or Cathie Waters, please log onto the4 following link https://secure.cancercouncilfundraising.org.au/registrant/StartUp.aspx?locationID=38789&langPref=en-CA

Alternatively, please send donations to the school office and we will pass on.

St. Francis Xavier College YEAR 7 2013 PARENT INFORMATION NIGHT THURSDAY, MARCH 22

ND, 2012 AT 7.30 P.M.

BEACONSFIELD CAMPUS HALL

Tours of the Berwick Campus will leave from the front of Berwick Campus at 6.00 p.m., 6.15 p.m., 6.30 p.m.

and 6.45 p.m. This will allow ample time to drive to Beaconsfield

Campus prior to the meeting at 7.30 p.m. (Tours will also be conducted at the Berwick Campus on Monday March 5

th 12

th, 19

th, and 26

th at 9.15 a.m.)

Tours of Beaconsfield campus will leave from the front

of the Beaconsfield Campus Hall at 6.15 p.m., 6.30 p.m.,

6.45 p.m. and 7.00 p.m.

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MARRIAGE ENCOUNTER WEEKEND We all do things to enhance our lives; Fitness programs and diets to improve our health;

Professional Development programs to improve our job skills. We offer you an opportunity for married

couples to give a wonderful gift to your children by enhancing your marriage through a Marriage

Encounter weekend. Good marriages need some attention occasionally. Please join us in 2012. Take a

look at our website on www.wwme.org.au

Our weekends in 2012 are: 20-22 April, 15-17 June, 10-12 August and 12-14 October.

For further information and bookings contact Marianne & Marcel Van den Bronk (03)9733 0997 or

Email vicbookings@wwme.org.au

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News from St. Michael’s Parish Berwick One of our Parish primary schools, St. Catherine’s Clyde Road in Berwick is holding their

Country Fair on Saturday, March 24th 2012 from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. Please see flyer under

Community Noticeboard.

ST. CATHERINE’S COUNTRY FAIR

Saturday 24th March - All welcome!!

10am-4pm

HEAPS OF STALLS, RIDES, CRAFTS, FOOD

Fun for all ages!!!

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Looking ahead...

Thurs. March 15th Level Mass 3/4 9.00 a.m. Fri. March 16th Assembly 2.30 p.m. Prayer 3/4B,

Class News 5/6W

Sat. March 17th St. Patrick’s Day

Sun. March 18th Fourth Sunday of Lent (John 3:14-21) ‘Darkness and light’

Tues. March 20th Autumn Equinox

Wed. March 21st Harmony Day Thurs. March 22nd Level Mass 4/5, 5/6 Mass Reconciliation Ceremonies commence

Sun. March 25th 5th Sunday of Lent (John 12:20-33) ‘If a grain of what falls on the ground and dies, it yields a rich har-vest.’

Thurs. March 29th Level Mass Prep/1/2 9.00 a.m.

Fri. March 30th END OF TERM Early Dismissal 2.30 p.m.

St. Michael’s Parish

125-129 High Street, Berwick 3806 Parish Priest: Fr. Peter Slater

(03) 97071355 Weekend Masses

Saturday: 6.00 p.m. Sunday: 9.00 a.m., 10.30 a.m. and 6.00 p.m.

Brainteaser

The answer to last week’s brainteaser was

‘shape up or ship out’. This week’s brain-

teaser is:

Lord give us the light

to understand more deeply

how you have called us.

Breathe into us new life,

new meaning.

Lead us in the way of peace

and justice.

Transform us to empower others.

Guide our paths as we grow

in awareness of how we can be

a sign of your love in the world.

We ask this through Jesus, Christ, your Son.

Amen.

Yours in friendship and unity,

Ken Gale

Principal

“Reading without re-

flecting is like eating

without digesting”

Edmund Burke

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