My Education Patch

Enrolments for Foundation Year students for the 2014 school year have opened throughout the western cluster of schools in the Sale Diocese. Parents are considering their options and choosing a school for many and varied reasons, so why should they consider a Catholic School.

Our faith in Jesus Christ is why Catholic schools exist and we are challenged to foster a distinctive culture, educational vision and practice. As our Statement of Beliefs and Values states: “The membership of the school community is diverse. Some are conscious and active members of their Catholic community, some belong actively to other Christian traditions or religious faiths. Some are not explicitly Christian, but nevertheless have sought enrolment for their children in a Catholic school. Many students come from households, in which the adults belong to different churches, or one partner is intentionally Christian and the other is not. A large number of children and parents are baptized Catholic who may not participate consciously in a community of faith or deliberately attend to the religious dimension of their lives. The school is challenged to find appropriate ways to engage all members of its community in conversation about Christian identity.”

We believe our students can develop into strong individuals, academically, socially, physically and spiritually in a nurturing environment guided by faith and knowledge. Each student has strengths, interests and talents that need to be encouraged and developed so they are able to make a positive contribution to the world in which they live. Promoting self confidence, self respect and respect for others, self discipline and resilience prepares students to be good stewards of God’s creation and prepares them for service of others in their faith community and civic community.

We acknowledge parents as the first educators of their children who enter into a partnership with the Catholic school to foster and support their child’s education and education in faith. Parental involvement is welcomed and supported. St. Brigid’s, like other Catholic schools, has a dedicated space for parents to gather for social and school purposes. This area aims to enhance the welcoming culture of the school as parents and friends get to know each other and develop lasting friendships.

At Brigid’s our learning environment is flexible and has been configured to create small and/or larger areas. The furniture is moveable and can be used to distinguish different activity areas. The learning areas provide for both indoor and outdoor learning. Every student has a ‘home-base’ where there is storage for belongings and where they gather with their classroom teacher.

We believe students experience a unique faith-filled, nurturing environment in a Catholic school where there is a focus on the skills needed for the contemporary world today, tomorrow and well into the future.

We begin Term 2 of the School Year in the midst of the wonderful season of Easter. When we look back at Term 1 and begin Term 2 we are reminded that each time we complete something there is an opportunity for beginning again and welcoming new experiences.

The Easter season is an excellent example for us. The risen Lord presented himself to his friends renewing their energies for their roles in continuing his work and spreading his message. Let us be ready to recognise the risen Jesus as we go about our everyday work with vigor and enthusiasm.

St. Brigid’s is undertaking the process of Catholic School Renewal. Catholic School Renewal is a system-wide initiative in the Diocese of Sale that provides the opportunity for us to review our performance and recognise and celebrate our achievements.

Catholic School Renewal is conducted in partnership with the community and the Catholic Education Office and is a process by which we are able to examine our performance and acknowledge our strengths and successes while identifying areas that may require improvement.

This is a positive procedure that allows us to look closely at what we doing and make any necessary changes. It is also an opportunity for St. Brigid’s school staff to refresh ourselves and strengthen our resolve to carry out the ministry in which we have been called.

We are approaching the end of our Lenten journey and at sundown on Holy Thursday, April 27th we enter into the Easter Triduum. The Easter Triduum begins at sundown on Holy Thursday and concludes at sundown on Easter Sunday.

These three days are the climax of our yearly celebration of the paschal mystery. These days invite us to set aside our everyday activities as much as possible to spend these holiest of days in a spirit of prayer and reflection.

When we come to Easter our sorrow turns to joy as we celebrate the glorious resurrection of Christ. We celebrate Christ’s victory over death and sin and share in his suffering so that we may also share in his resurrection and the new life it won.

Journeying with Jesus through his Passion helps us be more aware of the suffering of others and gives us a heart that is full of love and compassion.

May everyone experience the true joy of the Easter Season.

When I woke this morning I was delighted to hear the Conclave had elected a new Pope. Argentina’s Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, the Archbishop of Buenos Aires, Argentina has been elected Pope Francis.

Pope Francis is the 266th Pope and is 76 years of age. He is the first Jesuit to become Pope and is of Italian descent.

Last year I went on a pilgrimage to Rome with fellow principals and leaders from the Catholic Education Office in Sale. When I saw the pictures of the large crowd in St. Peter’s Square it reminded me of the awe inspiring feeling I had when I was there. It was an experience I will never forget.

I can imagine the feeling amongst the thousands of people seeing the white smoke coming from the Sistine Chapel and hearing the bells of St. Peter’s Basilica.

One of the teaching staff here at St. Brigid’s will be attending World Youth Day in Rio in July this year. I am sure she will be eagerly awaiting the experience where young people from around the world will meet the new Pope.

I join with Catholics all around the world in praying for Pope Francis.

Have you heard the age old saying, ‘Books open the mind’? I believe reading increases knowledge and gives you a skill that lasts a whole lifetime. The practice of daily reading is imperative to reading success.

The early primary years are key years for building good reading skills. There has been much educational research that has found a strong correlation between reading and vocabulary knowledge. Children need to learn and explore new words. They need to hear sounds in words and match those sounds to print. The more children read the better their fluency and comprehension.

At St. Brigid’s we encourage reading for learning and enjoyment. If the love of reading is formed in the early years there is a strong likelihood that this will continue throughout life.

Parents can assist our school in encouraging the love of reading by:

• Having a ‘reading-friendly’ home;
• Setting some time aside each day to read together. It is important children enjoy being read to as well as reading themselves;
• Letting your children see you reading for enjoyment. They will be encouraged to be like you!
• Keeping books so they are easily accessible, and
• Visiting a Library

Hard copy books are not the only resource for reading. Participating in literacy-orientated computer activities, reading child-friendly literature online, reading newspapers, journals, magazines and blogs are all valuable.

Good readers are able to understand individual sentences and the organizational structure of a piece of writing. They can comprehend ideas, follow arguments and detect implications. Talking to your children often, reading with them and capitalizing on their interests are ways to support them throughout their school years and assist in keeping them reading.

St. Brigid’s is committed to providing a learning environment that encourages the love reading and we support students in the early years through our intervention program and small reading groups. We help support reading at home through our ‘take home books’ to provide our students with literature to share at home.

Our teachers are constantly modelling reading, writing and oral language skills in a variety of real situations. We provide the environment for children to take risks in applying strategies to develop skills in their daily use of language.

Today our staff return to school to begin the 2013 school year. We will commence with a Mass celebrated by our Parish Priest at St. Michael’s together with our other parish schools, St. Michael’s and St. Catherine’s. This is an opportunity for all our staff to reaffirm their commitment to Catholic Education and dedicate themselves to productive and successful learning and teaching throughout the year. It is also an opportunity to see ourselves as part of our Parish where we work in partnership with St. Catherine’s and St. Michael’s.

Our students begin the school year on Friday, February 1st and we will celebrate the Feast Day of St. Brigid. Our school was first opened on February 1st 201O and we are very fortunate to have the Feast of St. Brigid on this day to celebrate her life and the virtues that encapsulates the beliefs and ideals of our school. These are Knowledge, Strength, Faith, and Hospitality.

Our new Foundation Year students will begin on Monday and Tuesday of next week in two groups to ease the transition into a larger more formal group. I had the opportunity to see our new members at a picnic over the holidays and they all seemed excited and looking forward to starting school.

I wish all school staff a happy return to school and I hope that 2013 will be an exciting and beneficial one for all.

During the school holidays I signed up to do a massive open online course in educational technology and media. All participants have been invited to provide some information about themselves. The course begins on Tuesday January 15th and I am looking forward to this learning opportunity. I made this Xtranormal to introduce myself.

#etmooc Introduction
by: kengale

I will be starting my first MOOC next week. A MOOC is a Massive Open Online Course. You can find out more about ETMOOC here. I am looking forward to participating in this course and I hope to expand my understanding of online learning.

During 2012 St. Brigid’s continued to grow in student and staff numbers. We became more confident about our open learning approach and our blogging as a way to communicate and interact with others.

We had our first Twilight Fair, our first Concert performance and many special events such as the Father’s Breakfast, our Sports Carnival, although the date was changed due to extreme hot weather, Book Week, Harmony Day activities with some of the other local schools, Interschool Sports, Grade 5/6 Camp at Sovereign Hill and Grade 4 Camp at Allambee. The combined Parish schools Mass for the Feast of St. Mary of the Cross was a highlight.

I participated in a Study Tour to Canada and a pilgrimage to Rome. This was a highlight of the year for me personally and I enjoyed the experience immensely. There was a great sense of fellowship amongst our travelling companions and when Michael Fullan toured Australia in November we all attended an ‘Aussie BBQ’ to catch up with him and show him some great Australian hospitality.

As the Study Tour focused very much on learning communities it was wonderful to be able to see the learning that was happening at St. Brigid’s while I was away by visiting each of the Class Blogs and our weekly Newsletter.

Visiting many schools in the Toronto area was very affirming that St. Brigid’s is a great school with dedicated staff, energetic and enthusiastic students that have fantastic learning opportunities.

As with any year there are always parts of it you wish to forget or move on from such as family and staff illnesses. This was a concern for me this year and I hope 2013 will be a much brighter, healthier and happier year for all our staff and their families.

During the school holidays I hope to continue to improve my golf game with my new golf clubs that I received from my family for Christmas, enjoy some local travelling, help my daughter and son with painting, gardening and general tasks around the house. With the hot weather forecast for next week I hope to be spending much time in my pool relaxing with my family. I will also be spending time preparing and planning for our return to school at the end of January.

I am looking forward to the 2013 school year with much enthusiasm as we continue to implement the new AusVels curriculum and welcome 7 new staff members to our team. We may need to extend our staff room!

I would like to wish everyone a happy, safe and successful New Year.