February 15th 2024

Principal's Reflection

Dear Families,

One of the great aspects of my role is walking around classes to observe and witness staff and students in their classrooms. Our students have begun the school year well and settled into their class structures and routines. I have been impressed with the manners, respect and welcome from our students who call SBW 'their school'. This is a testament to families and our staff. On Tuesday, Kinder students had their first  day together as a full Kinder cohort, following split days last week and I was fortunate enough to have Kinder visit the office. In reflecting on this later in the day, I was inspired by the way that our Kinder students had begun their educational journey at SBW and how comfortable they were in our school environment. 

Yesterday was Ash Wednesday and this marks the beginning of Lent. Lent is a time of preparation for the gift of new life that we receive at Easter.  During this time, we are called to reflect upon our need for God and to address those things in our lives that distract us from the wholeness that only God can bring.  A quote from The Book of Matthew reasonates with me as we head into Lent " And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two". As we go into the season of Lent this teaching from Jesus is highly relevant. Every day at 11.30 I meet with students in the undercover area/ basketball court to celebrate successes and to give reminders.  A key part of this time with students is highlighting our school values of CARE, CONNECTION, CURIOSITY AND COURAGE. Assisting those in need and showing care is a cornerstone value for us as members of a community and one that we can reflect and focus on as we begin the season of Lent. I encourage you all over the next period of time to have a conversation with your child about how they can go the extra mile to show care to others. 

On a personal note, I would like to thank the community for the warm welcome and support that I have received. I look forward to working with you all as we strive towards our purpose of providing the best possible outcomes for the students who call SBW 'their school'.

Thank you for your ongoing support,

Nic Saltmarsh

Religious Education

Lent

On Tuesday, 13th February, we celebrated Shrove Tuesday with the traditional feast of pancakes. It was wonderful to hear students be able to explain why we celebrate this special day, and know that despite changes in the way we live today and life as it was when this tradition was created, the students can connect with the meaning behind this tradition.

Ash Wednesday, 14th February, also allowed everyone at St Brigid's to participate in another Catholic traditon, the distribution of the ashes. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of Lent, a period of 40 days of fasting, repentance and alms giving. The ashes are formed in the shape of a cross and placed of the forehead as a symbol of mortality and the need for repentance and renewal. These ashes are made by burning palm branches from the last year's Palm Sunday celebrations. 

These Catholic traditions help us to connect with our faith heritage and deepen our spirituality. It is important for our staff and students to continue to participate fully in the life of the Church and flourish in our Catholic community. 

What will you be doing to deepen your spirituality this Lent? Perhaps, abstain from certain foods, such as meat, cheese, chocolate? It could be that you decide to focus strongly on praying, making more time for personal reflection.

As a school, we are focussing on almsgiving and participating in walking kilometres to raise money for Project Compassion - CARITAS Australia, and help people nationally and worldwide, to have clean and sufficient drinking water.  Attached is a flyer with a QR code where you are able to donate and we thank you in advance for contributing to this worthy cause. Please search for our school, St Brigid's.

2 Corinthians 6: 2

For he says, “In the time of my favor I heard you, and in the day of salvation I helped you.”

I tell you, now is the time of God’s favor, now is the day of salvation.

Andrea Jaffray Morf

Deputy Principal

Teaching and Learning

On Monday we welcomed Michael and Brooke from COGLearn to work with our staff in the implementation of the Insight Project at SBW. The Insight Project is the Tasmanian Catholic Education Office's approach to teaching and learning that is based on research based best practice. Michael and Brooke worked with leadership staff along with Miss Reynolds and Miss Loone to upskill knowledge and practices. Teaching staff then participated in a professional learning session after school that had a particular focus on Spelling Mastery and Initialit. We look forward to sharing more information in regards to our implemention of Insight.  

Spelling Mastery

St Brigid’s Catholic School Wynyard are delighted to inform you about Spelling Mastery, a program we have invested in to improve spelling abilities at our school from Grades 3-6.

Spelling Mastery is a fully scripted Direct Instruction program that has an extensive research base and is teacher directed. The program helps students understand the relationship between sounds, word parts, and spelling patterns. Spelling Mastery encourages students to learn strategies to spell correctly rather than rely on memory alone.

There are three approaches within Spelling Mastery. Phonemic, whole-word, and morphemic.

Through the phonemic approach, students learn sound-symbol relationships between letters and sounds that help students spell using predictable patterns. For example, words like map, tap, fog, fan. 

The whole word approach teaches students high frequency words and irregularly spelled words that do not follow a predictable pattern. Examples- ‘answer’ ‘the’ and ‘people’.

The morphographic approach teaches students that all words are made of one or more morphograph or word parts. They also learn rules that apply when combining morphographs to form words. Examples- ‘Re’ as a morphograph has meaning. It means again (repack, return, rerun), ‘-est’ means the most (lightest, happiest, friendliest). 

Your child will learn to spell using all the above methods through lessons delivered in class. We have pre-tested students to ensure they are placed in the correct groups for targeted teaching.  Please do not be concerned if word lists aren’t being sent home on a regular basis, as the focus of Spelling Mastery is for students to understand how to spell rather than spell ‘by heart’. 

We also recognise the need for practicing the skills learned in class, so when there are word lists sent home it would be mainly when added practice is required. 

Please contact virginia.smith@catholic.tas.edu.au if you have any concerns about this.

Pick up and Drop off

Staff car park

This is a no-standing zone, and traffic is to remain in a  continuous flow within this area. If your child is not yet ready for collection, please continue to drive around to avoid banked-up traffic. Families need to refrain from lining up along Jackson street as this is a safety hazard.  The car park is not a walk way. Please use the sidewalk to access the school and not walk through the carpark. 

Church car park

Please ensure all cars are parked and most importantly, families are using the yellow crossing lines, particularly during peak pick-up times.

Help us keep our children safe.

Uniform

Please see below information about uniform requirements. It is an expectation that all students are wearing the correct uniform. 

Formal Summer Uniform - Year 3-6

Swimmimg

Grade Three – Six swimming programs will be held at the Burnie Aquatic Centre from Monday, 12th February, to Friday, 23rd February 2024.

Students will travel by bus to and from the pool in their class groups. Please ensure that children have a substantial packed lunch on these days as no access to the pool canteen will be granted.
 
As swimming is a part of the HPE curriculum, all children must participate. Please ensure you have completed your child's permission form on Compass to enable them to participate.
 
Parents are welcome to attend their child’s lesson; due to strict guidelines, there will be no parent access to the change rooms.
 
Please see below the timetable for swimming groups:
 10am-10.45am            Grade 3
10.50am-11.30am        Grade 4
11.40 am-12.25 pm      Grade 5
12.30 pm-1.15 pm         Grade6
 
Students will need to bring the following:
· Bathers
· Towel
· Spare underwear
· Plastic/waterproof bag to put wet bathers in
· Goggles (if they wish)
· Swimming cap-Available via QKR or the School Office $3.00
 
This year, we will not be holding a swimming carnival due to limited available dates. In its place, the Burnie Aquatic Centre swimming instructors and Mrs. Hannah Chatwin will conduct time trials with students on Friday, 23^rd February, assisting us in selecting our 2024 NW swimming teams.
 
The NW Swimming Carnival will be held at the Burnie Aquatic Centre on Tuesday, 12^th March. Students who make the NW team will be notified on Tuesday, 27^th February, with more information to follow.

Uniform ordering

We want to thank you for your cooperation with our changeover to ordering Uniforms from Midford.

 Please be aware:

ALL uniform orders will be delivered free of charge to the school office on Thursday afternoons.  They will be allocated either Thursday afternoon or Friday, time permitting.

You can choose to have your uniform sent to your home for a delivery fee, or if you wish to pick it up from the Marist uniform shop. You must specify that in the notes section, otherwise all uniforms will be sent to St Brigid's office.

Please try to only complete one order per week for your family.  It is confusing for the Midford staff having multiple orders for the same family.

This system is new to us and also new to Midford.  With anything new, there will always be teething problems that arise which are beyond anyone's control.  

We appreciate your kindness and patience with Midford.

Communication

COMPASS 

Please ensure that you are accessing Compass on a regular basis. On  Compass, you will have access to your child’s attendance data, school reports, the ability to contact class teachers, book parent-teacher meetings, report your child’s absence and receive all essential communication such as School Newsletters and important information.

See-Saw 

The See-saw app is used as a platform where students and parents are provided with ongoing ‘Feed-up - Feedback and Feed-forward’ in relation to student learning within the classroom. It is important to ensure you have access to this app. Please see Administration if you are having any difficulty accessing.

Staff Email

All staff are contactable via email. Email addresses are shared with families at the beginning of the year.  If you have trouble accessing it, please call our administration staff for email addresses. Our school’s leadership and administration team are very mindful of the email traffic that our staff receive. Please do not expect an immediate reply, particularly after hours. Staff will not be responding to emails after 5.30 PM. 

QKR

We have been alerted to an issue with the Qkr! app not downloading onto new Android phones. If you already have the Qkr! App or use an Apple phone; this does not apply to you. New Android phone users who try to download the Qkr! App may get a message that the app cannot be downloaded. Qkr! is aware of this issue and is working on resolving the problem as a top priority. In the meantime, they suggest that new users go to the QKR! Website at QKR! and use the website for purchases. They suggest using a laptop or desktop computer, as the experience is not always easy on a phone or tablet.

Child Safety

Catholic Education Tasmania have updated several Child Safety policies. These policies along with other CET policies can be accessed at https://catholic.tas.edu.au/policies

Complaints Procedure

Catholic Education Tasmania (CET) acknowledges that all students, families, staff, volunteers and members of the broader community have the right to raise a complaint (including matters of concern or a grievance) with CET. Please see the flowcharts below that outline the complaints procedure. The full complaints policy and procedures can be accessed at https://catholic.tas.edu.au/policies

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