May 9 2024

Principal's Reflection

Dear Families,

On Sunday we recognise Mothers Day. Celebrating Mums and female role models in our lives is  something that we should do daily. Practising gratitude especially to and for our Mums is something we can all work harder at. Saying 'thank you for taking me to piano lessons' or 'thanks for cooking tea' or 'I really appreciate you doing that for me' is often missed and our Mums can be the ones we take for granted the most. Our collective challenge is to always be thankful for our Mums and to show them this in both our words and actions. At SBW we are extremely fortunate to have outstanding female role models for all of our students and on behalf of the school community I wish all Mum's a great Mothers Day on Sunday. 

Last week we had our first 'Run Club' session. It was fantastic to see our students participating and not only having a go, but enjoying themselves at the same time. Current research is indicating that Australian children are not meeting current exercise time recommendations. Physical exercise and activity has numerous benefits including improved social, emotional and physical health. We are incredibly fortunate on the North West Coast of Tasmania as we have an abundant amount of sporting clubs, opportunities, bike tracks, etc. There are also numerous social running clubs such as parkrun where participants can walk, run, jog a 5km course on a Saturday morning. I encourage all families to discuss with their children the different physical activity opportunities that we have in our community. Thank you to Mrs Chatwin for organising and facilitating Run Club and giving our students an out of school time opportunity.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Nic Saltmarsh

Principal

Religious Education

Why is May the Month of Mary?

The ways Mary is honored in May is as varied. For centuries, the Catholic Church has set aside the entire month of Mary to honour Mary, Mother of God. It’s common for parishes to have a daily recitation of the Rosary during May, and many erect a special May altar, and crown a statue of Mary – a custom known as May Crowning. Often, the crown is made of beautiful blossoms representing Mary’s beauty and virtue. It’s also a reminder to the faithful to strive to imitate our Blessed Mother’s virtue in our own lives. 

I encourage you to pray to Mary during May, and perhaps create a little spot in your home where you can have some flowers as a tribute to Mary. Do this with Mary in your thoughts as a Mother – your mother, my mother, everyone’s mother – and because she cares for all of us day-in-and-day-out without fail, interceding for us in even the tiniest matters.

For that, she deserves an entire month in her honour.

Please see the loving prayers Grade 4 created in honour of Mary, Mother of God.

Pope Francis’ Prayer Intention for May

"For the formation of religious and seminarians. We pray that religious women and men, and seminarians, grow in their own vocations through their human, pastoral, spiritual and community formation, leading them to be credible witnesses to the Gospel .

Go gently, good people".

Andrea Jaffray Morf
Deputy Principal

Grade 4 Prayers to Mary

Teaching and Learning

Last term our teaching staff had a strong focus on daily reviews. A daily review is a teaching strategy that involves regularly revisiting previously taught material to reinforce learning and improve retention of concepts. It is a structured process where students review key concepts, skills, or content that they have covered in class. It is an effective way to counter the forgetting curve, which demonstrates that memories tend to fade without regular reinforcement. A daily review typically goes for 10-15 mins. 

As part of this our teaching staff recorded their practice and also had both a peer and a member of our leadership team observe their practice. Staff then reflected on the celebrations from their practice and also identified 1/2 'things' to work on moving forward. Thank you to Ms Baade who has kindly volunteered to share a small snippet of her practice, that will be in our next newsletter.

Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander

National Reconciliation Week falls between 27th May and 3rd June 2024. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build respectful relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures.

St Brigid's staff strive to integrate Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander perspectives in every day teaching and learning. As a special event, our Grade Four students will attend a long day excursion to Circular Head hosted by Camilla Woolley from the Circular Head Aboriginal Corporation. This is a day on country filled with authentic cultural experiences. Some other ways we try to strengthen knowledge in our students is to:

Teach children about the history of Australia and why we celebrate National Reconciliation Week.
Listen to music that was made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Celebrate art made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Access The Orb - an Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander resource for teachers and students.

SetUp for Success

CET Subject Matter expert, Natasha Williams, recently visited our school to see our SetUp for Success Program in action. Natasha is moving around the state to connect with early years teachers and introduce herself leading up to the Kindergarten/SetUp for Success, North-West Network Meeting on the 20th May 2024.  Natasha's feedback about the session was positive and she acknowledged our highly engaged parents and their participation. Promoting our program on Facebook extends our capture of families and we continue to have up to 30 families a week attending our sessions.  New families are always welcome, every Thursday in the Kindergarten classroom 9-10:30am.

Virginia Smith
Early Years Coordinator  /  SetUp for Success Literacy LeaderAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Key Teacher

Kinder Enrolments 2025

We have our Kinder Orientation night on Thursday, June 13th. Please see the attached flyer for information and scan the QR code to register for the evening. Kinder Enrolments for 2025 will close on June 30th, when you will be contacted for an interview.  Please ensure your forms are submitted ASAP.

Digital Technologies Term 2

Term Two begins our Grade One - Grade Six learning focus on Digital Technologies, specifically ‘Learn to Code’. Learning to code is like learning a language for computers. When coding, students are given instructions for a device to follow. All classes will start with simple block-based languages, where students drag and drop blocks to create a sequence of instructions, debug errors, and add conditions and variables. This computational thinking-based subject requires students to think logically, apply their knowledge of procedures, and problem-solve to find solutions.

Georgia Loone

Grade One Class Teacher / Digital Futures Co-ordinator (Thursday)

‘ThinkUKnow’

On Wednesday, 22nd May, TasPolice will visit St Brigid’s to deliver the " ThinkUKnow " presentation for Grades K-6. The sessions are Australian curriculum-aligned and age-appropriate for the students’ understanding. Some of the anticipated concepts covered will be:

• Protecting personal information
• Keeping yourself safe online
• What to do if you see anything inappropriate

Unfortunately, due to the limited number of responses, we are unable to facilitate a parent session this year.

Georgia Loone

Grade One Class Teacher / Digital Futures Co-ordinator (Thursday)

Capital Works

We are currently awaiting the finalisation of plans for the playground project as well as the delivery of equipment. Once this is finalised we will then share plans with the community. Once installed, the new play equipment will give students different play opportunities of a recess and lunch time that will have positive social and physical benefits. 

Mothers Day Plant Stall & Raffle

Friday the 10th of May-Cash only, don't forget your $$$

Raffle prizes up for grabs!

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CET Reporting Policy

Please see below for the current Catholic Education Tasmania Reporting Policy.

Marist Transition Visit

Please see the attached Itinerary for the Marist Transition Visit Scheduled for Wednesday, May 15th. This is a fantastic opportunity for our grade six students to gain some insight into what they might experience in 2025. Students are permitted to wear their sports uniforms to this Event. Please look out on Compass for the Event's permission.  

Upcoming Events

Community Events