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SBC Yr 12 Students are the FIRST to Visit the Fanny Bulbuk Yooreel Statue
On Monday 25th July, the Aboriginal and Intercultural Year 12 class become the FIRST official student group to visit the Fanny Bulbuk Yooreel Statue! Mrs Cathy Santarelli’s class undertook a walk of the City that looked at past, present and future perspectives, focussing specifically on the Wadjuk people of the Noongar Nation. And of course, we could not walk the city without seeing the statue commemorating Fanny Bulbuk Yooreel! We…
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From the Principal
From the Principal
Our dam is full and the creeks around our picturesque campus are flowing.  We are in the Noongar season of Makuru, which is both the coldest and wettest time of the year. There has been an abundance of Mercy hospitality generously served up during my first two weeks at St Brigid’s.  The community has created spaces of peace and welcome for me as I have been inducted into this wonderful College family.   I am very excited to be here and look forward to listening and learning from staff, parents and students. NAIDOC Week We began the term with the celebration of NAIDOC Week.  The theme of NAIDOC this year was “Stand Up, Get Up, Show Up”.  This theme is a great reminder to all of us of the importance of generously sharing our God given gifts and talents.  We are powerful beyond measure and playing small, serves nobody.  NAIDOC Week is nationally celebrated during the school holidays in Western Australia, so the first week of term is the opportune time to honour our first nations people in promoting justice and reconciliation. The College gathered for a smoking ceremony facilitated by Grace Comeagain, followed by a Welcome to Country by local elder, James Kearing, and then a performance by local dancers, Binar, on Tuesday, 19th July.  The students of St Brigid’s spent the full week engaged in a range of activities developed by our Waalitj Foundation, Deadly Sista Girlz.  There was an abundance of joy around the campus as students had an opportunity to appreciate the traditional and contemporary culture of our Aboriginal brothers and sisters.  Friday morning tea was a banquet of traditional Australian cuisine enjoyed by both staff and students.   Last Tuesday evening, I joined our boarding students with Ms Hepi for dinner.  It was great to see our young women settling back into their “home away from home”.  I was very impressed with the neat and tidy rooms and gave the catering team an excellent rating. I look forward to joining our boarders one night every week as I get to know them and the staff of the boarding houses. Congratulations to our Year 3 – 6 Interschool Cross Country students on participating in the Carnival last Tuesday at McGillivray Oval.  Some of the students enthusiastically came to my office at the end of the day to share their achievements with me. I commend all students who participated in the training leading up to this Carnival, and thank parents and staff of St Brigid’s for their ongoing support. Last night, our Year 11 students joined with the Year 11s from Mazenod College in a Quiz Night in our College Staffroom.  The College was filled with joy as the students engaged in combined teams, answering a broad range of trivia. I commend our Year 10 Drama students who performed 4 short acts for friends and family on Thursday evening. This performance, like many others, has been long awaited due to its postponement during Semester One.  Thank you to all students who assisted in the technical components of this live performance.  It was highly entertaining. Thank you to the staff of St Brigid’s for their ongoing dedication and commitment to our students. Please do not hesitate to give me a call or send me an email if you require support.  I look forward to working with you.   Veronica Parker Principal
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From the Deputy Prinicpal
From the Deputy Principal
It was a fantastic end to the first semester at the College, with our Parent Teacher Interviews and the release of the College reports.  Teachers appreciated the time to meet with families to celebrate progress across the semester, set goals, and discuss strategies to continue academic growth.  A reminder to families that student results in assessments across Pre-primary to Year 12 are accessible via SEQTA Engage and are released regularly to families.  Please do reach out to teachers should there ever be questions regarding student progress throughout the semester. This term, our focus slightly shifts to 2023 … it is hard to believe we are at this stage already.  Our Year 10s have completed their individual subject selection interviews for Year 11 and we are impressed by their drive to achieve their goals in the coming years.  Thank you to all families and friends who joined us at these meetings, your presence and support was greatly appreciated.  I have met with the Year 11s to discuss options moving into Year 12 and our continuation of the Flexitrack High partnership with Murdoch University.  We will begin focussing on selections of electives for students in Years 7 – 10 across the remainder of the term.  It is an exciting time ahead. BRLA Our students in Years 3,5 and 9 will be sitting the Bishops’ Religious Literacy Assessment (BRLA)across the coming weeks.  The BRLA is a large-scale, standardised assessment that consists of Religious Education tests developed and marked by the Office of Catholic Education Western Australia. The purpose of the BRLA is to measure student learning of the content in the RE curriculum. Formal school and student reports are produced by the Office and will become available to schools in Term Four.  The BRLA provides a ‘point in time’ snapshot of student performance in RE. Students’ knowledge and understanding of the content of the RE curriculum is assessed using a combination of multiple choice, short and extended response items. Students’ faith is not assessed. We wish all of our students well. Library In the Library we are excited to be planning for our annual Book Week activities; daily homeroom/class quizzes, library display – items from the Academy of Taxidermy, design your own glasses at lunchtime, a scavenger hunt and the adopt a book returns.  Plus this year we will also have a staff readathon, a photobooth based in the library (24th August), award winning author Amanda Betts working with our Year 11 students (25th August), the much anticipated Book Week Assembly and Dress Up and Parade (26th August) and finally Perform Education presenting to students in Years 3 – 6 (29th August).  The theme this year is ‘Dreaming with eyes open’ and we are definitely hoping to open every one’s eyes to the magic of our library! Finally, we have launched our dance program for our littlest dancers ‘Sparks’, catering for students in Years 1 – 2.  The program is led each week by secondary students exploring a variety of genres, from jazz to lyrical to hip hop plus technique work.  The enthusiasm of these dancers is second to none and they are setting the dance floor on fire.  We can’t wait to watch these dancers continue to grow and share their talents with our group. Kind Regards, Mrs Janine Walsh Deputy Principal
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Ministry
Ministry News
Praise & Worship Celebration On Thursday, 21 July, Tayla (Yr 12) and Carys (Yr 6) represented SBC at the opening celebration for the Catholic Performing Arts Festival. The celebration, held at St Mary’s Cathedral, was led by the Very Rev Father Vincent Glynn – Episcopal Vicar for Education and Faith Formation. We prayed for all our students involved in the Catholic Performing Arts Festival this term – may they enjoy sharing their God given gifts and talents with each other. Sacrament of Reconciliation Our Year 3 students are currently preparing to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation for the first time during this term. Parents and students have had the opportunity to attend workshops run by 24/7 Youth Ministry. Sleepout for Mercy Works Next Thursday, 4 August students will have the opportunity to experience the realities and complex issues of homelessness on a personal level by ‘sleeping rough’ for a night. This experience will be conducted in conjunction with Mazenod College staff and students at Mazenod College. Sponsorship money raised from the evening will support Mercy Works. The focus for Fundraising – Term 3 Our fundraising for Term 3 will support the work of Mercy Works. Mercy Works is the development arm of the Australian and Papua New Guinean Sisters of Mercy. Their mission is inspired by Catherine McAuley’s vision of change for the poor and disadvantaged. Mercy Works are financed by donations from the four Australian congregations of the Sisters of Mercy, charitable trusts & foundations, various organisations & groups and individuals.   Thank you. Mr Adrian Martino Head of Faith and Mission
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Junior School
Primary News
Term three began with many exciting events. The first week, we celebrated NAIDOC week together with our secondary peers.  The following week, we had Edu-Dance taking place from kindergarten to year 6. This was an excellent avenue for students to learn rhythm, movement, listening to instruction and also dancing is a way to provide a healthy body and mind for students. Our year 1s and 2s started their additional hip-hop dance lessons. According to the report, I heard they were just unbelievable. Creativity in abundance that year 6 learned to make quirky birds from various materials. Inter-school Cross Country In the athletic arena, our amazing boys and girls represented St Brigid’s College in the interschool cross-country. The students trained in the morning as early as 7:00 a.m. These students demonstrated devotion and perseverance in improving their skills. On their return from the competition, we were greeted by students with a complete exhibit of their ribbons and medals. The athletes were excited to recollect what was described as a memorable day.   Pre-Kindy and Pre-Primary Learning and more learning in the primary area.  Pre-kindy students loved playing doctors and nurses at the hospital. The preprimary had a hairdressing salon for those who wanted to get their hair done.  There were lots of collaboration and conversation amongst the little cherubs and with the teachers moderating and mediating to further scaffold their learning. It was marvellous to look at our primary students’ mathematical thinking as they work on the concrete representation to pictorial and then abstract representation in mathematics. Students created a number line in the classroom. This allowed them to understand the sequence of numbers and also used them as a basis to further understand addition and subtraction, and then to measurements. Some dingoes, koalas and snakes visited kindy and pre-primary. The little leagues took the time to discover these unique Australian creatures. It was lovely to watch pre-kindy write their names. They displayed fine motor ability and skillfully formed the letters of their names. Besides all these learning and fun activities, some of our students have been working hard preparing for the Catholic Performing Arts Festival and the DaVinci Decathlon competition. St Brigid’s College is always buzzing with activities and at the same time prayers and being Christ-centred is part of our daily practice.  The Year 3s had their reconciliation reflection day as they prepare for their first Sacrament.  This Sacrament allows Jesus to show His love for His children.   A Prayer for our Reconciliation Candidates: Loving God help us to teach our children that you love us totally and unconditionally. Help us to encourage our children to grow in love and to learn how to say sorry, knowing that you always forgive. Give us the courage to pray with our children and to share our faith with them as we journey together. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen It has been a wonderful and significant start to the term, and I am excited about the forthcoming events that will be taking place. God Bless Anne Tan Head of Primary      
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Secondary School
Secondary News
We have started Term Tree off with a bang by celebrating NAIDOC. We started the celebrations with a smoking ceremony performed by Ms Grace Comeagain, the Welcome to Country was performed by Mr James Kearing where he explained to the students about Wadjuk Noogna country. We were blessed to have the Binar Dancers come and do some dancers for the students and getting some of the students to join them on stage for one of the dances. SchoolTV This week on SchoolTv we are looking at Understanding Adolescence “Parenting adolescents can be demanding, terrifying, exhausting and a sanity threatening endeavour. Often it can be a lonely business with many parents being afraid to share their concerns.” Dr Michael Carr-Gregg Overview of this edition Adolescence is a significant developmental stage marking the transition from childhood to adulthood. It is characterised by an emerging sense of self-identity, exploration of personal interests, beliefs, values and goals, increased independence and autonomy beyond the family, growing responsibility, increased engagement in risk behaviours, emerging sexuality, amplified significance of peers, intensification of gender stereotypes, and shifting relationships with parents and caregivers. Adolescents seek increased independence and autonomy, which requires ongoing negotiation and compromise within the parent-child relationship. To read more and hear what some professionals are saying click HERE. It was great to see our young ladies in year eleven and the young gentlemen from Mazenod join teams for the Year Eleven Quiz Night held at in the Staffroom at the College. Competition between the tables was energetic and the Bamboozled Quizmaster did a fantastic job controlling the crowd. Year 10 Drama The Year 10 Drama ladies invited their parents and staff to watch what they have been learning in their Drama class. It was a wonderful evening seeing the girls perform and make the audience members laugh. The girls showed a lot of talent and some of them I am sure will go further than the SBC PA room. A friendly reminder is required about the winter uniform and jewellery. The winter uniform for year 7 -11 young ladies is the tartan skirt closer to the middle of their knees than their thighs. The lemon blouse with the college tie. Blouse top button done up and the tie tied correctly hiding the top button. The college green jumper and the blazer. Sometimes it can be rather cold at school so we encourage the young ladies to wear a skivvy under their lemon blouse. They have a choice of either wearing the green socks or black stockings. However, when your daughter is representing the College and on photo days (August 15 & 16) she needs to wear the stockings. The Year 12s wear everything the same except their blouse is white. The young ladies are allowed to wear two matching plain earrings in their ear lobes and no other piercings while at school. We do ask for your support with this matter as more and more students are trying to break the rules and they are receiving lunchtime detentions. If they receive three lunchtime detention they then need to complete an after-school detention and they lose their Good Standing. All of this is located in your daughter’s College Organiser.   Thank you. Mrs Fiona Hepi Head of Secondary
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Boarding
Boarding News
Welcome back for Semester 2! We hope you all had a lovely time with your girls at home. It was great to see them as they returned to Boarding, catching up with their boarding friends and talking about all the things they did while they were home.  We welcomed a new member to Catherine House, Oscar the fish.   This semester sees three news Roles in Boarding. Mrs Judith Cumpsty has been in the role of Acting Head of Boarding throughout Semester 1. She has ensured that our students have had a smooth transition and has provided excellent care for your daughters. She has now decided to relinquish this role and take up other duties at the College. We thank Mrs Cumpsty for her dedication to the role and for all she has done in Boarding this year. For the rest of this year, Ms Fiona Hepi will be the Director of Boarding, and we congratulate Mrs Lynn-Maree-Maree Byrne and Ms Donna Gill on their new roles as the Co-Assistants to the Director of Boarding. They are both highly experienced and knowledgeable and will provide a continuity of the high standard of care we deliver in our Boarding House. This means that Mrs Byrne and Ms Gill will assume the responsibilities of the day-to-day running of the Boarding House, as they did during Mrs Cumpsty’s absence in Term 2. Donna and Lynn-Maree-Maree will continue to be the house mother in their current houses and fill their current role as Co-Assistants to the Director of Boarding. If you would like to speak to Donna or Lynn-Maree-Maree please call 0457 518 349. The Co-Assistants will ensure that your daughter/s’s needs are met, and Fiona, Donna and Lynn-Maree-Maree will monitor the new email address of DirectorofBoarding@stbrigids.wa.edu.au. About our Boarding Mothers Donna Gill started at SBC in 2011 as the SBC “A” Grade hockey coach, where she would pick the Boarders up for training each week and went on to win the Grand Final! The Head of Boarding approached Donna at the time about working as a House Mum. She had just completed her studies and successfully become a Professional Counsellor—what better way to use these skills than working with teenage girls in a Boarding environment. Donna started her journey as a Casual Housemother as she still had children at school. Donna’s eldest daughter did two years as a Boarder at SBC, and her son did one year at Mazenod college before they moved to Perth. Donna then became Full time and was appointed Team Leader in 2014. Due to her children attending Boarding, Donna can relate to all the challenges of having a child in Boarding, away from the family home, that may arise. Lynn-Maree-Maree Byrne started as a House Mother at St Brigid’s Boarding in 2008. She has been a Team Leader since 2014 and is delighted and excited to be able to take on this added responsibility in the care of our Boarders. Lynn-Maree has worked in all our boarding houses and with all-year groups. She has been in Mercy House for the past three years. Lynn-Maree loves to do craft activities with the girls and take them on adventures. As she was born and lived in the country till 1992, she has spent the last 30 years in the city but counts herself as a “country girl, who just happens to live in the city”. Her favourite thing about being a House Mother is seeing the girls arrive as young girls and blossom into lovely, mature, respectful and well-educated young ladies. Lynn-Maree loves to see the “old girls” come back for reunions and provide tours of Boarding. They are always excited to see the changes made over the years. Donna and Lynn-Maree are “Country Girls” born and bred in small country towns. They look forward to their new role and will endeavour to keep your girls happy and healthy and provide your daughter with an enjoyable Boarding experience at SBC. We would also like to introduce you to our newest house mother, Sarskia Hawkins who started last term, not long after making the big move from QLD to WA. She grew up on the Gold Coast and has absolutely loved the change of scenery here in Perth. Sarskia started her journey working with young people in 2018 as a Cabin Leader at an American summer camp in Minnesota! Were she had so much fun throughout her time there (although not much sleep) and it solidified that she wanted to continue working with young people. After coming back and settling into normal life again she worked as an Educator at Robina State Primary and while there she decided to start studying a Bachelor of Community Welfare at Southern Cross University and is about half way through the course. Each of these experiences have led her here to boarding and she feels so privileged to be a part of the girls lives and to be able help them. She has loved her short time here at boarding and is looking forward to the rest of the year.   A recent trip to the Kalamunda Vinnies Op Shop and Aldi was lots of fun. The girls were so excited to be able to purchase some clothing and give them another life. The winter jackets were trendy.   Upcoming House Mothers Recreation for August are: Each weekend we try to offer something specifically for each year group. Manicures and Pedicures, Makeup/Music & Meditation, Games night, Father’s Day & Male cards, making scones, Bingo Night, walk to Lesmurdie Falls, bookmarks, and Friendship bracelets. This will be offered along with other Recreation outside of Boarding. We have recently provided all the boarding houses with Netflix on the house television. We hope this will bring the girls together to watch shows in the common areas. It will also lessen the data downloads that the girls use on their laptops. Boarders Long Weekend Boarders Long Weekend is fast approaching, though it seems we have just returned from the end of the semester holidays. Boarding will be closed from 5 pm on Thursday 18th August at the end of Week 5. The deadline for getting leave-in is Monday 8th August. This allows staff to collate all the leave and arrange for transport to East Perth Train Station and the Airports. We would appreciate it if you put your leave form in on REACH as soon as possible, even if you pick your daughter/s up and do not require boarding transport. REACH leave – If you are putting in leave for your daughter/s, please pop in as much information as possible. If going on City/Midland/Carousel leave with another girl/s, we require the name of the girl that will be going with your daughter/s. That way, we can match up the two or more leave forms and approve them much quicker. Just a reminder that leave forms should be no later than 9 am on Thursday mornings. Thank you in advance for your consideration of this.   Kind regards Fiona, Donna and Lynn-Maree
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