News

As we farewell our final students as they head into their much deserved Christmas break, our staff are working fervently to finalized the Semester Two College Reports.  Reports will be available via SEQTA Engage by the 8th of December.  Should you have any difficulties with accessing SEQTA please contact our College Helpdesk on helpdesk@stbrigids.wa.edu.au.  We are already seeing some outstanding results showing and most importantly improvement from the first semester.  We are looking forward to continued progress by all our students and for them to achieve their personal goals. Booklists have been published to the College website https://sbcl.wa.edu.au/enrolments/booklists/.  As advised we have changed supplier for 2023 and are looking forward to working with Campion Education.  The access code is located on the front page of each booklist.  Your home delivery order will be dispatched no later than the week ending 20th January 2023 but where possible will be dispatched earlier, if placed on or before the cut-off date of Friday, 9th December 2022.  The delivery service is free for orders placed by the 9th December 2022. After this date a delivery charge of up to $17.50 will be charged.  A ‘While You Wait’ collection service is available (Malaga or Canning Vale) but please note long delays can be experienced in the two weeks prior to the commencement of the school year and availability of all stock lines cannot be guaranteed at this time. All back ordered items will be posted and a delivery fee will apply.  Refunds will be given on textbooks/workbooks in new condition up to end of February 2023 or 2 weeks after the purchase date (whichever is later). Digital products and Stationery items cannot be refunded.  Campion will gladly refund or exchange any goods deemed faulty. At this time of the year, our Year 12 2023 (current Year 11s) students may be considering changes to subjects based on their progress in Year 11.  Staff are available up until the 8th December for assistance and return to the College on the 30th January 2023. Students in Years 7 – 12 2023 have been advised of the subjects which they are studying next year, and final timetables via SEQTA are available at the commencement of the school year.   At this time of the year we also sadly farewell some of our students and families, we especially would like to acknowledge our Year 6 boys as they graduate from St Brigid’s and head to Year 7 primarily at Mazenod.  We wish our young men all the best and we look forward to hearing of your ventures (and when you return in 2023 for the Technology experience).  A reminder to these families that there is a need to download no later than the 16th December 2022, their son or daughter’s College Reports and other documents (e.g. NAPLAN or OLNA results), as after this time they will no longer accessible via SEQTA Engage. For College Reports issued in 2021 – 2022, these are located under the ‘Reports’ tab in SEQTA Engage.  You will find all other College Reports (i.e. those issued 2020 and earlier) and school documents in the ‘Documents’ tab in SEQTA Engage.  You will need to select your child’s name from the right-hand side and using the drop down, select ‘All’ as your Document date range. If you are using a mobile device you will need to turn the screen landscape to view student names.  I would recommend all families each year to download documents for safekeeping at home.   There has been must activity over the past weeks and I would like to acknowledge the Technologies teams from both St Brigid’s and Mazenod College for again providing an exceptional experience for the Year 7s at both schools.  We appreciate the work of the staff of both schools! Our girls were fortunate to head to the woodworking room at Mazenod and created stunning cheese boards whilst the boys from Mazenod created a culinary delight of spaghetti Bolognese.  We also have been excited to be working with Mazenod in the area of Outdoor Recreation with our Year 10 students, using the expertise of the combined staff.  This was a fabulous initiative this year. We are looking forward to offering further opportunities in 2023. [easy-image-collage id=20090] A wonderful year is drawing to a close and we know that our students (and staff) are looking forward to a well earned break.   Wishing our families a blessed Christmas and we look forward to seeing everyone in the new year.

We have definitely ‘hit the ground running’ this term. Commencing with celebrating our wonderful Year 12 student’s final achievements as St Brigid’s graduands.  We are so proud of the level of certification attained by our students, which included Certificate III and Certificate IV qualifications, students successfully completed Flexitrack High through Murdoch University and are on track for their university placement and excellent Year 12 subject results in both ATAR and General Pathways.  We wish all of our students the best in the future endeavours. Our ATAR Examinations will commence in the coming week, please keep these students in your thoughts and know you have ‘got this’. Planning is continuing for 2023 and what an exciting year it is looking like.  We have had the pleasure of enrolling our 2023 Murdoch Flexitrack High students into their course and are excitedly waiting to start this journey with our second cohort.  If there are any current Year 11s who are still considering this option please touch base with myself for more information. A group of Year Nines have sat their OLNA, due to the change of the timing of this literacy assessment (it would normally be held in March next year); as they strive to meet their literacy and numeracy benchmarks for WACE attainment in Year Twelve 2025.  If parents (or students) have any questions please do not hesitate to contact your daughter’s Mathematics or English teacher for further assistance in the coming weeks. The Library continues to be buzzing along this term.  As we move towards Grandparent’s Day a reminder that our annual Scholastic Book Fair will be held during the week commencing the 7th November; there is nothing better than a new book!  The fair will be open from 8 – 8.30 am, lunchtime and 3.30 – 4 pm to students and before and after school for families to visit plus of course during Grandparent’s Day.   We wish all of our students all the best for the coming term.   Janine Walsh

Where has the term gone – it is so incredibly exciting continuing to watch our College come to life each day with the breadth of opportunities available for all of our students. Year 12 students have been working diligently towards finalizing their course requirements as they have moved into the final weeks of the marathon of their learning programme.  From final rounds of OLNA, through to the completion of a variety of Certificate IIIs and IVs through to final assessments in preparation for upcoming exams; our girls have not missed a beat.  Our Year 12 ATAR students are also preparing to commence their final St Brigid’s examinations commencing in the second week of the holidays or in the case of our practical subjects, their Practical WACE Examinations – we wish you all well in this final stage, and know that your hard work and preparation will place you in good stead for what is ahead. It has been pleasing to see how students have been enabling their class learning to come alive in a variety of arenas, most recently being our Year 10 Drama students and their one-act production of Grimm Brother’s fairytales, which showcased their maturity in producing this piece for our community and dedication to transfer what has been learnt in the classroom, onto the stage.  Our Year 11 Outdoor Recreation students also are preparing to put into practice early next term their skills (from using trangias, to putting up tents to canoeing in the College pool) learnt through their Certificate II in Outdoor Recreation when they attend their Dwellingup Camp. We have loved our Year 7 and 8 students visiting the Library as they continue to develop their literacy skills through the Lexile reading programme in English. Nothing beats curling up with a good book; we have many to share with them thanks to the Parent Forum this year. Environmental awareness is also at the forefront of this term, with our ‘Earthlings’ leading the charge, we are so proud of their advocacy for this issue.  This term they have collected materials for the animals at the Perth Zoo, Ran the House Bottle Cap Art Competition and they have saved ‘dead pens’ from landfill.  It is inspiring that our students are ambassadors for our planet.  Enjoy the much-deserved term break!

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

Term Two has begun with the juggling of a raft of testing across the College, with NAPLAN in Years 3, 5, 7 and  9 and the Externally Set Task for the Year 12 General students. I would like to extend my appreciation to both staff and students for their flexibility and resilience during these weeks, as they have been working around the challenges of Covid isolation periods, catch up sessions plus maintaining their regular classes. For our NAPLAN students each year I remind them that this is only a snapshot of their abilities and talents in a small number of areas, these do not measure the creative, sporting, spiritual and relational gifts that you possess.  We see the incredible amount of work that goes into each lesson you attend and the tasks completed in the classroom throughout the years, we value the progress that your teachers and parents see each day. We will use the results in our planning and tracking of overall progress across time, to affirm the quality of teaching and learning we see each day. To our General students, we are looking forward to seeing your results, as we know you have been working hard this past term and a half, to continue to demonstrate your potential. Our Year 10 – 12 students are all moving towards our examination week (and our School of Distance Education students the week prior).  Teachers are available to assist students not only during class but have availed themselves to be able to assist at various times during the day, please do encourage your student(s) to take advantage of the times offered.  Some simple hints for the weeks ahead Start revision early Prepare your revision notes ahead of time Develop a study schedule to be balanced Find a ‘study buddy’ someone that will keep you motivated and focussed Find a good place to study without distractions Maintain time for yourself during the examination period – this includes eating a healthy diet and getting plenty of sleep Ask your teachers questions well before the exam Use a variety of study techniques Minimise mobile phone and social media time – it’s a great time to have a break from such distractions Learn from your success this past semester and the challenges you are faced with I also wish our certification students and Flexitrack High students all the best, as they are involved in some intensive study days during these weeks. The planning for the upcoming Subject Selection process for Year 11 2023 is well underway and in the coming weeks Year, 10 teachers will be speaking with students re: offerings and entry requirements.  As noted in the College Calendar our evening is scheduled for the 29th of June (Wednesday) and will be via TEAMs again this year.  We decided to continue this format due to the importance of the content and the unfortunate possibility that we will have families unable to attend face to face in a few weeks’ time. Our feedback from the past years has been very positive and the format well received. I would also like to extend my huge thank you to our Parent Forum for their generous donation to the Lexile Reading programme at the College, across 2021/2022 over 500 books have been able to be purchased for students in both the Primary and Secondary to access.  It has been amazing to keep building our collection! Remember ‘Learn continually – there’s always ‘one more thing’ to learn’’ (Steve Jobs)   Janine Walsh Deputy Principal

It has been an incredible first term at the College, with a hive of activity occurring in the classrooms! A positive of the current restrictions have been that our teaching staff have been able to focus on giving our students the best start to the year possible.  They have focused on classroom innovations, implementing new programmes and upskilling our students using a variety of online platforms (a huge congratulations to our primary students who mastered this in record time!). I want to congratulate all of our students, from our littlest learners in the pre-kindergarten through to the Year 12s, who have again shown true resilience and are determined to get the most out of the first term.  So many milestones have been achieved; from writing names for the first time in the early years, to mastering TEAMs in the middle years of primary, hitting the kitchen in Year 5 to embracing to preparing for NAPLAN and OLNA in the Secondary and commencing a variety of certifications and WACE subjects in the senior years … no matter the year level we are so proud of what you have achieved. The Term One Report provides a snapshot of a student’s academic progress and application across this first term. It is in the process of being uploaded to SEQTA Engage for students in Pre-primary to Year 12. On Thursday, 7th April (9.00 am – 6.00 pm), interviews will be held for Kindergarten to Year Twelve families, allowing for families and their child(ren) to meet online with teachers (students must have a parent present).   In some cases, Boarding families may still be travelling on the scheduled date; Boarding families only will have an additional opportunity between 1.30 pm – 3.30 pm for a TEAMs meeting on the 8th April.   Whilst we would prefer to hold our interviews face to face, the Term One meetings will occur only via Microsoft TEAMs.  Where teachers have requested a meeting with parents and guardians, please consider these requests essential. We look forward to meeting with our families. We want to extend our gratitude to our Parent Forum for continuing to support our Lexile Reading programme, which is accessed by students up to Year Eight currently.  We have purchased over 500 books for the library, and we love our students joining us to extend their reading skills and, significantly, comprehension.  Our students from across the College enjoy the new resources as they arrive. As we move into Term Two, it is looking to prove to be again a busy term, with the following dates of note: NAPLAN in Years 3,5,7 and 9 [Commencing Week 3] Year 12 General Externally Set Task [Commencing Week 3] Year 11 and 12 Examinations [Commencing Week 6] Year 10 Examinations [Commencing Week 7] Year 11 2023 Subject Selection Evening [29th June] K – Year 12 Parent Teacher Interviews [30th June] Plus, Career Presentations at lunchtime will continue into the second term. We are looking forward to a full and energised Term 2. Have a safe and blessed Easter holiday.   Janine Walsh Deputy Principal