The third term is winding down. The school held their inter-house track and field carnival. As usual, house colours and smiles were displayed. There were opportunities for students to take part in activities ranging from Leader Ball to tug-a-war.
This term also overflowed with creativity as many students took part in the Catholic Performing Arts Festival. The College had the opportunity to participate in different sections such as the sacred chorale, choir, dance and also choral speaking. Individual students participated in the various instrumental sections of the festival. The College achieved the shields for the Sacred Chorale and Year 5s Choral Speaking. It was a delight to have the Year 5s performing their choral speaking piece at the finale of the festival.
The theme for this year’s Book Week was ‘Dreaming with Your Eyes Open’. The Book Week Parade was a blast. Year 2 began with their book Innovation “If I was the President”, and teachers, staff and students came dressed up inspired by characters in books. We had witches, the hungry caterpillar, three blind mice, Harry Porters and the list continued.
We had a special breakfast in celebration of Father’s Day. The fathers arrived early to enjoy the aromatic crispy bacons, eggs, sautéed hash browns and fluffy rolls.
We also had the amazing EduDance showcase where students showed the different repertoire of dances from Pre-primary emulating the Penguins to Year 6s hip hopping to the song ‘Jump’. Kindergarten students had their special timeslot for their parents to see their dance too. Students of all ages naturally moved to the beat and delightfully danced to catchy music.
The pre-kindergarten was fortunate to have visitors from our community, such as doctors, nurses and even firefighters. Students learned about the significant roles these special visitors play in the community.
The college uses Talk for Writing in the context of their teaching of writing. It was evident in the Year 1 Gold’s assembly, as they told the story of “Little Red Riding Hood”.
It was also fantastic to witness Year 3s researching, reading and doing an explanation text on how bees make honey, how lightning and thunder are formed and the eruption of the volcanoes.
Whilst we worked hard, we played hard. On the playground, we often see students using their creativity, such as dance and cheerleading choreography, or having a conversation with their friends. Students often mentioned how much they love coming to school and enjoy the college’s intimate community spirit.
Mercy Day is a significant day for us to revisit our Mercy Values. Students were acknowledged for displaying the values through special Mercy Awards. Christ is always centred in our everyday life and we celebrated the day with a Mass on the last Wednesday of the term. Primary school students sang the entrance hymn enthusiastically “Welcome to God’s House” with actions and dance. The colour run is a wonderful way to end the celebration and the term. Students enjoyed running through the green foliage of the college ground and receiving a burst of colours on them. Many were drenched in various colours and returned home seeping with joy and satisfaction.
It is great to have students who look smart in their uniforms and taking pride in wearing them. As we are proud to wear the uniform of St Brigid’s College, we also proudly show our values of mercy. Students are reminded on an ongoing basis that one of their values is RESPECT. Respect is a value in the way we treat each other and the consideration of common properties. Just as we go into the houses of others, we respect their ownership and belonging. Therefore, we expect the same respect when students enter the college grounds by cooperating and working together to make sure the grounds are clean and tidy. We faced a few vandalism and graffiti throughout the primary campus, especially in the toilets. With the support of parents, we are educating students to understand that vandalism and graffiti are anti-social behaviours. It is a piece of legislation that is not taken lightly by authorities.
In July this year, Pope Francis in his message about social media and its toxicity behind it “the use of digital media, especially social media, has raised a number of serious ethical issues that call for wise and discerning judgment on the part of communicators and all those concerned with the authenticity and quality of human relationships”.
Once again, we urge parents to continue to monitor your child in their use of social media, and to ensure they are safe, and using kind and respectful language when they engage with their friends.
With respect to social media, parents were often advised at our events to refrain from taking photos or videos of students. The purpose of this call is that we have students who have not given permission to the college to publish their photos or videos. We respect these requests as they have been made due to varied personal reasons. We often ask parents to be considerate and not to upload photos or videos to a social platform, where private information becomes public.
Hopefully during these spring holidays, your children will enjoy a time that allow them to run freely and enjoy nature. We look forward to next term where we will have our in-term swimming from the 14 of November to 25 November and the Christmas production entitled “Lights, Camel and Action”, and many exciting events to come.
Have a safe and blessed Holiday
Anne Tan
Head of Primary
Dear Lord,
Thank you for this holiday—
an extra chance for fun and play.
There’s so much I can learn and do
even if I’m not in school.
All the beauty and gifts abound.
The world you created is all around.
Today’s a chance to go explore,
try new things, and discover more.
I’ll miss my teacher and my friends
just as happens on weekends.
But I know that for today,
I’m thankful for this holiday.
