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Published 03/08/2021 · Academic

Welcome to Term three, and I would like to take this time to welcome all the new families that have become part of the St Brigid’s Community this term.

Term Three started with the SRC assembly where the College Leaders spoke to the students about mental health and how the Leaders will be putting information around the College regarding support and services for Mental Health.

Mental health refers to an individual’s emotional, psychological and social well-being. It can impact a child’s ability to function in daily life, affecting how they think, feel and act. As you can see, Mental Health is a big concern for our students, and the students are the reason the College is subscribing to SchoolTV.

St Brigid’s intends to assist parents in building young men and women who are confident, resilient, and willing to be positive contributors to their communities. One way is to help parents be informed with clear, fact-based information on the many challenges faced by today’s youth. Topics such as youth anxiety, depression, self-harm, drug and alcohol use, cyber-bullying, and many others need clear explanation and guidance.

To that end, SchoolTV is an ongoing resource that is now available to our parents. SchoolTV provides a single stream of independent factual information organised by topic, saving parents time and confusion of searching online across multiple sites for information. Under each major topic, parents will find expert interviews, fact sheets, parent quizzes, recommended apps, books and much more. SchoolTV aggregates information from many great resources such as BeyondBlue and ReachOut, amongst others.

Parents can access SchoolTV via the College Website or https://sbcl.wa.schooltv.me.

SchoolTV has put out the following link to assist parents with their parenting styles. I have to mention that any information you provide to SchoolTV does not come back to the College.
https://sbcl.wa.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-parenting-styles

I am sure that some of you have heard on the news about young people vaping. If a student at the College is caught vaping, we follow the College’s Drug policy procedures and assist these young people with the support they may require. Below are links to the dangers of vaping and some key points for discussions at home:
https://sbcl.wa.schooltv.me/wellbeing_news/special-report-vaping-au
https://sbcl.wa.schooltv.me/sites/default/files/STV_Vaping_KeyPoints.pdf?stv_source=link

The College celebrated NAIDOC week with an opening ceremony where the students received a Welcome to Country from Elder Margaret Combing and an inspiring talk from Ms Liza McGuire, director of Red Spear and Indigenous Business.

There were activities, Roo Stew with Damper for the students throughout the week which concluded with some of the Aboriginal Girls dancing on the Sand Mural.

The Year Ten Food Technology students, thanks to their teachers Mrs Greyling and Mrs Thomas, had the opportunity to taste and see how bush foods can be used in everyday cooking, from Lemon Myrtle Tea to Wattleseed & Bush Mint Ice Cream to a nut spread. I have to say it tasted nicer than Nutella.

The Year Elevens had a movie night with Mazenod where they watched (most of them watched while others chattered) Black Widow. The evening was well-planned, thanks to the young gentlemen for hosting the event with Popcorn and treats for sale. The young ladies came wearing warm clothing, including the very fashionable Oodies.

This term, the Year Eleven students are nominating themselves for a College Leadership position for 2022. This process involves the young ladies filling in the forms and having a parent sign the nomination form. The current College Leaders will be running seminars for the students who have nominated for leadership positions.

The Year Sevens are, at the moment, voting for the Semester Two Reps. Thank you to the Semester One Reps who assisted the House Coordinators at events. We wish all of the young ladies who have nominated themselves all the best.

A friendly reminder that all students need to come to school wearing their winter uniform unless they have training before school. Students are given time in their lessons to change into and out of their sports uniform. The young ladies know that if for some reason they have to wear their sports uniform a note needs to be written in your daughter’s organiser and shown to her Year Team Leader. If a student comes to school wearing her sports uniform without a note, a detention will be issued. Students are saying that they are cold. We recommend that they wear layers underneath their blouse and as you are aware, they can wear either tights or socks. As we have school photos in week 5, all the students will need to wear their tights on these days.

If you have forgotten your login details for SEQTA, I encourage you to email Kathryn White at white.kathryn@stbrigids.wa.edu.au, and she will assist you with the login details. SEQTA shows when your daughter has assessments as well as her marks and copies of her reports. I encourage you to download the SEQTA Engage app, and you will receive notifications when results and assessments are uploaded onto SEQTA.

If you have any academic concerns regarding your daughter please contact her relevant teachers. If it is a pastoral concern please contact her Year Team Leader so they can assist. The more we know the easier it is to assist your child.

Ms Fiona Hepi
Head of Secondary

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