Term 1 Week 8 Newsletter 2025

Important Dates

Character Virtue:  D E T A C H M E N T
What it looks like:   Detachment is like the story of the rich young man in the Gospels, who asked Jesus what he must do to be perfect. Jesus answers, "Go sell your possessions, give them to the poor, and follow me".
What it means:   Detachment means that we don't become slaves to possessions, events or even people.
Why it is important:  Detachment helps us develop a healthy independence and see things from a clear point of view.

From the Principal

Dear Parents,

Welcome to Week 8.

Parent-Teacher Interviews - Monday, 24th March and Tuesday, 25th March
Parent-teacher interviews are being held today and tomorrow.
6B and 3B interviews will be held at different times.
Please check your grade emails for details.
* Kindergarten, Year 1 and Year 2 teachers will conduct two-way parent-teacher interviews.
* Years 3 to Year 6 will conduct three-way student-parent-teacher interviews.
These interviews are an excellent opportunity for a one-on-one chat with your child’s teacher and to gain information on their progress in the first eight weeks of the year. It is also an opportunity for you to share any concerns or questions.
Bookings have been closed, and there are limited spaces available, but you
                                                 can book a time by contacting your classroom teacher by email.

Reading Club - At the end of this term, students who have their Reading Club Booklet signed to confirm that they have read for forty nights will earn a Radical Readers Reward.  Please read to your child, encourage your children to read to you or share a book with you for 5 -10 minutes each night, even on the weekend. Remember, reading improves reading.  
As Dr Seuss said,  “You’re never too old, too wacky, too wild, to pick up a book and read to a child”. 

Easter Raffle - The Easter Raffle is conducted each year by our P&F Association as a fundraiser for our school and the announcement of our major winners is always an exciting event. Raffle tickets for our Easter Raffle will be sent home to families this week. We rely on donations from our families for our Easter Raffle prizes, and the generosity of our parent community always amazes us. We are having a casual clothes day next Tuesday, 1st April to encourage families to bring in donations for our Easter Raffle prizes.
** More tickets available from the school office.

Sport

Bathurst Diocesan Winter Sports Trials - Congratulations to the following students who will attend the Bathurst Diocesan Winter Sports Trials this Friday, 28th March:

Religious Education

Meet4Mass - Our Term 1 Meet4Mass has been scheduled for Sunday, 6th April 2025.  We would like to invite everyone to come along and celebrate Mass with us on this day.

2025 Sacramental Parent Information Session - These have now taken place for 2025. If you have missed out on registering your child for one of the sacraments you need to contact Rosie Hosking, St. Brigid’s Sacramental Coordinator via email at sacraments.dubbo@cdob.org.au

Year 6 Volunteers - St. Brigid's is looking for a 2025 Confirmation candidate from St. Mary's to participate in the Holy Thursday Mass this year.  If you are interested can you please let me know.

ST. BRIGID'S PARISH - MASS TIMES:  
St Brigid's:  Saturday - 6pm, Sunday - 9am and Sunday - 6pm
St. Laurence's Church:  Sunday - 7.30am

Life Education Van

The Life Education Van offers purpose-built, issue specific and age-appropriate primary school modules designed to engage, inspire and empower students. These modules are delivered face-to-face and cover a range of topics across the areas of physical health, safety, and social and emotional wellbeing. The Life Ed program is designed to be integrated into the primary curriculum and all modules are all aligned to the Australian Curriculum. 
Students at St Mary's will be attending the Life Education Van in Week 9 this term from Tuesday, 1st April - Friday, 4th April.

Wellbeing

A Simple Tool to Diffuse After-School Irritability...

Have you ever picked up your child from school, excited to hear about their day—only to find them grumpy and irritable? 
Oh yes, I know this can feel frustrating and disappointing.

Here are two important things to keep in mind:

1️⃣ They’ve been holding it together all day.
Even if they love school and had a great day, it’s still been a full day of listening, thinking, moving their bodies, learning, paying attention, and developing new skills. That’s hard work!

(Just like how we might feel after a long day!)

Since you are their safe space, you see their most unfiltered self: tired, spent, maybe even falling apart. This can show up as tears, outbursts, whining, or simply being quiet and reserved.

In those moments, it can feel difficult to give them what they really need: a safe space to vent. (And maybe, a snack 😂)

2️⃣ Try this simple (but powerful) conversation starter.
Next time, instead of jumping straight to, “How was your day?” try this instead:

“Before you tell me anything good that may have happened at school today, tell me what was hard…upsetting…anything you didn’t like. I want to hear all about that too.”
And then—just listen and validate.

You can ask follow-up questions here and there, like: “And then what?” “How did that make you feel?” or “What did you want to do?”

This isn’t about dwelling on the negative.

You might worry that focusing on the hard moments will backfire, encouraging your child to dwell on
what went wrong. But actually, the opposite is true!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * 

A BIG thank you to Amy Wellbourne for running the “Tuning in to Kids” session with parents last Tuesday. We had a great roll up of parents. Amy introduced us to this great program and has followed up with the online course for any interested parents. Maybe it's worth a look.

The online course is available to parents to complete in their own time, at home, online. It includes 10 modules, 10 videos, ten activities and printable resources for a total cost of $120. 

Parenting Programs > - Tuning in to Kids™ Online  

Thank you,  Mrs Sue Nuttall - Wellbeing Leader

Attendance

Awards

STUDENT OF THE WEEK:

HOUSE AWARDS:
Congratulations to the following students for gaining 10 points for
their Sports House for exemplary behaviour:

School Fees

TERM 1 FEES WERE DUE... 14th March 2025.  PROMPT PAYMENT PLEASE.
Reminder letters will be sent out this week.
If you wish to commence a new Direct Debit plan or have an existing Direct Debit plan in place that needs adjusting, please let us know via email:  k.bywater@bth.catholic.edu.au  Thank you.

Community News

BIRTHDAYS:
Celebrating their birthday this week are:
Hallie, Bridie, Jobe, Clare, Annabelle, Melody and Louie.
We hope you enjoy your birthday!

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Canteen

MunchMonitor - We encourage all families to use the MunchMonitor online program for lunch orders. 

School Uniform

THE CLOTHING POOL
Thank you to our parents who have dropped in their secondhand clothes for the Clothing Pool. 
We are in urgent need of Sports Shorts and Grey Shorts - Size 4 and Size 6.   
If you happen to have these at home and they are no longer in use,
please consider dropping them off at the school office.
Much appreciated.

CCSP Parent Survey

Tell us about your experiences as a Catholic school parent and what you'd like to know more about.

We value every parent's thoughts and opinions!

CSSP would like to know how involved/engaged you feel you are in your child's learning at a NSW/ACT Catholic school, how connected you feel in your child's school, and your thoughts on how schools could enhance family-school partnerships.

This data informs our parent learning program and provides us with valuable information about how our Dioceses and schools are engaging with families.

Thank you so much for taking time out to give us your feedback.

Please click the link to go to the survey: