Newsletter October 8th, 2019
A prayer for our earth (from Laudato si’) Pope Francis
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe and in the smallest of your creatures. You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love, that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor, help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth, so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives, that we may protect the world and not prey on it, that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts of those who look only for gain at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing, to be filled with awe and contemplation, to recognize that we are profoundly united with every creature as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day. Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle for justice, love and peace.
Dear Parents and Friends,
Welcome to Term 4 - it is incredible to think that we have reached this point of the year - Christmas decorations and goodies are in our shops and we seem to be fast tracking towards the end of the year. Hopefully all families had an opportunity for some ‘down time’ and most importantly, time for your family to spend some quality time together in a relaxed manner.
Last term was certainly a massive one especially with our concert which was a huge success. The children all performed magnificently, demonstrating many skills and talents in a variety of ways. All of the staff are to be truly congratulated for the manner in which they were able to bring together such a creative and interesting manner. Our venue was also fantastic given the wonderful renovations in the hall and the fact that there was no travelling involved was such a bonus. A truly great community night!
As with every term the staff have been working creatively and collaboratively to provide a range of learning experiences and opportunities for new discoveries. Events and activities planned for October include:
- Year 3 and 4 Camp to Sovereign Hill
- Kanga Cricket Days in Ballarat
- Grandparents Day
- First Aid Training for students
During November we also have some fantastic events to look forward to including a whole school excursion to the zoo and thanks to Emma Anticaglia a concert to be performed by none other than Peter Coombe! Who is Peter Coombe you might ask - for some of you this would be a name linked with many children’s songs including Mr Clickety Cane (Wash your face in Orange Juice) and Juicy Juicy Green Grass. Some of you may have actually grown up with some of these songs! More details of both of these happenings will be coming to you soon.
We look forward to an exciting Term 4 together!
In the last week of last term, our Review Panel - Malcolm Joseph (lead reviewer), Tony Perkins (Catholic Education Office), Andrew Watson (Catholic Education Office) and Leigh Bradshaw (Principal, OLHC Wendouree), visited St Brigid’s to work with students, staff and parents, reflecting on our work over the last five years and assisting in creating the next School Improvement Plan.
I am very grateful to the very articulate students who shared their thoughts and experiences with the panel, to the staff for their professional work over the two days and to the parents who contributed significantly to the process. In particular, I acknowledge Mrs Kate Grigg who gave so willingly of her time to work with the panel all day on Tuesday.
Once the report has been received I look forward to sharing the priorities and improvements that will form our way forward for the next five years.
As we have been informing everyone through recent newsletters and communication, we have adopted the PAM module for ease of communication across a range of administration areas, including permission forms and student details such as medical needs. If you have not yet activated your account, you soon may miss important school information.
How to go about getting yourself connected?
You will need to click on the 'Forgot Password?' link and follow the prompts in the original email sent last term. Once you have activated your account, you can download the SIMON Everywhere app to access PAM on your preferred device/s.
If you are having difficulty with this process, please contact the office.
Bookings
Congratulations to our Social Justice team who raised an incredible sum of $1,052.70, 123 cans and 7 blankets through their recent Sleep Out.
October is Nude Food Month so this provides great incentive for all of us to really work hard at changing our ‘ways’ a little. We have all heard much about the devastating and major problems we have with recycling both here in Australia and globally. We all have to begin to take responsibility for this issue - we can lay blame with our government and councils - but ultimately waste and recyling is each person’s individual responsibility - we have to begin one person at a time!
Planned Giving Program
Good Morning Fellow Parishioners
It has been some years since there has been a drive by the parish to ask parishioners to contribute to the planned giving program and those who already contribute to review their contribution.
The planned giving pledge form will be sent home with children and will also be distributed to the school parents at our two schools.
The pledge form shows two graphs one showing our annual expenditure and planned giving received since 2012 and the other showing the number of active planned givers for that period. As you can see from the graphs there is a widening gap between expenditure and amount of planned giving received and a significant drop off of in the number of active planned givers. If this trend continues the financial viability of the parish will be challenged.
Your financial support is needed to pay for the operating costs of the parish which include the usual that we get at home, electricity, gas, rates and insurance. Then we have staff wages, visiting clergy wages, contracted services for church cleaning and grounds maintenance. And there is the cost of maintaining our buildings at Gordon, Springbank and Ballan. Support for faith education, pastoral care, retreats, parish ministries and diocesan levies also require funding.
We are indeed fortunate and truly blessed to have inherited these magnificent churches through the foresight, sacrifice and hard work of our founding parishioners, to continue on as a viable parish your financial support is required. Please give generously and what you can afford so that we may be able to meet our pastoral and spiritual needs.
Thank You
St Patrick’s Parish
A copy of the planned giving pledge form is also available to view here
Thanksgiving Mass with Bishop Shane Mackinlay
Bishop Paul Bird CSsR has invited Fr Shane to return to the diocese and celebrate a Mass of thanksgiving after his episcopal ordination: St Patrick’s Cathedral, Ballarat, Wednesday 13th November, 7.00pm, followed by supper.
Saturday 12th October | Springbank | 6:30pm |
Sunday 13th October | Bungaree | 8:45am |
Sunday 13th October | Ballan | 10:30am |
Saturday 19th October | Dunnstown | 6:30pm |
Sunday 20th October | Gordon | 8:45am |
Sunday 21st October | Ballan | 10:30am |
Friday 11th October | Caz Craggill & Gyorgyi Gorman |
Friday 18th October | Jodie Mullane & Alison Eskdale |
Families rostered on for the current periods are:
Monday 31st September-Sunday 13th October | Durante/Connally/Janine Buttigieg |
Monday 14th October-Sunday 27th October | Zeestraten/Parente/Weston |
Please find following information regarding upcoming Enrolment Information Sessions and Open Mornings for Year 7 2021 enrolments.