Dear families,
St Brigid’s College recognises that you, the parent or supporting family member, are the primary (main) educator of your son or daughter and that we will work with you in partnership to educate your child. To ensure your child has the best opportunities in education and to support them in achieving our vision of a quality education, we need to work together. As a parent you can contribute your own knowledge and skills at all levels to assist in the learning of not just your child but the whole College community. As a parent or family member, you can also support the school in familiarising yourself with the school’s attendance requirements and ensuring your student attends regularly and punctually. In speaking with teams of teachers over the last week, this is the major concern our teachers have – some students missing too much instruction and learning time.
Research has reinforced the positive impact of increased parental engagement in a child’s education, the value of the College as a community for social interaction and using technology as a platform for learning. However, technology is always a double-edged sword. We ask that parents do not contact their child by mobile phone during the day as all students have been told not to access their phones during the day, this includes sports days. To reduce the possibility of conflict around the use of phones, we ask that parents contact their child via the front office, again including sports days.
To provide for parent voice in our College’s decision-making process, the Parent Reference Group (PRG) has been established and is operating. Headed up by Jo Martin, the PRG meets monthly and provides the School Advisory Council and the College Executive with unified feedback and advice. Parents and care givers may contact the PRG via the following email address: prg@stbc.vic.edu.au
This week the first meeting of the School Advisory Committee was held for the year and a new Chairperson was elected. I would like to thank Jo Martin for accepting the responsibility this position holds. Other members include Parent Representative: Andrew Sostheim, Co-opted Member: Louise Chesterfield, Parish Priest: Monsignor Murphy, DOBCEL Representative: Dr Andrew Watson and myself as interim Principal. Tony Nield currently represents the Finance Committee. Louise Nield records the minutes. New Beginnings!
Next Tuesday, weather permitting, we will hold our Athletics Day at Dudley Cornell Park. Students can go directly to the park at the start of the day and bus students will be shuttled there. Again, I ask that if your student is required to leave during the day that you work through our Office which will be open. Text messages to students’ phones will not be accepted as we cannot verify the origin.
Kind regards
Gerard Raven
Interim Principal
