Newsletter 24th August 2022
In the spirit of Reconciliation, we acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land in which we sit, the Wadawurrung people, who have cared for this country for thousands of years. We would like to pay our respects to the Aboriginal Elders past, present and future for they hold the traditions, memories and wisdom of Mother Earth on which we place our feet upon today.

Upcoming Dates
26th August: Book themed Costume Day for book week
26th August, 2nd September, 9th September: Combined schools day St Brendan's
30th August 6.00 - 8.00 pm: Art Show
1st September 9:00am-1:30pm: SEED Day for Year 5 students to Loreto College & St Patrick's College
2nd September 7.45 am: Fathers Day breakfast @ St Brendan's with St Mary's families
13th September 6.30 pm: Community Meeting with Tony Dalton @ St Brendan's
13th September: Year 3 - 6 Sports day St Michael's Daylesford
16th September: Last day of term 3
12.30 pm Assembly
Principal's News
This period of calmness and consistency is very refreshing. It has provided for some great learning and teaching time across both schools.
Over the past week, both schools have had a Parents and Friends meeting with many parents attending. It is so good to see the enthusiasm and passion that families are reigniting to raise funds and promote our schools. People are thinking of ideas. ‘outside the box’ and also having a real focus on building our community spirit and level of community engagement at St. Mary’s and St. Brendan’s. So many families are willing to help out in a variety of ways whether it be helping distributing flyers, doing gardening, coming to meetings, helping out with transport and so on. With COVID seemingly having less impact on our daily lives, there comes a sense that we are slowly moving on to some normality.
School Review
Last Wednesday the teachers met with Jo – Anne Bond to plan the process of our school review which will take place next year. School review is held every 5 years and it is a time to celebrate our achievements, reflect, evaluate and plan a way forward for the next 5 years. We are starting the process this year with the bulk of the work being done earlier next year. It is a worthwhile process, however does involve a fair amount of work collating everything. There will be opportunities for students and families to have input also.
Insight SRC surveys
An important part of the school review is gathering data as it provides evidence of what we have achieved and where we need to focus in the future. One set of data that is vital and, in my view, provides the most valuable information is the Insight SRC survey which parents, staff and students all do. These surveys will be open to do next week and I urge you to do them as it provides valuable feedback about the school, particularly in the past 2 years. I will send out the link later this week and send out a number of reminders so that we can get as many families as possible to complete it and give us the best data to plan for the future.
Take care and go gently.
Inez
Community meeting 13th September
The response to our last community meeting with Tony Dalton was heart-warming, supportive and showed how much our schools mean to our families and communities. I have heard many different conversations over the past few weeks and we are now ready to look at the possibilities for our schools moving forward. Our next meeting will be on Tuesday the 13th of September at 6.30pm. This meeting will be held at St. Brendan’s and while children can come if you need to bring them, it is not necessary for this particular conversation.
Tony will be presenting the data gathered from our last meeting and we will move onto exploring the possibilities for our schools as we move forward to 2023 and beyond. Please come along. A light supper will be provided.
Birthdays
Happy Birthday to Aiden who was 7 last Friday 19th August

Art Shows
One of the upcoming events that will involve all of our children, families and wider community is our Art Shows.’ St. Brendan’s will have their Art Show next Tuesday from 6 – 8pm and St. Mary’s will follow on Thursday the 8th of September also from 6 -8pm. The invitation is for all families, extended family members and the wider community to come and spend some time appreciating the amazing art work and enormous effort that has gone into producing such an event. The children and staff have been working all term to produce a number of Art pieces and they want to share their work with others.
There will be wine and cheese for the adults on the night and you can come any time between 6 – 8pm.
We realise that not everyone will be able to join us on the night due to other commitments, so both schools will leave the displayed art up for an extra day or so.
Book Week Celebrations
This Friday we are celebrating book week by dressing up, either as a favourite book character or in line with the 2022 theme- 'Dreaming with eyes wide open.' The day will begin with a parade at 9am and families are welcome to join us at St. Brendan’s as it is our regular Friday combined schools day.
Father’s Day Breakfast
In between the 2 art shows, we are inviting all of our Dad’s and special men in our lives to join us for breakfast at St. Brendan’s on Friday the 2nd of September from 7.45 – 8.45. We will be catering for both the children and adults, so please make sure that we have your numbers in by Monday the 29th of August. You can contact either school to let us know who will be coming.
Book Club
Book Club brochures went home today. Orders are due back by Friday 2nd September. Please drop your order into the office or you can order online via the loop order function.
Thanks Anita
School Fees 2023
Fees for 2023
Fees for 2023 as per Option 1 (Voted by SAC members at meeting 18th October 2016 as per C.E.O. recommendation on school fees, family fee, including capital levy being average of 3.5 % increase yearly).
$ 1 450.00 family fee per family
$ 270.00 student fee per child
$ 200.00 excursion/swimming levy per child
$ 100.00 Capital Levy per family
------------------------------------------------------------------ $ 2 020.00
Signed by School Advisory Council 23rd August 2022
The student fee and the excursion fee is per child.
Woollen school jumpers
St James Sebastopol are discontinuing their woollen school jumpers. Their jumpers are the same as ours and they are selling them at cost price. If anyone is interested in purchasing a jumper the prices are below. The jumpers would be delivered to the school and you can pick them up and pay for them via the office.
Sizes 4,6 & 8 $50
Sizes 10,12,15 &16 $55
Damascus information evenings for 2024 commencement

Information Evenings & Open Mornings for 2024 Commencement
Damascus College warmly invites all families to attend our upcoming Information Events. The Information Evenings are a great way for prospective families to learn more about Damascus College.
INFORMATION EVENING: Wednesday 7 September at 5pm
Tuesday 18 October at 6.30pm
OPEN MORNING TOURS: Tuesday 13 September at 9am
Thursday 20 October at 9am
Registration is essential.