Community

We recently held another great Combined Family Mass with St Brigid’s and St Brendan’s coming together to celebrate.

The senior leaders from both schools were fantastic in their support and the running of Youth Ministry. There were games and snacks followed by Mass.

We would like to thank all the families who attended to celebrate with us. Your support is truly appreciated.

Next Wednesday, August 16th, our new whole-school College event “Compassion Cup” will take place on the bottom oval. This event is a great opportunity for students to showcase their sporting talent and for their peers to demonstrate strong House spirit by cheering on their respective teams.

In conjunction with the tournament, there will be a BBQ fundraiser organised to support our Year 12 students. The fundraiser will also include soft drinks and lollies which are all available to be purchased on the day.

Students are encouraged to wear appropriate MUFTI clothing on the day that represents the colour of their House. A gold coin donation for MUFTI will be set up on the front gate and this will also go back to our Year 12’s.

The timing of the event will be strict. All students must be on the bottom oval by 12:55pm ready for the first game to begin at 1pm. The event will finish at 2:30pm which means you will not have an assembly that afternoon. Period 4 will be cut 5 minutes short to allow you to get to the oval promptly.

The oz-tag tournament will take place on the bottom oval and all spectators will be seated on the edge of the field. I encourage students to bring a picnic blanket to sit on around the oval. All spectators are encouraged to cheer their team on to build up the atmosphere of the day.

Good luck to all four Houses on the day and may the best oz-tag team win!

This week I spoke to our students on assembly about the benefits of being part of a community.  I have a number of goals that I want St Brigid’s Catholic College to deliver to our children.  One of those goals is to give them a genuine sense of community, belonging to something bigger than themselves.  I want our students to feel connected to the College, to be proud to say they are a St Brigid’s student, I want them to have pride in their school and I want them to have a sense that they are important as individuals and they play an important role in supporting others and shaping the community we want to be.  I have the same goals for our past students, our parents and carers and all those that have any connection to the College.

Being part of a community offers numerous benefits that contribute to our overall well-being and sense of belonging.  Here are some key benefits of being part of our community at St Brigid’s:

Sense of Belonging: Being part of our community gives us a sense of belonging and connection to others.  It provides a space where we can share personal experiences, relate to others, and feel accepted.  This sense of belonging helps us develop a stronger sense of personal and collective identity.

 Support and Emotional Health: St Brigid’s provides social connections, friendship, and practical and emotional support.  It offers a support network of peers who can provide advice, commiseration, and encouragement.  Being part of our community can help combat feelings of isolation and loneliness.

Personal Growth and Inspiration: Engaging with like-minded individuals in a community can inspire personal growth and motivation.  As a College we have a common goal or purpose, which can encourage individuals to set and achieve their own goals.  Being part of the St Brigid’s community provides opportunities for learning, encouragement, and inspiration.

Improved Well-being: Being part of our community can have a positive impact on our overall well-being.  It can improve our mental and emotional health, as well as our physical health.  At St Brigid’s we have a space for individuals to share humour, vent frustrations, and celebrate achievements.  We offer a sense of pride and a feeling of being part of something greater than ourselves.

Diversity and Knowledge: Our community is diverse and contains a variety of opinions, ideas, and knowledge that we may not encounter alone.  Being part of a community exposes us to different perspectives and allows for personal growth through learning from others.

In summary, being part of the St Brigid’s community offers a sense of belonging, support, personal growth, improved well-being, and exposure to diverse perspectives.  It provides a space where individuals can connect, share experiences, and contribute to something greater than themselves.  I encourage everyone associated with St Brigid’s Catholic College, both past and present to truly embrace this community and share in all that it has to offer.

Last night the College held its first St Brigid’s Angels event.  It was an event for all girls of St Brigid’s and the significant women in their lives to come together to watch the Matildas play in the World Cup.

There were plenty of games, laughs, food and lots of fun had by all.

It was a great to see so many students and family members attend and we thank families for taking the time to attend.

We look forward to seeing everyone again at our next event.

Enrolments at St Brigid’s have been steadily climbing to the point now where they are very strong.  There is fantastic interest from our local feeder schools as well as significant growth coming from the public system.

I probably spend more time than is healthy thinking about enrolments and how to grow them.  The reason being is that I know what healthy enrolment numbers can do for a school.  They lead to additional resources, increased teacher numbers, more subjects on offer, greater breadth to our co-curricular activities, increased security for staff, increased competition that drives higher standards, more opportunities for our students, etc, etc.

Having worked in a developing school before, I’m also acutely aware that booming enrolment numbers can be confronting for some members of our community who are concerned that the College could become so big that students get lost in the mix.  Whilst I understand those concerns, I can assure you that at St Brigid’s we will always work hard to ensure every child is known and their wellbeing remains at the front and centre of our mind.  The pastoral care at the College is an absolute strength of ours and must be maintained.

When I think about how schools grow, I’m conscious that enrolment numbers can be influenced by several factors.  There is leadership, the student experience, vision, school improvement, reputation, demographics, location, price, reputation, marketing, academic performance, wellbeing, catholicity, sporting opportunities, co-curricular activities, and the list goes on.

Clearly all of these factors can play their part in attracting more students to our College.  Having said that, there are two other factors that in my mind contribute most to a thriving and growing school.  They are parent satisfaction and the quality of our staff which are inextricably linked.

Word of mouth continues to be a major contributor to our growth.  Satisfied parents lead to strong retention, which leads to increased enrolments.  We are so grateful to have such a supportive group of parents in our community who value the College and the opportunities it provides your children.  By no means, are we a finished product, there is still lots of room for improvement, but I feel fortunate to be surrounded by a great parent body who are willing to genuinely engage with their child’s education and drive us to be the very best school we can be.

Secondly, our staff are clearly one of our finest advertisements.  I want to be clear that when I refer to staff I mean our entire staff (teachers, support staff, office staff, our general hand).  I have been fortunate to work with some outstanding people during my teaching career and this group is second to none.  They are invested in the profession, care deeply about your children, open to improvements, prepared to go the extra mile and are genuinely committed to this community.  I thank them sincerely for all that they do in helping to grow the College.

Growing schools experience growing pains.  We will be no different but trust in the fact that what ever challenges lie ahead, we are well equipped to deal with them and will always ensure that the students are at the centre of all decisions we make.

Paul Lynch

Assistant Principal

Last Wednesday, Year 12 Hospitality created over 100 meals for Coast Hands.  These meals will go on to help feed those less fortunate in our community.

St Brigid’s joined with St Brendan’s for our first combined family Mass on Saturday, we were blessed with great weather for what was a fantastic community event. The afternoon started with a cricket match, Father Tomy had the best strike rate even losing one of the cricket balls over the buildings.

Mass included our talented musicians from St Brigid’s who learnt a number of new songs for the event. We would like to thank everyone who attended, those who helped organise and those who volunteered for jobs on the day.  We are looking forward to more community event opportunities in the next 2 terms.

St Brigid’s Catholic College Year 12 leaders for 2023 including captains Ben McCulkin and Bridget McLear and vice captains Brooke Elwell and Cooper Sweeney.

Bridget McLear — Year 12 Captain

I am one of the two college captains here at St Brigid’s Catholic College Lake Munmorah, my role entails responsibilities such as being the voice for students, being a role model for my peers, leading school events and masses, and being an advocate for change while continuing to develop my leadership skills.

I decided to pursue the role of college captain as I have always aspired to be a voice for the youth and to be a role model for my peers as well as inspiring them to achieve their full potential. I value being the person that is chosen to represent the values of the college at events both internally and externally.

At school, my passions fall under Drama and Performing Arts. I’m currently studying Drama as a part of my HSC course as well as studying it outside of school, I also take part in a range of extra-curricular activities for performing arts within the school, and I participate and perform in a range of school productions as well as competing in competitions.

Ben McCulkin — Year 12 Captain

My position involves working with a team of amazing leaders who look after/organise fundraisers, organising college masses, looking after and hearing from the student representative captains (SRC), organising events for the college, voicing any concerns to improve for future developments of the college just to scratch the surface!

Since early on in my schooling, I had always liked the idea of taking up a leadership role and thought that it would be a good way to leave a legacy that will stay around after my time at the college is done.

I have a strong passion for connecting with other students and building a culture where they feel safe, and feel included. A goal is starting a group where young males can have a safe place where they can talk about their mental health, ask questions about growing up in todays day and age, learn about the dangers of the internet and just see where it goes from there!

Brooke Elwell — Year 12 vice-captain

My position within my school is vice-captain and it involves a range of responsibilities. I assist with helping teachers, pushing out initiatives within the school, organising and participating in masses, helping run school events, assisting in running meetings for younger school leaders as well as doing any other jobs that I am asked to help out with.

I decided to pursue this position because ever since being in Year 7 I would watch the older students be a part of the leadership group and help out the school, so I decided pretty early on that was something that I wanted to do to support and give back to the school. While starting the process of going for this position, I was initially worried about my ability to fit leadership in while being in my HSC but I knew that it was important to me to make time for leadership and give back to the school for what it has given me.

My main goal this year is to do the best that I can in my HSC while keeping my life balanced with school, leadership, work and home life. I also want to make sure that I leave the school knowing that I gave everything that I could to the leadership team and hope that as a leadership team, we will leave knowing that the leadership within the school is in a good place.

Cooper Sweeney — Year 12 vice-captain

My position consists in helping out the student body, being a voice for many students within the college and helping out wherever I can; this usually entails my experience in entertainment, where I help plan some of the logistics for our events, assemblies and masses over the school year.

Bridget touched on the election process, but over a day, we did leadership training with some of the senior leaders of our school, who provided insight into leadership; we made speeches, and the rest was history; we found out a couple of weeks later and was super happy with the results, and then we started off as a team

My skill set can be optimised as a leader. I’m well-driven and like helping other people. I think I can put forward our school values in a positive light to our school community and into our external communities.

I love music and entertainment; I aim to have a career in that industry by the end of the year. I also love all my subjects, so I’m hoping that I can do quite well in my HSC in October and then find my way after year 12

RAW CHALLENGE

• Elite Wave: 8:00am

• Adult Social Waves: every 15 minutes from: 8:05am to 10:45am (ages 10+)

 The 10:45am Adult wave is a shortened course (approx. 5km) – same obstacles with less running

• Youth Waves: 12:00pm, 12:15pm and 12:30pm (5-12 year olds)

There is NOTHING quite like the feeling of conquering Raw Challenge!

Whether it’s your first time or your tenth time, the 60+ obstacles will leave you with a lifetime of memories. Spread across 20 hectares, there’s mud pits, rope climbs, water slides and more!

If you like pushing your boundaries, if you love the feeling of conquering a challenge, if you just simply enjoy fun, then the October Raw Challenge is where you need to be.

Bring your friends, bring your family, and tackle the approx. 7km course… And it’s not over when you’re finished the course… have a quick shower and enjoy what else is on offer. There’s delicious food, refreshing beverages from Sydney Brewery and the latest tunes by DJ Magoo.

If you’ve got little ones in your family, round them up and conquer the 2.5km long Youth course together. Our young challengers will be jumping, climbing, balancing, and crawling their way through approx. 20 awesome obstacles! Youth course participants must be accompanied through the course with an adult supervisor who can supervise up to 4 youths. A supervising adult must also purchase a youth supervisor’s ticket.

*Children aged 10 and 11 can participate in adult races, depending on their ability and at the discretion of their parents. All 10 and 11 year olds that wish to participate in an adult wave must purchase an adult full price ticket.

With the most EPIC obstacle course in Australia, make sure you don’t miss Raw Challenge Doyalson on Saturday the 14th of October 2023!