Newsletter - Friday, 17th October, 2025
Prayer
God of all creation, we thank you for the gift of spring, for the promise of new life, and for the vital work of farmers who tend the earth. Bless their hands as they plant and sow, that the seeds may be nourished by gentle rain and warm sun. Grant them strength, wisdom, and perseverance to overcome challenges like pests and drought, and bless the land with abundant and fruitful harvests to feed our communities. Protect them in their labor and bring them joy and health in their homes and families.
- Amen
From the Principals
Dear Families,
What a fantastic second week it has been with talks on Red Tailed Black Cockatoos and a visit from the Kindergarten children on Thursday. We would also like to thank Gloria Freeman and Bernadette Kirby for stepping in for Anne-Maree and teaching the 3/4 class in her absence these last two weeks.
Looking forward to next week, the 5/6s will be participating in the Little Desert Cricket. In Art, we are asking if you have any plastic soft drink bottles you wouldn't mind donating. We are using these for some Remembrance Day art.
On Thursday, 23rd of October, we are excited to welcome our 2026 Principal, Jayne Brumby for a visit. We will be hosting a Mum's Cuppa at 1:30 p.m. if anyone would like to come and have a chat with Jayne before she drives back to Colac. Jayne will be visiting several times before the end of the year in an effort to get to know the school and the community a bit better before her move. We are also pleased to have her involved with our application process in hiring a new teacher for 2026.
Kind regards,
- Gorgia + Sherryn
Get to know Jayne Brumby!
Hello St. Malachy’s community,
I thought it was time to introduce myself and my little fella Eli to you all. Eli and I are so excited to be moving to Edenhope in January, but in the meantime we hope to get up there a few times so that we can meet people and learn about our new community.
Next year, Eli will be in Grade 4 and he loves school. Eli is the youngest of four children, with his big siblings all being grown up in their twenties. Eli loves to be active, riding his bike, running, playing and kicking the footy. He has recently discovered a passion for Minecraft and watching You Tube like most other ten-year-olds!
Eli has Down syndrome. Coincidentally, October is Down syndrome Awareness month. Here’s some fun facts about Down syndrome. It is always written with a capital ‘D’ in Down and a lower case ‘s’. Down syndrome occurs during the cell division of early pregnancy when one of the parents contributes an extra 21 st chromosome. Often people think it’s due to maternal age, but the majority of babies born with Down syndrome are to mums under 30. Down syndrome is also called Trisomy 21 as its a triplicate of the 21 st chromosome. People with Down syndrome live full and productive lives and contribute to their communities in so many ways. On March 1st, the whole world celebrates Down syndrome by wearing colourful, odd and fun socks to show acceptance and love.
I have grown up in the country and have always loved being a part of a small community. I really believe in looking after people and caring for others. I have always taught my own children that kindness is the most important stance to take and that if we were all kind to each other, there would be a lot less sadness in our world.
When I am not running around after Eli, I like to run for fun. I have completed several marathons and even an ultra-marathon but now I am more of a park runner! I am the Event Director of the Lake Colac parkrun and can’t wait to get involved with the Lake Wallace parkrun. I also love camping and bush walking. Even though I love the outdoors, I am the world’s worst gardener and cannot tell a weed from a plant!
We are really looking forward to meeting you all and my door will always be open and welcoming.
- Jayne and Eli Brumby
Around the rooms
Science
This Term 4, we are exploring the realm of Biology. In the first week, we learned about the different life cycles of animals and humans! Students had fun learning about the scientific method through the Great Dunk Experiment and enjoyed eating their cookies at the same time. Lucky ducks!
P.E.
This term, we will be playing different kinds of sports including cricket and tennis. The selected Year 5/6 students will play their cricket game next week and we wish them the best of luck!
R.E.
We are now in our last term, as the Foundation-Year 2 students investigate the theme “Invitation,” focusing on how God invites each of us into a loving relationship with Him and with others. Students will learn that invitations can come in many forms — to share, to love, to forgive, and to belong to God’s family. Moreover, the Year 3/4 students will explore the theme “Openness,” which encourages us to listen to God, welcome others, and grow in love and understanding.
Year 3/4
We had Mr. O take our class yesterday so along with Jo, off to the library we went. It was great to see Mr. O back and he enjoyed seeing us and spending the day at the school.
We have also been learning about Australia and now know how many states, territories and capital cities we have as well as exploring our nearby neighbouring countries.
In Math's, we have looked at location and mapping, as well as expanding our knowledge of time.
Foundation
This term, students are gearing up to learn all about the Christmas classics in children's literature such as The Velveteen Rabbit, The Night before Christmas, How the Grinch stole Christmas and many more. It is so wonderful to listen to the Foundation students read to see how far they have come since the beginning of the year. We will be continuing to build our fluency this term but are starting to use intonation and respond to punctuation in our texts.
In Mathematics, we will mainly be using this term to consolidate and revise concepts from throughout the year, however are also starting to extend ourselves on more complex questions. I have been so pleased with the students counting and place value knowledge in particular. We have been working on skip counting by 2s, 5s and 10s but also starting at various random numbers as starting points. For example, counting by twos but starting from 7...9,11,13 etc.
Red Tailed Black Cockatoo
On Thursday, students listened to a talk on Red Tailed Black Cockatoos and their habitats. In the future, we will be looking at collecting seeds which can be grown into tree seedlings and then planted to hopefully grow into trees for the cockatoos. What did we learn?
Felix: "We learnt the different sounds a Red vs. Yellow tailed cockatoo makes."
Matthew: "We learnt about possum collars that are put on trees to stop them from climbing up them."
Charlie Flynn: "Red Tailed Black Cockatoos are endangered."
Lucy: "You can tell the different stages of nesting by the sounds they make."
Sadie: "Males and females look differently. Some have tiger stripes and some are more spots."
Production
Rehearsals are revving up, and costumes and props are planned and beginning to take shape. All students in Years Foundation, One, Two, Three and Four will need to wear black long pants and black long sleeve top. This needs to be brought from home (closer to the date but please check to ensure you have them). We will then have costumes which these students can put on over the top making costume changes easy. The Year 5 & 6 students will have costumes lent to them for their main roles for the night. They will have time to change completely into this costume before the play begins.
Child safety - sexuality education
As we are teaching Sexuality Education this term, have a read of the attached PDF from Catching On Early and it will explain why teach it in primary school.
What's coming up
- Wednesday, 22nd October - Little Desert Cricket @ Horsham (Year 5/6)
- Thursday, 23rd October - Mum's Cuppa and meet Jayne
- Monday, 3rd November - PUPIL FREE DAY - staff P.D.
- Tuesday, 4th November - Melbourne Cup Day - PUPIL FREE DAY
- Wednesday, 5th November - Feast Day (pet blessing/Mission Day)
- Thursday, 6th - Friday, 7th November - F-2 Naracoorte excursion and sleepover @ school
- Friday, 7th November - Talent Show @ 2 p.m.
- Tuesday, 11th November - Remembrance Day
- Thursday, 20th November - School Production @ Apsley
- Thursday, 4th December - Year 3/4 Cultural Day
- Friday, 5th December - F-2 Lake Bike Ride, 3-4 Big Bike Bonanza Ride, 5-6 T.B.C.
- Tuesday, 9th December - Statewide Transition Day
- Friday, 12th December - Year 5 Leadership Speeches
- Tuesday, 16th December - End of Year Mass @ 5 p.m.
- Wednesday, 17th December - F-2 Sports @ Apsley
- Thursday, 18th December - Last day for students
St. Malachy's Mass times are:
1st Sunday: 11.15 a.m.
2nd Sunday: 11.15 a.m.
3rd Sunday: 11.15 a.m.
4th Sunday: 11.15 a.m.
5th Sunday: 11.15 a.m.
St. Malachy's welcomes everyone to join us.
Pumpkins on the Run Book Launch & W.R.S.A.
A.F.L. Footy adventure
Foundation transition dates
