Farewell Mrs Ballis

It is with a heavy heart that I inform our Barbreck community that after 12 years of wonderful service, Mrs Ballis will depart Barbreck at the end of this year. Mrs Ballis is one of those special teachers that every student looks forward to having, and holds fondly in their memories long after leaving her class. The special attention, the kind words and the exceptional care given to each and every one of her students, are traits that make her an exceptional teacher, setting an excellent standard of pastoral and academic care.

Mrs Ballis always strives for excellence, carefully planning and preparing her lessons to ensure the best outcomes are achieved for her class. As an early years’ teacher, this approach sets a solid foundation of knowledge and skills, upon which future primary years can confidently build upon.

Mrs Ballis leaves us to take up a position at another school – looking to broaden her experiences. I know you will join with me in wishing her every success with her new venture.

In the coming week I will share news of our 2022 commencing staff, who will all bring a wealth of experience and expertise to the Barbreck team.

Extending Girls

One of the key areas of teaching is to encourage and support girls to aim a little higher, try to take the next step, and to pursue their passions. The opportunities for girls to be extended, either through activities and challenges presented by their teachers, or by their personal initiative to attempt a new skill, or reach higher levels of competency, are present each and every day in Barbreck.

Writing is a skill that can be extended in a number of ways. In Barbreck we have many budding writers. There are a number of things that all of these girls have in common: a passion for reading, an interest in how other authors write, and the devices they use, a love of vocabulary and a wonderful imagination – often fuelled by their readings.

I have been fortunate this year to work with some of our Year 4 budding writers. These girls love to write and take the initiative to write often, both at School and in their own time. Some of them hope to be authors themselves in the future, as just one of their careers. Below are excerpts from some of the short stories they have written this year.

In the earliest hours of dawn, the wolves of the withering wood gathered at the great willow tree ready to discuss the matter of the mysterious Creatures hiding beneath everyone’s home, destroying their burrows. Their main concern was how to keep the animals safe. Overnight, 20 burrows were reduced to 10. Many of the animals died or were seriously injured when their burrows collapsed. All the animals were too scared to do anything or to help. The other unaffected animals were not as bright and lively as before. They seemed more cautious and traumatised. As the protectors of the forest, the wolves, were fearing for the lives of all the wood’s animals but they could do nothing but keep thinking.
Serena Ma

Bang! Bang! Gunshots! We are riding off into the hills, skidding over rocks and dirt! All I can see is the back of the horse’s feet moving rapidly and light coming from something beyond the hills! We jolt to the right and ride into a rocky looking hole… a cave! Bump, bump, bump! I bang my head against something! The carriage is tumbling upside down and right-side up again! Neigh, Neigh! “The horses!” I croak as loud as I can! We jolt to a stop finally. A light flickers on my brother’s oil lamp… “The horses are fine!” 
Joy Lovegrove

Yuri ran towards Aragath Castle, where Shadow was lurking in the sanctum ready to battle. She finally got to the castle and heard a voice speaking to her. “Yuri. You have made it this far. Please, save Aragath!” said the voice of Goddess Ari. Yuri travelled up the path to get to the sanctum, willing to fight Shadow and save Aragath for good. Yuri walked up to the sanctum, nervous to go inside. Yuri ran into the sanctum trembling with fear. She was ready to fight.
Ruby Figiel

One fine spring morning, the Bees of Dar decided that enough was enough; they were tired of pollinating the flowers and making honey but getting nothing in return. By sunset not a single flower had been visited by the bees. The hive was still. The last remaining jiffs of honey had been waxed so that they could not use it. In the Field of flowers there were no busy bee sounds. The Field of Flowers was as silent as a mouse.
Tania Hay

At the crack of dawn, the mice of Bok woke up and soon realised the noises from last night weren’t rain and cars. It was a cat, not any normal cat though. The cat had taken all the baby mice from the nurseries. Only two remained. They all realised the little squeaks from the nursery’s had stopped, by night fall not one baby had been found!
Sophia McKinnon

Reminder: Therapy Dog Permission

Bella, our Barbreck Therapy Dog is eager to meet the Junior School girls, and many of the girls are very eager to meet her. I remind parents to complete the recent Operoo permission form (sent via email) so that your daughter can enjoy meeting Bella. To learn more about Bella read our Staff Profile article in this week’s Blue Ribbon.

Upcoming School Dates*

*Please note that some of these events are dependent on the easing of COVID restrictions.
**New event for Year 6 parents

 Out of School Hours Care – Week 8 Activities

Upcoming activities for Term 4 Week 8 detailed here.

St Catherine’s School offers an Out of School Hours Care program to all ELC and Junior School families. The program is implemented by our provider ‘After the Bell’, and operates within the ELC building. Parents are reminded that if you need to use the Before School Care or After School Care service, registrations need to be made in advance with ‘After the Bell’. Please allow up to five business days for your registration to be processed before your child can begin attending the program. Registration is free. All families are encouraged to register so that you can use this service in the event that you are unable to pick up your child.

Before School Care – 7.00am to 8.45am

After School Care – 3.00pm to 6.00pm

Registrations can be completed via the ‘After the Bell’ website.

Please phone 9758 6744 for all enquiries.