Welcome back to 2020 - a date which not only marks the start of a new year and a new decade at St Brendan-Shaw College, but the diamond anniversary of education on this site.   60 years ago on Tuesday 2nd February 1960 St Brendan’s College for boys opened. 125 boys commenced with great enthusiasm and eagerness to learn, albeit with a far from smooth start to the year (they realised the blackboards hadn't been installed and it remained that way for a fortnight!).

I am impressed with our smooth start to the year (except for some problems the providers have had filling some book orders!), and have enjoyed seeing students connecting with friends, meeting new friends and getting to know new learning spaces. Thank you for your support at home with ensuring students are arriving well groomed and well dressed - they look so professional and ready to excel.

We welcome several new staff (Petra Wilden, Ruth Timmins, Kathryn Campbell, Indea Pearce, Cameron Brown, Sharon Jarvis, Rory Kirkwood and Sarah Harris) to the College this year and are grateful for the work of our utilities team and contractors over the break who completed a number of projects, including:

• Centralised House Coordinator office
• Fumigation of the entire College
• Refurb of Arts in Lower Shaw
• Preparation of MacKillop Courtyard for renovations (commencing Friday 7th Feb)

Frank Pisano
Principal

Dear Parents,

Many of the daily tasks we do at the College rely on technology and the various software services we offer. It is important that all students bring a fully charged device to school each day to make sure they can complete the tasks required of them and to ensure students gain the best education possible.  

We have many places within the College where students can charge their devices if required, as long as they bring their power supplies with them.  If you think this could be an issue, please don't hesitate to contact the College and ask for me.  I'll be more than happy to offer advice or assist you in the options the students have available.  

Kind regards 

Nathan Sharp (ICT Manager)

We are helping secure the future for our Tasmanian devil! 

Congratulations to students on raising $400.00 for the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal in 2019.
This support allows the Save the Tasmanian Devil Appeal to continue to fund cutting-edge research into Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) and monitoring programs across Tasmania. Together with other passionate individuals you are helping to fund: 

• Ground-breaking vaccine research 
• Monitoring and caring for devils in the wild 
• Community awareness and education 

Canteen 2020 Menu

Canteen Menu

According to a recent study in The Lancet* Child & Adolescent Health journal, 9 out of 10 Australian teenagers aren't doing enough physical activity as is recommended.

For kids aged 11 to 17 years old, exercise guidelines recommend at least an hour of physical activity a day. (This includes incidental movement, like walking to and from school or doing household chores, as well as formal exercise.) 

There is a growing trend of teenagers not participating in the recommended amount of physical activity a week and that includes students not bringing their PE uniform to school to avoid PE, having a day off on carnival days and not signing up for any extracurricular sports either through the school or even at club level.

What can you do to help?  With the Swimming Carnival scheduled for Friday 14th February and the Athletics Carnival at the end of the Term One, we ask parents to encourage their children to participate in the sporting opportunities that the College has to offer. 

As for us, as a school we make available to students at Recess and Lunch a range of sporting equipment to use. This week we provided yard games (including quoits, limbo & jenga) and the new POPP outdoor Ping Pong table is due for delivery in the next two weeks.

Further reading linked below:

Teens don't get enough exercise, so how can we support them to be more physically active?

Australian teens are among the world’s least active kids: Here’s what needs to be done

Aussie adolescents among least active in the world

AUSTRALIA: A SPORTING NATION AT RISK

In May, July & August this year Student Exchange Australia New Zealand will be welcoming a new group of exchange students from all over the world. These students are really excited to live with an Aussie host family, attend a local school for 3, 5 or 10 months and live like a local. Student Exchange Australia New Zealand are keen to hear from suitable families who might be interested to host a student and have a truly rewarding experience for the whole family. 

If any students, families or language teachers have any questions about hosting an exchange student or would like to view profiles of students arriving from other countries, they can email reply@studentexchange.org.au or call the Student Exchange Australia New Zealand office on 1300 135 331.