Dear Parents and Carers

The season of advent begins this weekend. On Sunday we light the first candle on the Advent Wreath as a sign of hope. As we enter into the Holy season of Advent, may you and your family be filled with hope, peace, joy and love.

Last Thursday Mrs Noeleen O’Neill (Principal of St Mary’s Primary School, Moruya), Mrs Jacqui Heffernan (Principal of Carroll College), Tim Smith (Performance & Improvement Leader, Catholic Education) and I met to discuss our K-12 Pathway and plan for 2022. The primary objective of the K-12 pathway is to improve student outcomes and provide South Coast families with a contemporary and high quality Catholic education. It provides a clear and continuous learning pathway and includes specialisation experiences, consistently high expectations, and longer term relationships from Kinder to Year 12. Our three schools work very closely together to align our school strategic and annual improvement plans and focus on sustained improvement in student outcomes across all schools. Last week the three schools discussed targets for 2022 and learning experiences across the three schools. Next week we are meeting to coordinate and plan our calendars for next year. Together we are working to provide students, parents and the community with continuity of education from Kinder to Year 12, through the development of a shared vision, mission, expectations and practices across the schools.

Parent Engagement

Parent engagement continues to be an important focus at St Bernard’s. “Parents and families are children’s first teachers and they continue to help their children to learn and thrive throughout the school years. When their family’s love and support is combined with the expert knowledge of teachers, it can have a significant and lasting impact:
• Children can be more likely to enjoy learning and be motivated to do well.
• Children can have better relationships with other children, improved behaviour and greater confidence.
• Children can do better at school and are more likely to graduate and go on to college, TAFE or university.
• Children can be less likely to miss days at school.”  
https://www.parentengagementcspa.edu.au/structure-planning-primary-principal 

I draw your attention to an article that can be read further on in this week’s newsletter on Parent Engagement. This was written by Paul Penberthy, parent at St Bernard’s and Parent Representative in the CCSP & CSPACG. I am sure you will enjoy reading about the impact parent engagement can have on your child’s education.   

Year 6 Graduation Mass, Awards
We are currently in preparation for our Year 6 Mass and Awards ceremony. This significant celebration will take place Friday, 10 December at 9.15am in the Church. It is a time of reflection for our Year 6 students as they remember their primary years at St Bernard’s. We also give thanks for the many blessings, and recognise the achievements of our senior students as they move into their secondary education. The Recognition Awards for Year 6 will follow Mass in the Church. On Thursday 9 December, Year 6 will handover leadership to our Year 5 students and our leaders for 2022 will be announced. If any student presents unwell with flu like symptoms, please do not send them to school. Seats will be allocated to guests at both events,. Please be aware that social distancing requirements must be met. Thank you for your support and assistance with these celebrations. 

Leadership 2022

Yesterday I had the pleasure of listening to the Year 5 SRC Speeches. I was so proud of the quality and delivery. It was truly incredible to see the number of students putting themselves forward and speaking so confidently in front of an audience. This is a testament to the preparation and confidence that has been built in their Year 5 classes. Thank you to Mrs Coggan and Mr Maynard. The leadership positions will be announced on Thursday 9 December at the Candle Ceremony.

Blessings on the week ahead.

Johanna Wain
Principal