Dear Parents and Friends,

Last Saturday Hunter C, Isabella L, Isla B, Arsh K and Alyssa D represented St Bernard’s at the Remembrance Service at the Honour Stone in Batemans Bay. Each year on this day Australians observe one minute’s silence at 11.00am, in memory of those who died or suffered in all wars and armed conflicts. We shall remember. Lest We Forget.

Yesterday our K-12 Executive Staff from St Mary’s Primary School, Moruya and Carroll College, Broulee, came together to discuss our K-12 Pathway focus and future planning. 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.
• Enable schools, along with the Parish Priests to devote greater time to the ministry of developing the Catholic Identity and Mission across the Region.
• Provide the Principals & Leadership teams of the schools in the Region with a forum to discuss the issues that affect the collective and individual schools in the Region.
• Develop some Policies, Principles for Decision-Making and/or procedures which will resource the decision-making for the collective and individual schools in the region.

Planning is well underway for 2024. Next year all Year 6 students will be able to experience Enrichment in the curriculum area, Science, at Carroll College. Further partnerships between the three schools will continue to be fostered through 2024.  

A reminder to families that our Year 6 students moving onto the College next year have their Orientation Day next Friday 24 November. A letter from the College outlining specific information regarding the day has been emailed to families. This is an exciting time for our Year 6 students as they transition through to secondary education. I’m sure they will enjoy their experience next week.

Staffing
Staffing for 2024 is almost finalised. I am confident I will be able to announce details within the next two weeks. We have been allocated 16 classes overall and it is the task of the Executive to best plan for the 2024 school year within these parameters. The configuration of classes next year is as follows:

3 x classes of Kindergarten and Year 1

2 x classes of Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, and Year 6

We always aim to keep our K-2 classes as small as possible because as you well know, the children aren’t as independent. Once the children begin in the Primary, they are gaining more confidence and capacity. In considering our enrolment patterns for next year, we don’t have the need to ’stage’ a class as we have done over the past couple of years. This is not to say that this will not happen again into the future but for 2024, we have 16 regularly formed classes. Please don’t be at all concerned about classes for next year. Class sizes have little to no effect on student achievement and engagement. It’s all about the quality of the teacher.

P&F Dinner
Our P&F members will celebrate together next Thursday at our annual Christmas Party. We are having dinner at the Catalina Golf Club. We are meeting 5.00pm for drinks, followed by dinner at 6.00pm. I look forward to thanking our P&F members for their work this year in supporting the school.

Kindergarten Orientation
Tomorrow we welcome our 2024 Kindergarten children to school for the morning for their second orientation session. Parents are invited to drop their child to their Kinder teacher at 9.00am, and return at 11.00am for collection. The details are as follows:

When: Friday 17 November 2023
Time: 9.00am – 11.00am
Where: Kindergarten classrooms
What to wear: Casual play clothes
What to bring: Hat, piece of fruit, morning tea

We look forward to celebrating this special milestone with our newest St Bernard’s students.

Claim the date Christmas Carols & Giving Service for the Vinnie’s Christmas Appeal
Each year St Bernard’s School supports the Vinnie’s Christmas Appeal by collecting vouchers for local families. On Wednesday 13 December, St Bernard’s is celebrating Christmas with family Carols. Kindergarten will be acting out the Nativity Story and each grade will be performing a Christmas song. Students will be asked to come dressed in Christmas colours. All donations will be presented to Vinnies at the Christmas Carols. 

Parent/Teacher Meetings
Parent/Teacher Conferences will be held in Week 9 on Monday 4 and Tuesday 5 December for parents and carers wishing to discuss their child’s progress or upcoming semester report. The interviews will provide you with an opportunity to discuss your child’s growth, celebrate their successes and plan future goals. 
Classroom Teachers will be available at the following times:

• Monday 4 December 8am - 8:45am and 3pm - 5pm 
• Tuesday 5 December 8am - 8:45am and 3pm - 6pm

Interview bookings can be made through COMPASS from Monday. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any support with making your booking. If you are unable to attend an interview on the dates listed, please email your child's classroom teacher and we will organise another time or give you a ring.  

Blessings on the week ahead. 

Kind regards

Johanna Wain
Principal