Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to Term 3. I hope you have had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday, and the students are now ready for another busy term!

I would like to begin by congratulating Beatrix F in Year 4. Over the holidays, Beatrix competed in NSW Country Championships in Forster. Beatrix is now the 10s Country Champion in Singles, Doubles and Mixed Doubles. Beatrix also came 8^th in the NSW PSSA Cross Country Championships and is now a reserve for the NSW team. Congratulations Beatrix on your sporting achievements, we are very proud of you.

STAFFING UPDATE
This term we welcome back Mrs Beashel from leave, it will be lovely to have her back. Thank you to Mrs Smith for stepping into the Religious Education role for Term 2. 

Ms Mackenzie Turner will be travelling for Term 3. Ms Islah Lopez will be fulfilling Ms Turner’s position as a Classroom Support Assistant, whilst she is on leave. We wish Ms Turner a wonderful overseas trip.

FIRST EUCHARIST
First Eucharist will be celebrated this term with our Year 4 students. Please keep them in your prayers as they prepare for this significant step in their Sacramental journey. The Sacrament will be celebrated on Sunday 22 September at 9.00am. All families are invited to join us at this special celebration. The Enrolment Evening for Parents will take place in Week 3 on Thursday 15 August. 

NAIDOC WEEK
St Bernard’s is celebrating NAIDOC Week in Week 1 and Week 2 of Term 3. Thank you to Trish who has been working on cultural art for each grade. Year 6 are leading our Assembly on Friday 2 August around the NAIDOC Theme. Our K-6 Aboriginal students and Year 6 students will be attending the NAIDOC Mass tomorrow, Friday 26 July at 11.00am at St Bernard’s Church. We are very excited to be hosting the Southern Region NAIDOC Mass.

This year’s theme chosen by the National NAIDOC Committee, is Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud. The theme honours the enduring strength and vitality of First Nations culture – with fire a symbol of connection to Country, to each other, and to the rich tapestry of traditions that define Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

CLASSROOM LEARNING TIME
At St Bernard’s we always strive to focus directly on creating a high performing culture, enabling the students in our care to reach their academic potential. As a staff we have professional conversations focused on teaching and learning, classroom management, student wellbeing, timetabling and class sizes. Educational research has confirmed that it is the teacher who has the greatest influence on improving student learning outcomes. The morning block is prime time learning for students in Literacy and Numeracy. Parents can assist in this matter too. Students need to arrive at school by the morning bell at 8:40am to ensure that they do not miss any element of their first lesson of the day.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

On Monday the staff came together for Professional Learning focusing on the following:

• Understanding each of the eight big ideas that underpins Catalyst and the evidence-based origins of each key idea.
• Knowing the implications for teaching practice of each of the eight big ideas.

Some of the key points from the day include:

• Retrieval practice is the act of deliberately bringing information to mind from memory rather than restudying it or being retaught it.
• The challenge in trying to recall a fact or answer improves our memory and learning. Using retrieval practice helps teachers identify gaps in students’ learning.
• Retrieval is something that happens in the brain. Through the act of retrieval, or calling information to mind, our memory for that information is strengthened in long-term memory and forgetting is less likely to occur.
• Research demonstrates that retrieval is a powerful learning strategy and using it during the lesson helps improve students’ understanding and retention of content. Retrieval practice should be used to engage all students, not just one student being called upon.
• Retrieval practice strategies can include unison oral responses, paired responses, individual responses using non-volunteers or using mini whiteboards.

Teachers are committed to ensuring best practice is implemented in the classroom. All teachers at St Bernard’s have engaged in professional learning on the Science of Learning and the Science of Reading. I have included the 8 Big Ideas that underpin Catalyst.   

COMMUNICATION

Classroom teachers communicate with parents each week through email, sharing what your child/ren is learning and information for the week ahead. If you have a question or concern, please don't hesitate to email your child's classroom teacher. Staff are not expected to reply to an email between 5.00pm and 8.00am. Regular communication between home and school is so important and should happen throughout the term. Please know our door is always open.

I am looking forward to catching up with families throughout the term.

Blessings on your family this week.

Warm regards

Johanna Wain
Principal

Dear Parents and Carers

I hope that you enjoyed the winter holiday break with your family. Students have returned to school in a positive way and are happy and well-rested, ready for another term of learning.

This week many classes have launched their Storyline learning with provocations and wondering experiences. Year 5 students participated in a simulation of finding gold in the school grounds while Year 1 and Year 2 have begun to explore the idea of being a zoologist. Storyline is an approach that brings learning to life, where teachers design opportunities for students to step into the lives of real life characters and eventually create their own 'storyline' as they acquire knowledge and understandings.

In the final week of Term 3, parents and other community members are invited into the school to view the Storyline learning in each classroom. Please keep Tuesday 24 September free in your diary for this special school event.

ICAS

ICAS is an educational assessment designed to target students’ higher order thinking and problem-solving skills in English, Mathematics, Science, Writing, Spelling and Digital Technologies. Students from Years 2-6 will have the opportunity to enter this online competition for subjects listed, with the exception of Writing, which is only available to students in Years 3-6. It is important to note that the assessments are targeted for students wishing to extend themselves academically and to take up the personal challenge of competing in an international assessment.
 
Every student who enters will receive a printed certificate and an online result report. Top performers in Australia will be eligible for medals and are invited to attend special award ceremonies to have their academic excellence publicly recognised.

 
ICAS Assessments Sitting Date Schedule
Digital Technologies        Monday 5 August
Writing (Years 3-6)         Tuesday 6 August
English                          Monday 12 August
Science                         Monday 19 August
Spelling Bee                  Thursday 22 August
Mathematics                  Monday 26 August

Cost for each Assessment (excluding Writing)- $19.95
Cost for Writing Assessment- $23.95

Online Parent Payment

If you would like your child to participate in any of the subjects listed above, please visit the online Parent Payment System to make a direct payment to UNSW Global. The Parent Payment System is a simple and secure online payment service specifically for parents to purchase ICAS Assessments. Payment can be made by electronic funds transfer (EFT) or credit card.

Your school access code is: GWI289

Your parent page link is: https://shop.icasassessments.com/pages/pps

 
Closing date for entry and the online payment system is next Monday 29 July, 2024

Please enter your child’s name accurately into the System as it will appear on their ICAS certificate. 
Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any questions.
 

Southern Region NAIDOC Mass

Aboriginal students, their families and all Year 6 students will attend the Southern Region NAIDOC Mass at the St Bernard's Church this Friday 26 July. The Mass will celebrate the history and culture of the students and community members of our regional Catholic schools, acknowledging this year's NAIDOC theme, Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud.

Students will walk to the St Bernard's Church from school at 10.45am and will return to school by 1.00pm following a sausage sizzle lunch. Mass will begin at 11.00am with a Smoking Ceremony and Welcome to Country delivered by Trish Ellis (OAM).

Child Safeguarding

Did you know that Catholic Education and our school has a Child Safe Policy which outlines our approach to child safety. This can be accessed on the Catholic Education Safeguarding Page, as well as our school website. We encourage you to visit this page and review our policy. As part of our approach to child safety, I work as Child Safe Advocate working closely with other staff regarding our approach and response to child safety matters. This approach involves pro active strategies to safeguard our students as well as responding to areas of concerns. The area of child safety includes many parts of a schools' operation, such as day to day activities, school events and school camps. We encourage you to contact us should you like to discuss this further. 

Behaviour Curriculum- Classroom Mastery Routines

As you may be aware, we explicitly teach routines for behaviour to support students to achieve their best at school in a calm and ordered environment. Introducing specific behaviour routines is part of Classroom Mastery which aligns with our pedagogical approach to teach with explicit direct instruction. This week we introduced the new routine and expectations for moving safely and efficiently from the playground at the end of recess and lunch time to the classroom areas. Going through these routines in an explicit way and providing opportunities to practice, assists all students to understand expectations and contributes to create a positive and responsible culture among the students. We are very pleased with the way the students have already responded to follow this routine.

Sport and Library Days Term 3

Please note the timetable below of the days where grades are required to wear their sport uniform and bring a library bag for borrowing this term.

On the occasion where a change might be required, teachers will communicate this in their weekly memo email.

School Calendar

Key dates for the term can be found on our school website in a google calendar. Please refer to the google calendar if you would like to see ahead to all events planned for the coming term. A link to the calendar is included here:

I hope that you enjoy the fortnight ahead. 

Kind regards,
Karen Hadley

SEVENTEENTH WEEK in ORDINARY TIME   YEAR B

We have often heard about Jesus feeding the 5000 because he cared about their physical comfort but have you ever wondered about the motivation of these people who trudged for miles without thinking of their own physical needs?

Fr Ciszek, a political prisoner in Soviet Russia between 1940 and 1963, wrote in his book ‘He Leadeth Me’ about the faith of many Russians during that period. After he was released from the mines in Siberia in the 1950’s he was moved from town to town and landed in Krasnoyarsk where the Catholics petitioned the authorities to allow him to be their priest and to reopen their church in spite of the repercussions that they may have incurred.

 Of them he wrote: “For them faith was a way of life; it was the centre of their life, of their day, and of all their actions.”

Two countries, two eras and these people shared such a thirst for their God.

How do I compare with these people?

When I attend mass how much attention do I give to the Word of God or the homily? Am I aiming to improve my life or simply to fulfil an obligation? How much time do I give to consideration of these words during the following week? How much attention do I give to my reception of the Eucharist?

Jesus continues to give us the bread we need, but our bread is the Body and Blood of Christ in the Eucharist. This itself is a miracle that occurs in every Catholic Mass. Do I really thank Jesus for giving Himself to me each time I receive the Host?

Perhaps I need to spend time daily with Him in reading a small section of the Bible and ask Him to guide what I need from that? Can I afford to give Him 15 minutes daily?

Deidre Herring

Dear Parents and Carers,

A big welcome back to Term 3. It was lovely to be able to greet many of you on Tuesday morning as you brought your children through the front gate. There are so many opportunities for us to gather and celebrate as a catholic community this term, beginning with our regional NAIDOC Mass this Friday morning and ending with the sacrament of First Eucharist in the final week of the term.

Some key dates for Term 3 for your diary

NAIDOC Week - “Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud.”

Regional Mass 11.00am St Bernard’s Church Friday 26 July     

First Eucharist - Sacrament of First Holy Communion

Family Enrolment Evening - Thursday 15 August 5.00-6.00pm St Bernard's Church

Family Commitment Mass - Saturday 24 August 5.00pm/ Sunday 25 August 9.00am

Sacramental Retreat Day - Carroll College Broulee Wednesday 28 August

Reconciliation before First Eucharist - Thursday 19 September

First Eucharist Mass - Sunday 22 September St Bernard's Church 9.00am

Assumption of Mary - Parish Mass Whole school attending  Thursday 15 August 9.00am

Year 2 Assembly and Grandparents Day

Morning Tea/Classroom visit Friday 16 August 8.45am 

Feast of St. Bernard - Parish Celebration

Mass Sunday & Parish BBQ Sunday 18 August 10.00am

Feast of St. Bernard - School  Celebration

Liturgy, French Morning Tea and Mini Olympics Tuesday 20 August

Fathers’ Day

Breakfast and Year 1 Assembly Friday 30 August 8.45am

I look forward to seeing you throughout the term at many of these events.

Blessings on your week,

Sharon Beashel

Religious Education Leader

A Glimpse of Year Three

Year Three have made a tremendous start to Term 3. They have enjoyed being reunited with their friends and reconnecting over wonderful stories about their holiday highlights. 

Towards the end of the last term, students in Year 3 participated in public speaking for the very first time. The topic for the Southern Region Public Speaking Competition was “If kids ruled the world…” We were extremely impressed with all students for their enthusiasm and willingness to participate in such a positive manner. Congratulations to Johann D and James P who have been selected to represent St Bernard’s at the Southern Region Public Speaking Competition in Week 3 of this term. 

During Literacy, students commenced reading our class novel “The Iron Man” by Ted Hughes. Our Daily Reviews have focused on identifying and writing compound sentences. We have also explored different sentence types such as statements, exclamations, commands and questions.

In Mathematics, during our Daily Reviews, we have explored place value, rounding numbers to the nearest ten, hundred and thousand, ordering fractions, reading time on an analog clock and identifying different angles, just to name a few things. 

In Visual Arts, students began creating a Keith Haring inspired Olympic pictogram. Students have been creating a freeze frame pose of an athlete competing in an Olympic sport of their choice. We will use sketching and collage techniques to put these together. We are very excited to show you the finished product in the coming weeks!

In Science, Year 3 began discovering the concept of Forces, using push and pull movements to control balloons!

During History, Year 3 has started exploring how communities have changed over time for our Storyline Unit. We introduced this unit by looking back at the history of the corner shop and how it has changed from 1850 to today. Students were amazed by how time consuming a visit to the corner shop was, as items were not pre-packaged and needed to be measured, weighed and wrapped before leaving the shop. 

We also went back in time to the 1950s and learnt about how challenging it was to run a household. There were no washing machines, televisions, dishwashers and the fridge was a block of ice in a cupboard. Students were also amazed by the fact there weren’t any snacks in the pantry and dinner consisted of foods like tripe. 

During sport, students have relished the opportunity to learn tennis skills with a partner. Over the coming weeks students will learn the modified rules of tennis so that they can participate in the Todd Woodbridge Cup later this term. Later on in the term, the students will participate in hockey clinics at St Bernard’s. 

We are very much looking forward to an amazing Semester 2 together. 

Year 3 Teachers 

St Bernard’s Athletics Carnival

At the end of Term 2 we held our annual Athletics Carnival. It was a lovely day held at Captain Oldrey Park in Broulee. Congratulations to the many students who performed well in their races. More than 350 students participated in and completed various track and field events. Parents and teachers were so impressed, commenting on the team spirit and enthusiasm of the students who participated in many events to support their House team. Our thanks to all those staff and parents who assisted in making the day such a wonderful event.

Students competed in age groups from Kinder to 13 years. All students who participated in field events, including trials, 800m, 200m and 100m received points in the House competition. The winning house was Clairvaux. Congratulations to all students, especially the House Captains and all the children who helped with leadership of the teams throughout the day.

Age Champions were awarded in each category.

Congratulations to:

Junior Champions Beatrix F and Raph C  Runner Up Champions Charlie M and Lucas V-DS

11yr Champions Lilly G and Arthur S-D Runner Up Champions Storm R, Georgina W, & Ollie L

Senior Champions Annie F and Brennan C Runner Up Champions Teagan W and Didier D

Beatrix F broke 3 records- Junior 100m, Junior 200m and Junior High Jump which I know that you would agree is an awesome achievement! Raph C set a new record in the Junior High Jump and Arthur S-D equalled the 11yr High Jump record. Congratulations to these talented athletes!

The following students have been selected to be part of the St Bernard’s team which will now compete at the Southern Region Athletics Carnival to be held in Bega on Thursday 8 August.

Harlo W, Sietta G, Tahiti H,Alyssa O, Hudson E, Lebron C, Ashton S, Arlo W, Indie F, Kate W, Astrid B, Charlene M, Annabelle T, Winter W, Yana K, Raph C, William O, Lehan D, Zaden F, Beatrix F, Charlie M, Aurelia S, Ruby H, Addison G, Lucas V, Noah S, Xavier L, George S-D, Remi C, Lilly G, Georgina W, Storm R, Sienna N, Indiana A, Chelsea M, Scarlett C, Paige L, Tomás C, Sion D, Ollie L, Arthur S-D, Ethan S, Liam C, Annie F, Teagan W, Romy B, Jayden G, Mia S, Gurnoor K, Matthew S, Tyler M, Brennan C, Didier D, Casey W, Korban S, Oscar J.

The students have already begun training in their lunch times and are very excited for a fun day.

Enjoy your week.

Angela Holmes