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Dear Parents and Carers
On Monday we will celebrate the Feast of the Assumption with Years 3-6 students attending the Parish Mass and our K-2 students participating in a special prayer. The feast day of the Assumption of Mary celebrates the Christian belief that God assumed the Virgin Mary into Heaven following her death.
Father in heaven,
all creation rightly gives you praise,
for all life and all holiness come from you.
In the plan of your wisdom
she who bore the Christ in her womb
was raised body and soul in glory to be with him in heaven.
May we follow her example in reflecting your holiness
and join in her hymn of endless love and praise.
We ask this through Christ our Lord.
Amen.
We continue to keep our Year 4 students in our prayers as they are preparing to receive the Sacrament of Eucharist with their family.
National Science Week
Next week we are celebrating National Science Week at St Bernard’s. The theme for National Science Week in 2022 is Glass: More than meets the eye. “It is based on the UN International Year of Glass. It will celebrate the many roles that glass plays in our lives – from phone screens to optical fibre to glassware in labs – plus investigating glass as a part of our sustainable future. The uses for and intrinsic nature of glass in science make it a suitable topic for investigation across all strands of science education”. Mrs Tyler has been busy planning and preparing some exciting activities for the students to participate in next week. We look forward to sharing their learning through Facebook.
School Musical – Term 4
Kindergarten to Year 6 have been actively involved in the drama, musical, and dance elements of Performing Arts through the project-based exploration of the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang musical production. 28 talented students from Years 5 and 6 auditioned for lead roles in Term 1 and have been enthusiastically practising to form our lead cast. Every year group has an individual feature item to showcase the talents of all our students.
Date: Thursday 20 October
(Week 2, Term 4)
Time/s: Matinee 1.00pm
Evening 5.30pm
Venue: St Bernard’s Hall
Cost: $10 p/family or $5 individual
Building Update
We are getting very close to the Canteen and Toilets finishing. Next week Mrs Hadley and I will be part of a handover meeting on Tuesday 16 August with Catholic Education and the builders. If everything goes to plan, the toilets will be open next Wednesday and the Canteen will open on Wednesday 24 August. Karen Cheeseman will be back next week preparing for the big opening. We will send out further information next week with our new canteen menu. The refurbishments look amazing!
Late Arrival/ Early Departure
Last week we installed a new sign in/sign out system at the Front Office. If a student is arriving late to school, parents are asked to walk their child/ren into the Front Office and sign them in on the Compass Kiosk. Alternatively, if you are collecting your child/ren early, we ask you to please sign them out. Only registered adults will be allowed to sign your child in and out. An Attendance note is created within the school’s Compass portal and the child’s class roll is automatically updated.
Blessing to you and your families.
Johanna Wain
Principal
LIVING FAITH IN THE EVERYDAY
August 8 heralds the celebration of the Feast Day of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop!
Mary is our Saint – a down to earth woman who ‘saw a need and did something about it’!
Listening to the Readings and Prayers at Mass all leads to understanding that Mary is a Saint for our times.
Her grounded spiritual approach to life enabled her to travel to establish new foundations and to meet the needs of the sisters and the needs of the times. Her journeys took her to many places by many means of transport. As a woman of her time, she imbibed a remarkable knowledge of the land and the conditions that ordinary Australians endured. She responded with compassion and the ‘down to earthness’ which is the hallmark of the Josephite Sisters today. Mary responded to God by using her gifts.
Mary, like all of us, was given gifts to use for the Kingdom. It is up to us to discover them, to use them in our lives, not to hide them and refuse to acknowledge their worth.
Let us look at the gifts Mary had in her life:
- Her faith enabled her to accept whatever happened as gifts from a loving Father.
2. Her faith encouraged her to share it, so that it would enrich the lives of others as well. - There was a tenacity about her that probably came from her Scottish genes, and a practical outlook on life. Her feet were firmly fixed on the ground.
- Her personality drew others to her—not only young women, but those she met during her travels and her work, men, women and children. Mary obviously had a sense of humour.
The Solemn Blessing at the end of Mass is worthy of our reflection:
Through the example of St Mary of the Cross may we learn to recognise God’s will for us and trust in God’s providence.
May Mary’s life of service awaken in us a deep respect for the poor and a strong will for justice.
May we share in her courage, see with the eyes of Christian love, and learn from her witness.
Dear Parents and Carers,
It was a meaningful start to our week as we acknowledged the Feast of Mary MacKillop. Classrooms focused on Mary and students had the opportunity to sing songs, write prayers, and learn more about her.
Mary MacKillop lived a life of deep personal faith in God, modelled on the example of Jesus. Mary’s ordinary way of being in the world, with her God and with her neighbour, enabled her to transcend significant hurdles and make a powerful difference to Church and society. As a woman of faith in action, Mary clearly read the signs of her times, attending to the real and practical needs of people around her, and radiated Jesus to the world. We ask that we are continually strengthened by Mary’s example as we live our daily lives.
We also remembered the sisters of St Joseph who supported our community of Batemans Bay for over eighty years.
St. Bernard’s Day
Our School Feast Day will be celebrated next Friday 19 August. St Bernard’s Day is a special opportunity for us to learn more about the traditions of our school and reflect on the life of St Bernard, who loved learning. The day will be lots of fun with a special morning tea and activity choices after lunch.
St Bernard’s Day – French Theme
Dress: Mufti - Red, white, and blue
Morning Tea: Croissants and chocolate milk
Afternoon: Free activity choice
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux - Abbot and Doctor of the Church 1090 – 1153
August 20 - Memorial - Patron Saint of the Cistercian Order, beekeepers, and candlemakers
Mass
Next Monday 15 August, we will celebrate the Assumption of Mary. To honor this holy day of obligation Years 3 -6 students will attend the Parish Mass at 9.00am. Infant grades will remain at school and reflect on Mary during a special liturgy in the hall.
We are looking forward to having students attend parish masses in the coming weeks. Year 6 along with their buddies from Year 1 will attend Mass this Friday between 9.00am - 9.30am. During Mass students will have the opportunity to listen to scripture, respond to prayers and receive the Eucharist or a special blessing from Father Tom.
Prayer
Come Holy Spirit, refresh and renew us,
draw us deeply into your love,
soften our hearts,
rouse our spirits,
and enable us to respond with generous hearts to life.
Help us to recommit ourselves to Jesus’ way of radical hospitality
in our homes,
in our communities,
in our workplace.
St. Joseph, dreamer and practical one,
help us live this commitment in our everyday life.
May the whole of creation rejoice in God’s justice and live in God’s peace.
We pray with confidence and faith in Jesus
Amen
Sharon Beashel
REC
“Find happiness in making others happy.”
St. Mary MacKillop 15 September 1890
Dear Parents and Carers
St Bernard's Webinar Q&A
As a school who has been successfully implementing Explicit Direct Instruction for over two years, we were asked to present a webinar for our colleagues in the Canberra Goulburn Archdiocese this week on the topic of the High Impact Teaching Strategies in K-2. In a Q&A format, we answered questions related to the effect of Explicit Direct Instruction on student learning in K-2, the role of collaboration in our school to make this a success, the impact on teachers implementing the pedagogy and we offered advice to other teachers in our system who were starting the journey of implementing Explicit Direct Instruction. We had a large audience online and received very positive feedback from our colleagues and words of congratulations for the improved student learning outcomes that we were able to describe. It is certainly a team effort at St Bernard's to deliver high impact teaching strategies and everyone should be commended for this.
Student Absences
Explaining when your child is absent from school is a legal requirement. We encourage parents to use the Compass portal to add an attendance note, using the mobile app version or if you prefer, using a PC. Parents select a reason for the absence from a drop down menu, type in any details or comments and the start and finish dates. This updates automatically and will be immediately reflected in our class rolls. If you require any support with this, please do not hesitate to make contact at the office. We ask that you attend to all unexplained absences for your child/children as a priority.
Have an enjoyable weekend.
Karen Hadley
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang rehearsals have begun! Students in all grades across the school have been working hard on their songs and dances for the upcoming performance. This term in Performing Arts lessons students have been learning the choreography to their allocated songs up in the hall.
The Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Jnr Musical will be held in Term 4. Below are the list of songs for each grade if your child would like to give you a sneak preview at home.
Kinder | Hushabye Mountain |
Year 1 | Doll a Music Box |
Year 2 | Chitty Chitty Bang Bang |
Year 3 | Truly Scrumptious |
Year 4 |
Teamwork & Bombie Samba |
Year 5 |
Toot Sweet & Chu Chi Face |
Year 6 |
Old Bamboo & Circus Type performers |
Finale | All grades |
Southern Region Athletics
Congratulations to the following students who competed at the Southern Region Athletics last week. They were fantastic ambassadors for our school and competed with great pride and enthusiasm.
Beatrix F, Charlie M, Addison G, Ruby H
Lucas V, Xavier L, Levi T, Quinn S
Lilly G, Mia A, Eva H, Storm R
Arthur S-D, Harper B, Ethan S, Ollie L, Finn H
Annie F, Teagan W, Jayden G, Lily S, Isabella D
Brennan C, Didier D, Logan Pr, Matthew S, Chase W,
Keira A, Ruby B, Hailey I, Molly W, Caprice F, Isabella L, Maicee D
Brodie M, Samuel S-D, Alecsander E, Lawson M, Rogan H, Lachlan J
Elyssa W, Amy C, Remi C, Mishell F, Estella G, Isabelle J
Ashton W, Samuel H, Michael H, Jackson F, Lukas C, Ethan K,
Jasper S, Harry B.
Thank you to Mrs Brady, Mrs Coulter and all our fantastic parents who supported the students in Bega.
Twenty three students now travel to Canberra to compete at the AIS Athletics complex on Tuesday 23 August in the Canberra-Goulburn Athletics Championships. We are very proud of your success and wish you well in your training.
NSW PSSA Golf Championships
A huge congratulations to our Year 6 student Lachie B who will play in the NSW State Golf titles from Monday 5 - Wednesday 7 September. He will play at two different courses over three days. Lachie you are playing very well and we hope you thoroughly enjoy this fantastic experience.
Angela Holmes
Term 3
Week 3 Class Awards
Presented : Friday 5 August 2022.
Congratulations to the following children who received class awards this week. It is great to see so many children working hard and receiving acknowledgment for their efforts.
Well done to all!
KB: Juliette D, Rohan M, Sally S, Imogen T. |
KBH: Tahiti H, Joseph O'S, Aidan S, Layla V. |
1C: Rory B-S, Cooper M, Kate S, Annabelle T. |
1M: Bexley B, Layla S, Toby S, Mikayla S. |
2S: Madeline C, Macy L, Angus P, George S-D. |
2T: Lucy B, William M'N, Brooklen S, Annie W. |
S1J: Ruby H, Charlie M, James P, Sarah S. |
3DH: Paige L, Molly M, Lucas V D S. |
3W: Taj-Raiden B, Charlotte F, Lilly G, Holly L. | 4C: Jayden G, Benjamin D'V. |
4K: Sienna B, Brennan C, Joshua M, Storm R. | 5D: Isla B, Arsh K, Amanda N. |
5M: Lachlan J, Lily S, Xavia W, Shaylann G. |
6F: Mishell F, Michael H, Noah O'S. |
6M: Estella G, Alexander McD, Joshua T. |
2022 NSW Premier's Reading Challenge
1 WEEK TO GO!!!
Have you entered your reading log yet?
All student’s from K-2 will be participating during class time. Teachers will read eligible books and entries will be completed by the school.
Students in Years 3-6 are encouraged to participate by recording the titles of books they have read this year. To complete the challenge students are simply required to read 20 eligible books and enter these titles on-line before the closing date on 19 August 2022. Student log-in details remain the same each year and a copy of these is with your child’s classroom teacher or Mrs Hopman in the iCentre.
Thank you to all the amazing readers who have already completed the challenge!
For further details and booklists please visit: www.premiersreadingchallenge.nsw.edu.au
Theresa.Hopman@cg.catholic.edu.au