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Dear Parents and Carers
Last week, I attended the Principals’ Retreat in Bowral with Director, Ross Fox, Leaders from Catholic Education and Principals from across our Archdiocese. The retreat leader was Sr Margaret Ghosn. Sr Margaret is the Principal at Maronite College of the Holy Family, Sydney. Our focus was on "In the Image of God - Christian Anthropology". Sr Margaret spoke about our role as leaders in Catholic schools and why parents choose our school. Since Sr Margaret spoke to us last week, I have been reflecting on why our families choose St Bernard’s. My hope is that you feel welcomed and that your child/ren knows that we are here to support and encourage them to aspire to be the best version of themselves. We warmly welcome all families to St Bernard’s and hope to share with you the difference that a Catholic education at St Bernard’s can make to your child. As we continue in the season of Lent, it is a good time to reach out to others and remind those around us of the light that is present in each of us. Compassion, Integrity and a commitment to presence are key aspects of being an authentic leader. St Bernard’s staff are committed to supporting your child to grow both spiritually and academically and it is my hope is that you feel the trust between home and school.
This week we welcomed Rhys to Year 6C. We look forward to you and your family being part of our community.
Drama/Art Therapy Workshops
Over the past two terms, we have observed an increase in need in the well-being space for our students on the back of so much trauma and distress over the past years. There has been a general theme of children struggling with anxiety, social connection, self-awareness, acceptance of self and others as well as challenges around forming and recognising healthy relationships and supportive friendships. In response to this increasing need, the students have participated in the Journey of Hope program over the last few years. This year we have met with The Family Place and are going to run some workshops with Years 3-6, with a focus on art and drama. The workshops will also tune students into their feelings, focusing on respectful and healthy relationships. I will continue to provide information on the program in Term 2. Thank you to The Family Place for their support in this area of need.
St Patrick’s Day
Tomorrow, Friday 17 March, St Bernard’s is celebrating St Patrick’s Day! The children can come dressed in green mufti clothing (for example a t-shirt, ribbon, shorts etc) for St Patrick’s Day. Please ensure that your child wears sensible clothes, closed in footwear and a hat.
Claim the date!
Our official enrolment period starts at the beginning of Term 2. It is great to see that we are already receiving applications. Please encourage any families with Kindergarten students starting in 2024 to attend Open Day and complete an Enrolment Form at https://enrolments.stbernardsbb.nsw.edu.au/nsw-enrol/start This will provide a snapshot of St Bernard’s, capturing life at ‘Big School’. Open Day will be held Term 2 Week 2, Thursday 4 May.
Parent Workshop on Literacy
Dr Lorraine Hammond has been working with the staff of St Bernard’s since 2020, focusing on the Science of Learning and the Science of Reading. On Thursday 4 May, Dr Lorraine Hammond will be facilitating a parent workshop on how the brain learns to read, the best way to teach it and how you can help at home. Please refer to the flyer in the newsletter for further information. I would encourage parents to attend as I know you will receive some valuable information that will support the partnership between home and school.
Webinar: Anxiety and Resilience
Dr Justin Coulson is the co-host and parenting expert on Channel 9’s Parental Guidance. He has a PhD in Positive Psychology & is one of Australia’s leading parenting experts. Please find the flyer with further information on a webinar focusing on the important topic of Anxiety and Resilience. This free webinar will be delivered by Dr Justin Coulson PhD for parents, carers, and staff in NSW and ACT Catholic schools. This webinar will be held on Wednesday 29 March at 7.00pm.
Assemblies
During the term grades take it in turns to lead assemblies on a Friday at 1:45pm. These assemblies enable us to recognise and celebrate the learning happening in the classroom and present awards to the students who are ready to learn and exemplify our St Bernard’s school values. The names of the award winners are placed in the newsletter. Parents, grandparents and community members are invited to attend. Please keep an eye out for upcoming assemblies on the parent Compass calendar or our Google Calendar.
Blessings to you and your family.
Kind regards
Jo
“It is a terrible thing to see and have no vision”
This quote from Helen Keller is thought provoking and, in some ways, highlights some features of this week’s readings. Vision, sight, light, dark, blindness are all mentioned in the readings and used in pairs of opposites e.g. light/dark, faith/unbelief which could demonstrate or be seen as having theological meaning. What is the message for us as we continue on this Journey Together through Lent and towards Easter?
Samuel tells us that “God does not see as we do but looks at the heart.”
The reading from Ephesians suggests that now we are children of light we should allow the light to transform us so we can live as true disciples.
It is in the Gospel that we find a deep, enriching thought-provoking story emerge, encapsulating all that Helen Keller’s quote suggests. We become aware that there are two groups in this story-a man who is blind, and another group referred to as people and the Pharisees. Whilst there is no explanation about the circumstances of the man’s blindness, reaction towards him was the typical view of the time: suffering was a punishment for something. Jesus then complicates the issue further by His healing and restoring the man’s sight on the Sabbath no less, and thereby irritating the authorities again.
Two parties on a journey- both believing they will find the “light”- the man hoping his “sight” will be restored and the Pharisees sure that their laws and regulations will insure their “light”.
As the man is cured of blindness, he moves beyond the physical into the spiritual light. Whilst he showed great courage by speaking up and acknowledging Jesus, the other group (Pharisees) stayed rigid in their attitudes, thus moving away from the light and into darkness.
Who or What will we see as we continue this Lenten journey? Will we be able to address our own spiritual blindness? Openness to God requires us to see beyond ourselves, move out of our comfort zone and be more aware that God looks at the heart, not seeing things as we see them. It is comforting to know that God is walking this journey with us - may we seek His light as our guide.
“All the darkness in the world cannot extinguish the light of a single candle”
St Francis of Assisi
Ken and Carolyn Evenden
Dear Parents and Carers,
This week on our school calendar it is called Fallow Week. You may have heard this technique referenced to farming. Farmers might leave parts of their land fallow hoping to allow the land recover from its previous planting. To give it rest before a new planting and growing time begins.
Like the analogy of a farmer and their land, God encourages us to reflect and be at rest. We ask that God our Father be with us during this fallow week as we surrender every experience, every unhealed hurt, unresolved issue, and unmet need to Him.
Project Compassion – Caritas Australia
Year 5 have been learning about Project Compassion and Caritas Australia in their Religious Education classes. A focus of their learning has been understanding how Laxmi’s life has been helped by Caritas and the funds raised through Project Compassion.
Laxmi is 16 years old. She lives with her mother and siblings in Jajarkot, a remote district in Nepal where many people live below the poverty line.
Even though her family did not have much money, Laxmi’s parents were determined that their daughter go to school.
Laxmi loved going to school. She joined a child’s club at her school that was run with the support of Caritas Australia’s partner, Caritas Nepal. The club helps students participate in extracurricular activities to develop their speaking, writing and leadership skills.
The children also organise awareness-raising activities, including public rallies and street dramas. They also put up posters about different issues such as child rights.
Laxmi has now finished school, but she is still involved in the child’s club. Now, she helps guide the next generation of young leaders.
Families can make a difference for others by popping coins into your Project Compassion Box during Lent or making donations at https://www.caritas.org.au/donate/a-just-world-for-all/
Mini Vinnies Team
Mr Norris from the St. Vincent de Paul Society will present our 2023 Mini Vinnies Team with their badges tomorrow at the Year 4 Assembly. Our 23 newly elected students have been very busy supporting Breakfast Club and gardening projects this term.
Congratulations to: Romy B, Jayden G, Isla B, Golden P, Lucy J-P, Annie F, Didier D, Sienna B, Mia A, Gurnoor K, Amaya B, Jayden B, Mia S, Indi T, Dusti-Rae L, Maddy B, Storm R, Dante T, Ava GN, Jamian G, Tomas C, Seth L and Dayton J, Addison G, Harley F, Annalise J-P, Annie W.
Blessings on your weekend
Sharon Beashel REC
Dear Parents and Carers
This week students in Year 3 and 5 began the NAPLAN assessments. Most of these are taking place online in the iCentre, with the exception of the Year 3 Writing task, where students completed a pencil and paper assessment. We are hopeful that the students feel well equipped to complete the assessments over the next week and to show all that they have learnt in the key curriuculm areas of Writing, Reading, Conventions of Language and Numeracy.
Student Learning Engagement
Teachers use student engagement norms in their explicit teaching to ensure that there is full participation of all learners. The engagement norms, as listed below, are part of the evidenced-based high impact teaching strategies (HITS) that are known to support student learning and the transfer of new content to long term memory. At St Bernard's we are fortunate to be coached by expert teachers, to refine the delivery of the curriculum, using HITS such as the student engagement norms below. Dr Lorraine Hammond will be coaching in our school early next term and will also be providing information for parents about the explicit teaching of literacy in an afternoon sessioin. You may like to ask your child about the way they participate in their classroom using the norms during their lessons. More information about the Parent Session can be found later in this newsletter.
Welcome BBQ and Disco and the P&F
Next Thursday evening at 5pm we look forward to seeing you and your family at the Welcome Disco and BBQ, held in the Lean-to area at the end of the school. School staff will be cooking the BBQ and the P&F will be selling drinks on the night. The P&F have extended an invitation to all parents, carers, grandparents, aunts and uncles to be involved in their fundraising and community building initiatives during the year. If you would like to be a part of the P&F by attending a planning meeting once a term, assist in the canteen or just lend a hand at one or two school events, the P & F would love to hear from you!
I hope that you have an enjoyable weekend.
Karen Hadley
It has been such an exciting start to the school year for our youngest school members! Kindergarten students have settled well into life at ‘big school’, making new friends and embracing all learning opportunities.
Students are highly engaged during ‘Let’s Decode’ phonics lessons, and they approach ‘Daily Review’ in both English and Maths with unbridled enthusiasm! Students particularly enjoy playing ‘sentence hoop jumping’ and ‘robot spelling’ games in English.
In Mathematics, students are motivated by opportunities to work with concrete materials, particularly when partitioning numbers to 10. The use of 10-frames and ‘Friends of 10’ matching games have been a particular highlight over the past week.
Students revel in the opportunity to share their whiteboard work with peers and teachers during Explicit Instruction lessons, using the ‘chin it’ and ‘turn and talk’ strategies to showcase their work. Kindergarten teachers have been so impressed by the way students have adapted to these classroom routines.
Afternoons in Kindergarten involve a variety of engaging activities, all of which are linked to curriculum outcomes. Many of these activities incorporate hands-on learning experiences, offering students an opportunity to apply knowledge and skills gained during explicit teaching times. The afternoon rotations are based upon the Key Learning Areas of; Religious Education, Personal Development and Health, Science, History, Geography, Creative and Performing Arts, as well as incorporating Literacy and Numeracy. These sessions offer students the chance to express their understanding through writing/drawing, artwork, construction, discussion, technology and play.
Tuesdays and Fridays are always fun in Kindergarten, as students venture around the school to attend Science, Information Technology, Performing Arts and Physical Education lessons with specialist teachers. Wednesdays are also a highlight, with the inclusion of Dhurga and Library lessons.
Of all the thrill inducing events to date, none have rivalled the joy of meeting Kindergarten’s Year 5 buddies! Kindergarten students are so proud to have made friends with an older student. They have attended Mass, a shared reading session and several special lunchtime picnics with their buddies. The classes have plans for many more fun times together in the near future.
Kindergarten students are to be commended on the levels of growth and achievement they have already demonstrated during their first weeks at St Bernard’s. It is such a joy to see the happiness and pride on the children’s faces as they master new skills and form new friendships. The staff and students of St Bernard’s feel very privileged to welcome these amazing little people into our school community and can’t wait to see what the next weeks and months will bring!
Archdiocesan Netball and Rugby League trials
Congratulations to Ruby B, Annie F, Parker W, Molly W and Isabella L who attended the Archdiocesan Netball trials on Tuesday. They were undefeated all day and were crowned Canberra-Goulburn champions- a fantastic achievement after playing back to back games all day. Molly and Isabella have been selected to attend the MacKillop trials next term to compete against Netball teams from Catholic schools across NSW. Also on Tuesday, Tyler M and Campbell R played in the 11yrs Rugby League competition. It was a fun but very tiring day and the boys are to be congratulated on the high level of skill they displayed throughout the day. Tyler has been selected to play Rugby League for Canberra-Goulburn at the MacKillop trials. Another fantastic achievement to be playing against the best in his age group. Thank you to the wonderful families who supported the students throughout the day.
Angela Holmes
