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Dear Parents and Carers
I hope you’ve had an enjoyable week. The term is certainly intensifying with significant sporting and academic activities in full swing. We have had a number of students across Years 5 and 6 travelling to represent our Archdiocese at different sports and in Week 4 we have students travelling to Canberra to represent our Southern Region in Cross Country. It is such a wonderful achievement for our students to reach this level and we are very proud of them. Last week we had a great week celebrating Catholic Schools’ Week. The purpose of the week is to celebrate our Catholic schools, highlighting our catholic identity and our inclusiveness. We are very fortunate to have a strong K-12 Pathway for Catholic Education on the Coast. Throughout Catholic Schools’ Week we joined together as a Catholic community for many events and purposes. The week started with St Mary’s joining us for the Year 6 Leadership Day. We continued our celebrations with the Years 3-6 Netball Gala Day, Teddy Bear’s Picnic and Open Day. Tomorrow our Year 6 students will be participating in Carroll Day at Carroll College. This is always a great day!
Royal Far West
At St Bernard’s we work very closely with Royal Far West to support our students and families. Royal Far West is Australia’s only national charity dedicated to improving the health and wellbeing of country children. They specialise in supporting children’s developmental, mental and behavioural health so they can reach their full potential.
RFW Community Recovery Program will be visiting St Bernard’s next week. Clinicians in residence will be Julia White (Clinical Psychologist), Jess Shonk (Social Worker), Billie Newton (Occupational Therapist) and Tamara Keogh (Occupational Therapist). During the week the clinicians will be assessing and observing some students as well as running their regular telecare therapy sessions from school.
The clinicians have offered to host a casual afternoon tea from 2.00-2.40pm. During the session they will share the Community Recovery Program supports including:
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Tuning in to Kids
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Teletherapy
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Child groups
All parents and carers are welcome to attend.
Cyber Safety
Senior Constable Donna Clarke, Batemans Bay Police School Liaison Officer, will be speaking to our Year 5 and 6 students next Monday 15 May. The focus will be on:
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Keeping safe online….
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The dangers associated with social media
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What platforms are the students using today and what age do you need to be?
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Should you be sharing information online?
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Inappropriate language and the consequences of using offensive language
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Cyber bullying – what this looks like and how we can put a stop to it
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Vaping and how harmful this is to our bodies
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How can I seek support if something has gone wrong on social media, who can we contact?
Technology continues to play a significant part in our world today for our young people. Children are using games/phones/iPads etc to connect with friends online and it is our role as parents to monitor the amount of time they spend online and be discerning how they are using technology. The Wellbeing Hub is a great resource for parents if you would like to find out more information being safe online. https://studentwellbeinghub.edu.au/parents/
School Uniform additions
We are very excited about some new uniform additions for St Bernard’s. Over the year our students represent St Bernard’s at various community and sporting events. Our P&F have agreed to support us to purchase the following:
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Running singlets - cross country & athletics
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Netball dresses - for trialists and perhaps inter-school competition
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6 x blazers for the leadership team
A sample of our new jacket has arrived. It looks great. Please feel free to pop into the office to have a look. Orders will be able to be placed in the next week and the jackets will arrive in time for Term 3.
Mother’s Day...
On behalf of the St Bernard’s Staff, a very Happy Mother’s Day to all our Mum’s for this Sunday, we hope you enjoy a lovely day with your family. Year 3 will be leading our Assembly tomorrow morning, thanking those who play a significant role as a mother figure in our lives. St Bernard’s would like to warmly invite all mothers, guardians, and grandmothers to attend school between 8.00am and 8.45am on Friday 12 May. We are inviting you to come in and visit classrooms with your child/ren and enjoy a pastry and a cuppa. I am sure the morning will be enjoyed by all. A special thank you to our P&F for organising the stall. I know how much the children enjoy trying to choose a gift for their special someone.
Blessings to you and your family.
Kind regards
Johanna Wain
Principal
Proclaim the Good News!
Proclaim the Good News! This is a phrase heard often, spoken quite easily and yet so challenging to put into practice. Everyone has an opinion of what being the Good News of Jesus should be – what it should look like!
Who are the witnesses to the Good News in our lives?
In society? In the world?
What is a Witness of the Good News? The First Reading from the Acts of the Apostles speaks to this when it recounts that ‘Philip went to a Samaritan town and proclaimed the Christ to them…the people united in welcoming the message Philip preached, either because they had heard of the miracles he worked or because they saw them for themselves.’ The witness is people seeing followers of Jesus living their beliefs, not just talking – not through huge miracles but often through the small miracles of helping everyday people who are suffering to have hope à the response of the Parish Pastoral Care volunteers, Vinnies and lots of community groups.
What are the qualities of the Witnesses to the Good News of Jesus? Perhaps the life of the late Fr Bob Maguire answers this question – life of unconditional love for the ‘unloved and unlovely’. A life that required selfless commitment and courage in all contexts. So these qualities are absolute conviction in God’s love and the mission of Jesus as the Second Reading, letter of St Peter states ‘if it is the will of God that you should suffer, it is better to suffer for doing right’. We all know witnesses in our lives, in our Parish – the everyday saints in our midst. They are people of joy bringing hope to others – living witnesses filled with the Holy Spirit! The Spirit, stirring in their hearts, sends them out to proclaim the good news through their daily lives – this is our opportunity too! The Gospel reassures us that God is with us.
This weekend’s Readings when speaking of God’s love and the call to be bearers of Good News also speak to the celebration of our annual Mothers’ Day celebration. This is a day of special thanksgiving to God for the love and care of mothers. Mother’s Day is always special, because Mother’s Day not only affords us the opportunity to give thanks for our mothers, but it is also a time to reflect on the loving attributes of God. Mothers embody the Good News and the unconditional love to which we are all called – whether we are biological mothers, foster mothers, loving friends – it is a day to celebrate unconditional love to those in need regardless of age.
Phil Billington
Dear Parents and Carers,
Yesterday I attended the Religious Education Network meeting in Canberra. The day began with Welcome to Country and a form of Meditative prayer called Lectio Divina. As evangelical leaders of our schools we were called to reflect on scripture from John’s Gospel “Jesus the True Vine.”
After prayer Archbishop Christopher spoke to us about the importance of Evangelisation. We worked in collaborative groups reading and discussing the key points of Archbishop Christopher’s essay on the topic.
Our session after morning tea was on Christian Meditation. Helen Bramanathan reinforced the Archbishop's directive that all schools in the Canberra Goulburn diocese must embed Christian Meditation into their schools’ agreed practice. I had the privilege of sharing our St Bernard’s journey with the group.
Thank you to Mrs Brady and Mrs Tyler for sharing this beautiful photo of KB during their Guided Christian Meditation today. You can feel the silence, simplicity and stillness of the group.
My network group for the remainder of the day included Religious Education coordinators from Adelong, Batlow, Braidwood, Braidwood, Calwell, Conder, Gundagai, Gowrie, Holder, Moruya, Tumut, Mackillop and Warramanga. It is always empowering to connect with fellow REC’s from such a diverse range of schools within our archdiocese.
Topics for afternoon rotations included the topics of: Crucial conversations, Pedagogical Leadership in Explicit Prayer and High Impact Teaching Practices.
Confirmation Enrolment
This is the final call for families wishing to enrol their child/children for Confirmation this term. The Family Enrolment will be held tonight (Thursday 11 May) in St Bernard’s church. The meeting will begin at 5.00pm and conclude by 6.00pm.
Thank you to the families who have replied via Compass, it is appreciated.
Virtue of Character – Honesty
Honesty is a core value that we acknowledge at St. Bernard’s. Honesty is speaking the truth and acting in a way that doesn’t aim to trick or deceive others. It includes owning up to our mistakes, taking responsibility for our words and actions, and telling the truth, even when it’s easier to lie. Honesty is even written into one of the commandments.
St. Anthony Mary Claret (1807-1870) is one saint who demonstrated this value.
Anthony lived honesty by writing and printing pamphlets on the Catholic faith to his parishioners in Cuba.
BWTH Awards
Congratulations to the following students who have received Begin with the Heart Awards this fortnight. Our school focus has been on the core value of Responsibility: wearing our school uniform with pride. Mrs Wain has spoken to many class groups over the past two weeks about wearing the correct uniform to school.
George S- D- Responsibility, Eva C- Kindness, Aurelia S- Responsibility, Stella F – Responsibility, Brooklen S, Isabelle S, Imogen R, Elijah McG, Malkiel G, Hayley D, Hendrix C, Bexley B, Hudson A, 4K students, Leila K – Respect Levi O- Kindness, Asher A, Jasper G, Kyla S, Emerson B, London B, Lebron C, Annabel H, Daniel S, Charlotte C, Logan H, Alvey A, Joseph S, Valentina D, Beau L, Aidan S, Joseph O'S, Imogen R, Alexis D, Xavia W and Rogan H.
Invitation to Parents and Carers - Royal Far West Community Afternoon Tea
When: Monday 15 May from 2.00-2.45pm
Where: iCentre
Topics: Tuning Into Kids, Teletherapy and Child groups
Please respond via the front office if you are attending
For all mothers and mothers-at-heart, thank you for your care and kindness.
Blessings on your weekend.
Sharon Beashel
Religious Education Coordinator
Dear Parents and Carers
We look forward to seeing many mothers, grandmothers and special people who have a mothering role in the lives of the children tomorrow morning. It will be lovely to welcome you in to school for the classroom visit with your child. Pastries and a cuppa will be served from 8.00am when classrooms are also opened. You are also very welcome to join us for the Mother's Day Assembly led by Year 3 in the hall at 8.45am.
Personal Learning Pathway Meetings
This week I have had the pleasure of meeting with many students, their parent and class teachers for a Personal Learning Pathway meeting. The meetings, for Aboriginal students in Years 1-6 are an opportunity to connect with families and to work together to support students to achieve learning goals in literacy and numeracy as well as a cultural goal. Trish Ellis attended the meetings where possible, providing insight and ideas for the best cultural goal to suit each student. We thank everyone involved in the meetings.
Mother's Day Stall
The Mother’s Day Stall will begin after the Assembly tomorrow in the iCentre. This will be a great opportunity for your child/ren to purchase a gift. Gifts will range from $1 to $6. Please remember to send in money if you would like your child to purchase a gift as the Qkr! option is now closed. Thank you very much to the P & F who have organised the stall, donated some handmade gifts and will be assisting tomorrow with the sales.
National Walk Safely to School Day
All students and family members are invited to participate in National Walk Safely to School Day with St Bernard's staff next Friday 19 May. We will gather at Corrigan's Park, Batehaven near the playground and will depart for the walk to school at 8.00am. We hope that you can join us for this community event, where we can share in the benefits of promoting a healthy and active lifestyle.
Netball Gala Day
Last week Year 3-6 had the opportunity to compete at the Eurobodalla Netball Cup. It was a fantastic day held at Captain Oldrey Park in Broulee. We had 15 teams who had a wonderful day developing their skills and knowledge of the rules and positioning in Netball. Thank you very much to Carroll College Sports Coaching students for sharing their expertise and leading many of our teams. It is wonderful to see the younger students learning so much from the older students. Our students were fabulous, winning many, if not all their pool games. On the bus ride home they told their teachers they would definitely like to participate again because it was so much fun.
We now have the opportunity for another Gala Day for Year 3-6, playing Rugby 7’s touch football. Permission and payment closes on Monday afternoon, so please discuss with your children if they would like to be part of a team. These days are wonderful chances to build friendships, get outside and develop skills in a new sport.
