Dear Parents and Carers

I hope your week is going well. This term some of our Year 6 students are about to take the next step in their faith journey as they receive the Sacrament of Confirmation. This is an important step in their faith journey as the students pledge their own commitment to being a Catholic. Last weekend in our Parish Newsletter, Phil Billington wrote “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”.

We are all witnesses and this is filtered through our work, lives and interactions that we have with each other. This weekend our Year 6 students will be making their Commitment to receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation at the weekend masses. All families are very welcome.  

This week at St Bernard’s we have had visitors from Catholic Education and Catholic schools to see the excellent teaching and learning happening across our classrooms. Patrick Ellis, Education Lead and Brendan Lee, a Primary School Assistant Principal in NSW came on Monday. Mr Lee has started a podcast, Knowledge for Teachers and has asked us to share our knowledge on what best practice looks like at St Bernard’s and how we have implemented change.

As early adopters in the Archdiocese, our teachers have been delivering evidence-based reading, writing and spelling instruction to help students learn specific language and to grow their knowledge and understanding of phonics and spelling. There has been a renewed focus on teaching and learning as we deliver explicit instruction. We are teaching with a low variance curriculum, with all teachers following the scope and sequence. Teachers have an excellent understanding of what needs to be taught and when.

Support Roles St Bernard’s

Mrs Sharon Beashel and Ms Jeni McCarthy lead our Classroom Support Team. The Classroom Support Team work to provide targeted support for individual students. We also have a team of 11 classroom support assistants who work throughout the school, trained to deliver specific programs that meet the social and learning needs of our students. Our Classroom Support Assistants include Mrs Amanda Fitzgerald, Mrs Michelle Burrows, Mrs Deb O’Brien, Mrs Theresa Hopman, Mrs Tracey Talbot, Mrs Jennifer Hyde, Mrs Dawn Penberthy, Ms Britney Spencer, Mrs Shani Briggs, Mrs Kristy Freeman, Ms MacKenzie Turner, and Mrs Jennifer Daly. The Classroom Support program at St Bernard’s is based on a team approach with all relevant people and agencies working together to support our students.

Mrs Schiefferly has the role of Student Welfare Officer. Mrs Schiefferly provides added support for our students’ social, emotional, and spiritual needs. As part of Mrs Schiefferly’s role, she provides much needed support to enhance students’ well-being (social, emotional, and spiritual). This added support and care assists students in many ways, either individually or in small groups.

Some of the programs being run through classroom support are:

• MacqLit
• MiniLit
• Reinforced Reading
• Corrective Reading
• Intensive Numeracy Support
• Extracurricular activities
• Extension in Years 3 & 4 Maths
• Opportunities for students to explore their interests/strengths outside the classroom, gardening, woodwork, code club, chess club, craft, mini vinnies.

Supervision of Students
Classes commence each morning at 8.42am and conclude at 2:40pm from Monday to Friday. The school grounds are open to students from 8:10am each morning and remain open to 3:00pm. There is no supervision provided before 8.10am and no responsibility will be taken by the school for any consequences of the activities of children outside those hours. Where students need to be at school outside of these hours for excursions or representative sports events, adequate supervision will be provided by staff. Recently there have been a number of students arriving before 8.10am. We ask that you please take note of the supervision times. 

Disco
Next Wednesday 24 May, our SRC are holding a disco to raise funds for Levi’s Project. Levi’s Project aims to develop a comprehensive and effective treatment strategy designed specifically for DIPG. The project builds on research previously done at Children’s Cancer Institute (CCI). CCI established Australia’s first-ever DIPG tumour bank, which contains samples of tumours from children with DIPG, and have tested a range of drugs against DIPG cells grown from these samples. 

Levi’s mum, Kathryn Wakelin was a past student of St Bernard’s and recently spoke at the Year 6 Leadership Day. Kathryn’s love of writing at school led her into a career in journalism where she worked for several well-known magazine publications. After the tragic death of her young son Levi to a rare form of brain cancer, Kathryn and her husband have dedicated their lives to raising funds for the Levi Project. 

Following Kathryn’s speech, the SRC were inspired to fundraise for this important cause. Children are invited to come to school dressed in mufti and bring in a gold coin donation to attend the disco on Wednesday 24 May. The disco times are as follows: 

• Kindergarten to Year 2: 11.20am – 11.50am 
• Years 3 & 4: 12.00 noon – 12.30pm 
• Years 5 & 6: 1.30pm – 2.00pm 

This is a great example of servant leadership, and we are very proud of our Year 6 leaders. 

Today and tomorrow I am hosting the Southern Region Principals' Meeting at St Bernard's. 

Blessings to you and your family. 

Kind regards

Johanna Wain
Principal

Dear Parents and Carers, 

This weekend children preparing for the sacrament of Confirmation will attend one of the two masses held in the parish. After the homily parents and children will promise to prepare for the sacrament. They will dedicate a time each week to pray together, to read scripture and to identify and share the gifts of the Holy Spirit that have been given to them. The church community will also commit to pray for the candidates and their families during their time of preparation.

The Sacrament of Confirmation is one of the three sacraments of Christian initiation. Confirmation completes Baptism, by which, in the laying on of hands and the anointing with Chrism Oil, which first happened at Baptism, we are confirmed with the fullness of the Holy Spirit. We are reminded of our participation in the ministry and mission of Jesus and strengthened to follow Jesus more closely.

Masses this weekend are Saturday evening at 5.00pm and Sunday morning at 9.00am. Everyone is welcome to attend.

God Is Great!

On Wednesday 24 May K-2 will be attending a show in the school hall called, “God Is Great.”

The Quiz Worx show explores two big reasons why the God of the Bible is so great; because he made everything, and he loves people. This is incredible news! The God of the Bible made the universe and everything in it and his love is greater than people could ever imagine. He loves people so much that he sent Jesus to rescue them. God is worth trusting! The show highlights this Good News and uses music, puppets, a magnetic story board and a fun re-telling of the parable of the lost sheep from Luke 15, called ‘Molly and the Good Shepherd’, to help children marvel at God’s greatness.

The show will be lots of fun for the infant children. 

National Sorry Day

The theme of National Sorry Day is, “Be a Voice for Generations.”

National Sorry Day, is also known as the National Day of Healing. It is an annual observance in Australia that is held each May to remember and acknowledge the mistreatment of the country's Indigenous peoples, particularly the forced removal of Indigenous children from their families, known as the Stolen Generations.

The 2023 theme encourages all Australians to be a voice for reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives – where we live, work, and socialise. 

Year 6 will lead us in an assembly and some children will have the opportunity to participate in the Bridge Walk.

We thank Trish Ellis, Mrs Hadley, Mrs McRae and Mrs Coggan for their planning of our Sorry Day activities.

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Begin With The Heart

Our BWTH focus over the next two weeks is - I RESPECT OUR SCHOOL RULES.  Students will be awarded merits and heart tokens for their efforts in these areas:

1. Treat each other with respect.

2. Help each other learn.

3. Keep ourselves and others safe.

4. Wear correct uniform properly.

5. Care for our school environment.

Our lucky draw will take place during our next assembly.

Blessings on your weekend

Sharon Beashel REC

Dear Parents and Carers

Tomorrow many of us will take part in National Walk Safely to School Day. Staff, students and family members will gather at Corrigan's Park, Batehaven by 8.00am, ready for a 8.10am departure. We will walk along the footpaths on Beach Road to school. All students and family members are invited to join us for this fun and healthy start to the day. Students are welcome to participate without a family member.

Gifted Awareness Week

Next week is Gifted Awareness Week, an area of passion for Year 4 teacher Mrs Keough. During Gifted Awareness Week, Mrs Keough will lead 'Trivia on the Turf' for students in Years 4 and 5 on Monday 22 May at lunch time.

Mrs Keough will provide information about the Da Vinci Decathlon in the coming week. The Da Vinci Decathlon is for students who are currently in Years 4 and 5 and is designed to stimulate and challenge students in various disciplines including engineering, mathematics and chess, code breaking, art and poetry, science, English, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy. Interested students and then those selected to continue, will be able to take part in preliminary activities this year in readiness for competing in our St Bernard's team for 2024.

More details about the Da Vinci Decathlon and other activities to celebrate Gifted Awareness Week will be shared in the coming weeks. Also check our school Facebook page for individual and family challenges during Gifted Awareness Week.

Sorry Day Bridge Walk

Next Friday 26 May is Sorry Day, which marks the beginning of National Reconciliation Week. Sorry Day signifies the day that Kevin Rudd, Prime Minister of Australia in 2008 apologised to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on behalf of our nation and acknowledged the generational trauma caused by government policy of taking children away from their families.

Year 6 will lead our school Sorry Day assembly next Friday at 8.45am. Following the assembly the students of Year 6, along with Aboriginal students from Years 2-6 will take part in the Batemans Bay Bridge Walk, joining with other school students and members of the community to acknowledge the significance of this day, walking in unity across the bridge. 

During Reconciliation Week we would like to begin the process of devising a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) for our school with the support of our community. A RAP is a formal commitment to reconciliation, documenting how our school will strengthen relationships, respect and opportunities for all all members of our school. We will be sending out a link to an online survey to hear the thoughts of our Aboriginal families and other members of our school community. A meeting will also be held at school on Thursday 1 June led by Trish Ellis and myself at 5pm-6pm for anyone who would like to be part of a working group to discuss and plan ideas for the RAP. A link to the survey and more information will be emailed to families in the coming days.

Have a wonderful weekend

Karen

This term Year 5 has been extremely busy with a variety of learning activities and events. 

In Literacy this term students are busy writing narratives, beginning with the novel  “The Riddle of the Trumpular”. In the next couple of weeks we will begin writing pieces for the Mayor's writing competition. We are looking forward to this opportunity to showcase our amazing writing skills.

Our Mathematical learning has been rich and diverse. Students are continuing with a combination of Daily Review and Maths Pathways. We have also had a focus on multiplication recall to assist with the more complex concepts that students encounter as they progress through modules of learning.

In Religious Education we are learning about the early establishment of the Catholic Church in Australia and creating biographies of significant figures who helped with the establishment. Mary Mackillop and her life story is a central focus

Our History inquiry unit is Colonial Australia in the 1800s. Students explore the founding of British colonies and the development of a colony. They learn about what life was like for different groups in the colonial period.

In our PE lessons with Mrs Holmes and class sport lessons we have begun preparation for the Athletics Carnival in week 10. Students will have several weeks of practice, with trials commencing after this period to select the students who will compete in the finals on the day of the carnival. It is sure to be a fun day for everyone involved. Thank you to Mrs Holmes for her preparation!

In Creative Arts students are investigating and recreating work from various early colonial Australian artists. They did an amazing job of their Margaret Preston flower prints.

Each Friday Year 5 gathers with their Kindergarten buddies. They have been great role models.

What an amazing start to Term 2, we are excited for the weeks ahead!

Rugby Touch Football Gala Day  

This week Year 3-6 had the opportunity to compete at the Touch football Gala Day at Captain Oldrey Park in Broulee. The weather was ideal. As with all of these days, the aim is to develop student’s skills and field positioning during game play.   

All of our teams had a great day with lots of tries scored and many happy faces. Thank you very much to Carroll College Sports Coaching students for sharing their expertise and leading many of our teams.  

Archdiocesan Cross Country

We have fourteen students competing at the Archdiocesan Cross Country in Canberra tomorrow. What a fantastic achievement for these students. We wish them fine weather and a great day. Congratulations to:

Raph C, Xavier L, Beatrix F, Brooklen S, Charlie M, Eva C, Harper B, Molly M, Annie F, Tomas C, Lawson M, Ruby B, Keira A, Isabella L.

Ang Holmes

Term 2

Week 3 Class Awards

Presented : Friday 12 May 2023.

Congratulations to the following children who received class award this week. It is great to see so many children working hard and receiving acknowledgment for their efforts. Well done to all!