Dear Parents and Carers

I hope all our fathers enjoyed a wonderful morning last Friday celebrating Father’s Day. A huge thank you to the St Bernard’s Staff who prepared and cooked the breakfast for everyone. It was definitely a team effort.

Eight of our students were finalists in the Little Sellers Art competition at the BAS exhibition centre in Moruya. Congratulations to all students. Arsh K of Year 6 was the Overall Winner of the Little Sellers Art Prize and Beatrix F was the Winner of the Children’s Services Award with Mace Mc Highly Commended for his artwork. There were 450 entries this year and the BAS walls were full of amazing art works by many talented people. We are incredibly proud of our students!

This week we have had a number of schools visiting St Bernard’s to see the excellent teaching and learning happening across the school. Leaders from schools outside our area are coming to observe classroom practice to gain insights into evidence-based teaching techniques. Hosting teachers from other schools promotes collaboration and networking among educators. It encourages the exchange of ideas, best practices, and successful strategies, fostering a sense of community within the teaching profession. Sharing successful teaching and learning strategies allows educators to learn from each other's successes and refine their own approaches. It supports a culture of continuous improvement by encouraging teachers to assess and adapt their methods to achieve better outcomes.

This term our attention is focused on the Sacrament of the Eucharist as Year 4 students prepare to receive the Sacrament this weekend. Congratulations to the following students who will receive the Sacrament of First Eucharist on Sunday, Indiana A, Emie A, Scarlett C, Ava G, Lilly G, Molly M, Sienna N, Levi O’S, Reeve T, Jace T, Lucas V S, Georgina W, and MacKenzie W. Thank you to Fr Loi, Mrs Coulter, Mrs Keough and Mrs Beashel for their work in preparing the children. All families are invited to join in this special celebration at the Mass this Sunday 10 September at 9.00am. There will be a morning tea to celebrate afterwards.

2024 Classes
Over the term we have had a number of new enrolments across the school for 2024. Principals have recently received most of their staffing allocation and in the coming weeks we will determine the class structure for the next year. This information will be communicated via the school newsletter. Teacher placements are now being considered. If you know of anyone wishing to enrol, please encourage them to contact Mrs Ward at the Front Office as planning is well underway for classes. 

Blessings to you and your family.

Kind regards

Johanna Wain
Principal

…’I shall be there with you’ (Matthew 18:20) …

 This weekend the Gospel of Matthew further develops the theme of discipleship and our understanding of the community of the Church. In August tens of thousands of young people and those not so young, gathered in Lisbon Portugal for World Youth Day – the largest, inclusive expression of Church in the world in one place, people are able to choose themselves to attend.

 In the midst of the preparation for the Synod on Synodality in Rome in October which signals a change in the culture of the Church – inviting participation by all the baptised – and which has elicited varying responses across the Church, Pope Francis gave the following address to the young people in Lisbon…

In the church, Pope Francis said, “there is space for everyone, and when there isn’t, please, let’s work so that there is — also for who makes mistakes, for who falls, for who it is difficult.” Departing from his prepared speech, he asked all the young people to “repeat with me: ‘Everyone, everyone, everyone!'” before waves of “todos, todos, todos”—” everyone” in Spanish and Portuguese—spread throughout the crowd.

 “That is the church,” he said, “the mother of all; there is room for all.”

 Throughout the crowd there were flags from countries with large Catholic populations such as Spain and Brazil, but also proudly displayed banners from countries where Catholics represent a small portion of the population. After a greeting from Cardinal Manuel do Nascimento Clemente of Lisbon, young people read messages in various languages sent to the pope asking for advice and sharing the personal challenges they face in life and in the faith, from migration problems and hunger to hopelessness and a loss of faith.

 But rather than give direct responses, the pope told the young people that asking questions is “often better than giving answers, because one who asks remains restless, and restlessness is the best remedy for routine, which is sometimes a form of normalcy that numbs the soul.”

 Pope Francis urged them to ask never stop asking themselves questions and to bring them before God in prayer. “Life goes on giving answers, we just have to wait for them,” he said. “I invite you think—this is so beautiful—that God loves us as we are, not how we would like to be or how society wants us to be, as we are,” he said looking up from his prepared text. “He loves us with the limits we have, with the defects we have, and with the desire we have to keep moving forward in life! God loves us like that.”

So let us each reflect personally on what Pope Francis challenges us in his statement:

“That is the church,” he said, “the mother of all; there is room for all.”

Is there indeed room for all in our Church?

Phil Billington

Dear Parents and Carers,

Last week at this time I was attending a three-day residential Colloquium for people who work and minister in the tradition of Mary MacKillop and Julian Tenison Woods. I was provided the opportunity to explore and share the stirrings and challenges in my own heart and life, as I respond to this call in a new age. During the Colloquium I was encouraged to share my own experiences of ministry, and my way of interpreting the spirit of Mary and Julian in the world of the twenty-first century. Along with the other sixty participants from all the states of Australia, I was both inspired and challenged to risk new purpose and new commitment in my role as Religion Education Coordinator and teacher.

I thank Mrs Wain for giving me the opportunity to attend in such a busy time of the term. I have recommended the Josephite Colloquium for our staff in the future, as a positive spiritual renewal experience, supporting the legacy of the Josephite sisters.

Sacraments

Thank you to the families who attended Mass on Tuesday evening. It was a meaningful way to gather at the beginning of the week in the church space.

Fr Loi visited school yesterday afternoon to hear the children’s Reconciliation before Sunday. It was a lovely opportunity for the children to have some personal time with Fr Loi and to receive the grace of God’s forgiveness.

A special congratulations to Sienna N who made her First Reconciliation. Her mum and grandmother where there to support her. It was a very special occasion for Sienna’s family.

Everyone is invited to attend our First Eucharist Mass. It will be held this Sunday the 10 September at 9.00am in St. Bernard’s Church.

Wellbeing Programs 
We will be hosting two Wellbeing opportunities for our Year 5/6 students next Friday 15 September.

The girls will be participating in The Girl Campaign which is created and led by Mrs Kimberli Eke. The focus of the day will be around building self-esteem, self-love and self-acceptance. There are also activities built around healthy friendships, body image and empathy.

The boys will be participating in the Dare Day Program. The program will be run by Teah Searle and Sharkie from St. Vincent de Paul Canberra/Goulburn. The day explores preventative mental health factors such as values, identity, friendships, emotions, and self-care.

We look forward to having both programs concurrently running on Friday for our senior students.

Students are asked to wear their sports uniform next Friday 15 September.

Blessings on your weekend

Sharon Beashel

Religious Education Coordinator

This term, Kindergarten students have been immersed in their learning about farming during their Storyline unit. We have been reading books about farming, creating farms using toys and technology and using paper craft to create farm animals.

We have also been participating in learning about farming and creation from an Aboriginal perspective with Trisha Ellis as well as investigating farm produce. Making milkshakes was a definite highlight!

Last week, students enjoyed watching our chicks hatch and were very excited to meet our four new little friends! We have named them Caesar, Ronaldo Sparkle, Snowflake and Sunny-Spiderman.

In Religious Education, students have been investigating the Creation Story and the story of Noah’s Ark from the book of Genesis. Students have explored the beauty of creation by taking part in ‘Dadirri’ (Deep Listening) during class prayer time. 

We have enjoyed planting our snow peas and have been very excited watching them grow. We have been learning all about what living things need, so they can grow and survive. 

Our writing has had a farming focus, and we have enjoyed writing sentences with the correct punctuation and including nouns, verbs, adjectives and even adverbs!

We celebrated our 100 days of school this term, and we can’t believe we are nearly at the end of our third term of big school! Time really does fly when you are busy having fun and learning so many new things every day!

Term 3

Week 7 Class Awards

Presented: Friday 1 September 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!