Good afternoon everyone,

We have had a fantastic week here at Bernie’s highlighted yesterday with our Year 5 Leadership Day in the school Library. Our Year 5 students spent the day discussing the importance of student leadership in our school, what it means to be a good leader, completed teambuilding activities about communication, resilience and courage, listened to guest speakers about their leadership experience, looked at how to use their own strengths to help others and begun to think about their role as leaders in 2024. It was a really enjoyable day to be a part of and I would like to thank the Year 5 teachers, Mrs Deshon and Mrs Cosgrove for inviting me along and making the day so special.

Our school has been buzzing with the sound of rock music this week as our students and Mrs Poasa get stuck into preparation for our Christmas Concert. I have been having regular conversations with our students about our emotions at this time of the year and I am happy to report that our recess and lunchtimes have been a lot of fun. We have discussed being kind and respectful in all our interactions, taking a breath when we have feelings that are unpleasant and talking to a trusted adult when we can’t solve a problem alone. If you could back this up at home it would be great.

As you are aware, Covid cases are on the rise in WA and we are seeing this reflected in our school. Please be vigilant and if your child is unwell, please test them and keep them at home. Thank you for working together to keep our community safe.

It is with a heavy heart that I would like to announce that Tracey Louden will be leaving us at the end of the year after 15 years of amazing service. Tracey has been the face of our school, has been a sounding board for staff, students and parents and will be sorely missed. We wish her all the best as she moves on to bigger things and is going to be taking a role in a student services area. I have no doubt she will do incredible things there too!

There is still a lot to look forward to this term and with your support, we look forward to making it as fun, calm and engaging for your children as we can!

Geordie

Next week, Week 7, and Week 8 we will be running our Pixie Post.

For those unsure of how this works:

• Children, who wish to give their classmates, teacher’s and friends a Christmas card, can fill their cards in at home – making sure they place the recipient’s name and class onto the front of the card. This is for all years – Pre-K to Year 6.
• Children bring their cards to school and place them into the post box which is found outside the library.
• Pixies will sort the mail. (Santa has allowed this from the normal present making!!)
• At the end of the day the post will be delivered to the classrooms and teachers will be able to give out the mail.

We ask that you do not place candy canes or other lollies to the envelopes or in the envelopes – if children wish to give small items such as Christmas erasers or stickers that is up to parents but it is certainly not an expectation.

Important Choir Information for Week 9 Performances: Please click on the link below:

Calling for all kids interested in joining this year’s Christmas Eve nativity play (6pm mass). We have lots of roles available including Mary, Joseph, Wisemen, Angels, Shepherds and even an innkeeper. This year rehearsals will be Fridays 5pm due to work commitments. We would also love for parents to get involved in any way you can, including taking home the costumes at the first rehearsal to wash and repair if needed.

The rehearsal schedule is 5-5:45pm as follows:

1. Fri 24 Nov (roles assigned)

2. Fri 1 Dec

3. Fri 8 Dec

4. Fri 15 Dec

5. Fri 22 Dec

If you have any questions, please contact Monica Hunter on 0438 950 248.

Once again, Report time is near. As with last year, this will be sent electronically and will be available on Seqta Engage on the afternoon of Thursday 7 December (week 9). To view your child’s report, please log into Seqta Engage. If you can not remember your log in or password, please email admin@stbernadettes.wa.edu.au and your log in details will be returned to you and which will need to be reset that day.

Once you have logged into Seqta, on the left-hand side (on a handheld device, you will need to select the blue button with three white lines in the top left hand corner) click Assessment, choose which child you would like to view (if you have more than one child on Engage). You will then see that you have access to all previous reports. Within the next week, could you please log on and ensure you can access last year’s report. If you are having issues, please email admin@stbernadettes.wa.edu.au before Friday 1 December (end of Week 8).

There should be no surprises with your student’s report grades as teacher and parent communication should be open and ongoing. If you have any concerns, please contact your child’s teacher via admin@stbernadettes.wa.edu.au.

Below is the visual to remind you what each grade represents and an attendance visual that demonstrates how important regular attendance has on learning.

Oshclub has won a competition! All JAG (Junior Adventures group) OSH Clubs from around Australia had to submit a video or photos showcasing adventure programs we present to our children from this year. We presented a video, a power point slideshow. St Bernadettes won the competition which will give us some new resources for the centre, and it gave us recognition from the JAG General Manager and State Managers.

Our Kindy corner resources have been ordered and I can’t wait for this to be set up, ready for the Holiday Program!

Claire and the Oshclub Team

This term, our school will be supporting St Vincent de Paul in their Christmas Appeal. Students will be learning about the St Vincent de Paul charity, and the needs of families in Perth, especially at Christmas time. The 2023 focus on the Vinnies Christmas Appeal is on the continuing impacts of the cost of living crisis in Australia, including rental and housing affordability and its compounding effects. This Christmas, more families are experiencing poverty and are on the brink of homelessness. As the crisis deepens, so does their desperation. Your urgent help can provide relief.

We are asking each student to bring in at least one non-perishable food item which will be placed in classroom hampers. The hampers will be presented at our end of year mass on Wednesday 6th December, alongside our parish hamper donations, where an SVP representative will visit to come and collect the hampers and begin to pack for distribution. Please have your donations in by the end of November. Below are some items you might consider for the classroom hamper, although the list is not exhaustive. To respect the dignity of the families receiving the hampers, please check that all food items are not opened and within six months of their expiry date.

• Christmas pudding, Christmas cake

• Long life custard

• Tea, coffee, Milo

• Long life milk

• Tinned fruit, vegetables, soup

• Cordial

• Long life juice

• Cereal, rice, noodles

• Shortbread, panettoni

• Biscuits: sweet or savory

• Jelly

• Spreads: jam, vegemite, honey

• Dried pasta, pasta sauce

• Gravy mix

• Christmas extras (Christmas napkins, Christmas table decorations, Christmas table cloths/runners)

Thank you for your continued support for those in need in our community. Your donation will not only provide much needed relief to so many who are currently burdened by a daily struggle of survival, comfort and dignity, but will also gift joy and hope for this holiday season.

A call out to our St Bernie's Community!

We will be having our Christmas Raffle again this year and are asking for donations to make up some of the prizes. If you would like to donate something towards the raffle prizes or know a business that would, please email us at Pnf.sbcps@gmail.com

It's that time of year again when P&F positions are open for 2024. Membership of the St Bernadette's P&F Association is open to parents and guardians of students attending our school and we would love you to join our team.

If you are interested in any of the 3 positions below, please complete the nomination form and return to the school office by the 24 November 2023. If you have any queries, please contact us on pnf.sbcps@gmail.com

Deputy Chair (Vice President)
The Deputy Chair supports the Chair in the leadership of the P&F Committee and represents the Chair if they are unavailable.

Treasurer
The Treasurer is required to:
- prepare and present a finance report at each P&F meeting;
- prepare and present the Annual Financial Report at the Annual Community Meeting;
- prepare the annual budget to support the P&F Annual Event Plan;
- collect and bank monies from fundraising events;
- collate P&F reimbursement forms, petty cash receipts and supplier invoices and ensure they are correctly authorised before providing to school finance staff for payment;
- ensure grant acquittal requirements are met (if applicable); and
- ensure motions relating to finance decisions, including approval of donations to the school, are presented to P&F Committee (where applicable).
The Treasurer must follow the P&F Financial Practices Guide to ensure compliance to CEWA’s Policies and Executive Directives.

Secretary
The Secretary is required to:
- take minutes of meetings;
- prepare and distribute the meeting papers and agenda;
- keep records of the P&F, including vacancies, reports, minutes, and correspondence;
- provide a list of the P&F Committee members and contact details to the Principal following the Annual Community Meeting.

It's almost time for our annual Christmas Concert and we are all very excited to perform for you and celebrate the end of the year! The theme for 2023 is Christmas Rocks!

Pre Concert Entertainment:

• 4.00 - 4.45pm: Inaugural Music Recital with Keyed Up Music (Undercover Area)

• 4.50 - 5:00pm: Dance Troupe (On the Oval)

• 5.00 - 5.15pm: Ensembles (On the Oval)

• 5.30pm: School Concert Starts (On the Oval)

Each year level will be performing songs with a Christmas message incorporating rock music genre. The outfits for each class is as follows:

Monday 4th December: Kolbe Day A large number of our students will attend an Orientation Day at Kolbe and will not be at school. All those not attending will attend St Bernie’s as normal.

Tuesday 5th December: Graduation Mass and Awards Ceremony at 5.00pm. All parents, family and friends are invited to attend the mass and awards ceremony which will be held in the Church.

Thursday 7th December: Adventure World 8.30am – 4.30pm.

Friday 8th December: Class lunch and Guard of honour. Parents and family are invited to come in at 2.45pm to cheer the students through the final Guard of Honour!

Friday 8th December: Parent run class party in the evening.

Kindy IGA Incursion - Wednesday 22 November

Whole school Community Mass - Saturday 25 November: 6:00 - 7:00pm

We are currently accepting referrals for educational/learning assessments, autism assessments, and ADHD assessments at our Mount Pleasant and Canning Vale offices, with no waitlist.

Our team, led by Clinical Neuropsychologist Holly Nelson, provides comprehensive neuro-affirming diagnostic assessments for children and adults. Please find attached a flyer outlining our range of assessment services.

If you have queries regarding our services, please reach out to our reception team by reply email or call us on (08) 9456 0411.

Term 4: Monday 9 October - Friday 8 December 2023

Term 1: Wednesday 31 January - 28 March 2024

School Canteen: Kingston's Kitchen

Our school canteen is only open on Mondays,

Wednesdays and Fridays.

Orders can be placed online via www.spriggyschool.com.au

before 9.00am or in person at the canteen.

Please note that as this is a live calendar, dates and times may change occasionally.

Email: admin@stbernadettes.wa.edu.au
Website: https://stbernadettes.wa.edu.au
Location: 252 Grand Ocean Boulevard, Port Kennedy WA, Australia
Phone: (08) 9593 4066
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stbernadettescps/