St Bernadette's Primary School

Happy November everyone,

It is hard to believe that we are already approaching the mid-point of our term, however, we are still working hard here at St Bernie’s. I have started a number of conversations with staff about their recent data and we have seen some really pleasing results across our school. Our focus on engaged students, early phonics and decoding the text, explicit teaching, differentiated groupwork and fun, hands-on activities will continue to make a difference to our students and they should all be very proud of their efforts this year. Our goal is to keep students engaged and having fun right up to the end of term as there is still lots to achieve.

This week, our classes have held liturgies for All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day. These special occasions offered us a precious opportunity to honour the memory of our loved ones and celebrate the lives of the saints who inspire us. Through our prayers, hymns, and thoughtful reflections, we renewed our commitment to nurturing a strong faith community. Let's carry the spirit of these days forward, continuing to support one another and embracing our Bernie’s values that binds us as a school community.

Next week is Wellness Week and Mrs Deshon and her Wellbeing Team have organised a number of activities for staff and students to focus on their physical, mental and spiritual wellbeing. I encourage all of you to try to do the same at home and use it as an excuse to do something for yourself or as a family. Nicole, George, Audrey and I will be making the trip down south for the day on Saturday to look at a very small, fluffy friend for Fred which I am sure will be an excellent wellbeing activity… although I may have a different take on it once there is a puppy in our house!

Early this term we interviewed for the ongoing AP position and I would like to congratulate Tracy Cosgrove on her appointment to the ongoing role from 2024. Tracy was an obvious and unanimous decision from the panel, and I am very happy to be working with her in 2024 and beyond. Tracy has built excellent relationships within our community, has been instrumental in working with staff to implement new pedagogies and processes in the middle/upper years and will provide consistency within our Leadership Team, something our school has struggled with over the past 10 years or so.

I would also like to congratulate Caitlin Laity who has accepted the other AP role for 2024. Caitlin comes to us from MCC after doing a year as acting AP in 2023. Caitlin has strong curriculum knowledge, is very organised and comes to us very highly regarded in her community. There will need to be some small changes to the structure of our leadership roles for 2024 to reflect our strengths, however, I believe this will be energising and positive for our school improvement and our own professional learning. I will let you know how that will look later in the year.

Have a great weekend, be careful in the heat and I can’t wait to see you all on Monday!

Geordie

Since the beginning of Term 4, students in Years 4 – 6 have been participating in the interschool Spelling Bee qualifying rounds and semi-finals. Nine students from St Bernadette’s qualified to represent our school in the finals which was held at Mother Teresa Catholic College on Thursday 2nd November. Our finalist teams had an unforgettable experience expanding their vocabulary and honing their spelling skills. Congratulations to our three Spelling Bee teams for doing exceptionally well in battling it out with schools in our region, representing St Bernadette’s with such determination and grace throughout the day.

A special congratulations to Amelie N in 5 Blue for achieving runner up champion for Year 5 and to Tayah T in 4 Red for achieving first place champion for Year 4. An awesome achievement!

Year 4 finalist team

Kiara H

Tayah T

Penelope T

Year 5 finalist team

Carla HB

Amelie N

Abby S

Year 6 finalist team

Alex G

Lotoata S

Lily S

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:

Water Bottles

Please ensure your child/ren have their water bottles at school.

As the weather gets warmer, they need to stay hydrated.

Your assistance is appreciated.

Allergy Awareness

Parents/carers are reminded that Bernie's is an ALLERGY AWARE SCHOOL, and the provision of foods containing nuts should please be avoided. We have a number of students with allergies, including anaphylactic reactions. Please support us in making the school environment a safe place for all students at all times.

Road Safety

Mrs King has spoken to the children today about road safety and etiquette after a few complaints from members of the public and our lolly pop man, Mike. Please remind your children about road safety when coming to school, particularly if they are cycling. Please remind them to:

Ring their bell if they are passing a pedestrian on the foot path
Listen to the instructions from the cross walk attendant
No racing!

Please diarise these important dates

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.