Dear Parents and Carers

The term seems to be moving along quickly, with the students very settled into the school routine. Last Saturday night at Mass the staff of St Bernard’s, St Mary’s and Carroll College were inducted for the new school year by Fr Loi. The partnership between the school and the parish is central to our Catholic School. Fr Loi spoke about our faith and leadership in a Catholic school and how this sets us apart from other schools. My hope is that your child/ren witness our Catholic values and faith each day.

Yesterday, all students and staff received ashes for Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Season of Lent. Traditionally, Lent is known as a period of penance and fasting. When you were at school, you may remember being asked: “What are you giving up for Lent?” Today, we encourage the children to reflect on how they can be better people and contribute more fully to life at home, school, or their community; with the emphasis being more on giving back than giving up something. Ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they remind us of the importance of developing a spirit of humility and sacrifice.

Teaching & Learning at St Bernard’s
At St Bernard’s we believe every student can learn. Learning is innate, ongoing and fundamental to being human. Each individual student enters the classroom with a variety of experiences including cultural, emotional, spiritual and social. As educators, it is our role to engage, challenge, affirm and support the growth of the whole child. This year we will be known as a Dyslexic Friendly School, catering for all needs and delivering high quality programs. 

Explicit Instruction seeks to improve student outcomes by supporting teachers to improve their classroom practice. Associate Professor Lorraine Hammond will continue to support St Bernard’s with an instructional coaching program this year. This will add to our current Literacy and Numeracy Block and extend into other Curriculum Areas.

Yesterday Brooke Wardana from Knowledge Society in Perth, spent the day with the staff of St Bernard’s to continue to build our understanding in teaching.  

Students need to be explicitly taught the components of a sentence. This is the building block for writing texts and conveying meaning. To improve writing, teachers need to provide more than text level instruction. Word, sentence and paragraph instruction must also be attended to. What are some things that good writers do?

• Use a variety of sentence types
• Use a variety of sentence structures
• Vary the ways they start sentences
• Use precise and sophisticated vocabulary
• Use transitions to link sentences together and create vocabulary
• Use repetition, pronoun referencing, and synonyms to create cohesion
• Punctuate correctly
• Embed figurative language

(Brooke Wardana)

At St Bernard’s we are committed to setting every student up for success in their learning to ensure student outcomes are improving. It is our role as teachers to teach first and then follow the model of I do, We do, You do!

Next term we will be facilitating a Parent Night. Keep an eye out for the flyer in the next couple of weeks.  

Southern Region Swimming Carnival
Last Tuesday our swim team went to Narooma to compete in the regional carnival. The students selected were those with the fastest times at our local carnival held in Week 2. I would like to congratulate our age champions who were presented with their medals last week. Congratulations St Bernard’s on your fabulous efforts at the Southern Region Carnival! I know there were some very excited students who have progressed on to the next level of competition to be held in Canberra on Tuesday 7 March.

iPhones and SMART Watches
I understand that some students may need to bring a phone or Apple watch to school to be able to contact parents on their travel to or from school. Just a reminder to all parents that these are not to be used at school. All phones should be handed into the teacher at the beginning of the day or left zipped up in their school bag. Smart watches are to be treated the same as phones at school if messages/calls can be sent to them. Any messages for students during the day can be received via the Front Office. We want to remove the distractions to support students to focus on teaching and learning. Donna Clarke, Batemans Bay, Youth Liaison Police Officer, will be visiting with Year 5 and 6 with a focus on social media. 

Blessings on the week ahead.

Warm regards
Johanna Wain 
Principal

Dear Parents and Carers, 

This week, the season of Lent began with Ash Wednesday, which also marks the beginning of the annual Caritas Australia Project Compassion Appeal. Donations to Project Compassion allow Caritas Australia, the Catholic Agency for International Aid and Development, to work with local communities around the world to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

The theme of Project Compassion 2023 is ‘For All Future Generations’ and reminds us that the good we do today has a positive impact on the lives of generations to come. 

Caritas invites us to make the world a better place by working together now and finding long-term solutions to global issues. We are encouraged to put our compassion into action this Lent through prayer, fasting and almsgiving in support of Project Compassion.

Each family has received a Project Compassion box for their donations, or you can donate online via the Caritas Australia website at: www.caritas.org.au/project-compassion

Thank you to Fr Loi and Fr Renoir for leading our K-2 liturgy in the school hall. Our Year 2 students helped with the dramatization of the Gospel from Matthew and reading the Prayers of the Faithful. They did a great job!

Dear Parents and Carers

Parent/Teacher Introductory Meetings

Next week we look forward to meeting with many of you at school for the Parent and Teacher Introductory Meetings. Over 60% of our parents and carers have made an appointment time which is fantastic. It is so important that as a school we can connect with you and collaborate to enhance the learning and overall school experience for each individual child. It is what our Catholic schools pride ourselves on! If you are yet to make an appointment time to meet with your child's teacher next Monday 27, Tuesday 28 February or Wednesday 1 March, please access the Compass booking system or contact the school office directly for support to arrange a meeting time.

Mathematics curriculum

Our focus in the teaching of Mathematics is to ensure that all students are taught key skills and concepts in an explicit and efficient way. What is taught in each classroom follows a precise scope and sequence, to ensure that developmental needs of students are addressed using a multi-layered curriculum. All classes participate in a mathematical Daily Review, designed to support memory retention of past learning and improve automaticity, recall and application of skills and concepts. Students in Years 5 and 6 are now well underway with the Maths Pathway program, designed to meet each individual where they are in their learning path. While some students may be identified to have 'gaps' in their learning, and need to repeat and revise previously taught concepts, others may be working well beyond their peers, learning mathematics usually introduced in Years 7, 8 and beyond. Students receive small group and individual instruction based on student data that is generated as modules and regular tests are completed. Recent diagnostic assessments have provided a starting point for instruction in all years. A group of students in Years 3 and 4 have been identified to take part in enrichment mathematics lessons one day a week as a result of the diagnostic testing, and will be engaged in extension tasks requiring problem solving and creative mathematical thinking. We aim to ensure that student learning in Mathematics is effective and meets the needs of all learners.

Schools Clean Up Australia Day

Next Friday, 3 March we will be participating in the Schools Clean Up Australia Day initiative along with other schools in the Eurobodalla Shire and beyond. Students will join together to clean around playground areas and classrooms and students in Years 6 will walk to areas adjacent to the school and Casey's Beach as part of the clean up.

The purpose of participating in this event is to instil in the students a sense of responsibility to care for our natural environment and to see what can be achieved when everyone works together.

We ask that children bring a pair of gardening gloves to school on the day if possible.

I hope that you have a lovely weekend.

Karen Hadley

St Bernard’s Swimming Carnival 

St Bernard’s Swimming presentation was held on Monday. Congratulations to MacKillop on winning the house points competition. Age champion medallions were awarded to the best swimmers in each category, a well-deserved reward for their fantastic swimming: 

Junior Champion- Beatrix F - Runner up Mia A 

Junior Champion- Arthur S - D - Joint Runner up Taj P and Harlo P

11yr Champion- Annie F - Runner up Isla B 

11yr Champion- Oscar J - Runner up Hunter C 

Senior Champion- Ruby B - Runner up Molly W 

Senior Champion- Samuel S - D - Runner up Rogan H

 House Captains for MacKillop Samuel S-D and Caprice F

Southern Region Swimming Carnival

 On Tuesday, Ms McCarthy and I had the pleasure of accompanying forty St Bernard’s students to Narooma for the Southern Region swimming carnival. My thanks to all parents and family members for assisting with transport and timekeeping and for enthusiastically cheering all competitors during their races.

Our Senior Girl and Junior Girl relay teams were Southern champions and our Senior Boys were runner up. These teams have all been selected to attend the Archdiocesan Swimming Championships on Tuesday March 7. Congratulations to our Senior Boys, Senior Girls and Junior Girls.

The following students were selected to swim:

Beatrix F and Ruby B were also awarded Champion Swimmer for the Southern Region, a phenomenal achievement. Congratulations to all our swimmers. We are so proud of your hard work and dedication!

Mrs Holmes

(Sports Coordinator)

The Fabulous Fantastic Fives

Sprinkles

Year Five’s 2023 started off with a wonderful bonding session, enjoying playing some American sports, watching some of the NFL Superbowl and enjoying the moment with a lunchtime hotdog and a Dr Pepper drink! Many of them even went out of their comfort zone, took a risk and tried adding ‘sprinkles’ to their hotdog. For some it was even a first time having a hotdog!

Art Works

The creative vibes have been flowing in Year 5 as the students enjoy creating and making incredible works of Art. So far, they have made a pastel portrait based on Picasso’s works, drawn pictures based on the book ‘The Big Rain’ and will be painting a silhouetted pelican at sunrise. They sure do enjoy their Art time!

Loving Maths!

This year, Year Five have been introduced to Maths Pathway – a platform that, following diagnosing where students are at in their skills and knowledge, creates an individual learning program for each student. Along with Mini-lessons in small groups with a teacher, Rich Task Investigations as a whole class and learning basic skills in a Daily Review, Mathematics has taken on a new life with our 2023 Year Fives!

Sport, Sport and More Sport!

This Term, Year 5 are having a wonderful time homing in on their physical skills with a circuit of activities based around catching and throwing, skipping, and dribbling and shooting. One of the new activities they have been introduced to is Spike Ball. This sport is a lot of fun and uses their handball skills in such a different way! They have improved their skill over the sessions and it is amazing to watch them at play!

Storm Boy

Colin Thiele’s novel Storm Boy is our Year Five ‘Book Study’ for the Term. The students are enjoying listening to this classic text and delving into the world of the Coorong and the lives of Storm Boy, Hide Away Tom and Fingerbone, making connections to their own lives here on the South Coast. Thanks to Mr. Maynard’s mum, Mr. Percival has also made an appearance into our classrooms!

Yay, we can meet our Buddies!

It took some time, but at our Opening school Mass our Year 5 students met their Kindergarten Buddies for the First time. This Wednesday they came together to meet and greet and spend some time reading stories and having lunch together. It was a very special moment and one they will never forget! Our Year Fives are now looking forward to the next opportunity to be with their Buddies!