St Bernadette's Primary Dundas

Newsletter 2019 Term 2 Week 10

FROM THE PRINCIPAL...

Dear families of St Bernadettes,

As Term Two draws to a close I would like to thank children, parents and staff for your dedicated commitment to the education of the children throughout the term. Much has been accomplished through class learning programs, out-of-class activities such as excursions, sports activities, parent group initiatives and celebrations of our faith, just to name a few. Without the enthusiasm of staff, children and parents and many hours of hard work, these events would not be able to take place. My congratulations go to all who have contributed to such a successful term. The children are also to be congratulated for their efforts to demonstrate being safe, respectful, learners throughout the term.

This time of year is also an opportunity to reflect on the learning that has happened over the first half of the year. Last Friday we sent home student learning reports designed to provide parents with information about their child’s achievements in all Key Learning Areas. Whilst these reports are important records of student learning their true value is only realised when they are coupled with a meeting with your child’s class teacher. The parent/teacher interviews, being held throughout this week, are a vital component in the school/home partnership to support a student’s learning. These interviews provide an opportunity to celebrate successes but also to discuss future goals. 

I also take this opportunity to say thankyou to the staff, children and parents who have been so welcoming in these past few weeks during Mrs Gerard’s leave. St Bernadette’s is a very caring and welcoming community and I extend my best wishes to you all as you continue to promote the development of all aspects of the children’s learning.

God Bless,

Keiran Byrnes

RELIGIOUS EDUCATION...

Sunday, 7 July 2019: Fourteenth Sunday in Ordinary Time - Year C

REFLECTION by Dianne Bergant CSA

Although the gospel is a report of ministerial commissioning, it contains elements of discipleship in general. Most obvious is the disciples’ dependence on Jesus. They are not independent missionaries; they are followers. Furthermore, there is a communal dimension of discipleship. While there is certainly a personal relationship between Jesus and each disciple, discipleship itself is not a singular privilege that one hugs to oneself to the exclusion of others.

Disciples minister to the needs of others, whatever those needs may be and with whatever abilities the disciple may possess. There are various kinds of healing: a friendly smile, a word of gratitude, a soothing touch. We can teach the lessons of life in classrooms, in playrooms, in kitchens, in boardrooms. There are many ways that we can cast out the demons that hold our world by the throat; demons of poverty and oppression, demons of addiction and slavery, demons of disdain and neglect, demons of hatred and violence. If they are not cast out by us, then by whom?

The life of discipleship is not an unmixed blessing. Because disciples are marked by the sign of the cross, they must expect suffering. Because they do not live according to the standards of the world, disciples will be judged as fools. Some of them will be subjected to even greater suffering. Still, the disciple proclaims that true fulfilment is only found in God! In reality, it is the world that is upside down, not the life of discipleship. And it is the cross that sets things right.

© Dianne Bergant CSA

PARISH: Altar Servers' Roster July 6 - Nov 3, 2019

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SCHOOL NEWS...

Upcoming Events for Term 2

5/7 - Last Day of Term

22/7 - School Resumes

24/7 - NO Linda's Lunches 

25/7 - Confirmation Lessons begin


Linda's Lunches

A reminder to parent's that there are NO Linda's Lunches in Week 1 Term 3.

Linda's Lunches will resume taking orders in Week 2 on Wednesday 31/7.  

Principal Awards

Kindergarten - Ryan D

Year 1 - Caitlyn O

Year 2 - Christian P

Year 3 - Addison Rose P 

Year 4 - Ryan R

Year 5 - Brandon N

Year 6 - Jessica K

Happy Birthday

21/6 - Jaiden Y

22/6 - Lily M 

26/6 - Elena M

28/6 - Anna M 

29/6 - Nerso B 

2/7 - Patrick N 

2/7 - Jessica L 

2/7 - Janelle L 

3/7 - Skye T 

PBS4L Update


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717510673

Star token tally up to week 10

As mentioned in the last newsletter each of our classrooms now have  a ‘Calm Space’. These are proving to be both popular and appreciated by our students. Some children have used the calm space in response to an incident on the playground, some have used it when they have felt overwhelmed while others have used the calm space because they ‘had a rough start to the day and I just needed some time to think’.  It is encouraging to see both staff and students so willing to take on strategies to help each child to be socially and emotionally equipped to enjoy school life.

You will have to wait until the assembly tomorrow to see who will be the winning house for the second half of term 2.

Attendance Matters

A reminder to parents that our morning school bell rings at 8:55am.

If you arrive after this time your child must be brought into the office by a parent and signed in before they can go to their classroom. This ensures your child is not incorrectly marked absent on the class roll.

Did you know that if your child is 5 minutes late each day, that equates to 25 minutes per week and 250 minutes a term!

Every minute of school time is important. Please make an effort to be on time!

Last Thursday Year 5 and Year 6 had the opportunity to attend the St Patrick’s College Musical, Rock of Ages. A huge thank you to St Patrick’s for the invitation, the bus and for looking after us when we arrived. We had a fabulous time, the musical was amazing. We saw a spectacular show and want to congratulate everyone at St Patrick’s who was involved in any way with this fantastic production. We have all written glowing reviews to send up to St Patrick’s as a special thank you. 

Please enjoy reading just two of our reviews. 

Rock of Ages review from Sienna B in Year 6

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Rock of Ages review from Sam M in Year 6

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SRC Update

First of all, we would like to thank Mrs Byrnes for being our principal for a period of three weeks while Mrs Gerrand was on leave. We thank her for everything she has done here at the school and we wish her well at her other school and we will deeply miss her. 

Thank you, Mrs Byrnes.

On the 25 of June, we had our delicious pasta meal deal day. We thank Marieanne Lebnan (Mia’s mum in kindy) who cooked the amazing pasta.

We are glad everyone enjoyed their meals and we are sure that the person who cooked it, put a lot of effort, since it was delicious.

This was a good term, in fact, a great term. We have had Meal Deals, Canteen days and plenty more.

From the SRC have a fantastic holiday and hope you have an exciting one with plenty of fun. So enjoy because in 2 weeks your kids come back to school. 

Happy Holidays from Will, Melanie, Lauren and the rest of the SRC

A MESSAGE FROM THE ENVIRONMENT TEAM

Soft Plastic - Not so fantastic 

Dear Parents, Carers and Families of St Bernadette’s

We have a BIG problem and we need your help! 

Last year we gathered significant data and the biggest waste problem in our school was, and still is, soft plastic waste. Some examples of soft plastic waste are chip packets, plastic bags, glad wrap, lolly packets, biscuit packets and much more.

 

At St Bernadette’s too much of this kind of soft plastic is being thrown in the bins and this all goes to landfill. This is an ENORMOUS problem because it takes 450 - 1000 years to decompose. This affects our environment! Oh no!

But GUESS WHAT! We have a solution!

We have asked all the students to put their soft plastics back in their lunch boxes and take them home. This is where you come in! You can collect your child’s soft plastic and keep it in a safe place until you have a large amount. Then you can take it to a Redcycle bin near you. The Redcycle company recycle soft plastics into furniture and other products as well.

There are plenty of Redcycle bins around the local area so check out this link: https://www.redcycle.net.au/where-to-redcycle

To summarise, 

* Ask your children to take home their soft plastics

Collect them in a safe place.

Take them to a Redcycle bin near you.

It’s a WIN - WIN for the environment, so please get onboard.

We have included a mini-poster with this letter to place on your fridge, as a friendly reminder of what we are trying to achieve.

Kind regards,

The Year 5 Environmental Team & Miss Steph

Woolworths Earn and Learn

We are in the final days of counting the sticker sheets for the Woolworths Earn and Learn promotion. 

We are astounded by the number of stickers our students have collected for the school. The total amount we have counted is in excess of 23,500 stickers! AMAZING! We are so excited to see what great resources we can choose for our wonderful school.

A huge thank you to everyone in the community for their efforts in collecting the Earn and Learn stickers! 

EXTRA CURRICULAR...

Diocesan Athletics - High Jump expressions of interest

High Jump is not contested at the Zone Athletics, instead, expressions of interest are forwarded to the carnival organisers and a list of successful children are sent to St Bernadette’s

To be considered, please use the following information as a guide:

Invitational entry for Diocesan Athletics only - Entries close Friday 26th July

Children must meet the qualification heights and have their heights verified from their Little Athletics Achievement results or your School's Athletics Carnival or Sport lesson.

Please note the qualifying heights for HIGH JUMP are a GUIDE only:

Junior Girls Qualifying height – 1.00m

Junior Boys Qualifying height – 1.00m

11 yrs Girls Qualifying height – 1.05m

11 yrs Boys Qualifying height – 1.05m

Senior Girls Qualifying height – 1.10m

Senior Boys Qualifying height – 1.10m

 

If you wish for your child to be considered for this event, please forward their verified jump height to Mr Kensell prior to the closing date.

Stage 3 Boys’ Soccer Gala Day

St Bernadette’s fielded 2 teams for the recent Stage 3 Boys’ Soccer Gala at Jamison Park, Penrith. The boys had a wonderful day of hard competition, team spirit and assorted treats from the canteen.

Once again our boys made us proud through their determination and excellent sportsmanship throughout the day. Both teams had some wins, losses and draws. Congratulations to our boys on their efforts!

PARENTS AND FRIENDS ASSOCIATION NEWS...

Thank you!

Grazie a tutti ! (thank you everyone!) The children were able to enjoy hot delicious authentic pasta for lunch yesterday. We received 132 orders and were able to raise $486.36 ! A special thank you to Marieanne L (Mia's mum in Kindy) for cooking the delicious pasta meals for our children.

Run4Fun Colour Explosion

The School Run4Fun Colour will be held on Friday September 13, 2019 starting at 2pm at our school. 

If your child has not returned their permission slip, please do so asap to avoid missing out. To the families who have returned their permission slip, we thank you for your support.

Now it is time to start fundraising! 

Tomorrow a note will be going home with step by step instructions on how to create an online profile for your child/children. You will also receive a sponsorship booklet with some information, and the opportunity to collect cash donations. 

If you have any questions please let us know.

HAPPY FUNDRAISING! 

COMMUNITY NEWS

Claim Two $100 Active Kids Vouchers

All NSW school-enrolled children are eligible for two $100 Active Kids vouchers. The vouchers can be used with any approved Active Kids provider, to help cover costs towards registration or membership fees for sport and active recreation. Voucher one is valid January to December and voucher two is valid July to December. After 1 July 2019, the second voucher can be claimed immediately after the first voucher. 

Visit service.nsw.gov.au and login to your MyServiceNSW Account to claim your voucher. 

St Bernadettes Primary School

St Bernadette's Primary, Dundas Valley is a community focused, Catholic parish school catering for boys and girls from Kindergarten to Year 6. The school strives to build a Christ-centred community where faith is integrated with daily life. We provide learning and teaching experiences which enable the children to deepen their faith understandings, investigate, solve problems and explore their learning. We recognise the importance of creating a learning environment that provides opportunities to develop 21st century learning. Technology is integrated into the learning at St Bernadette’s in all Key Learning Areas.