St Bernadette's Primary School Dundas Valley

It isn’t always easy to get up in front of others and perform or deliver a speech. This week, we have seen some outstanding Voice of Youth speeches, but I know that not every year 6 child enjoys the experience. What is wonderful to see is every child giving it a go and for some, that means really challenging themselves and being brave. This is what experiences like our Voice of Youth competition or our Talent Show can encourage students to do, get out of their comfort zone and try new things. It is a good way to build resilience in our children as they can see that they can try something that is hard for them, but they will get through it with support from family and friends. Then there is a sense of accomplishment and feeling proud of themselves for being brave and trying. 

Our Talent Show is coming up soon. This can be a way that your child might like to try something new by getting up and showing off a talent to our community. You can encourage your child to give it a go, knowing that our community will be very supportive and cheer them on. We can’t wait to see what talents our community has!

Have a wonderful week, 

Jackie Willard

Assistant Principal

by Dianne Bergant CSA

As disciples we commit ourselves to values and principles that are not always cherished by others. We can be misunderstood for our beliefs, even ridiculed. Our lives may be a reproach to those who do not share our aspirations. There may be times when we must stand in opposition to others. All of this tends to alienate us. It could even place us at enmity with those whom we love. Yet, if we are genuinely committed, we realise that there is also a price to pay if we are not faithful. It is very difficult to live with ourselves when we disregard our deepest convictions and ignore the promptings of God that we experience within ourselves. As difficult as a life of faith may be, we know that it is the only way to live in this world.

Faced with the cost of discipleship we are brought to the realisation that, by ourselves, we do not have the necessary resources. We need assistance. Like Jeremiah, we might find that this aid will come from places we may have never expected. The real support and assistance that we get is from Jesus who came to set the world and our hearts on fire. Paul assures us that there is a vast throng cheering us on as we run the race of discipleship. They are not merely spectators; they have already run or are still running their own race. We are not alone in our commitment, in our struggle. There are many witnesses, many examples for us to follow.

During the Angelus on the feast of the Assumption in 2020, Pope Francis said that the Virgin Mary shows us that our goal is not to gain the things here on earth, which are fleeting, but the homeland above, which is forever. Addressing a holiday crowd from the window of his studio overlooking the square, the Pope said that in Mary’s Assumption into Heaven, we celebrate an infinitely greater conquest than the “giant step for mankind” when man first set foot on the moon.   When the lowly Virgin of Nazareth set foot in paradise, body and spirit, he said, it was “the huge leap forward for humanity”. This, the Pope said, gives us hope that “we are precious, destined to rise again”. “God does not allow our bodies to vanish into nothing. With God, nothing is lost!”

Fr Christopher has made the decision to only offer Confirmation to students in Year 7 and above. This program is currently running in the school hall on Thursday evenings at 6:30pm. Please contact the parish office for further information.

On Friday, 29th July, kindergarten children celebrated their 100 Days of Kindy.  Amidst the celebrations within Religion, children have been learning all about belonging to the church community. In celebration of 100 Days of Kindy, students wrote 100 reasons why they love St Bernadette’s and they were able to make connections with belonging to their school and the local parish community. 

It was third time lucky for St Bernadette’s on Monday. After so much wet weather and so many disappointments we finally made it to Barton Park for our 2022 Athletics Carnival! 

The excitement from the children was so evident, through the way they cheered for their house colours, the friendly yet spirited competition, as well as the way support and encouragement was given to all. It was wonderful to see everyone coming together and enjoying their events in such a positive way.

Thank you so much to the army of parents that came along to help! Your generous support is always valued, so if we didn’t make it around to personally thank you on the day, rest assured that we are very thankful to have such a generous and supportive parent community. The day was a great success in no small part thanks to you, whether you helped with primary track and field or with the many infants events.

We are proud of all of the children for the way they competed with such enthusiasm and pride. There were, however,  some outstanding achievements on the day and we will be announcing Our Junior and Senior Age Champions at this Friday’s whole school assembly. The winning house colour will also be announced at this time.

St Bernadette’s will be sending a large squad of 35 children to the Cumberland Zone Athletics next Friday, 19th August. I am sure we will have more great news to share soon!

Stage 2 is inviting all students to help support them putting their faith into action by wearing mufti tomorrow and donating to this cause via the QKR app. 

The students of stage 2 have really wanted to support St Joseph’s School at Woodburn, after hearing of the flooding of the school as well as many of the local homes.  Our stage 2 students have already written letters to send to St Joseph’s School and they plan on having a stage prayer to also help support them.

So, please, by making a small donation you will be helping our students to reach out to others and to put their faith into action.

Have your say on what matters regarding the wellbeing and learning of your child. If you are a parent or carer with a child in a Catholic school, CSPA would love to hear from you.

Click on the survey link and share your feedback to assist CSPA in reporting to the Federal Government and Catholic education. Your feedback will remain anonymous.

CSPA 2022 Parent Survey_flyer.pdf​

If you wish to purchase any items from our school clothing pool, please email the school office via dundasvalley@parra.catholic.edu.au . If the items are available, they with be sent home with your child. We are no longer able to have uniforms paid for via QKR! app, as unfortunately refunds aren't able to be processed if your required uniforms aren't available.  Therefore all payments need to be processed via EFTPOS only in the school office.