St Bernadette's Primary Dundas

Today I was a part of an amazing community who farewelled their beloved principal Mrs Mary Ann Gatt-Petrini. Knowing that Mary Ann has a love of the score from the Sound Of Music, the children shared items including 'Their Favourite Things' finishing with 'So Long, Farewell.'

Other fun filled items included an acrostic poem, the colours of the rainbow and a lovely liturgy.

I want to publicly express sincere thanks to our great staff and students who spent the time putting these items on and from the joy reflected in Mrs Gatt-Petrini’s eyes I know she appreciated all the love and well wishes showered upon her.

Thanks to our P&F Executive Team for presenting their lovely gift and moving words that demonstrated that Mary Ann will be sorely missed. Thank you also to the many parents that took the time to come and share personal anecdotes and expressions of thanks.

We wish Mrs Gatt-Petrini all the very best as she embarks on the next part of her life’s journey.

Love & Light

Lisa Gerrard

Over the past two weeks we have hosted an Action Plan meeting where staff and leadership teams from other schools came together and discussed their school goals in literacy, numeracy and formation.

During this time visions, ideas and future focus ideas were shared in a collaborative forum.

It was a successful and rewarding day.

Purchase of a new bike rack:

I have just purchased a bike rack with enough space for 6 bikes to start.  However, children riding to school will need to have written parental permission and provide their own bike chains. I will let you know of the start date once I have all of the permissions in place.

Children waiting in Cox Crescent:

It has come to my attention that a number of children are walking further around Cox Crescent and waiting to be picked up. This is a concern as they are unsupervised and potentially at risk. As I now know this they may come under my duty of care which is a risk that I am not prepared to take. So this arrangement will no longer be an option unless I have a note outlining this arrangement with the person picking these students up, absolving the school of responsibility. The safety of your children is of the utmost importance to us.

In the very old days, the ‘Holy Spirit’ was known as the ‘Holy Ghost’. It comes from the old English word ‘gust’ which ‘blows wherever it pleases’. St Luke’s account of Pentecost tells of what ‘sounded like a powerful wind from heaven’. This is the Divine Wind, this is the Holy Gust, the Holy Spirit. Out of nowhere, this mighty Gust burst into the disciples’ lives with gale force, sweeping away their fear.

The Divine Wind is nothing less than the Breath of God. ‘O Breathe on me Breath of God’ is one of the most beautiful hymns, sung to a traditional Irish melody. One verse goes: ‘O Breathe on me Breath of God . . . until this earthly part of me glows with thy fire divine’. It is like a log at the back of the fireplace late at night. The log is intact but absolutely glowing through and through with fire. It is to be the same with us.

Peter was inspired to preach to the crowds ‘with a loud voice’ about ‘Jesus the Nazarene’ and the fact that ‘God raised him to life’. That is the gospel. That is the message which those who breathe with the breath of God have been preaching since the birthday of the Church at Pentecost.

We could pause for a moment to pray an ancient chant of the Church:

‘Come Holy Spirit, fill the hearts of your faithful,

and enkindle in them the fire of your love.

Send forth your Spirit and they will be created,

and you will renew the face of the earth.’

Last Sunday 2 June these children received their First Eucharist. We offer them our prayers and congratulations at this special time.

Louis B.                         Kayla H.

Raphael C.                     Isla M.

Anthony D.                    Veronica M.

Benjamin G.                   Kaitlyn T.

Louis R.                         Renee T.

Seaview A.                     Mikaella M.

Isabelle E.                      Addison P.

Stevania F.                     Sofia S.

Sarah H.                        Gabriella V.            

We keep Mr Chad Collins, father of Lily-Rose Collins in Year 1, in our prayers as he hopefully makes a speedy recovery in hospital this week.

On Friday 7th June we celebrated a Whole School Mass and reflected on the example of our patron saint.

St Bernadette, whose feast day is 16th April, is an example of great faith and devotion. Congratulations to the students who received St Bernadette Awards, for living in the spirit of St Bernadette.

Kindergarten - Catherine V

Year 1 - Ella M

Year 2 - Samara C

Year 3 - Ian B

Year 4 - Seaview A and Louis R

Year 5 - Orlando V

Year 6 - Daniel B

13/6 - Athletics Carnival

14/6 - Cross Country Carnival

19/6 - Stage 3 Boys Soccer

21/6 - Confirmation Information Night

25/6 - Canteen Day

27/6 - Confirmation Lessons Begin

28/6 - Reports to go home

1/7 - Parent Teacher Interviews Begin

5/7 - Last Day of Term

Kindergarten - Terrence T & Claire L

Year 1 - Ella M & Joshua J

Year 2 - Tyana N & Elena M

Year 3 - Renee T & Daniel J

Year 4 - Miguel M & Seaview A

Year 5 - Rebecca K & Jessica L

Year 6 - Jessie E B & Lily M

23/5 - Isla M

24/5 - Madison H 

25/5 - Antonio S 

28/5 - Amelia N 

29/5 - Jessica M 

31/5 - Stefan S

1/6 - Eloise S 

4/6 - Miguel M 

6/6 - Mia V 

Star Token Tally up to week 6

Our next focus for PBS4L is ‘We stand up for others’ and ‘We are in the right space at the right time’. Our lessons will be teaching children to be punctual, to play in supervised areas and to ensure that they remain with the supervising teacher when on excursions. Our other focus, that of standing up for others, will be given particular focus in the next few weeks but of course this is a value which is modelled and taught every day, in the way of our Lord, and was noted in Mrs Gatt-Petrini’s farewell speech when she asked us all to ‘look after each other’.

A fortnight ago Kiara B set off to Lismore to compete at the NSW PSSA State Carnival for Girls Football, which ran over three consecutive days.

Kiara was a member of the MacKillop team. Her team played extremely well together and ended up coming in third place.

At the conclusion of the carnival, Kiara was also selected in the NSW State Football Team for Girls which will compete in Canberra in late August.

Congratulations Kiara!

For any 2nd hand uniform needs please contact Cathy Nagy 0416048169

Plenty of stock in various sizes of:

Jumpers

Track pants

Tunics

Boys and girls long sleeved shirts