St Bernadette's Primary Dundas

REFLECTION by Dianne Bergant CSA

A fierce fire in a eucalyptus forest bursts open the seed pods, cleanses the soil of smothering undergrowth, and returns nutrients to the soil to germinate the seeds. It is that sort of fire which Jesus brings to the earth.

So, at Pentecost, He sent His Holy Spirit '. . . like tongues of fire', bursting the early disciples out of the protective shell of the 'Upper Room', allowing them to be germinated as seeds of the early Church. It is the same in every generation which has to ask: What personal, family or social situations provide a hard casing which must be cracked open? What is the smothering undergrowth which prevents our germination as fearless disciples?

Jesus himself felt smothered by the small-minded people of Nazareth to which He never returned. He warns that families and good friends can try to smother the spark He wishes to ignite.

We might pause for a moment to pray that the fiery Holy Spirit might enable us to become a stand of tall trees reaching for the Risen Son in all His glory.

16/8 - Class Mass: Year 4 

16/8 - Assembly 2:30pm

16/8 - Confirmation Classes 4:20pm & 5:20pm 

18/8 - Bunnings Sausage Sizzle Fundraiser 

19/8 - Book Fair Starts (First Day to make purchases)

21/8 - Book Fair Ends (Last Day to make purchases)

22/8 - Book Parade/Mufti Day 

23/8 - Diocesan Athletics Carnival 

27/8 - Author Visit / Libby Gleeson 

28/8 - Father's Day wrapping 9am - 11am & 7pm - 8pm

29/8 - Father's Day Stall 

30/8 - Assembly 2:15pm

Kindergarten - Ryad B

Year 1 - Leo X 

Year 2 - Samara C 

Year 3 - Kayla H 

Year 4 - Chloe D 

Year 5 - Kobi M 

Year 6 - Amelia N 

4/8 - Megan L

6/8 - Catherine V 

10/8 - Addison-Rose P 

13/8 - Ella M 

15/8 - Lachlan B

Star token tally up to Week 4

Our focus for the next two weeks are ‘We keep our hands and feet to ourselves’. While we are fortunate at St. Bernadette’s not to have too many physical altercations, it is always important to remind students not to resort to using hands or feet to resolve issues and to respect personal space. So, PBS4L lessons for the next two weeks will reflect this and students will be taught not only how to recognise verbal and visual cues which indicate that a situation is escalating, but also the skills which can help to defuse a possible ‘situation’.

Starting on Monday 19th August, St Bernadette’s will be celebrating Book Week and we have many exciting events planned.

The Scholastic Book Fair will be arriving on Friday 16th August. The children will be given time to come and look on Friday at what is available to purchase and start making their wish lists. Purchases will be able to be made from Monday 19th August until Wednesday 22nd August.

The Book Fair will be held in our school hall and the opening hours are:

Monday 19th August: Before school from 8:30am and after school from 3pm – 3:30pm.

Tuesday 20th August: Before school from 8:30am and after school from 3pm – 3:30pm

Wednesday 21st August: Before school from 8:30am

It has a wonderful selection of engaging and affordable books for every reading level. Please make plans to visit our Book Fair and be involved in shaping your child’s reading habits.

On Thursday 22nd August we will be having a Book Parade under the Cola. All children are encouraged to dress up and come to school dressed as their most loved character from their favourite book. The costumes can be as creative as you like, and they do not have to be store bought. Parents and grandparents are invited to come along and enjoy the parade commencing at 9:30am, followed by open classrooms and shared reading time with your children. We can’t wait to see what fun and creative costumes your children will be wearing.

Following on from Book Week is National Literacy Week. To mark this event, on Tuesday 27th August we will be welcoming a very special author to our school, Libby Gleeson.

Libby Gleeson is the author of many award-winning books for children of all ages. During her visit to our school, Libby will be conducting hands on writing workshops with all of our students from Kindergarten to Year 6. This will be an extra-curricular activity held by the school at no cost to you.

We are looking forward to celebrating Book Week with you and your family!

A reminder to parents that supervision does not start in the morning until 8:30am. Please do not leave your child at school any earlier than this time. If you do require care for your child in the morning please consider contacting our COSHC to see if there is a place available for before school care.

The bell for class will ring 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!

Just a gentle reminder that NO students should be playing on the equipment or under the COLA after school. No child is to go onto the bottom playground without a parent to supervise them. Having unsupervised students in this area is a safety risk and a duty of care issue that is unfair to place upon the staff member on the back gate. 

Also please ensure that non school age children are supervised as you leave either exit to ensure that they don’t run into either the Church Carpark or out of the front gate onto Cox Crescent.

When using Drive Through please ensure that you (the driver) stay in the car or the Rangers /Police will consider it as parking which is an offence for which you can be booked between the designated times. Also please don’t call your child to the road side of the car or behind your car to place items into the boot as this puts your child at risk of being crushed between cars or being run over by fast moving traffic along Cox Crescent.

Thanking you in advance for your support.

Last Monday, to celebrate our learning of the Japanese language, along with the company of our Japanese exchange students, we were treated to a sushi making lesson guided by Kubo Sensai.  It was fun learning to make this delicious meal!

Thank you to all of the students who participated in the Vinnies Winter Appeal and wore their pyjama's to school. We raised $338.80 for this very special cause! 

Recently, Heidi S attended the School Sport Australia National Swimming Championships in Melbourne. This is the pinnacle of competitive swimming in Australia, where Heidi competed against the very best swimmers in the country. 

There were eight events in which Heidi competed in the 10 years division and remarkably, she finished with a medal in all of them! This is a truly outstanding achievement which sees Heidi as the National Champion in no less than 4 events!

Her final results were:

1st - 200m Individual Medley

1st - 200m Medley Relay

1st - 100m Breaststroke

1st - 100m Butterfly

2nd - 100m Backstroke

2nd - 50m Breaststroke

3rd - 100m Freestyle

3rd - 50m Butterfly

Congratulations to Heidi on this truly outstanding achievement, we are all very proud of you!

Thank you to all the parents who have dedicated some time to help us on Sunday August 18th at Bunnings Rydalmere. We would still love a hand from some parents around lunch time to help cook the BBQ! If you are able to help out, please send your note into the office as soon as possible. Thankyou ! 

Our annual Father’s day stall will be held on Thursday, August 29th. A note with information has now been sent home.

The P&F will be hosting a Father’s day breakfast on Friday, August 30th at 7:30am. 

Please save the date as we would love to celebrate with you !

Thank you to everyone who attended the P&F meeting on Monday 12th August. We as a committee value the presence and constructive feedback from the parent body.

Our hot dog canteen day was held on Tuesday 6th August. Thank you to everyone who put in a hot dog order! The children enjoyed their fresh and delicious lunch. From the 124 orders received we were able to raise $237.60 ! The P&F appreciates all the ongoing support.! “

Thank you to all who have set up their online profiles! If you haven’t set yours up, we encourage you to do so. This is not compulsory, although this will help us to keep track of how much is being raised, and at the end help with prize ordering. There is no pressure to fundraise, and even if you choose not to fundraise, your child is still welcome to participate! With the event only a few weeks away, there will be more information coming your way. We look forward to seeing how much we can put towards our new playground, have an absolute blast of a day for the children, with nothing but a little friendly and healthy competition! Happy Fundraising!!