Term 1, Week 4 2025

From our Leadership Team

Dear Parents/Caregivers

It was wonderful to see many of you at our Welcome Night and AGM on Tuesday where we came together for the first time as a school community. Linked here is the Principal’s Report and Chairperson’s Report for 2024 shared on the night. Thank you to those who were able to attend the evening and bring a shared plate. We really are thankful for the partnership we share with our parents and families.

It has been pleasing to see our learning programs in full swing across the school. Our Junior Primary classes have once again implemented the InitiaLit program, with our Reception to Year 2 students showing fantastic engagement and enthusiasm for their literacy learning. The structured approach of InitiaLit is helping our youngest learners develop strong foundations in reading and writing.

This week we began our literacy intervention programs, with 16 students from Reception to Year 1 currently participating. These targeted support sessions are designed to provide additional assistance where needed. We are excited to expand our intervention offerings next week with literacy and numeracy programs across the upper years also, which will allow us to support approximately 30 students in total. This reflects our commitment to ensuring every student has the support they need to succeed.

Looking ahead, NAPLAN assessments for Years 3 and 5 students will take place in Week 7 (March 12-15). More detailed information about NAPLAN will be sent home to relevant families in the coming weeks. Next Tuesday, students in Years 3 and Year 5 will undertake the NAPLAN Coordinated Practice Test. This practice test provides students with an opportunity to engage with and familiarise themselves with the NAPLAN Online platform prior to undergoing the NAPLAN assessments later this term.

Our next big community event is in Week 6, with St Bernadette’s hosting the Project Compassion launch for 2025 on Shrove Tuesday, March 4^th. Project Compassion is a national campaign which was launched by Caritas Australia in 1965. The mission of this initiative is to raise funds and support people living in poverty in both Australia and around the world. This year is the 60^th year anniversary of Project Compassion, which is significant, as the campaign actually began here in our very own church at St Bernadette’s! We are looking forward to hosting this event and welcoming many special guests into our community, with our Year 4-6 students attending the launch on the day.

God bless,
Michelle, Matt and Ben

From 4/5B

Personality Hoodies
We created hoodies that represent characteristics of our personalities (pictured above). Jaxon, Ishaan, Isha, Melody and Aaron have described some features of their work.

(Jaxon)
You’ll notice that I named soccer and basketball as strengths. I love dogs and one day I’d like to own one.

(Ishaan)
My hoodie has a real New Zealand theme. I was born there and I support the Black Caps in cricket. You can see the NZ flag across the chest.

(Isha)
In the top corner of my hoodie you can see the Bhutanese and Nepalese flags because I have a rich history from these places. I support the Matildas in international soccer.

(Aaron)
My favourite sport, soccer, is represented on the cuff of my jumper. My favourite colour is red, the national colour of Nepal, where my parents were born.

(Melody)
I am a very social person. As you can see, I have over 40 friends! My birthday is on the 13^th of August and I was born in 2015, making me a 9 year old. (Picture below)

Character Strengths
We have been doing a lot of work to discover our strengths. We have been thinking about how our strengths can help us to uphold the school values of love, truth, justice, hope and respect.

(Rafi)
My character strength is creativity. I am creative in helping others to find solutions to their problems, so I show respect through helping them.

(Hayden)
I have a love of learning, which is one of my key strengths. It revolves around the school value of love. I live out a love of learning by wanting to know more. For example, if Mr Burns introduces a tricky word to the class, I will research it or study it to find out more about the term.

(Chantelle)
Appreciation is a strength of mine. It ties in with the school value of respect, because I always show manners when speaking with others. This shows an appreciation of them and of what they are doing for me.

(Rozen)
Teamwork is a strength of mine. I work well with others and respect all opinions when doing group work, because I appreciate the fact that we are all unique.