St Bernadette's Primary School

NEWSLETTER | TERM 2 | WEEK 9 I 14 June 2024

Good afternoon, everyone.

Wishing you all a great weekend – it looks like we are returning to some overcast weather, which suits me well, as my family and I are heading to Rotto so I can compete in the marathon again. If any St Bernie’s mums or dads are competing, please come and say gidday. Last year it was amazing to see the Salzman family over there to cheer Rudy on for his first marathon!

As we know, it is coming into school report time, and we are looking forward to sharing these with you in week 11. The school report is of course an important way for you to remain well-informed of how your child is progressing in their learning.

Please remember, however, that reports are just one part of a broader spectrum of how school communicates and provides you with information about your child’s successes, achievements, challenges and progress.

Each of the avenues represented in the pictograph above offer parents a variety of opportunities to engage with their child’s ongoing learning journey over time. Therefore, if you have been maintaining good communication with your child’s teacher and attending the opportunities on offer throughout the semester, there should not be any ‘surprises’ at report time.

I would also remind parents that we don’t want to make these reports ‘high stakes’ for our children. By this I mean that it is important that we, as significant adult role models in our child’s life, demonstrate that we recognise all the effort they have given to their learning, the progress they have made, and the positive comments their teachers have made about their choices and contribution to school life so far.

So, when you sit with your child to briefly discuss their report, please think about:

1. Allowing your child to see you looking relaxed and calm about the report and its contents.

2. Going to the comment in the report and highlighting the positive observations from the teacher that you can discuss and celebrate together.

3. Asking your child questions about how they feel about their progress in a particular area – their successes and challenges.

4. Support your child to understand that if they are trying hard and giving their best effort then this is to be celebrated. Likewise, if they feel they could do better, ask them about what they might need to do, or what help they may need, to achieve their goals next semester.

School reports are not to be used to shame, belittle or compare a child’s efforts with other classmates or siblings. We want every child, no matter the grade they receive, to walk with their head held high and to understand that progress is what we really celebrate here at St Bernadette’s.

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This week I was very fortunate to receive a few pieces of amazing artwork from some of our Junior Primary students. I have got some up in my office and this one from Dakodah to Fred and it really made my day!

While it is a long, eleven-week term it has been a really great one, and I once again sincerely thank staff, students and families for all your hard work, cooperation, kindness and good humour throughout the term. With two weeks to go, I look forward to a fantastic end to the term – even if I am walking around with sore legs!

Geordie

We are coming towards the end of Semester 1, and we all know that means reports! As with Term 4 last year, please make sure you can log into Seqta Engage. If you can not remember your log in or password, please email admin@stbernadettes.wa.edu.au and your log in details will be returned to you. These requests should be made prior to the release of the reports please, any requests made on or after Friday 28 June will be attended to in Term 3.

Once you have logged into Seqta, on the left-hand side (on a handheld device, you will need to select the blue button with three white lines in the top left hand corner) click Assessment, choose which child you would like to view (if you have more than one child on Engage). You will then see that you have access to all previous reports. Year 6 parents please ensure that you have downloaded/printed all your child's reports as once they leave Bernie's and head off to High School, these will be archived and will not be available for you to access.

Please note that all Kindy reports will be printed and sent home with your child.

Once again, there should be no surprises with your student’s report grades as teacher and parent communication should be open and ongoing. If there are any concerns, please contact your child’s teacher via admin@stbernadettes.wa.edu.au.

Attached you will find the visual to assists in explaining what each grade represents. Your child’s report will go live on Seqta Engage on the last day of term.

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The last Runners Club will be next Monday, 17 June and

will not run during the last week of Term.

Registration for Term 3 is now open. Please complete the form below. Spots are allocated on a first come first basis and will be capped at 40 students.

Runners Club Term 3

Dear Parents and Carers,

As part of our commitment to Catholic social justice practices at St Bernadette’s, we fundraise for a Catholic mission each term. This term we are fundraising for LifeLink. The LifeLink organisiation provides a recognisable identity for all the individual welfare and social service agencies supported by the Church across the Archdiocese of Perth.

Our student Mission Captains, Alicia and Pippa, have organised a bake sale for this Friday and next Friday 2:45pm – 3:15pm. We are asking for donations of baked treats from our school families and staff to make the bake sale a success.

Year 3 – Year 6 donations on Friday, 21st June.
Pre-Primary – Year 2 donations on Friday 28th June.

Please drop off your baked treats to the office the day before or on the Friday morning (avoid Friday afternoon please) so our student volunteers can set up the stalls before the afternoon.

All items can be purchased for a $2 donation. Please note the stalls will be cash only.

If you would like to join the team to assist our Mission Captains with our fundraising initiative, please email me via the office admin. Thank you for your continued support.

This week's Nude Food Winners

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Hari Merdeka

Indonesia celebrate Hari Merdeka (Independence day) on the 17 August every year! To pronounce Hari Merdeka, you say Hu-ree Mer-de-kah 🙂 We are celebrating this special day in Week 11 this term with our students.

What do people do to celebrate Hari Merdeka?

Many people celebrate the day through games and activities. The most popular of these games is called Panjat Pinang. This involves competitors climbing palm trees in order to reach prizes hung at the top of the trees. Prizes can include electronic goods, clothes and even bicycles! Students have been amazed at how entertaining some of these cultural activities are.

Our Year 6 Bernie's students are starting to plan their very own Mini Merdeka stalls for the younger years to enjoy. This will run on the last Friday of term 2, during lunchtime for Cultural week. Stay tuned over the coming weeks, to find out more about what exciting and creative cultural activities they are planning.