From the Principal
St Bernard's Primary School
Principal - Ms Julie Di Noto
Prayer
Dear Lord Jesus,
Thank you for bringing our community together and for teaching us to love one another as you have loved us. Help us to follow your teachings in our everyday lives and to make our community a place where everyone feels welcomed, valued and safe.
Lord, guide us to be responsible for our words and actions. Help us to make good choices, care for our surroundings and take responsibility when we make mistakes.
Teach us to be respectful towards everyone. Remind us of your commandment to love our neighbours as ourselves, and help us to show kindness, patience, forgiveness and understanding.
May we live by your example and build a community filled with love, responsibility, respect and safety.
Amen.
Dear St Bernard’s Community,
It has been a busy start to Term 4!
We are incredibly proud of our Grade 5/6 students and the way they embraced every opportunity to create such a memorable camp experience at Phillip Island. I thoroughly enjoyed visiting them on the second day and witnessed firsthand the way they demonstrated outstanding teamwork, worked positively together, supported and encouraged one another, and showed kindness, resilience and respect. It was pleasing to hear the bus driver express to me that in his 19 years of driving, St Bernard’s students were the most respectful he ever experienced. Additionally, staff at the Penguin parade commented on how fabulous our students were. Our Grade 5/6s should be so proud of the way they represented our school and the lasting memories they created together!
Our wonderful school community has come together once again to make our Bunnings sausage sizzle fundraiser a huge success! A heartfelt thank you to everyone who contributed, from the families who generously donated soft drinks, to those who volunteered their time serving sausages, and everyone who stopped by to show their support with a purchase. It was truly a fantastic team effort, and together we raised just over $3,600 in profit! We are so grateful for the generosity, time and community spirit that made this possible. Thank you for your continued support! We have now raised $15,600 towards our new playground!
I am thrilled to share that Ms Sienna Ritoli will be our Prep teacher in 2027. Ms Ritoli has specialised training in the early years and experience working with kinder aged children. Ms Ritoli is looking forward to working with the littlest learners of our school community and over the coming weeks will be visiting the children in their kinder settings, in preparation for orientation beginning on Wednesday November 11.
Yesterday our students experienced a dance incursion hosted by STOMP dance company. There was high energy, smiles, grooving and enthusiasm as students learnt a dance sequence. Congratulations once again to all our students for their high level of engagement!
Tomorrow our Prep students will have their first camp experience, sharing in a class breakfast and movie morning. This Friday our Grade 5/6 students will be attending an excursion to Parliament House and some of our Grade 4 students will be participating in a soccer tournament at Parade College. Thank you to our dedicated teachers for their hard work and commitment in organising a wonderful range of extracurricular activities creating enriching opportunities for our students beyond the classroom!
A reminder that our survey link will be open for one more week to provide feedback about our cycle of reporting student progress and achievement. This feedback will be used to plan for our reporting cycle in 2027. Feedback Link
Our school reviewer spent two days at our school last week, learning more about our community, our students and our approach to teaching and learning. Thank you to the parents who generously gave their time to participate in the parent focus group and share their valuable feedback. The reviewer was particularly impressed by our students and the thoughtful insights they shared. In the coming weeks, the reviewer will present her findings and recommendations to our leadership team. We look forward to reflecting on these insights as we continue to strengthen and improve our school community.
Our recent photo shoot beautifully captured a snapshot of life at our wonderful school! From the smiling faces of our students to the special moments that make our community unique, these photos showcase the joy, connection and learning that happen every day.
Here are just a few of the wonderful moments captured!
The Garden/Bake sale held last Friday was a huge success! The community spirit and support shown at St Bernard’s is truly remarkable. Thank you to all the parents and students who helped organise the stall, and to everyone who purchased the freshly grown produce straight from our very own garden! Total money raised was $755.50. The funds raised will go towards purchasing some much needed garden beds to help our garden continue to grow and flourish.
It has been a busy start to the term with many students trading 120 gotchas for the opportunity to be Principal for the morning! Congratulations to Violeta and Ottie (Prep), Zavier (Grade 1) and Eloise (Grade 2). I look forward to welcoming my next Principal for the Morning! I wonder who it will be….
Our next assembly scheduled for Friday 30th October, which is a school closure day, will be changed to Tuesday 27th October at 2.45pm. Prep students will be hosting this assembly. We will also have a visit from Anthony Cianflone who will be presenting awards to some of our students. Our Jump rope for Heart ‘Jump off’ will take place on Monday 18th November at 2.45pm. Families are warmly invited to join us as we celebrate our students showcasing their skipping skills! We look forward to sharing this wonderful opportunity to recognise their hard work, progress and enthusiasm.
My Principal award this fortnight went to Rafe for his outstanding contributions during camp. Rafe demonstrated excellent teamwork, consistently supporting and encouraging others while showing kindness, cooperation and respect. His persistence and resilience shone through as he embraced challenges, persevered through difficulties and continued to give his best. Rafe reflects the true spirit of St Bernard's, helping create a positive, inclusive and supportive camp experience for all.
A friendly reminder that the final fee payment for the year was due by the end of Term 3. Thank you for your continued support in keeping your school fee payments up to date. If you require an extension to this date, please contact the school office. Your timely payments are greatly appreciated and help support the ongoing resources required for our school to operate effectively and continue providing quality opportunities for our students. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Please note the following policy updates:
Health, Safety and Wellbeing Policy Commitment Statement
Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Policy
Have a wonderful fortnight! .
Warm regards
Julie Di Noto
Principal
Reminders - No school for students
School Closure Days Friday 30th October and Monday 2nd November
Melbourne Cup Day - Tuesday 3rd November