From the Principal's Desk
Prayer to Christ the King
Lord Jesus Christ, King of the Universe,
reign in our hearts and guide our lives.
Fill our world with Your justice, peace, and mercy.
Help us to serve You in one another
and to live as faithful witnesses of Your Kingdom.
Christ our King, reign in us today and always. Amen.
Dear St Bernard’s Community,
As we begin the last few weeks of Term 4, teachers have been busy finalising assessments, evaluations and moderating work, in order to finalise reports. Currently at St Bernard’s as part of the ‘Reporting Student Progress and Achievement’ process, there are extensive formal opportunities to reflect on student achievement including Getting to Know You sessions, compulsory Learning Conversations, optional Report Feedback sessions, the printed Report, parent requested meetings, regular communication from teachers and for some students Program Support Group/ Student Support Group meetings. Each of these aims to provide information regarding your child’s learning progress in a timely manner throughout the year. I am eager to gather feedback from families early in 2026 about how our current processes are working and how we might refine them.
Reports will be sent home on Friday 5th December and our Term 4 Report Feedback session will be held on Tuesday 9th December from 3.30-6.30pm. Bookings for these sessions will be opened on Tuesday 2nd December at 9.00am.
Please book on schoolinterviews.com.au code : gfpgh
Please note that our specialist subject teachers (Ms Tijana, PE; Mr Darren, Music; Ms Daniela, Italian; and Ms Lisa, Digital Technologies), will NOT be available on this evening. However you are welcome to organise another time to meet if you have any questions regarding your child's specialist subject report. You might like to refer to the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority website for further information about the curriculum achievement standards and content descriptors.
Enrolling your child in a school is an important decision, and every parent wants to make the best choice for their child. My goal is to lead an outward-facing school that values open communication and welcomes feedback from our community, so we can continue to grow and improve.
All staff at our school are required to uphold child safety standards (Child safety policies which can be found under the Policies tab on our school website www.stbernardscoburg.catholic.edu.au), the AITSL Standards (Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership), the VIT Standards (Victorian Institute of Teaching), and the MACS (Melbourne Archdiocese of Catholic Schools) Code of Conduct. These expectations ensure a consistently high level of knowledge, professionalism, and behaviour. Naturally, when parents choose a school, they expect that everyone working with their child will meet these standards.
Likewise, parents who enrol their child agree to follow the terms and conditions regarding parent conduct. Below are excerpts from the Enrolment Form and the Parent/Carer Code of Conduct which can also be found under 'Policies' on our school website. These reminders outline the responsibilities all parents share as members of our school community. If concerns arise about any incident at school, they should always be raised with your child’s teacher or school leadership - never directly with a child or with another child’s parent. Thank you for your co-operation with this.
Terms and Conditions of Enrolment:
8.6 The parents/guardians/carers agree to comply with any code of conduct for
parents/guardians/ carers or other policy implemented by the school from time to time
which sets out the school’s expectations of parents/guardians/carers who have a student
enrolled at the school.
Parent Code of Conduct: Unacceptable conduct:
• approaching a child that is not your own with a view to disciplining that child for their behaviour. Such matters are only to be dealt with by school staff.
• approaching other school parents to resolve issues arising between students at school. Such matters should be referred to school staff.
Yesterday our 2026 Foundation students attended their final ‘Mini Bernie’s’ orientation session. Parents participated in an information session and particularly enjoyed the expert presentation from four current Foundation students Xavier, Sana, Oscar and Olivia who had thrilling things to say about their positive experience at St Bernard’s. It was wonderful to be able to connect our new families with existing families as part of our Parent Buddy Program. I am sure everyone in our community will make all our new families feel welcomed at St Bernard’s.
I am looking forward to experiencing my first St Bernard's Grade 6 Graduation Mass and Ceremony. Graduation will take place on Thursday 11 December from 5pm to 6.30pm. Students need to wear their full school Summer uniform and are required to arrive at the Church at 4.45pm sharp. There will be allocated seating for families in the Church.
You may like to bring along some tissues!
Our current Year 5 students have the opportunity to order the Year 6 Jacket for 2026. Please see the attached letter for more information and the order form. Please complete payment by Friday 5th December.
Our School Assembly is this Friday 28th November at 3pm, year 1/2 classes will be hosting. We will also have a special assembly next Monday 1st December at 3pm. Anthony Cianflone our local member of parliament will be presenting prizes for the Christmas Colouring competition.
Another reminder that our Christmas Carols evening will be held on Monday 15th December 5.30pm-7pm (weather permitting). Please see the attached invitation for further details.
Payments are now due for the Year 6 Day Out and Year 3/4 Swimming Lessons.
Have a wonderful and blessed week.
Julie Di Noto
Principal
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Save the Dates for 2026
2026 Commencement Dates
Wednesday 28 January : Foundation students commence 9:00am - 1:00pm and Years 1-6 Getting to Know You Interviews
Thursday 29 January : Years 1-6 Students commence
Year 5/6 Confirmation Thursday 28th May at 5pm
2026 Term Dates
Term 1 Tuesday 27 January - Thursday 2 April
Term 2 Monday 20 April - Friday 26 June
Term 3 Monday 13 July - Friday 18 September
Term 4 Monday 5 October - Friday 18 December
Easter Weekend : Good Friday 3 April - Easter Monday 6 April.
Note: for the first five weeks, Foundation students have a different timetable to that of the rest of the school.