Principal - Ms Julie Di Noto

Heavenly Father,

We come before You at the beginning of Term 2 with grateful hearts, mindful of St Bernard who was a shining example of faithful love and service. We humbly ask for guidance to help St Bernard’s community to live as instruments of Your grace in the world.

Strengthen us to serve others with generous hearts. Help us to see those in need with compassion, to act with kindness without hesitation, and to give of ourselves with joy. Let our lives reflect Your light. In our words, may we speak encouragement; in our actions, may we bring comfort; in our presence, may others feel Your peace. Teach us to be patient with one another, to forgive freely, and to walk humbly in service.

May our community become a living testimony of Your love—where faith is alive, hope is shared, and love is made visible in every act of care and mercy.

Through Christ our Lord,

Amen.

Dear St Bernard’s community,

Welcome back to Term 2! It is so lovely to watch the joy on the faces of the students greeting their classmates and teachers, eager to share stories and holiday memories with their friends. A term of learning, curiosity, resilience and excitement awaits and our students are already settled into their classroom routines!

There is a buzz in the air with the Premiers Reading challenge providing a wonderful challenge for students to engage with a variety of books and ignite a genuine love of reading. This year’s theme is ‘Stories to discover. Stories to tell’ and it is evident that many of the children at St Bernard’s love sharing stories, character attributes and exciting plots. Registrations can still be made at Victorian Premiers' Reading Challenge.

On Monday teachers participated in a day of professional learning exploring literacy assessment practices, with an emphasis on data collection to inform the analysis of student growth against established benchmarks. At St Bernard’s we will be introducing a DIBELS assessment which is used for identifying and monitoring the development of reading skills from Foundation to Year 6. Teachers will begin implementing DIBELS assessments this term.

A reminder that I have extended the date school fees can be paid in full to receive the $100 discount to this Friday 24th April. Fees and levies can be paid by cash or credit card at the office or by Bank transfer - BSB 083 347 Account No: 483924506 Reference: Family Name. Fees need to be paid in full by Friday 18th September (end of Term 3). Thank you for your support with this.

For your reference, a document outlining our school leadership team and their key roles can be viewed here. Please feel free to contact the relevant leaders directly if you have any questions related to their portfolios. Our 2026 calendar dates have been updated. Please access a copy here School Calendar for 2026. At times we do need to make late changes, which we will communicate with you as soon as possible.

We have been closely monitoring and reviewing our end of day pick up procedures, to ensure the safe handover of students to their parents/caregivers. Please see attached letter for further information. I welcome any feedback or suggestions to continue to improve processes and ensure the safety of our students and their families.

This Saturday St Bernard’s will be participating in the Coburg RSL’s dawn service for ANZAC Day. Student Leaders will be presenting a wreath on behalf of our school. The service commences at 6am sharp. If you are planning to attend, we encourage you to ask your children to wear their school uniform. I have no doubt that this will be a memorable experience.

We’re pleased that a number of prospective families have booked to get a snapshot of our school and see learning in action this Friday. Two more group tour dates have now been released - Monday 27 April and Tuesday 5 May. Thank you again for your ongoing support in sharing what makes our school community so special. Check out our school website which has been updated with recent images from our photo shoot www.stbernardscoburg.catholic.edu.au and our brand new school prospectus.

Mini Bernie’s Little Scholars Taste of School sessions will also be taking place for parents and students of 3,4 or 5 year olds to experience St Bernard’s school. Existing families are also encouraged to join one or more of these sessions, supporting school transition and are also invited to bring a friend from kinder. See flyer for more information Mini Bernie's Little Scholars Taste of School

Mothers Day is fast approaching and I am looking forward to celebrating with all the wonderful Mums and Mother figures in St Bernard’s community. This year we welcome you and your child/ren for a light breakfast in the hall from 8am on Friday May 8th. Our school choir will treat us to a special performance in honor of our mums at 8:30am. At 8.50am you are warmly invited to join your child in their class for morning prayer. Further details can be found here - Invitation Our annual Mothers Day stall will also be taking place on this day. Our BPC will be sending home raffle tickets soon with some wonderful prizes available.

As part of students’ Inquiry learning in Term 2 - connected to History and Geography and centred on the theme “My story, your story, our story,” we will be hosting a Cultural Diversity Celebration Day on Thursday, May 21. Students are encouraged to wear traditional clothing or outfits that reflect their cultural backgrounds, helping to promote intercultural awareness, understanding, and meaningful dialogue. More information will be shared soon.

This term we will be introducing our new NPortal Parent communication app. This will replace our Audiri App from Term 3. Some features of NPortal include message notifications, submitting absence details, newsletter access, digital parental consent to school activities and events, first aid notifications, view and revise your child’s medical needs and report access online. Over the course of this year we will slowly introduce some of these features. Instructions on how to download and register for the NPortal app will be shared soon.

Have a wonderful fortnight.

Warm regards

Julie Di Noto (Principal)

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