St Bernard's Newsletter
July 2026
Dear families,
As we reach the end of another academic year, I find it hard to believe that my first year as Headteacher of St Bernard's has come to an end. The year has passed incredibly quickly and has been filled with so many moments of pride, joy and achievement. It has been a privilege to witness the dedication of our staff and the remarkable talents, kindness and determination shown by our students every single day.
This final newsletter captures just some of the wonderful experiences that have made this year so special. From the inspiring Dora Love Project and our vibrant Culture Week, to the beautiful Summer Soirée, Sports Day, the unforgettable Celebration Event recognising our students' outstanding achievements, the Disney trip and so much more, there has been an incredible amount to celebrate. I hope you enjoy looking back on these highlights and sharing in the successes of our school community.
As with every year, we also say farewell to valued members of staff who have made a significant contribution to St Bernard's. We wish Miss Trigg (PE), Mrs Miah-Sahin (Technology), Ms Alessi, Mrs Phillips (Careers), Mr Phillips (Head of PE) and Mrs Higg, who has faithfully served in our Learning Support Department for an incredible 26 years, every happiness and success in the next chapter of their journeys. We thank them for the care, commitment and dedication they have shown to our students and our school community.
In September, we will also be delighted to welcome several new members of staff to St Bernard's. I will introduce them to parents and carers in my annual 'Welcome Back' letter at the start of the new academic year.
As a Catholic school, we give thanks to God for the many blessings we have received throughout this year. We are grateful for the friendships that have been strengthened, the challenges that have helped us grow, and the many opportunities our students have embraced. We pray that the summer holidays provide a time of rest, renewal and quality time with family and friends.
Thank you to all our parents and carers for your continued support and partnership throughout the year. Together, we have helped our young people flourish academically, spiritually and personally.
I wish you and your families a safe, peaceful and happy summer break. We look forward to welcoming our students back in September, refreshed, full of hope and ready for another exciting year at St Bernard's.
May God bless you all.
Mrs Barnes
Headteacher
Honor the 100m Campion!
Congratulations to Honor in Year 9 for smashing it in the English Schools 100m Competition in Birmingham. Representing Essex, she came first in her 100m race - an incredible achievement! Well done, Honor!
Trombone Triumph!
A huge congratulations to Sigourney in Year 7 for achieving a distinction in her Grade 5 Trombone exam with Trinity College London. She also played a fantastic solo piece in this years' Summer Soiree! Keep up the great work, Sigourney!
Old School Clobber
The Premises Team unearthed another St Bernard's artifact this half-term. This time they found an old school blazer alongside a bonnet and boater hat. We date these historic relics to be from the late 60's/early 70's. An amazing reminder of the rich history of our school!
The St Bernard's Summer Soiree
This term, we had the pleasure of celebrating the musical talent of St Bernard's with our annual Summer Soiree, directed and produced by our phenomenal Performing Arts Team!
There was no shortage of talent on display, with many different acts providing the visiting parents with an array of stunning performances in solos, duets or as a group.
The line-up featured a wide range of genres, instruments and musical styles; including the chamber choir, school orchestra, a trombonist, harpist, guitarist, solo singers, a musical theatre performance, and even a rock band!
We want to give the Performing Arts Team and the many, many talented students at the school a huge well done for putting on such a spectacular show!
Raising and Giving
Well done to the Year 12's for organising an unforgettable RAG (Raising and Giving) Week this term!
To help raise money for the school, the Year 12's, under the expert leadership of the Head Students and House Captains, organised a spectacular week of fun activities for students to take part in.
The week started with a visit from the Ice Cream Van on Monday lunch, followed by a BBQ and the Year 12 Haunted House on Wednesday and Thursday. The spook-tacular haunted house was a huge hit with the students, who lined up throughout lunch to experience the thrilling House of Horrors.
The RAG Week Extravaganza
RAG Week reached its apex on the Friday 'RAG Week Extravaganza', which took place during P3. The Extravaganza was a crazy carnival of fun activities, including Face Painting, Photo Booth, Teacher Stocks, Raffles, Carnival Games and a riveting Teacher Sumo Wrestling Arena, which drew huge crowds of spectators to watch the teachers battle it out in a thrilling wrestling match.
The final culmination of this whirlwind week was the colour run, where sponsored students raced around the school grounds while being pelted with coloured powder - heaps of colourful fun!
Thank you to our Head of Sixth Form, Mrs Owen, the Head Students, House Captains and all of the Year 12's, who put together an amazing week of fundraising!
Celebrating World Culture
Culture week at St Bernard's was another phenomenal success!
We had lots of special guests in throughout the week to teach students about a variety of cultural practices, including steelpan drums, k-pop dancing, spoken-word rap, salsa making and Bollywood dancing.
It was incredible to see the rich variety cultural attire worn by students around the school on the Friday, celebrating the many different cultural backgrounds our students come from.
Thank you to Miss Hill for organising the Culture Week activities, and to all the staff and students who helped make the week a success!
Celebrating Our Students Achievements
Our school celebration event was an opportunity to celebrate the many successes of our students.
From Attendance and Subject Dedication Awards to awards for Progress and Attainment, a huge swath of our students came up to receive commendations for their outstanding commitment to their studies this year.
The awards ceremony also featured a variety of musical performances, performed by our immensely talented students. This included stella performances from soloist singers, musicians and our Chamber Choir.
The ceremony concluded with a speech given by our two Deputy Head Students, Fiyin and Christy, who praised the students of St Bernard's for a fantastic year of growth, kindness and learning.
Well done to all the students who gave it their all this year to earn their awards!
A Thrilling Sports Contest
On the last week of term, the school gathered at Garon Park for the annual St Bernard's Sports Day. Students from Year 7 to 10 competed in a range of track and field events - racing, throwing, jumping and heaving their way to win points for their House Team.
The field events included discuss, javelin, shotput, long jump, triple jump, high jump, welly throwing and the famous Tug-of-War! Track events included all the main races, including 100m, 200m, 400m and the relay race.
Staff got involved in the action as well, with a fiercely competitive tug-of-war battle between two teams of teachers. Two teacher teams also competed in the inter-year relay race - the final race of the day! Much to their disappointment, the teacher relay team was still unable to beat the students, who raced around the track like leopards!
At the end of this brilliant day of competitive sports, the overall winners trophy went to House Hyning, who won 3 out of the 4 year group battles. True sporting domination show by House Hyning this year!
Overall, the Sports Day was a fantastic success, with lots of students taking part and having fun showing off their athletic prowess in front of the whole school. Thank you to the PE department for putting on another amazing Sports Day!
Year 12 Talk the Talk Event
New Year 12 Induction Day
RAG Week
Last week saw our RAG week – raising and giving week. We are raising funds this year for our school and the electronic whiteboards needed for classrooms. We had the ice cream van on Monday and Tuesday, the ever successful and popular haunted house on Tuesday and Wednesday and then Friday we had our RAG week extravaganza. The afternoon was filled with fun fair activities all organised by our fantastic Year 12's. We had pin the tail on the donkey, teacher stocks, sumo wrestling, face painting, bracelet making and much, much more. The day culminated in a colour run, lined by the whole school. We are yet to count the full total, but we are in the thousands of pounds so a HUGE thank you to parents and students for supporting these events.
Mrs Owen
Head of Sixth Form
Year 8 Form Masses
Student Leadership Conference
Eight of our Year 10 Head Prefects visited the Campion School for the Student Leadership Conference, which is run every year by the Brentwood Diocese. The conference is an opportunity for student leaders from schools across the diocese to come together to network and learn what it means lead through service to others.
SVP Ice Bucket Challenge
Feast Day Mass
Our Annual Feast Day Mass closed out another fantastic academic, with Father Paul kindly coming in to celebrate with us once again. Each form group had been collecting donations for the SVP Centre, and the liturgy prefects presented these donations to a representative of SVP during the Mass.
A Fabulous Visit From One of Our Favourite Authors
This week we were so lucky to welcome the award-winning author, Tamsin Winter, to St Bernards. Tamsin has written 5 books for young adults, and these have sold all over the world, winning several prestigious prizes.
On Monday, Tamsin delivered a wonderful assembly to the whole of Year 7 and 8. She talked us through the writing process and kept us entertained with stories of her youth and what had inspired her to leave teaching and become a writer. Students asked some searching questions, and Tamsin was able to tell us more about why she chose mainly female protagonists, her own childhood favourites and how she avoids burnout as a busy author.
Some Year 7s then took part in workshops with Tamsin where she was helping to develop their writing style. This began with single sentence structures but ended with students actually creating their own imaginary world!
Tamsin spent lunchtime signing copies of books and chatting with students and awarded the winner of the recent bookmark competition, Elsie Felton, with a signed copy of her latest book!
‘Tamsin Winter made us think outside of the box and I wrote something totally unexpected’
Lyla 7C
‘Tamsin Winter allowed us to explore how fun writing is, instead of focussing on the difficulties’
Maita 7F
‘I enjoyed the workshop – it was relaxing and inspired me to get back into story writing’
Maggie 7A
If you would like to discover the wonderful novels of Tamsin Winter, we have a collection of her books ready for borrowing in the library.
Miss Yates
Super STEM Success!
As another successful academic year draws to a close, our students continue to impress with their creativity, resilience and enthusiasm for STEM. Our Year 12 team recently submitted an entry to the Imperial College London Schools Challenge, developing an innovative solution to a real-world medical problem. Their project, A Solution for Arrhythmia Due to Cardiac Amyloidosis, demonstrates exceptional scientific understanding, teamwork and problem-solving skills. We wish them the very best of luck, with the chance of winning a cash prize.
Our fifteen Youth STEM Award students, from Years 7–10, have made fantastic progress by inspiring younger pupils, engaging with the wider community and developing valuable leadership and communication skills while exploring the impact of STEM on society.
Year 7 students also enjoyed the exciting Race to the Line challenge, where they designed, built and raced aerodynamic CO₂-powered cars. After transforming their ideas into 3D models, they competed in high-speed races, with the fastest car reaching an incredible 70 kilometres per hour.
Year 8 African Kingdoms Project
These colourful, creative displays delve into the rich history of various African kingdoms and cultures, including Ancient Egypt, the Mali Empire, Merina Empire, the Kongo and more! Some displays also explore the impact of slavery and colonialism on African nations, which still has lasting effects to this day.
Amazing work on these fun, informative displays, Year 8!
Student Article - The Dora Love Project
This year, some year 9 students took part in the Dora Love Prize; an annual Holocaust awareness competition that encourages young people to explore themes of injustice, human rights, history, remembrance, prevention and the impact of individual stories. This year, the theme of the prize was ‘Bridging Generations: How can remembering past genocides help to shape a better future?’
When we first discussed this year's theme, we did not want to create a project that simply informed people. Instead, we wanted something that would 'bridge generations' within our school community by connecting the past with the present. We felt that our project needed to have a long-lasting impact after this competition as a constant reminder that we need to challenge negative perceptions, ideas and stereotypes before they evolve into the first stage of genocide: classification. We realised that language matters because language shapes attitudes. Instead of focusing on later stages, we wanted to focus on prevention.
So, we asked ourselves: How can we create something that allows generations within our school to contribute to one shared message? This question shaped our project. Therefore, we decided our project needed to be physical and something everyone could actively engage with. So, we created a Bridge of Ideas.
Our project was a physical bridge on a display board, so it was eye-catching and thought-provoking to those that walked by it. Every brick or flower was a thoughtful prayer, message or thought about one of the various themes of prejudice we introduced to the year groups in assemblies.
We year 9s physically made the bridge of ideas, came up with this original design and created PowerPoints and stimulus activities for the forms. We met every lunch time for numerous months creating our project. We all worked extremely hard to create a meaningful impact on our school community and once we had finished, we sent out a survey to ask students opinions.
On the 17th of June, we went to Colchester to present our project to the other schools and judges. We were so excited to finally show the impact we had on our school community and the hard work that went behind creating our project. We got up on stage and presented the project with confidence. Whilst waiting for the results of the winner, the room was full of anticipation and hope and we sat nervously waiting. Unfortunately, we did not win or become part of the final bit of the competition. However, the judges told us about their thoughts on our work and they were extremely impressed. Nevertheless, the loss didn't dampen our smiles as we knew how much hard work we all contributed to this project and we each knew that the most important part of this competition was not winning but in fact teaching other students about past generations in the hope that we can help shape a more peaceful future. The engagement of members in our school community and the positive responses that
we received rewarded us with the hope that we changed negative perceptions against minority groups and taught how harmful language can be the first stage of genocide. We are so proud to be a part of such an important project that is needed when the world feels like such a scary, pessimistic and hopeless place. Most importantly, we are paving the way for future students so that the world is a safer and more inclusive place where nobody is discriminated because of their identity.
Article written by Grace Mathews
Rome-ing Through Classical History
Year 12's students went on a joint RE/History trip to the ancient city of Rome, one of the most historically and culturally significant cities in the world.
In the first two days, the students visited some of the many historical and religious sites that Rome is famous for, including the Catacombs, Vatican Museums, multiple Basilicas and the 2000-year old Roman Pantheon.
Students enjoyed a guided VR tour of Circus Maximus, using VR Headsets to transport themselves back in time to sit in virtual stands at the famous chariot-racing stadium!
The ancient gladiatorial arena, the Colosseum, lived up to the hype with its jaw-dropping scale and astonishingly well-preserved architecture. There was also a fascinating exhibition about the city of Troy, which featured an ancient stone inscription of Homer's 'Illiad'.
Students also visited the Jewish Museum, which told the long history of the Jewish People in Rome. Other small visits included the Spanish Steps, Trevi Fountain, and Michelangelo's masterful sculpture of Moses.
Overall, the Year 12s thoroughly enjoyed their trip to Rome, getting to see the famous religious sites and ruins from antiquity. Here are some of the students reflections:
"After five days in Rome, I am returning with valuable memories and en even stronger love for Rome's past" - Tara
" I really enjoyed the catacombs. I found them really emotional when looking at all the different graves and knowing it was used to worship when Christians were being persecuted." - Eleanor
"I'm leaving Rome with a heightened sense of understanding in faith and an interest in Rome's vast history." - Micaela
Disneyland Paris
This term, 44 students with 3 or less behaviour points were randomly selected to go on the 'Excellence Express' to Disneyland Paris as a reward for their excellent behaviour!
Following an early morning start on Thursday, the students first stop was a chocolate factory, where students got to see how delicious French chocolates are made.
They then arrived at Disneyland in the evening, and enjoyed a tasty meal at Disney's Rainforest Café. The next day, students had 12 hours to explore the famous theme park, enjoying all the rides, games and disney-themed attractions!
Huge thanks to Miss Hill and all the staff who helped out on the trip, and well done to all the students who have shown such excellent behaviour throughout the year!
MFL Boulogne Trip
The MFL Department ran a trip with 44 of our Year 8 and 9 students, who embarked by coach and ferry to the old French towns of Dunkirk and Boulogne.
This three-day trip gave students a chance to practice their French conversational skills while exploring these two fascinating historical towns. The itinerary included trips to an organic apple farm (Natur Pom), the largest aquarium in Europe (Nausicaa), a traditional French bakery and a trip Operation Dynamo beach.
The students had a fantastic time, and focused very well during the French talks at the bakery and apple farm. A big highlight was eating ice creams on the beach and shopping for souvenirs.
Huge thanks to the MFL department and all the staff who helped make this trip a big success!
Mrs William
MFL Teacher
Performing Arts Residential Trip (Student Article)
Earlier this month, 26 of our school’s Performing Arts students, ranging from Year 9 to Sixth Form, went on an amazing residential trip to London to celebrate their love of performing arts. It was a trip where they could have fun, spend time with their friends and, most importantly, learn more about the extraordinary industry of performing arts and theatre.
The journey began at Southend Central Station, where we caught the train to London, arriving near Covent Garden and our hotel. Once we arrived, we were able to spend time in Covent Garden, enjoying lunch and having the opportunity to go shopping in groups before heading to the Vaudeville Theatre to watch the incredible musical Six. After the performance, we travelled to our hotel and enjoyed a delicious Domino’s dinner.
On the second day, we had the fantastic opportunity to go behind the scenes on a tour of the National Theatre, exploring all three stages and learning how productions come together. We also took part in a London dance and drama workshop, which helped to improve our acting skills, develop our confidence and encourage teamwork.
Throughout the trip, students created unforgettable memories, made new friends and grew in confidence while enjoying every moment together. Overall, this 2026 Performing Arts trip helped students build confidence, improve their acting skills and make new friendships, with Ms Bell and Ms Alexander making it what many described as the "best school trip ever."
Some of the top highlights included the journey to London, exploring Covent Garden, shopping and eating lunch together, watching Six, the fascinating National Theatre tour and the dance workshop that boosted everyone’s confidence.
Students who attended described the experience as "an amazing trip and unforgettable experience" (Alice), "the best school trip ever" (Chloé), and "the trip was so fun. I loved the workshop and also the tour of the National Theatre. It was also just really good having fun with friends" (Orla).
Article written by Chloé and Alice in Year 9.
Matilda!
The Performing Arts Department is thrilled to announce the next school production - the one and only Matilda!
This riveting musical performance of the beloved Roald Dahl novel is set to begin production in September, and we simply cannot wait to see what brilliance the students come up with this time round!
Auditions for the lead roles have already taken place and will be confirmed in the upcoming months. Auditions for supporting cast and ensemble will take place at the start of the next academic year - so get practicing over the summer, ready for those auditions!
A Fantastic Athletics Season!
At the English Schools Track & Field Cup, our U13 girls finished an outstanding 5th in the East Anglia A Final, while our U15 girls won their East Anglia B Final, placing them amongst the top 12 schools in East Anglia. These fantastic achievements reflect the dedication, resilience, and talent of our athletes throughout the season.
The standard across the Borough Athletics competition was exceptionally high this year, with outstanding performances on both the track and in the field from all schools involved.
Our students rose to the challenge brilliantly, securing numerous medals throughout the competition and finishing an impressive 4th overall. This season also saw an incredible 13 school athletics records broken, highlighting the hard work and commitment shown by our athletes all year.
We are incredibly proud of all the students who competed, supported their teammates, and contributed to such a successful athletics season.
Congratulations to all of our athletes on an incredible year!
The Cricket Conquest Continues
The PE Department is extremely pleased to report on the success of our U13 Cricket Team.
Last Friday, the squad competed in the Essex Emerging Schools Cricket festival after winning the local fixtures. The girls played superb, placing 4th out of seven other schools - a very impressive feat!
Then on Monday, the cricket team competed once again, this time in the Borough Cricket tournament. The girls one 3 games; beating Southchurch, Thorpe Hall and Westcliff Girls, and were only narrowly defeated by Southend Girls.
Despite the unfortunate loss, the high number of runs the girls scored put them first overall, and they were officially crowned Southend Borough Champions!
Extremely well done girls! You've made the PE department, and the whole school, immensely proud! The PE Department is extremely pleased to report on the success of our U13 Cricket Team.
Last Friday, the squad competed in the Essex Emerging Schools Cricket festival after winning the local fixtures. The girls played superb, placing 4th out of seven other schools - a very impressive feat!
Then on Monday, the cricket team competed once again, this time in the Borough Cricket tournament. The girls one 3 games; beating Southchurch, Thorpe Hall and Westcliff Girls, and were only narrowly defeated by Southend Girls.
Despite the unfortunate loss, the high number of runs the girls scored put them first overall, and they were officially crowned Southend Borough Champions!
Extremely well done girls! You've made the PE department, and the whole school, immensely proud!
Mr Phillips
Head of PE
Another Cold Dose of Fun-draising!
Nine brave teachers went under the ice for the students' entertainment, all in a valiant effort to raise money for the local SVP Centre.
Their efforts weren't in vain - the SVP Team successfully raised £243 for the centre, which will go a long way to helping those in need in our local community.
Well done to the SVP Team for putting on another great show, and to all the teachers who commendably signed up for the cold plunge!
Students from St Bernard’s Year 12 have demonstrated their compassion and community spirit by donating five full carrier bags of essential items to St Vincent’s Centre Southend following a recent visit to the charity.
The centre, a well-established community hub in Southend, provides vital services and support programmes for vulnerable people across the local area. During their visit, students gained a valuable insight into the challenges faced by those experiencing hardship and witnessed first-hand the shortage of food and essential supplies available to help people in need.
Motivated to make a positive difference, the Year 12 students enthusiastically took part in a donation project designed to support the centre. Each student created a friends and family tree, inviting those closest to them to contribute an item from a list of essential goods provided by St Vincent’s Centre.
The response from students, their families and friends was overwhelming. Through their collective efforts, five carrier bags filled with much-needed items were gathered and donated to the centre, helping to replenish supplies and support local people facing difficult circumstances.
Staff at the centre were delighted with the donation, which will help meet the immediate needs of vulnerable members of the community.
The initiative highlights the strong commitment of St Bernard’s students to social responsibility and serving others. Their willingness to support a local charity reflects the school’s values of compassion, generosity and active citizenship.
A spokesperson for the school said: “We are incredibly proud of our Year 12 students. Having seen the needs of the community first-hand, they responded with kindness and determination. Their efforts, together with the support of their families and friends, will make a real difference to those who rely on the services of St Vincent’s Centre.”
The project serves as another shining example of the generosity of the St Bernard’s community and its dedication to helping those most in need.
Mrs Dowman
Year 12 Work Experience Success
From 29 June to 3 July, our Year 12 students completed an outstanding week of work experience, achieving 100% attendance at in-person placements. Students gained invaluable experience with organisations including NatWest Group, AXA, Howdens, the Houses of Parliament, local primary school, hospitals and GP surgeries, Southend Theatres, The Telegraph and RSK Geosciences.
Highlights included two aspiring engineers working alongside Engineering Geologist Hayley Bowers (BSc CGeol FGS) at RSK Geosciences, undertaking research and observing fieldwork, another student secured a highly competitive placement after interview with Southend Theatres, while a further . created a fantastic visual merchandizing display for Barnardo’s.
Employers praised the professionalism and maturity of our students. A former St Bernard's student who hosted students at NatWest Group commented, "They were an absolute pleasure to host and are a real credit to the school... I have no doubt they all have bright futures ahead of them."
We are incredibly grateful to all our employer partners for providing such inspiring opportunities and congratulate our Year 12 students for representing St Bernard's with enthusiasm, professionalism and pride.
Year 9 Finance Challenge with Mummy's Money
A group of business-minded Year 9 students put their entrepreneurial skills to the test in a innovative new Finance Challenge, delivered in partnership with Mummy's Money, Xenia Bragagnini shared her valuable insights into business, finance and entrepreneurship.
Armed with just £6 of start-up capital, teams planned, marketed and sold their own products, developing key skills in budgeting, teamwork, communication, problem-solving and leadership. From homemade cookies to handmade bracelets, students demonstrated impressive creativity and business acumen throughout the challenge.
Congratulations to Krumble Cookies, led by Chloe Connolly, who were crowned this year's winners. Chloe also received special recognition for her outstanding leadership and entrepreneurial flair.
The challenge was not only an excellent introduction to enterprise and financial education but also an opportunity to give back, raising over £80 for St Vincent de Paul to support local people and families in need. Well done to everyone who took part!
Make Your Mark - Youth Voice at the Civic Centre
On Monday 6 June, five students took part in Make Your Mark – Youth Voice at the Civic Centre, an inspiring event that gave young people the opportunity to share their views and influence issues that matter to them.
Students debated key themes from the nationwide Make Your Mark vote, including discrimination and hate, feeling safe, and the cost of living. Their contributions will help shape the next Southend Youth Council campaign.
Working alongside other young people and local partners, students developed their confidence, leadership and active citizenship skills while exploring how youth voice can create positive change.
We are incredibly proud of our students for representing the school with maturity, enthusiasm and a commitment to making their voices heard within the wider community.
Theraputic Red Pandas
Screen Safety
Whether it’s sending something on Snapchat to keep a streak going as soon as you wake up, getting up to speed on news on Twitter or live streaming thoughts about your day on social media, it can be hard to keep away from screens. But how do you know when enough is enough?
It’s important to be able to self-regulate your own screen time to stop it impacting your well-being. Here are some tips to help you have a healthy relationship with your screen
1. Prioritise key tasks over screens. It can be tempting to multitask with a screen, but often it can become a distraction. To help strike a healthy balance it’s important to set simple rules that you can follow like putting your phone on ‘do not disturb’ when doing important activities like homework or creating device free zones in the home.
2. Stay engaged with family and friends – in real life! Try making screens part of family time, like a movie or an online games night is one way to include others and build bonds with friends and family.
3. Learn how to manage risks online. Everyone faces risks when communicating and accessing online services. Trust your instinct and if someone – or something – looks too good to be true – it probably is! Be open and honest with family and friends and be open to advice. Remember that there are practical things you can do to deal with risks online, like blocking and reporting on the platforms.
4. Think carefully about what you post and share with others online. Maintain a positive online reputation that will serve you well later on in life when applying for a job or higher education.
5. Self-regulate your screen time – with support! All consoles and some social platforms have in-built settings that allow you to set alerts to tell you when you’ve reached a certain amount of time on the platform and gives you a summary of time spent to support digital wellbeing.
For more information, support and advice use Keep Children Safe Online: Information, advice, support - Internet Matters
Swim Safe
If you got into trouble in the water, would you know what to do?
Around 140 people lose their lives at the UK and Irish coasts each year, and over half never even planned to enter the water. It's important you know what to do in an emergency so you can help without putting yourself in danger.
There are two simple skills you should know that could save a life:
If you find yourself in difficulty in the water, float to increase your chances of survival.
If you see someone else in trouble in the water, call 999 or 112 and ask for the Coastguard.
Float to Live
Tilt your head back, ears submerged.
Relax and try to breathe normally.
Move your hands to help you stay afloat.
It's OK if your legs sink, we all float differently.
Spread your arms and legs to improve stability.
Every summer, the RNLI and Swim England help thousands of children stay safe on the beach through free Swim Safe sessions.
How to book a free Swim Safe session
Swim Safe takes place every summer, from May to September, at selected coastal and inland locations across the UK. Book your free session at swimsafe.org.uk.
Camps International - Peru 2027
Our soon-to-be Peru expeditioners have continued their hard work in raising funds for their upcoming Peru adventure.
The Camps International team have continued cleaning staff cars on the school playground, as well as serving tea, coffee and biscuits to parents during parent's evening.
If you would like to support our students on this wonderful adventure, you can do so through ParentPay or on our GoFundMe page: https://gofund.me/e87409d9c
Gracious God, in you we find all beginnings and endings.
Help us to show kindness and understanding through open hearts.
Help us to continue to flourish and grow in Your love and support those in need of Your friendship.
Prompt our learning today using our talents and gifts so that we may serve You more faithfully. Prompt our actions with Your grace and complete them with Your help, so that we may truly love one another as You have loved us.
St Bernard, pray for us
Amen
Contact Us
Email: office@stbernards.southend.sch.uk
Website: stbernardswestcliff.org.uk
Location: Milton Road, Westcliff-on-Sea, Essex, SS0 7JS UK
Phone: 01702 343583