St Bernadette's Primary School

Good afternoon everyone.

Despite the weather and an issue with the 200m track, our school Sports Carnival was also wonderful success today! Watching students participating with enthusiasm, demonstrating great sportsmanship and cheering one another on throughout the day demonstrates the great whole school spirit we have here at St Bernadette’s. A sincere thank you to our dedicated staff for their hard work in organising the carnival, especially Mrs Martin, who is such an organised Phys Ed teacher and who managed our issue calmly and effectively. Thanks to our families for coming along with their rain jackets in hand, encouraging and supporting the children and helping to create a positive atmosphere. It was a fun day with some terrific individual and team performances.

Unfortunately, we do need to acknowledge an error in the marking out of the 200-metre track, which means that these races will need to be rerun next week. We understand that this news may be disappointing and frustrating for some of our students and perhaps a few adults, too! While mistakes are never ideal, as a school, we choose to view this as an unfortunate human error and an opportunity to remember that none of us are immune to making mistakes. What matters most is how we respond when things don’t go according to plan and obviously, this is something I will need to take up with the company involved in the hope that it doesn’t happen again.

These moments also provide valuable opportunities for us to model resilience, perspective and grace for our children. Learning to manage disappointment, accept an unexpected outcome and move forward positively are important life skills — sometimes just as important as winning a race! The good news is that there will be another opportunity to give it their best shot, and perhaps even improve on their personal best. The races will be rerun next week, and once the details have been finalised, we will communicate them to families as soon as possible. Thank you for your understanding, patience and ongoing support - it is appreciated.

A wonderful highlight of Week 2 was our Year 5 Night of the Notables, which was a great success! Congratulations to our students for their enthusiasm, effort and confidence in sharing their learning, and a heartfelt thank you to our dedicated staff and supportive families for the time, encouragement and commitment that helped make this event so special. Experiences like these reflect the strength of our school community and the positive partnership between home and school in supporting every child’s learning and growth.

On Wednesday our Year 3 students enjoyed a wonderful excursion to Telethon Kids Institute, providing a valuable opportunity to extend their learning beyond the classroom. Experiences like this spark curiosity, encourage questions and help students make meaningful connections with the world around them. Thank you to the staff who organised the excursion and helped make it such a worthwhile experience for our students!

Some key reminders for us all as Parents ...

• Positive reinforcement: Praise effort, specific accomplishments and catch children doing things that are helpful, kind, thoughtful, generous, loving. Thank them for just being them!

• Consistent rules: Set clear house rules and follow through with predictable consequences and consistent modelling.
• Open communication: Provide clear expectations, listen actively, and use respectful, collaborative problem-solving. Talk while you walk, or play, or kick a ball together!
• Role modelling: Model honesty, respect, and healthy emotional regulation. Take a breath and think before you speak! Model love, forgiveness, care, fairness, patience, and a good sense of humour!
• Unconditional love: Correct unwanted behaviour without attacking your child's self-worth. Make each day an opportunity for a fresh start, learning from mistakes and setting your kids up for success. Give plenty of smiles, hugs and affection to all your kids, even when they have pushed your buttons!

Support Services & Helplines

Becoming a wiser, calmer and more effective parent each day takes effort and mindfulness. Some of the resources below provide a great starting point!

• Parentline: Call 1300 301 300 (available 6:00 AM to midnight, 7 days a week) for confidential parenting support.
• Beyond Blue: Access mental health and wellbeing guidance tailored for parents via https://www.beyondblue.org.au/mental-health/parenting
• Maggie Dent: Explore practical articles, videos, and resources on child behaviour and resilience with https://www.maggiedent.com/common-concerns/
• Raising Children Network: Provides ad-free parenting videos, articles and apps backed by Australian experts. https://raisingchildren.net.au/
• Triple P Parenting Online: Learning to stay calm under pressure and strengthen your relationship with your kids. Link to Triple P Parenting

It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of one of our parents, Drew Franks overnight, following his courageous battle with Motor Neurone Disease (MND) over recent months. Our hearts go out to his family during this incredibly difficult time, and we hold them close in our thoughts and prayers. We hope they find comfort in the love and support of family, friends and our school community as they navigate this profound loss. This is obviously very recent news, and we will be guided by Drew’s family as to how we may be able to support in coming days, weeks and months. We ask parents to say a prayer and be mindful of the family’s privacy.

Take care everyone.

Geordie

School & Parish Community Mass

We warmly invite all families to join us for our School & Parish Community Mass on Saturday 7 November at 6.00pm. Our Year 1 students will be hosting the Mass, and we would love to see families from all year levels there as we gather together in faith and community.

After Mass, everyone is invited to stay for a sausage sizzle and a chance to connect with other families. To assist with catering, please complete the RSVP form at your earliest convenience.

We look forward to sharing this evening with you and your family.

This year, we will be celebrating Christmas in a more relaxed way. Rather than a full staged Christmas concert, we will be holding a Christmas Carols event, with each year group performing a favourite Christmas carol. The evening will focus on coming together as a school community to share the spirit of the season through music and song. We are also excited to have our School Choir perform a selection of Christmas pieces, making for a festive and enjoyable celebration for all.

More information will be sent out next week.

A very BIG thank you to all our families who supported our recent Domino's Pizza Fund Raiser. We raised $500.00 which was presented to our Student Leaders today, and will go towards the upgrade of the junior nature play area. Thank you to Domino's Port Kennedy for arranging this event too!

This competition finishes on the 25 October! Last chance to upload your receipts to help us stay on top of the leaderboard & win $5000.00!!

Head to the website to learn more and upload your receipts today! https://warnbrocentre.com.au/whats-on/shop-for-your-school/

So that everyone has plenty of time to plan, I wanted to let everyone know that from 2027, Catholic schools in Western Australia will introduce a three-week mid-year term break, providing students and staff with additional time to rest, recharge and reconnect with family. This calendar has been used in individual schools across the country over the past 10 or so years with the research and experience from other education sectors suggesting that longer breaks can support improved wellbeing, increased attendance (due to illness and travel), stronger academic outcomes, and enhanced staff retention. Across Australia, schools are continuing to face the challenge of declining student attendance rates, with many families choosing to travel during term time to access more affordable flights and accommodation. To accommodate this change, our students will return to school a few days early, and our school day will officially begin at 8.35am (with doors opening at 8.30am). Our draft ‘Key Dates’ calendar can be found below.

To support a safe and focused learning environment, we kindly remind families that all student mobile phones must be handed into the school office upon arrival each morning and collected at the end of the school day. Please also note that smart watches are not permitted at school. We appreciate your support in helping students comply with these requirements and minimise distractions during learning time.

Please note that school staff are only able to administer antibiotics at school if they have been prescribed by a doctor four times per day. If your child’s antibiotics are prescribed three times per day, we ask that the doses be given at home before school, after school, and before bed.

Thank you for your understanding and cooperation.

Please remember to complete an absentee form whenever your child is away from school. This helps us keep accurate attendance records and meet reporting requirements. Notification must be in writing and can be submitted via our website - https://stbernadettes.wa.edu.au/families

Thank you for your cooperation.

Term 4 is a very busy time for our Year 6 students. Please ensure that you have all these dates saved and bookmarked!

Y6 Graduation Assembly - Friday 6 November - 8:50am - 9:20am

Mother Teresa College 2027 Orientation Day - Friday 20 November

Kolbe Catholic College 2027 Orientation Day - Monday 7 December

Bernie’s Bears School Gift Signing - Tuesday 8 December & Wednesday 9 December

Graduation Mass & Ceremony - Wednesday 9 December - 5:00pm - 6:30pm

Year 6 School Reward at Adventure World - Thursday 10 December

Year 6 Staff & Students Graduation Lunch - Friday 11 December

Year 6 Guard of Honour - Friday 11 December - 2:50pm

A quick reminder to all Year 6 families, and other students who are leaving us to please ensure that you download all your child's school reports and Naplan results before the end of Term 4. Once the students leave Bernie's the accounts are moved to an archived status and reports are no longer accessible. There will then be a charge to retrieve these documents after archiving occurs. Thank you for your understanding.

Our school canteen is only open on

Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

Orders can be placed online via the Spriggy App before 8.30am

or in person at the canteen.

Should you need to contact the ladies regarding issues with your online order, please call the number below.

This number should however not be used to place orders, please use the SPRIGGY APP for this.

Year 3 Fire Station Incursion - Tuesday 27 October 9.00 - 10.30am

Numero Interschool Challenge - Wednesday 28 October

TeeBall Carnival - Wednesday 28 October

My Golf Incursion - Thursday 29 October

Staff Appreciation Day - Thursday 29 October

Year 2 - 6 Piano, Guitar & Drum lessons 2026

Keyed Up Music is the largest music school providing music lessons for kids in Perth. With over 550 guitar students per week, the professional guitar teachers at Keyed Up know how to not only teach guitar competently to your child but also engage, inspire and create learning opportunities for them. Coupled with some basic practice discipline and good ol’ fashioned grit, there are simply no limits to your child’s musical potential! They too could be a Rock n’ Roll star of the 21st Century.

Guitar and Drum lessons are held at Bernie's after school on a Tuesday & Thursday. Please hop onto the Keyed Up Music website for more information - https://www.keyedupmusic.com.au/

Please note that as this is a live calendar, dates and times may change occasionally.

2026 TERM DATES:

Term 3: Tue 21 July – Fri 25 Sept:

Term 4: Tue 13 Oct – Fri 11 December

2027 TERM DATES:

Term 1: Thur 28 January - Fri 9 April

Term 2: Tue 27 April - Fri 25 June

Term 3: Mon 19 July – Fri 24 September

Term 4: Mon 11 Oct – Fri 10 December

In the Catholic tradition, our parish and school are closely connected.

The parish, led by Father Giovanni, provides spiritual leadership and is responsible for ensuring we nurture students’ faith alongside academic learning. The school supports the parish by helping children grow in Catholic values, preparing them for sacraments, and encouraging family participation in parish life.

It’s essentially a partnership — the parish is the faith community, and the school is one of its key ministries. For more information about our Parish, please click here:

https://portkennedy.perthcatholic.org.au/