St Bernadette's Primary School

Good afternoon and happy Friday everyone! It’s been another busy, productive and happy week here at school with some terrific weather to do it all in! We hope this newsletter finds you all well and able to really enjoy the weekend ahead with your family.

Four Ways Parenting Workshop

The first of our FOUR WAYS Parent Workshop was held earlier this week, and the second will be held next Tuesday the 17th March. These workshops are being offered as a supportive initiative, designed to help strengthen positive parenting strategies and strengthen family relationships. The program provides practical ideas and guidance to navigate some of the everyday challenges of parenting with greater confidence and aligns with what we do here at school. We hope those who are attending find this opportunity a valuable one.

Naplan

NAPLAN testing for Years 3 and 5 students is now well underway, and I am pleased to be able to say that students have been approaching the assessments with a calm and positive attitude. Thank you to families for your support in ensuring children arrive at school on time, are well rested and have had a healthy breakfast. These simple routines, along with some practical encouragement, make a real difference in helping students feel settled and ready to do their best.

Swimming Carnival

Today’s 2026 School Swimming Carnival was a great event for our Year 3 - 6 students. It was really wonderful to see such strong participation, with students encouraging one another and giving their best in the pool. The support of families, the positive house spirit and excellent sportsmanship on display, really helped create a great community atmosphere or us all. Congratulations to Charity who came away with the victory and to our Champion Girls and Boys! A sincere thank you to our staff and parent volunteers, whose hard work ensured the day ran smoothly and safely.

A Special Man

John Quilty was a much-loved St Bernadette’s parishioner, father and grandfather, and a big part of the Bernie’s Community for a long time who passed away peacefully at his home, on February 24th. Our sincere condolences go out to Lyn and the whole Quilty family, who celebrated John’s life at his funeral yesterday.

In this time of Lent, it is special to learn more about those among us who have chosen to ‘do good’ so quietly, generously and lovingly. John’s selflessness and lived faith is certainly a wonderful example to us all. Below is an Instagram post written by the Cambodian school that John and his wife worked in. This is a special read and such a wonderful tribute to such a good and humble man.

“Chumkriel Language School celebrates the life of a wonderful man - John Quilty. We express our heartfelt thanks, gratitude and deep love for John and his beloved wife Lyn who loved our school. They worked alongside us for more than 10 years to help children in the countryside of Southern Cambodia realise a better future. John loved and supported and guided the staff at our school, striving to give students in this poor rural community an education that breaks the cycle of poverty. John not only volunteered around our school, but he worked out in the village too, building and repairing homes, listening to families, and driving the school bus. John was always positive, hard-working, fun, a wonderful listener, offering us new perspectives - always with optimism, support and good humour. We will always treasure the memories we have of John. We will hold him close in our hearts always. Rest peacefully John, we love you very much and your warmth, wisdom and loving friendship will always be remembered”.

All the best and kind regards

Geordie

Behaviour Tonics offers child development courses, training and advice to parents, teachers, educators and professionals who work with families and carers.

Our focus is to help you to build self-regulation in children – and, in turn, improve child behaviour, social skills and relationships. Children need help from grown-ups to learn how to self-regulate their emotions; it is a skill they need to be taught, this is done through co-regulation. As they grow older and mature, this ability to self-regulate will see improvements in their behaviour… it’s a real work in progress.

By drawing on our extensive knowledge and experience, Behaviour Tonics can teach how to help a child manage their emotions, improve their behaviour – and be happier and to do better in life as a result.

The following students will be receiving Merit Awards at next week's Assembly, which starts at 8.50am in the undercover area. Family and friends are welcome to join us.

Enhancing the wellbeing of the students within our care is extremely important to us at St Bernadette’s. We have the wonderful opportunity to allow our students in Years 3 to 6 to participate in a survey titled Assessing Wellbeing in Catholic Education. This is a quick online survey, consisting of scientifically informed questions that assess global wellbeing as well as school related and component factors underpinning wellbeing which are related to and relevant to our school context.

The collective results from these surveys will be used by the Wellbeing Leaders in our school to strategically plan wellbeing initiatives across the whole school community to support our students to thrive.

If you do not want your child to participate, please submit the form below.

Assessing Wellbeing 2026 – Fill in form

This week we were thrilled by an Indonesian rhythmic dance performance. Thank you to the Suara Performing Group for such a unique musical, dance and cultural display!

Time: 7:30am to 8:30am AND 3pm to 6pm

Interview type: Face to Face

If you would like to do a phone interview, please contact the class teacher via email to ensure this is arranged. You still need to choose a time but instead of coming in, the teacher will call you.

Interviews are 10 minutes long, the teacher will begin to conclude the interview after 8 minutes.

For the smooth running of this event, it is important that we all keep to this schedule and end the appointment in a timely manner. If you think you will need more time, please discuss this with your teacher at the appointment.

To make the most of your appointments, parents may wish to consider the following questions:

1. What are your child's strengths?

2. Where would you like to see your child develop further this year?

3. What are your child's interests?

4. Is there anything in your child's life outside school that could be impacting on their educational development?

5. Is there anything in your child’s report you would like to talk about?

If you have any further enquiries or if you need to cancel at short notice, please contact the school office on 08-9593-4066

BOOKING LINK:

https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/yy2v5

Event code: yy2v5

This link is only open until FRIDAY 20th of March

This week our Art Club students were excited to welcome Brianna from Bunnings for a special hands-on incursion. Bunnings generously donated all the materials needed for students to build bird houses, which will eventually be placed in the trees around our school for our resident kookaburras.

Over the coming weeks, students will be busy constructing, decorating and finishing their bird houses before proudly displaying them around the school grounds. We are incredibly grateful to Bunnings and Brianna for supporting this creative project and helping us create welcoming spaces for local wildlife.

On Friday, 20th March St Bernadette’s will celebrate Harmony Day with the national theme: Everyone Belongs. It is a special opportunity for our school to honour the rich cultural diversity that makes our community so vibrant and unique.

Students will explore Harmony Day through stories, prayer, music and language—greeting one another in Bahasa Indonesia with “Selamat datang” (Welcome) and in Noongar with “Kaya” (Hello), as we continue to recognise and respect the many cultures represented in our school.

As always, Harmony Day is about respect, inclusion, and celebrating the uniqueness of every person in our community.

🧡 A friendly reminder:
On Friday 20th March, students are encouraged to wear orange accessories only (such as ribbons, socks, hair ties or wristbands) with their normal school uniform. This helps us show unity while still keeping to our usual dress expectations.

Together, we look forward to celebrating a day that reminds us that every student, every family, and every culture truly belongs at St Bernadette’s.

Selamat Hari Harmoni! Kaya — Everyone belongs!

We know plans can change, but passing along last-minute messages to students at the end of the day is tricky and not always possible. To help keep things calm, safe, and on time, please let your child know about any transportation or dismissal changes before school starts or have an agreed back up plan (eg.If I'm not at the classroom, please go to kiss & drop)

If however, something urgent comes up during the day, please call the front office as soon as possible and we’ll do our best to help.

A quick reminder that if your child needs to use the toilet before or after school, please use the junior or senior student toilets, near the undercover area. The admin bathroom is reserved for staff. Thank you for your 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.

The new photo days are:

PP - Y6 and family photos A-M = Monday 30th March.

Kindy and family photos N-Z = Thursday 2nd April.

Harmony Day - Friday 20 March - wear orange accessories

Year 5R Assembly - Friday 20 March

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/

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.

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

2026 TERM DATES:

Term 1: Mon 2 February – Thur 2 April

Term 2: Mon 20 April – Fri 3 July: Pupil Free Day 29 May 2026

Term 3: Tues 21 July – Fri 25 Sept: Pupil Free Days 3 & 4 September 2026

Term 4: Tues 13 Oct – Thurs 11 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/

Email: admin@stbernadettes.wa.edu.au
Website: https://stbernadettes.wa.edu.au
Location: 252 Grand Ocean Boulevard, Port Kennedy WA, Australia
Phone: (08) 9593 4066
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/stbernadettescps/