As we move into the busyness of Term 4, gratitude is at the forefront of my thoughts. Gratitude for the year that has been, the gift of the present and the many moments that lay in front of us. But mostly a feeling of deep appreciation for our staff, students, and our wider St Bernard’s community. 

At Mass on Sunday, the Gospel spoke of a wealthy man struck down with leprosy, and his subsequent battle with how his life of self indulgence obscured his ability to live his life as God willed. Father Joshy then delivered a pertinent Homily reminding us to always be humble and grateful.

We have much to be grateful for here at St Bernard’s Primary School, and we are blessed to be surrounded by a community who are humble, kind and generous in so many ways.

May the rest of 2025 bring you joy and opportunities to find the time to take a moment to be grateful for the little blessings in our lives.

Operation Christmas Child - It’s a Wrap! 

The Mini Vinnies team met up at the end of last term to pack boxes of Christmas gifts ready to be donated to Samaritan’s Purse’s Operation Christmas Child.

Gifts big and small streamed into school and filled boxes in classrooms. We were astounded by the kindness of our community. A special mention to Charlotte who engaged her head, heart, and hands by sewing skirts and scrunchies to be included in a box. Outstanding work Charlotte!

Evelyn Bennett from the local branch of Samaritan’s Purse joined us for our ‘Packing Party’ where the students learnt how to pack the boxes in the correct way. Check out our Facebook page for a personalised message from Evelyn and our sensational Mini Vinnies Team.

We were able to package 32 boxes, which is excellent. What a wonderful effort by our Mini Vinnies Team. A big thank you to Evelyn for joining us and for taking the time to collect our donations ready to send off to those who are less fortunate.

We would also like to extend our gratitude to our amazing St Bernard’s Families for your donations big and small. Your generosity will mean so much to a child somewhere in the world this Christmas!

Begin With The Heart

Congratulations to 6M, who were the winners of our Begin With The Heart Class Award. As a class, they actively showed respect to their peers by allowing everyone the right to learn. An integral part of our value system here at St Bernard’s Primary School. Nice work Mr Maynard’s team of learners!

Please see below for our values for Term 4. Each fortnight, a class will be recognised as the ‘winners’ by having the greatest number of hearts in their classroom jar. We commence the term by considering how we can be tolerant through being inclusive, something we are sensational at doing here at our school.

Begin With the Heart: Term 4 2025
Week/s	Heart Focus	Announcement
1 & 2	HEART – Tolerance  I am inclusive.	Week 2 - Friday (Announcement)
3 & 4	HEART – Honesty I am honest about where I am at with my learning.	Week 4 – Friday (Announcement)
5 & 6	HEART – Empathy  I speak positively about people in the community.	Week 6 – Friday (Announcement)
7 & 8	HEART – Appreciation I try my hardest at all times.	Week 8 – Friday (Year 3 Assembly

Class Masses: Term 4

There are many ways to get involved with our school, and attending Class Masses with our students is just one of them. This promotes the importance of our Christian community, and seeing parents at Church models to our students that participating in Mass is an important part of our faith formation.

Father Joshy has warmly welcomed classes to join the Parish for Mass. He will be away during the first two weeks of term and there will be no week day Masses during this time. Weekend Mass will be facilitated by Father Rex.

Below is a list of the Class Masses for Term 4.

We also have quite a few whole school Liturgies and Masses coming up on the calendar, with our first Liturgy being held in Week 2. This Liturgy will be hosted by the Mini Vinnies Team (Year 5) as part of our Mission Week celebrations, and this will be held in our hall at 8:45 am on Friday 24 October.

Soctober 2026 - Mission Week Celebrations

Missionaries of Hope Among All Peoples

Next week we will be celebrating Mission Week, one of our most anticipated weeks of the year. There are quite a few events happening, so keep up to date with this through Facebook.

This year’s focus for Catholic Missions is; ‘Missionaries of Hope Among All Peoples.” Information about the full month of opportunities can be found here: World Mission Month

Our focus will be on raising funds to support the work that is being done in Zambia. We will participate in a variety of activities which will align with the Soctober initiative which aims to raise funds and awareness and help to ensure that children have access to food and education, giving them a chance at a brighter future.

We will ‘kick’ things off on Monday with Crazy Sock Day and a Staff v Students goal kicking competition. Please send in a gold coin to wear crazy socks with their sports uniform and to have their kicks counted as part of the ‘Sock it to Poverty’ challenge.

Beck

Mrs Rebecca Keough

Religious Education Coordinator

Be a gift of love and compassion for one another. ~ Mary MacKillop ~