Bernardo. Dear Parents, Guardians and Students,

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1 Bernardo T E R M O N E 7 T H M A R C H Dear Parents, Guardians and Students, March 9th Assembly (Year3/4) 12th Public Holiday (no school) 13th School photos 23rd 9:15am Year 6 Focus Group 26th Foundation 2019 enrolments open 9:15am school tour 28th Taste of School & 1:00pm students finish early end of term one 29th Staff PD Day (no school for students) 30th Good Friday Reflection The Power of Choice How many choices have you made already today? How many more choices will you make by the end of the day? Believe it or not, the power within your choice is astonishing With your choice you have: The power to build, or the power to destroy The power to listen, or the power to ignore The power to encourage, or the power to discourage The power to understand, or the power to confuse The power to reach out, or the power to turn away The power to compliment, or the power to criticize The power to hope, or the power to fear The power to act, or the power to stand still Your choice gives you the power to decide WHO you are each and every day Regardless of the choices that you made yesterday, last week, last month or last year, today brings forth a new possibility Who will you decide to be today? The Road To Lasting Success at: Website Launch We were very excited to launch our website last Friday and we have received very positive feedback from businesses, educational partners and parents If you have not yet visited the website, please do so Students are having great fun trying to find photos of themselves throughout the website St Bernard s Fete Once again we would love to hold a fete and we need a committee to help organise it We are very fortunate to have much work already done from past fetes and this lessens the work a new committee needs to do The benefits of a fete are numerous and they will enhance our school If you are willing and interested in helping run our fete please contact us or send us an to schooladmin@stbernardscoburgcatholiceduau Parent Helpers Thank you to those who have registered their interest in being parent helpers If you are interested, please let us know We will be in touch next week SCHOOL Principal: Joanne Doherty St Bernard s Primary School 36 Patterson Street East Coburg Vic schooladmin@stbernardscoburgcatholiceduau Website: wwwstbernardscoburgcatholic eduau Phone: Fax: Follow us on Facebook St Bernard s Primary School PARISH Parish Priest: Fr Leo De Marzi St Bernard s Parish 60 Sheffield Street East Coburg Vic 3058 Phone: Fax: Masses Weekdays - Monday to Friday 9:30am Weekends - Saturday 8:30am 7:00pm (English) Sunday 9:00am (Italian) 10:30am (English) OSHC Director: Carmel Carpinteri St Bernard s OSHC 40 Patterson Street East Coburg Vic 3058 Phone: stbernardsoshc@optusnetcomau

2 School Photos Next Tuesday 13th March, all students are to be wearing full summer uniform NOT sports uniform for our photos Students in Years 1/2 and 5/6, are to bring their runners to change into for PE Hair longer than shoulder length is to be tied back with school coloured ribbons and hair ties Only one piece of jewellery of direct religious significance is allowed School Community Child Safety Code of Conduct Information regarding the School Community Code of Conduct was sent home On page 3 of this document is a section which needs to be signed by every parent Please read, sign and return this acknowledgement to school We appreciate your assistance in complying with and supporting the school s Professional Child Safety Code of Conduct All parents must sign the Code of Conduct Student Absences The Government now requires us to notify parents of unexplained student absences This is due to a very sad incident last year involving a student from another school Our software providers are in the process of developing a system that will fulfil the government requirements, however until then we would ask that you ring the office or send an app message, if your child is going to be absent on a particular day We will keep you updated about this process and ask for your help with this Marketing letter drop we need your help! Many thanks to those parents and families who have taken our advertising cards and delivered them We still have a number of streets to target, so please see the office if you can help Our aim is that every home in our area receives a card by the weekend Enrolments for 2019 Foundation 2019 enrolments open on Monday 26th March and close on Friday 11th May Information sessions 9:30am & 7:00pm Wednesday 18th April Tours 9:15am Mondays and Fridays at from 26th March 11th May A Taste of School sessions 9:15am Wednesday 28th March and Wednesday 18th April Please let anyone you know who is looking to enrol their child in school in 2019, about this information Year 6 Focus Group Follow up The final meeting regarding venues for the Year 6 Graduation will be held on Friday 23 rd March at 9:15am in Bernie s Café All welcome! Congratulations Congratulations to the Boardman family on the safe arrival of Henry A brother for Ava (1/2A) Coles Sports for Schools Vouchers Thanks for the amazing job of collecting tokens Please keep them coming to school or place them in our school box at either of the Coles stores in Coburg Student Leaders Congratulations to the following students on their successful student leader applications and appointments: Music Sofia De Fusco Kouroukidis and Lara Puopolo Sport Ava Klaric and Christian Gattoni Sustainability Evie Raphael and Joshua Caputo Social Justice Clemence Francis and Nicholas Terzakis Wellbeing Tilly Crotty-Duffy and Isabella Krizmanic SRC Tanner Kiratlioglu, Max Cesario, Angelique El Alami, Aleisha Cakli, Oliver Iannuzzi and Rylan Aminde Regards, Joanne Doherty Principal Bernardo 7th March

3 Wellbeing Tip As parents, dealing with our children s disappointments can be challenging The following articles provide food for thought around the idea that disappointment can actually be healthy Bee-Bots Have Arrived at St Bernard s Bee-Bots are an exciting robot designed for use by young children They are colourful, easy-to-operate, and these friendly little robots are a perfect tool for teaching sequencing, estimation, problem-solving, and just having fun! Each Friday, for the past two weeks, a group of Year 2 students have been spending time at lunchtime, with Mr Reed and Phil learning how to use these exciting robots This is one element of our Extra Curricular Clubs Program The children work in pairs or small groups to problem solve and program their Bee-Bots to travel around Adventure Mats The children take great joy in seeing their Bee-Bots do exactly as they have programed them to do The Bee-Bots can be programed with as many as forty commands In the early stages of our exploration the children have only programed their Bots to undertake ten commands, this number will quickly grow Parents and Friends Association What s On this Easter Hot Cross Buns, Easter Hamper Raffle, Chocolate Egg Guess and Bonnet Parade! Look out for your Hot Cross Bun order forms and Easter Hamper Raffle tickets over the coming week and get the children started on their Easter bonnets! Dates to remember: 27th March - Hot Cross Buns delivered 28th March, 12:30-1pm (last day of term) - Hamper Raffle draw, Egg Guess Winner and Bonnet Parade Call for Easter Hamper Raffle Goods Please place children s/family activities, home-wares and non-perishable food in the box in your child's classroom Out of School Hours Care St Bernard s Vacation Care Program Tuesday 3 rd to Friday 13 th April 2018 Please Hurry!!! Registrations close Friday 23 rd March! Includes care, incursions and afternoon snack; collect a current Vacation Care information pack from our OSHC venue, school office or via request: stbernardsoshc@optusnetcomau Cost: $6000 per child per eleven-hour day less CCB/CCR rebates Please note that the April Vacation Care program will be conducted in the school hall as the OSHC venue is not available due to a kitchen renovation Bernardo 7th March

4 Parish News Fr Leo De Marzi Advent and Christmas Donations 2017 St Vincent de Paul Store, Coburg: 40 bags of clothing; 8 bags of toys; Good Samaritan Inn, Preston: 8 52 litre boxes of food; 7 bags of toys; 2 52 litre boxes of toiletries; 3 bags of books; 38 bags and 6 boxes of clothing; 1 52 litre box of cleaning supplies; 2 52 litre boxes of baby supplies A sincere thank you to all the school community, parishioners and friends for your generosity ******** Anniversary of the Election of Pope Francis Tuesday, March 13 th, marks the fifth anniversary of the election of Pope Francis Pope Francis often asks us to pray for him Let us take this opportunity to pray for him and his ministry on this day Prayer: O God, shepherd and ruler of all the faithful, look favourably on your servant Pope Francis, whom you have set at the head of your Church as her shepherd; grant, we pray, that by word and example he may be of service to those over whom he presides so that, together with the flock entrusted to his care, he may come to everlasting life Through our Lord Jesus Christ, our Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever Amen (This prayer is a Collect from the Mass for the Pope, especially on the Anniversary of Election) ********* Prayer Service and Walk for Justice for Refugees Palm Sunday Sunday 25th March 2018 Whoever turns refugees away forgets that Jesus was also one Pope Francis Prayer Service at St Patrick s Cathedral, East Melbourne, commencing at 100 pm Depart Cathedral at 140 pm, to join Walk for Justice for Refugees at 200 pm, at the State Library of Victoria (cnr Swanston and Latrobe Streets, Melbourne) Organised by the Office for Justice & Peace and the Melbourne Catholic Migrant & Refugee Office Further Information: mcmro@camorgau/ Bernardo 7th March

5 MESSAGE FOR EASTER By his wounds we are healed May I begin this 2018 Easter message with a wonderful story about St Teresa of Avila One day the devil appeared to St Teresa, disguised as Jesus She wasn t fooled for even a second and dismissed the devil Before leaving, the devil asked her, How could you be so sure I wasn t Jesus? You didn t have any wounds, she replied Christ has wounds! One of the most striking elements of our gospels resurrection stories is that Jesus is still wounded in all of them The crucifixion wounds do not heal They remain open, eternally The resurrected body of Christ remains forever marked by his earthly suffering In fact, in many of the gospel stories, it is not until the disciples actually see the wounds of Christ that they recognise Jesus for who he is Until they see the wounds, Christ remains shrouded in mystery Christ, in the Resurrection, is known by his wounds Yes, Christ has wounds and so do we! In fact, our Catholic faith refuses to gloss over our wounds with hollow positive thinking It refuses to ignore that basic tenet of human life - we will be wounded But as people of the Resurrection, our promise is that our wounds can begin to heal others Some Christians live out this mystery of the Resurrection profoundly - so many people are living the mystery of the Resurrection! If only we had the eyes of faith, we would see that the wounded and risen Christ still appears among us: in the quiet, tender care of our nurses and care givers in our hospitals, especially to the elderly and the dying; in the patient and professional care of our teachers who generously serve our young people; in the outreach of our social services for the needy, like the St Vincent de Paul Society; in the courage of all those victims who have been so cruelly abused; and in the quiet heroism of parents as they sacrifice themselves for the good of their children Wounded saints are all around us Their wounds do not embitter them but become fountains of compassion and hope for others One such saint known to many of the Melbourne Vietnamese Catholic community is someone we can especially seek to imitate He is the late courageous Cardinal Van Thuan, who witnessed powerfully to his Catholic faith while locked for years in a Vietnam prison Pope Benedict XVI referred to Thuan, saying: During thirteen years in jail, in a situation of seemingly utter hopelessness, the fact that he could listen and speak to God became for him an increasing power of hope, which enabled him, after his release, to become for people all over the world a witness to hope - to that great hope which does not wane even in the nights of solitude This Easter 2018, let s listen again to Cardinal Van Thuan, as he describes the logic of Christ s Resurrection in our lives in this way: Jesus cast fire on the earth and he desires the earth to be set ablaze with its brilliant light You must be the bright flame, kindled by apostolic zeal, from which other torches must be kindled until the whole world is a vast sea of living flame Let s allow the Risen Lord to roll away the rocks of pride, ego and selfishness from our hearts, stories that may block the power of his presence and love in our lives and in our families May the light of the risen Christ that streams from his glorified wounds bring joy, healing and peace to us all By his wounds we are healed + Denis J Hart Archbishop of Melbourne Bernardo 7th March

6 PROJECT COMPASSION - FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT - MARCH 11 th, 2018 Evangeline in the Northern Territory, featured in Project Compassion 2016 She was employed by the Caritas Australia supported Dilpin Arts and quickly rose to the role of Senior Arts worker Her career has flourished Her work at Djilpin Arts contributes to its success, whilst providing training and opportunities for other young people in the community Please donate to Project Compassion 2018 and help provide employment and training for First Australians The work of Evangeline and Djilpin Arts is creating opportunities for First Peoples to remain on country and keep their culture alive This work is essential for a just future PROJECT COMPASSION - WEEK 4 - AUSTRALIA - A JUST FUTURE STARTS WITH CULTURE Evangeline is strengthening Aboriginal culture, while making a living for herself and creating opportunities for her community Featured in Project Compassion 2016, Evangeline was employed by the Caritas Australia supported Dijilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation and quickly rose to the role of Senior Arts worker Her work at Djilpin Arts has supported the organisation s growth from a multi-media project to a multi-level contemporary arts and culture centre An example of excellence in indigenous tourism, it s now a key employer for young people in the remote Northern Territory community of Beswick (Wugularr) This year in 2018, Evangeline is busy guiding tourists, coordinating cultural activities and helping community members to practice and market their arts, such as weaving and jewellery making Now we have a new gallery up And we have our new kitchens, we look after these and we now maintain this to make sure it s running okay and in good condition We re also trying to open up another tour for tourists to go around the waterfall, we re just planning that now Evangeline s career has flourished and she has become an inspirational youth leader Evangeline says that Caritas Australia s support for Djilpin Arts, through Project Compassion, is vital for all Wugularr s young people Although their families do their best to pass on knowledge, Elders are dying and she is keen to spearhead the preservation of culture and lore for future generations It s good for them to learn and to keep their culture strong, Evangeline says PRAYER That we might learn from our First Australian sisters and brothers to preserve and bring into the light what is good and true By God s grace, may we recognise that we are all part of God s work of art REFLECTION - FOURTH SUNDAY OF LENT The symbolism in today s readings remind us of he richness of God s mercy and grace The first reading recalls the struggles of the people of God to remain faithful to God and to remember God s promises to them through the prophets The role of the prophet in biblical times was to preserve in the people the reality that they were precious in God s eyes and that God was always present with them In the Gospel today we see Jesus speaking with Nicodemus The same Nicodemus we are told a few verses earlier, who came to Jesus by night (John 3:10-12) In the scriptures night is often associated with secrecy and darkness In contrast later ins John s Gospel, Jesus tells us he is the light of the world As the Church continuously revisits the long history of God s relationship with God s people, Caritas Australia takes this opportunity to revisit and explore the impact of its relationships We first heard about Evangeline, a young First Australian woman a couple of years ago She lives in the remote community of Beswick in the Northern Territory Evangeline s work is, of itself, life-giving for her and her community Just as Evangeline is a shining a light on her culture and lore for future generations, we can ask ourselves how are we living Christ s light? Let unifying love be your measure; abiding love your challenge; self-giving love your mission! Pope Benedict XVI Bernardo 7th March