St Bernadette’s School

On Tuesday afternoon, April 24th, we gathered together as a school to commemorate ANZAC Day and remember those who fought for our country so that we may live in freedom. Our soldiers were brave and they were willing to help people on the other side of the world. This is the ANZAC spirit. This is what we remember and give thanks for each ANZAC day. The Cross is a symbol that reminds us that Jesus gave his life for everyone so that we would have life forever. The Flag is a symbol of our nation, and it reminds us of the many people who died fighting for it, so that others might live in freedom.  A war medal is a symbol of the uniform that  men and women wore as they went to battle. It reminds us of their bravery. The poppy is a flower, a symbol of beauty, the first plant to grow through the mud of Flander’s Field. A reminder that all people should turn away from war and  hatred and find ways to live in peace.

‘Physical Activity Leaders’

Eight senior students at St Bernadette’s have been chosen to become PALs of St Bernadette’s.   The boys and girls will attend a training workshop next Wednesday the 22nd of February, organised by Sport Otago. We are very grateful to Sport Otago, and in particular to ex-pupil Katie Menzies, for giving us this wonderful opportunity. PALs is a very successful programme which gives senior students the responsibility and the opportunity to be in leadership roles in the physical activity of the students of their school. The programme encourages students (both leaders and the student body) to participate in sport and physical activity on a daily basis. The PAL programme is an adaptable programme which will be designed at St Bernadette’s specifically to suit the needs of the our children. Being a PAL al-lows the students opportunities to take a leadership role in a variety of recreational activities in the school environment such as:

• Helping in lunchtime games and activities.
• Being responsible for some whole school PE Activities.
• Acknowledging children playing well and fairly in the playground.
• Setting up weekly theme activities such as skipping, elastics and 4 square.

The St Bernadette’s children proved again that you can enjoy yourself and compete at the same time. In the space of three hours every child participated in sprint, relay, distance race, long jump, accuracy throwing, sack race and hurdles. Every effort was rewarded with points and for the first time in the event’s history the Sharks were the eventual winners by a very close margin. We congratulate all of the children for the way they participated, for their excellent behaviour and for their support of their fellow competitors. Thank you everyone for supporting the children by supplying colourful clothing accessories and for your attendance on the day. If you would like to view more colour photos of the sports download the February 10th Newsletter on the Newsletter tab above.

There will be some new features in the St Bernadette’s School web site during 2012.

The first four of these are as follows:

• An Information Booklet is available online for new and existing families. (The link is available in the ‘About’ section)

• A calendar of school events will be updated throughout the year. (The calendar is available in the ‘Dates’ section). Events will be added throughout each term.

• The school web site will now be available through two web addresses  (stbernadettes.edublogs.org  &  stbernadettes.school.nz)

• In the ‘Programmes’ page there is a link to the Ministry web site providing information about the National Standards and how parents and caregivers can help their children achieve these targets.

Congratulations to all these young athletes who represented St Bernadette’s School at the South Zone Sports on Wednesday. Every child      performed to the best of their ability and we are very proud of them all.  Five athletes from the school have qualified for the Otago Champs to be held in a couple of weeks. These children are in the front row of the photograph. Amelia came third in the final of the Under 11 girls sprint and she also qualified for the Otago Champs in the long jump. Joshua, Callum, Lucas and Tim reached the final of the Under 11 relay. Callum, Lucas and Tim all made the final of the Under 11 sprint, with Tim actually winning the final. He also won the Under 12 discus. Not satisfied with that Tim went on to also qualify for the Under 11 long jump. A wonderful achievement by everyone!

St Bernadette’s School are definitiely in Rugby World Cup mode. An international Mass on Sunday, a school Production to celebrate the 20 participating countries, photo opportunities with rugby stars, Rugby Prayers Assemblies, classroom inquiry studies, all add to the flavour of this wonderful occasion.

A special moment for Phoebe as she poses with two of the England Rugby World Cup team. The two players are Dylan Hartley & Simon Shaw.

Jaquan from Room 4 brought along three special rugby jerseys to school today to share with his class and the school. He picked Emannuel to wear his dad’s jersey, (Seilala will be playing for Samoa in the world cup). Jaquan is wearing a jersey given to him by none other than Johnny Wilkinson. Joel’s jersey belonged to Shontayne Hape, who plays for England after representing New Zealand in rugby league.

Over the last few weeks classes from forty six schools entered a competition to select a name for the fictional, young rugby supporter who will be the central figure of education resources for Rugby World Cup 2011 prepared by Sport Otago. We are very proud to announce that the winning class was R1 at St Bernadette’s. The class chose the name ‘Lachie Scrummage’. The christian name was chosen by Joshua and the surname by Tim. The class voted for that combination and the result is history. We won! We even added a colour scheme designed by Jeslin. And the prize? Nothing less than a bus trip to the new stadium on the 10th of August for a guided tour! After that the class is invited to venture on to the ground itself for a light run and perhaps a kick of a rugby ball under the guidance of Kees Meeuws and John Leslie. Now that’s pretty special.

2011 is the eleventh year that Mike Campbell from Kavanagh College has organised a sports morning at the Edgar entre for the Year 6 children from all of the contibuting Catholic Schools in the Dunedin area. Once again the event was a great success and the Year 12 students from Kavanagh who managed the teams and refereed the games did an amazing job. The children from St Bernadette’s had a wonderful time as these photos testify. In two and a half hours the children experienced miniball, netball, touch rugby, football, dodge ball, longball, volleyball, cricket and hockey.Thank you Kavanagh College.

Julian Raphael, a musician and choir master from Wellington, reinforced this week just what young people are capable of achieving if they are motivated and enjoy what they are doing. In just over four hours, spread throughout the week, the year five and six students from St Bernadette’s, were able to learn eight songs to concert standard. Seven of the songs were totally new to the children and at no stage did they see the words written down. To make it even more remarkable, six of the songs were sung in a foreign language! Clever teaching and clever kids.

God wants us to make everyone welcome. When we meet new people, when a new child comes to our school, when we are making new friends. It is our task to make people feel at home. What would you do to welcome Jesus if he arrived here today?

When we see things that are not fair or right God wants us to do something about it. It is easy to see something wrong and think it is someone else’s job to make it right. It is everyone’s job to make the world a better place.

We are called to help others and share what we have.  Whenever we help a friend in need we are helping Jesus. We can serve people in many small ways everyday of our lives.

When we are sad or have problems there is always hope. Help us to believe that there is nothing that we can’t achieve with your help. You provide me with a future full of your love and guidance. I know that you will always be by my side.

Jesus is risen. He has returned to his Father in Heaven. It is now up to us to carry on the work he started.

Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks with compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.