St Catherine's Catholic Primary School Berwick eNewsletter

Dear Families,

Welcome back for Term 3.

We have come back and hit the ground running.

Last Monday was a closure day and the whole staff worked on Review preparation. It was a long day with lots of information but presented many opportunities for feedback and reflection.

On Monday 11 August our School Advisory Committee (SAC) will be holding the AGM. This is done via a Teams meeting and if you would like to join please ring the school office to have the link emailed to you.

We are also looking for new members to join our SAC. We do have a couple of nominees already, but if this is something you’d like more information on, please email the office for more information.

Reports and Portfolios were released at the end of last term . The portfolios are accessible via the Simon/ Pam/Simon everywhere app.

Any clarification regarding these can be addressed in the Family Learning Conversations (FLCs) coming up in week 4. This semester these will be done via Google meet.

We will once again be surveying parents again as to the preferred mode for FLCs to ensure we are catering for the majority of families and their preferences.

Swimming has commenced for Grades 2 and 4 and as always these are very busy weeks.

Interschool sports will also begin this Friday for Grade 6 students. All grade 6 students and other schools participating have signed a Code of Conduct to ensure students are following instructions, being safe but most of all, having fun.

We also have a girls soccer team entering the Casey South Division winter sport finals today and wish them well.

On Friday and Saturday a number of Grade 6 students received the Sacrament of Reconciliation at St Francis Xavier Beaconsfield. These were spread across four masses and were led by Bishop Greg Bennet and Father Paul Zahar. These were lovely celebrations and enhanced by the St Francis Xavier Cantabile Choir.

Once again illness is hitting St Catherine’s hard.

We have students presenting with many symptoms, and ask that if your child is unwell or has any symptoms, that they be kept home to assist with reducing the risk of infection to other students and staff.

Warm regards

Anna

School Fee Statements will be emailed to families today. If you do not receive your statement please contact the Office.

If you wish to commence payment by direct debit please complete the direct debit form and return to the school office or email accounts@stcberwick.catholic.edu.au.

Payment can also be made by BPay, EFTPOS, or cash. If paying fees by the term the due date for payment is Thursday 28 August 2025, unless alternative payment arrangements (eg Direct Debit) have been made.

For any queries, please contact Margaret Lonergan on 9702 1466 or email accounts@stcberwick.catholic.edu.au

Direct Debit Form

Welcome back to Term 3. This term is shorter but by no means quieter. We have started off strong with Year 2/4 Swimming. Thank you to all the teachers for their work over the break in preparing for the return of students

School Operations

If you have come in via the chapel gate, you will notice that it no longer exists. We have placed a large fence along the end of the basketball court with two gates. There are two reasons for this - to give staff more parking to free up the parking for visitors, and to help fence off the dumpster area for trades. We have also had all the overgrown vegetation removed along the basketball court and behind the multipurpose room and will be looking at redoing these areas. Once we get the mulch down, it will look fantastic and open up the areas. We were excited to see the response from students and appreciate the feedback from parents.

Religious Education

This term our teachers and students are focusing on Christian Life and Catholic Social Teachings in Religion lessons. Here, we have a central focus on the Catholic Social Teaching of Human Dignity which underpins student learning. Teachers will be using an Old Testament scripture, Genesis 1:26-27 as a basis for the units, and a theme of “We are more alike than unalike”. Our aim, as always, is to present students with a post-critical understanding, or one that accepts that there are arguments against faith in the modern world but it doesn’t prevent us from believing, through a dialogical, or lead by dialogue, recontextualisation, or bringing the scripture into the modern world. It is a mouthful, but it is very different to when you and I went to school. Students use conversation to deepen their understanding, and connect it with the modern world around them. This shifts their understanding from literal.

Thank you to the parents who came along to our first Family Prayer Afternoon. These will be held according to the schedule that was emailed out and attached in this newsletter. All parents are welcome, whether your child is in the year level presenting or not. It’s held in the Chapel where we hold our Level Masses (at the end of the driveway) and usually begins at 2:45pm. This week, our Preps are presenting on Friday 1st August at 2:30pm. Next week, our Year 1s will be presenting on Friday 8 August at 2:45pm. We hope to see you there!

Family Prayer Afternoon 2

Stories to Tell.pdf

ActiveReports_Document.pdf

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to Term 3!

Term 3 in the Mental Health & Wellbeing space is starting off with an exciting opportunity as we welcome the NED Incursion to St Catherine’s. NED's Resiliency Ride, is a character education program that centres around three important messages that have lifelong relevance: Never give up, Encourage others and Do your best. During the assembly, students will learn about the importance of these three life skills while also enjoying storytelling, magic, humour and yo-yo tricks. Following on from the incursion there will be an opportunity for students to purchase a yo-yo through CDF pay. Please note that there is no expectation that students need to purchase a yo-yo, it is optional and is not a school fundraising initiative. Our hope is that students not only enjoy themselves, but also engage in meaningful learning about resilience, which is an integral part of wellbeing!

As with all whole school events, the organisation of NED requires many moving parts and careful coordination. I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone involved in making it a success!

Warm Regards,

Jasmine Bentley

Mental Health & Wellbeing Leader