June 24th, 2015
GOING HOME TODAY
• Letter from Principal
• BC Lions ticket offer

EVENTS
June 26th – School Mass
June 26th – Last day of school (12:15pm dismissal)
September 8th – School Re-opens (12:15pm dismissal )

VIRTUE OF THE MONTH
For the month of June, the school will be focusing on the virtue of wisdom. Wisdom is an intellectual virtue that requires carefully considered reason. As virtues go, wisdom, or prudence, is seen to act in all virtues and allows them to reach their respective potential. We always want those that we interact with to be wise and use right judgment justly and as such, we also owe that to others. As we apply wisdom to our actions and words, what becomes difficult is when we are asked to make judgments in which various goods have to be weighed against each other. It is a tough but valuable lesson to learn. As teachers, parents and community members of St. Bernadette’s, we want to encourage our students to use wisdom when making tough decisions. It is good to look to Jesus as an example for us to follow. The wisdom of Jesus is found in his acts of service. Through his works, Jesus became an example of how wise actions allow every member of the community to mature, accept responsibility and inevitably to engage in self- governance. Merely considering doing what is right does not make one wise. It is found in our words and deeds.
For our final month of this school year, our prayer for all our students is that they grow to be prudent and wise in all their major life choices. We also pray that our grade 7’s, who are receiving the gift of Wisdom through Confirmation, are filled with the Holy Spirit and have their hearts instructed by the Word of God.

LOST & FOUND
There are quite a few items in the Lost & Found, if your child has misplaced a uniform item, please have him/her check out the Lost & Found, any items left will be donated to charity.

SCHOOL MASS
Our final School Mass for this school year will on Friday, June 26th. On Mass days the bell rings at 8:45am. If your child is late for school please bring him or her to the school first to sign in at the school office. Students must be in full school uniform.

END OF SCHOOL YEAR PRAYER
We pray for the gift of rest. Energy and time have been both our enemy and our salvation. We ask for both these gifts over the summer months so that we can be nourished and fed by our life-giving presence.
On behalf of all the staff at St. Bernadette School we would like to thank you for all of your support that you have in shown in so many areas.

 

Dear Parents,

The last few days of school are upon us. Students are excitedly telling each other of their summer plans, and the school is busy organizing work to be done over the summer. We are also beginning our preparations for next year. As we look ahead, there are a few items that we believe to be of an important note to returning and new families.

1. Waste Free Lunches
Over the past few months the school has been experimenting with 2 options for addressing the new food waste regulations. After much deliberation and monitoring of the two options, the school feels that a waste free lunch is a program that delivers educational benefits to all students and has better management options.
Children will required to pack in and pack out their lunches. Students will bring their leftovers and wrappers back home. A benefit of this program is that parents will have a much clearer idea of what their child is eating on a daily basis. We also know that if families pack lunches in containers, the impact to the environment greatly reduces.

2. Monday Morning Assemblies
Next year we will have an assembly every Monday morning from 9:10 to approximately 9:40am. During this time we will have prayer, talk about our faith, celebrate our successes, and make important announcements. Parents are more than welcome to attend our assemblies.

3. Virtue of the Month
This year we introduced the virtue of the month with great success. I was a little late getting the June virtue up and I had students asking “Mr. v! Where is our virtue?”. It is wonderful to see the positive contribution this has on our students. Next year, to help students recognize how they are attending to the virtues during their time here at St. Bernadette’s, we are introducing a Student of the Month Award. Every month, teachers will nominate a student from their class who they believe have best demonstrated that month’s virtue. The students will be recognized at our end of the month assembly. We are aware that at times we could have several candidates from a single grade, however, the program is designed that if a student has attended our school for a number of years, they will be recognized for their virtuous character at least once. We want this program not to be a competition but a celebration of our student’s positive contribution to the school.

4. Welcome Back Pancake Breakfast
The Knights of Columbus are hosting a welcome back pancake breakfast from 8:30am – 9:30am on the first day of school, September 8th, 2015. We are very excited for this event as it will allow families to come back together and catch up, and it adds another event that builds community within our school. We are thankful to the Knights for their donation of the food and time for this event. Everyone is invited to attend and it will run similar to the pancake breakfasts held after mass.
5. Calendar
For our 2015-2016 school year we will no longer be producing a hardcopy calendar for families. As events change and new events are added, it was decided that having a year at a glance calendar causes more confusion than clarity. This year we ask families to go to our website to view our calendar that is updated regularly. You can also add our calendar to your own Google calendar. You can find our calendar under our “School Life” tab.

6. Uniforms
We had great success with our uniform fitting on June 5th. This week our sizing kit arrived from Cambridge Uniforms. This allows the school to do its own sizing at the school, giving parents the option to stay local to size their child. We ask that you call the office to make an appointment to size your child as a member of our staff will need to assist you with the process. Our office will be open until July 3rd, 2015 and it will re-open again on August 31st, 2015. If you were unable to attend the fitting and would like to have your child sized at the school, please call the office for an appointment. The sizing kit will be available all year long.

7. Stingers Club
We are very excited to have Ms. Sheila Vader as our coordinator for the Stinger Club. We already have a healthy amount of registrants for next year and we are expecting more before the start of the school year. The hours are from 7am – 8:30am and 3pm – 6pm school days (Wednesdays are 2:15pm – 6pm). For the 5 half days during the school year, there will be no Stinger Club after school on those days.
The stingers club is open to all students. It offers fun activities and learning opportunities beyond the classroom. If you would like more information, please contact the office.
Once again I would like to thank you for a wonderful year. I would like to wish you a safe and blessed summer. I look forward to seeing you in September!

Yours in Christ,

Michael van der Pauw
Principal