Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
In the last edition of the Newsletter, I wrote about current work that the College is undertaking in developing a Vision for Learning. I noted that high amongst the concerns of teachers is to offer a more deeply engaging “authentic learning experience" that connects the curriculum to the “real world”.
Since writing those words, I met with a group of parents and members of staff at the most recent Parent Engagement Network meeting last Monday evening. Our discussion turned to the range of skills that young people need today in order to achieve success in the contemporary workplace.
One parent related his experience of the transformation of his own workplace in recent years. He also sees an emerging shift in what will be required of his youngest son, still at school, to transition successfully to the workplace, compared to the relatively easier path of his oldest son. I asked him after the meeting to commit some of his thoughts to writing. This is a part of what he said:
…The boys face an additional challenge in their professional careers. Their fathers, grandfathers and even older siblings’ generations benefited from the positive bias (not recognised at the time) for middle class males in the professional workforce. They managed to achieve significant seniority in professional roles, sometimes without being as strong as other groups. This means that current students, and even recent graduates, will have to be significantly better skilled and better performing than previous generations versus the general community…
Of course, an holistic Edmund Rice education is an education for a good life, not just a good living; but it is not an “either/or” — rather it is a “both”. In developing our Vision for Learning, we continue to reflect on the best ways to embed the enterprise skills of
“problem solving, communication and teamwork through formal education.”
The Foundation for Young Australians. 2018. The New Work Reality. Melbourne.
It is one way that we can provide opportunities for our students in the transition from the world of school to the world of work.
Discere et Agere
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
In the last edition of the Newsletter, I wrote about current work that the College is undertaking in developing a Vision for Learning. I noted that high amongst the concerns of teachers is to offer a more deeply engaging “authentic learning experience" that connects the curriculum to the “real world”.
Since writing those words, I met with a group of parents and members of staff at the most recent Parent Engagement Network meeting last Monday evening. Our discussion turned to the range of skills that young people need today in order to achieve success in the contemporary workplace.
One parent related his experience of the transformation of his own workplace in recent years. He also sees an emerging shift in what will be required of his youngest son, still at school, to transition successfully to the workplace, compared to the relatively easier path of his oldest son. I asked him after the meeting to commit some of his thoughts to writing. This is a part of what he said:
…The boys face an additional challenge in their professional careers. Their fathers, grandfathers and even older siblings’ generations benefited from the positive bias (not recognised at the time) for middle class males in the professional workforce. They managed to achieve significant seniority in professional roles, sometimes without being as strong as other groups. This means that current students, and even recent graduates, will have to be significantly better skilled and better performing than previous generations versus the general community…
Of course, an holistic Edmund Rice education is an education for a good life, not just a good living; but it is not an “either/or” — rather it is a “both”. In developing our Vision for Learning, we continue to reflect on the best ways to embed the enterprise skills of
“problem solving, communication and teamwork through formal education.”
The Foundation for Young Australians. 2018. The New Work Reality. Melbourne.
It is one way that we can provide opportunities for our students in the transition from the world of school to the world of work.
Discere et Agere
Article by Jess Smith
Principal’s address to the Year 12 Graduands, 18 October 2019
Good morning parents, guests, colleagues, students and our students of honour, the Year 12 graduands.
I want to talk about th...
St Bernard’s College has engaged in Immersion experiences for its students since 2006, when the College’s relationship with the Brother Beausang Catholic Education Centre in Embulbul, jus...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
Exactly one year ago today, EREA opened its 2018 Congress in Melbourne. This national event, with international Edmund Rice guests, was the laun...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
On Friday, 23 August we celebrate the life of our patron St Bernard of Clairvaux at a Mass in the O’Brien Gymnasium. His actual feast day is 20 A...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s
I write you this week regarding two significant appointments that have taken place recently.
Firstly, you will recall that Dr Pauline Thompson lef...
Welcome back to Term 3!
Making informed choices
We live in a world where numerous and various sources of data are available to us. This data is used to inform us, allows us to interro...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
I awoke to the news last Wednesday morning that the Victorian State Minister for Education, James Merlino, had announced that all state primary an...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
You may have seen the 9 May 2019 report in The Age newspaper entitled “Goodbye ATAR: More students opt for unscored VCE”. It sits alongside other...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
This week, the National EREA Principals Conference was held at St Bernard’s. The conference was facilitated by Professor Sohail Inayatullah, a wo...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s
On 6 May this year, the United Nations released its Global Assessment Study. This three-year study was the result of 400 experts from 50 countries...
We Will Remember Them
On Wednesday 24 April, the College held an assembly to mark ANZAC Day.
For many in the assembly, we cannot begin to understand the experience of war - the initial ...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard's,
As we draw close to the end of Lent a time of preparation for Easter, I found the following excerpt from Tim Winton a wonderful summary of what Easter is ...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern has been roundly and rightly praised for her dignified response to the horror that unfolded into mosqu...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s
Written below are the words that I shared with the student body at our whole school assembly on International Women’s Day, Friday 8 March.
Amidst ...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
On Wednesday evening last, members of the St Bernard’s community gathered in our new College Chapel for a mass of consecration, our new Archbisho...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
Welcome to the 2019 school year! I hope that the beginning has been a good one for you and, for parents, if it is not been a smooth as you had ho...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
With this the final newsletter for 2018, I to take this opportunity to farewell members of staff who will move to new positions next year:
Ms Pau...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
I write to you on three very different matters this week. Firstly, Eleni Glouftsis, a member of our Health and Physical Education teaching staff ...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s
My Auntie Cherie, whom I loved, lived on Nauru for many years with a husband and two children. Benny, her husband, worked in the phosphate mines a...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s
With the football season over and the weather getting warmer, my attention — sportwise at least — has turned to the cricket. After the debacle of Aus...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
In the last edition of the Newsletter, I wrote about current work that the College is undertaking in developing a Vision for Learning. I noted th...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
In the last edition of the Newsletter, I wrote to you about our strategic work in student learning. To recap, are strategic work in student learn...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
Footy success
Last Saturday 18 August at the MCG, the St Bernard’s 1st XVIII had a handsome victory over St Patrick’s College Ballarat in the Her...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
In my last Newsletter article, I made reference to the “Plenary Council” which is due to be held over two sessions in October 2020 (Adelaide) and...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
I first encountered Fr Frank Brennan SJ when he delivered the Charles Strong Lecture at the International Congress of Religion at the University ...
Dear Parents and Caregivers
Tim Winton has recently published his latest book The Shepherd’s Hut. Like so many of Winton’s books, it is set in the west of Australia, in Winton’s homeland....
Dear Parents and Caregivers,
We have had a couple of significant weeks at the College, with our annual Reconciliation Assembly and the opening of our new Staff Centre and College Chapel.
...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard's,
I recently read a newsletter piece by Michael McGirr, Dean of Faith at our brother school St Kevin's. I thought it worth reprinting in this Newsl...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
Elsewhere in this week’s newsletter, you will read of the successful activities undertaken recently on 4 May. Founder’s Day honours Edmund Rice, ...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
The Federal government released its Gonski 2.0 education funding model last year — a model which resulted in considerable reduction in the amount...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
An old term ends, a new one begins
There was an excellent conclusion to Term 1 with a Holy Thursday liturgy which included the symbolic washing...
Term 2 holds some exciting events for Music at St Bernard’s College!
Mt Gambier, Generations in Jazz – 4, 5 and 6 May
The Show Band and SBC Voices senior vocal quartet will be participati...
ACN Nursing and Health Expo
The Australian College of Nursing (ACN) is hosting a free Nursing & Health Expo, the perfect opportunity to discover more about nursing or health professions. ...
Year 7 – 11 Parent Student Teacher Interviews – Tuesday 24 April
Parent Student Teacher Interviews for Years 7-11 will take place on Tuesday 24 April. There will be no classes on this da...
All bookings for next Friday's Autumn Gala Dinner headlined by the induction of Michael Perrett need to be confirmed by Monday 23 April.
To book visit www.trybooking.com/359021
We are excited to announce a wonderful event coming in June to celebrate the Ladies Auxiliary 70th Anniversary.
Ladies Auxiliary 70th Anniversary Dinner Celebration
Wednesday 6 June - Fle...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
On Wednesday, 7 March, I had the opportunity of being present at our brother College, St Kevin’s, to hear Mark Coleridge, Archbishop of Brisbane,...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
One of the wonderful things about the Catholic tradition is its liturgical calendar; it invites us each year to reflect on and reimagine our live...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
All schools have Education as their core business. Catholic schools are distinctive in having two core businesses — Education and the Gospe...
Dear Parents and Friends of St Bernard’s,
Welcome to this, the first College Newsletter of the 2018 school year. Personally, I was welcomed back to Australia by my family and work colleag...
