On 20 February 2026, St Bernard's College proudly hosted the High Achiever Academic Awards Assembly for the Class of 2025 in the O’Brien Centre Gymnasium. This event gives us the opportunity to recognise our students’ hard work and outstanding academic achievement in front of their families, peers, and distinguished guests, including School Advisory Council Chairperson Ms Pauline Duggan, representatives from EREA, and Jo Briskey, MP for Maribyrnong.

The ceremony commenced with an energetic performance by our College Drumline, setting the tone for the Principal’s address from Dr Michael Davies. His passionate speech emphasised the value of hard work and lifelong learning, drawing on two examples from our community:

Old Collegian and recent Hall of Fame inductee Dr Anthony Slavin, whose dedication to the field of immunology has saved the lives of many, including one of our other old collegians.

Current teacher Ms Klavins, whose commitment to lifelong learning meant she had the first aid knowhow to give crucial medical assistance when a community member was recently in need.

In their example, Dr Davies encouraged our graduates and students to keep applying themselves and lean in to learning opportunities.

Our 2025 cohort were recognised for their outstanding results, with 26 students achieving an ATAR of 90 or higher. Presentations also honoured the Unit 3/4 Subject Prize Winners, which included Year 12 students and accelerated Year 11 students who attained exceptional results in a particular subject. Other awards celebrated included ten outstanding students who completed the prestigious VCE Baccalaureate Award, along with the Baccalaureate Student of the Year and the Vocational Major Student of the Year.

We were honoured to welcome Jo Briskey MP to the stage to present the Jo Briskey Award for Excellence in Community Leadership, recognising a student who is dedicated to community service and positive change. This year, 2025 Year 11 student Matthew was celebrated for his involvement in just about every social advocacy program we offer, from the Vinnies Appeal to the South American Immersion.

It was then time to acknowledge our Proxime Accessit, Christian, and our College Dux, Anthony. In an inspiring and gracious address, Anthony was quick to acknowledge his family, friends, teachers and community for all their support, noting that the award of Dux was not his alone. He left us all with a key thought—that “excellence is not measured by how far ahead you finish, but by how far you travel from where you began”.

The assembly concluded with a delightful morning tea hosted by the Welcoming Community Group. The gathering was a wonderful opportunity for award winners and their families to connect and reminisce with staff and fellow graduates.

As St Bernard’s College looks toward the future, we remain committed to supporting the aspirations of our students and alumni. To our Class of 2025, we are proud of each and every one of you, and as you move on to the next phase of your life, know that you will always be a Bernard’s Boy.

Keep an eye out for a full list of our award winners in the upcoming 2025 Clairvaux!

On Thursday, 12 February, we had our House Athletics Carnival for 2026, and it was amazing to see students across all year levels leaning into the carnival spirit!

The shield was won by Rice House with an impressive performance across the board, with strong competition from defending champs Nagle in second place. A special mention to MacKillop, as their Year 7 ‘cheersquad’ earned bonus points for the loudest cheers during the House Procession.

From 100m sprints to egg and spoon races and everything in between, everyone gave a great effort and plenty of fun was had.

We extend our gratitude to everyone who helped make this day a success, especially those involved in planning and organising the event, and our Identity Team and House Guardians for creating an excellent buzz and team spirit.

Here’s to more exciting events ahead!

After a successful first year, our Essendon Football Club Academy is firing on all cylinders in 2026. Our Year 11s and 12s have been out on the track over the past few weeks, and today the Year 11s had a visit from Bombers legend Dustin Fletcher!

Dustin is working with our students on all facets of the game, and today conducted a deep dive into kicking and different types of kicks. It has been fabulous for the Academy members to get access to an AFL legend with 400 games of experience.

We were also glad to further develop our partnership with Essendon when last week we were invited to the Hangar for their fantastic Family Day, which included games, prizes, and kick-to-kick on the pristine training ground. 

It was a great day out meeting new families and old collegians alike, and mingling with current and past Bombers players like old collegian Simon Madden.

Thank you to the Essendon Football Club, we can't wait to continue our successful partnership and help our EFCA students reach their full sporting potential.

Our 2026 Service Learning program kicked off this month, with our senior students undertaking volunteer work in our local community. 

Boys from McAuley House are spending time with residents at Holloway Aged Care, offering care and companionship while bonding over card games and stories. In the spirit of Catherine McAuley and the Sisters of Mercy, McAuley students are called to 'serve and inspire'—supporting social services, caring for the elderly, and building community.

Our Avila students are proudly living out their 'faith in action' motto at Helping Hands Mission Airport West, helping to organise and store donations to their Community Pantry. Their assistance answers the most important needs of their community, just as Teresa of Avila and the Carmelite Sisters did.

Students from Nagle House have begun their partnership with West Welcome Wagon, an organisation supporting newly arrived migrants and refugees by providing essential household items and welcoming community connections. This wonderful organisation embodies the Nagle mission to 'enlighten and empower', giving migrants the tools to thrive in their new country.

A heartfelt thank you to our House Guardians, who are leading from the front to source meaningful opportunities for our students to serve with compassion and purpose. 

As our students contribute to our local community, they also gain so much in return—meeting people from all walks of life, seeing different perspectives, and learning from driven people who are passionate about social advocacy. We are so proud of the empathy, maturity and compassion our students have demonstrated in these programs, and look forward to continuing our service learning!

And that’s a wrap on Rice Week!

It was great to see students across all year levels getting involved in activities and our senior students flying the flag for their Houses.

The motto of Rice House is ‘Victory in Unity’, and our students took this to heart, not only banding together in everything from pentathlon challenges to a BBQ fundraiser for Project Compassion. Thank you to all our students, our Identity team and especially to Rice House Guardian Mr Leahy for a fantastic week.

Congratulations to McAuley House for winning the Senior Pentathlon, spoiling Rice House’s party—though maybe it was time the reigning Athletics Carnival champs were brought back down to earth!

Up next—Nagle Week in Term 2!

The Catholic Schools Guide is giving one lucky entrant the opportunity to win 2 amazing prizes - $2,000 worth of school fees paid directly to your school, plus a $200 gift voucher!

Runner-up prizes are also included.

Every student attending a Catholic school in Australia is invited to enter this competition to win. Enter at https://catholicschoolsguide.com.au/competition  

Today, our College community came together to celebrate International Women’s Day with a special assembly, emphasising the importance of creating a world that offers equal opportunities for all, regardless of gender.

Deputy Principal Ms Therese Wilson and our Student Council opened the assembly by discussing the UN Women theme for 2026, ‘Balance the Scales’. This theme highlights the urgent need to ensure fair, inclusive, and accessible justice for every woman and girl.

We were privileged to welcome community change-maker and football star Jordan Mifsud as our guest speaker, introduced by her close friend and our Student Leadership Coordinator Ms O'Neill. Jordy is a proud Kirrae, Peek and Tjab Whurrong woman of the Gunditjmara nation and was the first Indigenous woman to be awarded Best and Fairest at the Hawks. She also advocates for First Nations communities and mentors young people in a variety of roles. Jordy offered unique insights from her experiences in what were traditionally male-dominated spaces (such as football) and spoke about how impactful and positive it is when all are welcomed to follow their passions. 

Following a moving performance of Coldplay’s “Yellow” by our talented musicians, our College Captain Sam closed out the assembly with a video that featured both St Bernard’s students and student leaders from St Columba’s College, as they shared what International Women’s Day means to them.

Thank you to all who participated and made this assembly a memorable celebration of International Women’s Day.

Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires schools to identify information already available in the school about support provided to students with disability. These relate to legislative requirements under the Disability Discrimination Act 1992 and the Disability Standards for Education 2005, in line with the NCCD guidelines (2019). 

Information provided about students to the Australian Government for the NCCD includes:

• Year of schooling
• Category of disability: physical, cognitive, sensory or social/emotional
• Level of adjustment provided: support provided within quality differentiated teaching practice, supplementary, substantial or extensive.

This information assists schools to:

• Formally recognise the supports and adjustments provided to students with disability in schools
• Consider how they can strengthen the support of students with disability in schools
• Develop shared practices so that they can review their learning programs in order to improve educational outcomes for students with disability.

Please see below an information sheet about the NCCD process.

Should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact Ms Helen Fisher via email at hfisher@sbc.vic.edu.au.