There are times I still marvel at how I ended up here. Not just in Barmera, not just in leadership, but in education. Growing up, I never aspired to be a teacher. In fact, working in schools was never something I imagined for myself. And yet, here I am, walking this path with you, leading a school I care deeply about, and feeling called to serve in ways I never planned.
As a migrant and as a teacher, moving and change have been constants in my life.Each transition brings its share of excitement and opportunity, but also deep questions:"What is God doing? What does He want from me? Why this place? Why now?"
In these moments of questioning, I’m reminded of something simple but powerful: God never wastes a journey.
Even when I don't fully understand the path, He walks it with me. His goodness and mercy follow me, follow us, wherever we go. The poem below has been sitting with me lately. I came across it again during a quiet moment, and it spoke into my own restlessness and searching. I offer it here in the hope that it encourages you too, especially if you're finding the road a little uncertain, the days a little heavy, or your “why” a little blurry.
As we come to the end of a rich and rewarding Term 2, I want to pause and reflect on all that we have achieved together as a school community. It has been a term full of joyful learning, strong connections and countless examples of our students living out our core school values of Kindness, Safety and Learning, both inside the classroom and out in the yard, on excursions, in liturgies, and in the wider community.
Throughout the term, students have deepened their understanding of what these values look like in practice through our Learning Matrix. They are not just words on a poster, they shape how we work, learn and grow together. We have seen students showing Kindness through the way they support their peers, include others, and use their words to uplift. They have shown Safety in their responsible actions, care for our spaces, and awareness of their own and others’ wellbeing. And their commitment to Learning has shone through their persistence, curiosity and willingness to take on new challenges.
Our classrooms have been vibrant, busy places of exploration and achievement. Students have grown in confidence across all curriculum areas, while developing skills that go beyond academics, collaboration, resilience, and self-management. It’s also been wonderful to witness learning happening outside the classroom, in House Cup Carnival, Club Time, creative arts, excursions, and House Days. These experiences enrich our students’ understanding of the world and help them become thoughtful, compassionate contributors to our community.
A heartfelt thank you to our dedicated teaching and support staff. Your passion, professionalism and deep care for each child is the heartbeat of our school. Thank you for your relentless commitment to nurturing both the academic, spiritual and emotional growth of our students.
To our student leaders, thank you for the way you have led with humility, joy and quiet strength this semester. You are positive role models for your peers, living our values and encouraging others to do the same. And to all our students, congratulations on a fantastic term. You have brought life, laughter and learning to every corner of our school.
We also take this time to celebrate the many rich aspects of school life we’ve enjoyed; whole-school liturgies, House Masses, Showcases, and community events that reflect the special culture we are proud to be part of. In the first week of the holidays, we mark NAIDOC Week, an important opportunity to honour the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We encourage families to take part in this national celebration in ways that are meaningful and respectful.
During the holidays, we will be holding a School Working Bee on Saturday, July 12. This is a fantastic opportunity to help maintain and improve our school grounds, and many hands make light work! If you’re available, we’d love to see you there. It’s a great way to connect with others while making a visible difference to our shared environment.
We also extend a big thank you to everyone who supported the P&F Pie Drive. Your purchases directly support our school and help fund important initiatives for our students. Your involvement is always appreciated!
Don’t forget to book your table for the upcoming P&F Quiz Night‘Christmas in July’, being held at the Barmera Monash Football Club. It promises to be a fantastic evening full of fun, laughter, and festive cheer. There will be great prizes to be won, and we warmly invite all family, friends, and community members to come along. Start planning your outfits and brush up on your trivia knowledge!
Looking ahead to Term 3, there is much to be excited about. We will celebrate National Science Week, Book Week, the Feast Day of St Mary MacKillop, and of course our annual Sports Day, all wonderful opportunities to come together in learning, celebration and community.
We are very excited to officially welcome our mid-year Reception students, who begin full-time school at the start of next term. They have already made a wonderful start through School Ready transition visits, and we look forward to having them with us full-time as they continue their learning journey at our school.
We wish Mrs Tricia Kingham a wonderful and restful time as she takes Long Service Leave for the first four weeks of term 3. We thank her for all she does and look forward to welcoming her back in Week 5.
A reminder to families that Monday, July 21 is a student-free day. Staff will be participating in our Annual Staff Retreat, a day of spiritual reflection and renewal as part of our Catholic identity. Term 3 will begin for students on Tuesday, July 22.
Thank you, as always, for your partnership, your support, and for entrusting us with your children. May the holidays be a time of rest, warmth and connection for you and your family.
Nanda de Winter
Principal
Semester 1 has been filled with lots of fun and exciting visitors. For example, we had the Christian Brother’s College from Adelaide come to our school to perform fun songs and the choir kids sang with them. They had lots of different song genres and instruments, guitars, drums, keyboards and base. We had the Turban and Trust come to share their cultural traditions and also a couple of police visits for cyber safety and road safety. We are proud of all students and the hard work they have put into being kind and safe and especially like how everyone has focused on learning. Keep it up everyone! We wish all staff and students a safe holiday. We can’t wait for Semester 2!
Aysha – My highlight this term has been leaning about shapes in maths.
Koda – My highlight this term is when the Christian Brothers Band came to our school. I liked when they did the loud dancing.
Zoey – My two highlights this term have been art and club time. In art I liked learning about pop art, being able to draw our own stuff and colour in really bright. In club time I like that we can chose our own clubs and get put in a group as a surprise.
Cassandra – My highlight this term has been singing with Miss Catherine, and I also liked club time.
Ruby – My highlights this term have been Art, Maths, Science, InitiaLit and Hass and everything. In Science I like how we made our 3D dioramas.
Ivy – My highlights this term have been Club Time, Maths, Science, Art and InitiaLit. In club time, I really like cooking and sewing. In Maths I have loved learning about shapes. In InitaLit, I love how we review stuff and how we can do worksheets, its really, really fun! In art I love making things, I think it’s really cool. In Science I love making and doing things its really super. I love every subject, however I couldn’t fit it all!
Wyatt – My highlight this term has been art, I loved learning about pop-art. I also loved club time and being able to do some baking.
Angelique – My highlights this term has been making our Science dioramas, doing reading eggs in InitiaLit and going to Play space.
Sasha – My highlight this term has been when the Christian Brother’s Band came to our school. They were really good at singing and doing rock and roll.
Kai – My highlight this term has been Club Time. I liked playing dodgeball in Athletics Club.
McKenzie- My highlight from term 2 was visiting the fire station because we got to use the hose.
Aleeah- My highlight from term 2 was art with Miss Petty.
Sophia- My highlight from term 2 was club time. I did Arty Party!
Sebastian- My highlight from term 2 was club time with Mr G!
Eva- My highlight from term 2 was club time. I liked cooking.
Oaklyn- My highlight from term 2 was club time. I loved Makers Empire!
Parleen- My highlight from term 2 is reading eggs.
Faith- My highlight from term 2 was Art with Miss Petty. Pop Art was my favourite.
Destiny- My highlights from term 2 was Dance Party in InitiaLit and making wombat stew with Mrs Plaquet in initaLit.
Patrick- My highlight from term 2 was Maths, Science, Hass and club time! I loved doing Crikey Cricut with Mrs Rayner and cooking with Miss Petty and Mrs Plaquet.
Archer-My highlight from term 2 was the Footy Clinic with Kayla and Mrs Walters in P.E. And I love InitiaLit.
Mason- My highlight from term 2 was CBB and Footy Clinic with Kayla and Mrs Walters in P.E.
Brooklyn – using doubles, double doubles and double, double doubles to learn my 2, 4 and 8 times tables.
Victoria – I enjoyed writing an information report about iron.
Dustin – Learning tricks to help me remember my times tables.
Harrison – Handwriting with Ms D and Art with Miss Petty.
Lilith – I enjoyed learning about perimeters in Maths.
Fateh – I liked learning about collecting data in Maths.
Harlow – Writing an explanation text about waterfalls.
Fateh – Novel study unit on “Off We Go Around Australia”
Beau – Sketching in our Art lessons.
Harper – I enjoyed having lots of different teachers to teach me.
Ben – I like having 2 teachers.
Arrabella – My teachers, and Maths lessons.
Ivy – Doing the Making Monsters project on Makers Empire.
Zadie – getting my Semester 1 report.
Billy – Learning about fractions in Maths.
Ava – Novel study lessons on “The Iron Man”
Stella- My highlight this term is Club time, my club was athletics.
Hadley- My learning experience highlight from Term 2 is Spellex, writing and novel study, it will make me better at writing.
Helayna- My highlight for Term 2 was Club time, my club was Crikey Cricut, it was cool fun designing and making stickers.
Jimmy- My term recap is maths pathways, spellex, art and PE.
Kohbe- My term highlight is Novel Study and reading about Iron Man.
Charlie- My highlight for Term 2 is Club time. My club is cooing and I really enjoyed making jam pastries, they tasted wonderful.
Ryder- My term highlight is the growth I have had in Math Pathways, Spellex, Art and Novel Study.
Anneliese- My favourite thing about term 2 is Club time. I had Arty Party with Ms B, it was lots of fun.
Breanna- In term 2 we had so much fun. Art was the best subject as we did an assignment where you pick an art piece to make. I made Vincent Van Goghs painting of a Wheat field with cypresses. In HASS we did a showcase about one of Asia’s continents and I did the Philippines and their national flower and animal. It was so fun in term 2.
Dylan- My highlight for term 2 was the high school people that sang songs to us. We loved it and were jumping up, dancing, flossing, doing the worm move. They signed our little white footballs. We loved the drummer, he was amazing.
Congratulations to the Vagg family on the arrival of their beautiful baby girl, Lani. May you cherish these first moments together and enjoy the journey of growing as a family.
At our second YEL forum we went to a workshop to learn about Australian animals. We saw a Tawny Frog mouth and we got to pat its feathers. We got to see up close a Bettong and a reptile known as the Goanna. The presenter put the Goanna on the ground. I was glad it didn’t move! The cutest animal of them all was called a Squirrel Glider, the presenter put it on the tallest person's shoulder, and then demonstrated how it glides, it was adorable. The last animal show to us was either the worst or best depending on how you feel about snakes. It was the River Murray Carpet python, I got to hold it near its head. I didn’t like how it felt but a fun fact is that these pythons are very rare to find in the South Australian bush.
-Imogen
At our second YEL forum we got to see bugs in resin or water or bugs that were pinned. My favourite bug was the Unicorn bug. There was also plenty of other bugs there. There were baby yabbies, a bee life cycle display, tiny yellow wasps and some very bright colourful insects. There was also a water scorpion, it was so cool!
We were asked to draw what a scientist looks like. Most people drew male scientists but the girls in my group and I drew women. Scientist can look different and aren’t always wearing a white coat! Imogen even drew a fossil scientist.
-Breanna
In the afternoon we learnt about drones and how scientist use them to check if plants are healthy. We got to see it being used with the lens on and without the lens. We took photos together on the Loxton Oval using a drone - it was fun. We were happy that we could see our friends from different schools.
We also learnt about how viruses are spread to control and manage pests such as rabbits or foxes. Rabbits destroy Australian animals' habitat and sometimes foxes eat endangered species such as turtles. We had to pour our cup into other cups, mix it, then pour it back in our own, it was a game to show how fast diseases spread.
-Anneliese
Important Dates
Last Day of Term 2
First Day of Term 3 2025
SJSB Quiz Night @ 8pm
Catholic Schools Open Week 4-8 August
Choir Rehearsal in Berri
The Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop
Book Week 18-22 August
Social