Newsletters

Dear Parents,

It has been a busy week with lots of hard work going on at school, especially for our wonderful Year 6 children, who have been working incredibly hard during their SATs. We are all so proud of the focus, determination, and maturity they have shown throughout the week – well done, Year 6!

With tests now behind them, the children are turning their attention to something very exciting: their residential trip to France, which begins this Monday! There is a real buzz of anticipation in the air as they prepare for this special adventure. We are sure they will make lasting memories, experience new things, and represent St Bernard's school brilliantly abroad.

I would also like to extend a thank you to all the parents who attended our extraordinary meeting on Monday. It was a pleasure to have the opportunity to clarify important matters and respond to your questions regarding the upcoming VAT increase on school fees. Your engagement and thoughtful feedback are always valued and appreciated.

Upper Prep Liturgy

This week, Upper Prep delivered a thoughtful and engaging Liturgy exploring the story of St Matthias, the apostle chosen to replace Judas. They began by posing a fascinating question: Why did Jesus have twelve apostles? Was it because there are twelve months in a year or twelve hours in each half of the day? As they explained, the true reason lies in the Bible—Jesus chose twelve apostles to reflect the twelve tribes of Israel, symbolising the creation of a new spiritual family.

The pupils then took us on an insightful journey into how God chooses people. He chose Judas and Matthias, He chose Peter to be the first Pope, and He also chose our new Pope. They left us with a powerful message: God chooses each of us—to be kind, brave, and full of love.

Well done to all involved for such a meaningful and inspiring presentation

Maths in Upper Prep

In this engaging, hands-on lesson, children explored directional language through a fun and interactive activity using the Code & Go Robot Mouse. The session began with a review of key terms such as forward, backward, left turn, and right turn. Children practised identifying and using these terms through whole-class movement games and simple oral instructions.
Next, children were introduced to the Robot Mouse and shown how to input commands to control its movements. Working in small groups, they designed simple mazes or grids and took turns programming the mouse to navigate to the block of cheese. Children had to predict and test sequences of instructions, correcting and debugging their code when necessary.

UKMT Challenge

We are very excited to announce the results of the UKMT challenge, a challenge directed to Year 8 pupils. The Junior Maths Challenge is a 60-minute, 25 multiple choice challenge. It encourages mathematical reasoning, precision of thought and fluency to make students think. The problems on the Junior Mathematical Challenge are accessible yet still challenge those with more experience.

This year over 280,000 children took part and to recognise the highest performers in the Challenge, the top-scoring 50% of participants are awarded Bronze, Silver and Gold certificates in the ratio 3:2:1. 

The top scoring 1,000 – 1,200 students will qualify to sit the Junior Olympiad.

Around the next 10,000 will qualify to sit the Junior Kangaroo (UK Schools only), of which 2 are from here at St Bernard's Prep!

The certificate boundaries for this year's JMC are:

• Bronze: 54
• Silver: 73
• Gold: 91
• Kangaroo qualification: 100
• Olympiad qualification: 125

This year's boundaries are notably high, with the Gold boundary being the highest since 2020 (when results were unusual due to COVID). Most significantly, the Kangaroo and Olympiad qualification thresholds are the highest they've ever been! All of this information shows how well our children have done.

We achieved:

3 Gold  - Vihaan, Christina and Jiya

4 Silver - Aydin, Jai, Tanish and Archie (Archie was one mark away from gold!)

2 Bronze - Dea and Sahar

Huge congratulations to all who took part - it was not easy!!

Berkshire Maestros

Once again, we are very excited to be taking part in the Junior Music Festival with Berkshire Maestros. This gives the children the opportunity to perform at the Hexagon Theatre in Reading, and they are accompanied by a live band. The children who participate fully enjoy this great experience. Today we attended our first area rehearsal where the children behaved impeccably, as always, and enjoyed all the warm-ups and direction given. We are looking forward to our next rehearsal and then the concert on the 24^th June.

Achievements

We are thrilled to celebrate the success of Jannah (Y5), who was awarded ‘Most Improved Goalkeeper of the Season 2024/2025’ at the Slough Hockey Club Junior Awards Ceremony on Sunday.

This is an outstanding achievement, especially as Jannah only began goalkeeping in January this year. Despite being new to the position, she quickly excelled and went on to represent the Slough U10 Girls team at both the County Finals and the South Central Tournament.

Well done, Jannah!

Studybugs

Studybugs is the quickest and easiest way to report your child’s absence. It also helps us keep everyone safe and informed. Your child's attendance does fall under statutory regulations and, as with all schools, is monitored by the local authority. Thank you to parents who are using the Studybug app to support your child's attendance. For those who have not downloaded the app yet, we will contact you individually to assist you.