Voice Of Youth

On the 20th August, Natalie C, Alex S and I went to St Monica’s North Parramatta school hall with the rest of Year 6 to represent our school in the Voice of Youth cluster finals. There were four schools including our own in the Parramatta cluster and three representatives from each school including St Monica’s, St Mary’s Rydalmere and Christ the King North Rocks. All three of us had put a lot of effort into writing and learning the speeches. Alex’s speech was titled ‘Cake’, Natalie’s was titled ‘Water Wastage’ and mine was titled ’Superheroes’. Everyone says that public speaking is nerve-wracking, but in my opinion it was really fun!

Alicia G

I was never a public speaker. I get very nervous if I have to talk, and spend a lot of time being silent. But of course my older brother Harry made it through into the Voice Of Youth so I had to try and match him. I could never write a serious speech, and if I did I wouldn’t be able to say it with a straight face. So I picked the humorous topic of cake. I wanted to just talk about how much I love cake, but the fact is you can’t make that 2 minutes long. So my speech on the facts on cake was created. I know that my speech wasn’t the winner, but it was still the best. And I got to get up and talk about cake, which is fine by me!

Alex S

At St Monica’s 4 schools gathered in a hall. There were 12 cluster finalists including 3 representatives from St Bernadette’s. I Natalie, a cluster finalist, represented St Bernadette’s with my Voice of Youth speech ‘Water Wastage’. On the 20th of August, I stand up with the microphone at my mouth, palm cards in my hands while students are staring at me. I begin. Minutes are passing. I say thank you as I feel a huge amount of weight is lifted off my shoulders.

Natalie C

Written By

St Bernadette's Primary Dundas
www.stbernadettesdundas.catholic.edu.au

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28 Aug 2026
From Facebook
What a fantastic book week! We have loved every minute of the soundscapes, book reading, games and fun that 2026 book week has brought. We love reading and we love book week!

28 Aug 2026
From Facebook
Going Faceless You might notice something a little different on our school social media page and we wanted you to hear the why straight from us. We have a new approach to social media, taking a proactive stand on protecting our students’ online safety. We’ll keep sharing what our students are learning and achieving, the wins, the projects, the everyday moments that make our school community special. But we will not be posting identifiable photos of children’s faces on our public social media pages. This follows new guidance from the e-Safety Commissioner about how AI tools are being used to misuse photos taken from school social media pages. Our school takes online safety seriously. We’ll continue to share event memories directly with families through our newsletter. We ask that these photos aren’t used on personal social media platforms. Families who have selected ‘not for publish’ will still not appear in these photos. To update your permission, please contact the office. This is a new endeavour and like any new approach, we may not get it perfectly right every time as staff adjust. We appreciate your patience as we find our feet. Thank you for backing us as we take this step. 💙