The John Berne School
| The John Berne School | |
|---|---|
| Location | |
|
Lewisham, Sydney, New South Wales Australia |
|
| Coordinates | 33°53′35″S 151°08′56″E / 33.892963°S 151.148951°ECoordinates: 33°53′35″S 151°08′56″E / 33.892963°S 151.148951°E |
| Information | |
| School type | Private |
| Motto | Hope always |
| Religious affiliation(s) | Christian |
| Denomination | Catholic |
| Opened | 1998 |
| Principal | Br Darren Burge |
| Teaching staff | 13 to 16 teachers |
| Employees | 25 |
| Key people | 3 counsellors, 5 support staff |
| Years offered | 7–10 |
| Age range | 12–16 |
| Enrolment | 45 (2011) |
| Website | www |
| From the 2011 annual report | |
The John Berne School, previously known as the Berne Education Centre is in Lewisham, Sydney, Australia. The school caters for students in Years 7–10 from mainstream schools in the Sydney area and who have behavioural or emotional problems or who are otherwise at risk of not completing their education.
Berne shares a large campus (formerly St Thomas Boys High School) with 2 other small schools: the Catholic Intensive English Centre and a small satellite school of Trinity Grammar (pre Kindergarten–Year 2).
The school opened on 28 April 1998, with a staff of five teachers and two support staff. The initial enrolment consisted of 28 students. It replaced the Benedict Community School, which had been in operation since 1976.
Berne is a registered special school and founding member of the Association of Catholic Special School Services (ACSSS). It provides an education to those young people who are at risk of not completing their School Certificate (the basic level of qualification in New South Wales). Mainstream classes are unsuitable for most of the students because of behavioural, emotional, and familial reasons.
The John Berne School is owned and operated by the Marist Brothers, an order founded in France during the early 19th century by St Marcellin Champagnat.
The school caters for students who may be experiencing problems due to physical, psychological, emotional and/or familial reasons. They may also have learning difficulties and/or disorders. Their placement at Berne could be short term, where the aim is to work on the student’s behavioural or emotional issues in order to reintegrate them back into their mainstream school, or long term, where the aim is to continue to educate them through to the School Certificate.
The school’s culture has been designed to defuse a lot of the behavioural triggers the students were experiencing in mainstream schools. For example, there is no uniform and there is no set homework.
The student-teacher relationship is unusual compared to mainstream schools. Students address staff by their first name, and even eat meals together. All staff are expected to get involved in all school activities, such as camps, excursions and personal development activities.
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