3 June 2022

Newsletter Articles

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE – JOHN MURPHY

PRAYER

Loving God,
open up our hearts so that we may hear
the message you teach
of a world in which the wrongs of the past are recognised –
a world in which a reconciled people
walk and talk together sharing stories;
a world in which all burn with the desire
to have your peace and justice reign.
We ask this in Jesus’ name.
Amen.
St Bede… Pray for us

PARENT FORUM

Thank you to the parents/carers who attended our Term 2 Parent Forum Meeting on Tuesday 24th May commencing at 6.00pm. The key-note speaker was our Careers Coordinator, Jennie Nemeth, who gave an overview of our careers program that commences in Year 7. Parents/carers were also taken for a tour of our learning spaces. Below is a summary of the meeting. The Term 3 Parent Forum Meeting will be at 6.00pm on Wednesday 17th August. We welcome all parents/carers to this meeting.

CATHOLIC SCHOOLS WEEK 23-27 MAY

Last week we celebrated Catholic Schools Week, with this year’s theme being ‘Fully Alive.’ The theme aimed to remind us that we are most alive when we are in touch with our inner selves and can acknowledge deep connections between ourselves, God, others, and creation. Included in our celebration of Catholic Schools Week were small group tours for parents/carers, a Parent Forum, and the St Bede’s Feast Day. Students are to be commended on the positive way they engaged in the Liturgy, market stalls, and house competitions.

BUILDING UP-DATE

As per the letter sent to all parents/carers last week, we are very excited that the remaining stages of the building works program have now been finalised and will proceed continuously until its completion in mid-2024. We are thrilled by both the inclusions within these remaining stages and the short period of time until its completion.

Our current learning spaces provisions, including in our Flexible Learning Village (FLV), are providing our current students with generous ratios of space to student numbers, as well as having new and modern furniture and being fully air conditioned. We anticipate that the third of the four buildings will be completed and in use sometime in Term 2 next year.

ENROLMENTS

With the closing date of the end of May now being passed for those parents/carers applying for their child to be enrolled in Year 7 next year, the enrolment interviews are now drawing to a close. Next year, we will enrol 180 new Year 7 students. Having conducted these enrolment interviews, I am so impressed with the high calibre of students that will join us next year. We are blessed to have such a wonderful supportive community. Next year we look forward to many of our current parents/carers having their second or third child enrolled at St Bede’s, along with many other parents/carers having their first child enrolled.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Assistant Principal Report – Emma South & Brett Donohoe

Transport

Parents and students are reminded that the collection point for students by vehicle at the end of the school day is via the pickup and drop off zone inside the carpark. Parents are not to collect their child via the bus zone. If parents wish to collect their child at another pick-up location, they are encouraged to select a neighbouring street away from Heritage Drive. Students can then walk to this destination via the pedestrian crossing near St Aloysius. All parents and carers would appreciate that our afternoons have become increasingly congested, and that this procedure is put in place to keep our students safe.

We are aware that on rare occasions school buses have not arrived to collect students. Hunter Valley Buses, like any company, cannot guarantee that this will never occur. We also understand that this may impact students, particularly in the morning. There are occasions when drivers cannot drive the morning routine at late notice due to unforeseen circumstances. In these instances, there can be a significant time delay in this being reported to schools. We discussed at our most recent Parent Forum the need for students to notify their parents if this occurs and ask parents to contact the front office immediately on 40 888 222. The School Office is open from 7.50am and our Office Staff will send an automatic push alert to all parents in these instances alerting them to a bus cancellation.

Since the introduction of the afternoon 2774 bus service to Ashtonfield and East Maitland congestion within buses appears to have eased. The College will monitor the intake of students on these buses and communicate with Hunter Valley Buses if issues arise.

Uniform

We have seen a change in the weather conditions over this week and are grateful to see students rugged up in the Winter Uniform. There has been a delay with the supply of long socks, and we have not been given clarity around when these will be available. If students don't have girls’ long socks, to keep warm and meet the requirements of the winter uniform, grey stockings need to be worn. These stockings are available through Williamsons with 2 pairs for $20. A suitable alternative to these is available through Kmart - Anko brand Opaque Cotton Blend 120 Denier Grey Tights. These are priced at $9.00/pair.

Senior students are now able to wear their sports uniform on Fridays and we are very excited to see Mr. Marsh working with this cohort in the design of our first ever Senior Jersey. This jersey can be worn throughout the year on Friday as part of their sports uniform. Once the Senior Jersey design has been finalised, information about ordering, price and timeframes will be communicated with the Class of 2023 and their families.

Uniform Survey

We are passionate about working alongside our families in the provision of the school uniform. A survey has been developed seeking parent/carer feedback about the service provided by Williamsons. Part of this survey seeks information about orders that have not been completed. We encourage all in our parent and carer community to contribute to this survey, it is a short 13 question survey, and your input is very much appreciated. The survey will be available until Friday 10th June.

Assessment

As we reach the end of the term students are completing formal assessment. A reminder that the Assessment Handbook for each year level are available on the College Website. These documents provide information about individual course details, procedures around illness and misadventure, applications for leave and other information about the approach to learning and assessment at the College. Specific information about Formal Assessment tasks and due dates can be accessed through Compass. We encourage our families to remain up to date with these tasks so that you can continue to support our students.

Illness

With Winter comes cold and flu season and we know that this can mean periods of absence from school. It is very important that absences are explained, and the best way to do this is through the Compass app. A phone call to our administration team can be made but logging in Compass is the preferred approach.

If a student is absent on the day a task is due or there is an examination on at school, they need to complete an Illness and Misadventure form. These can be found on the College website or by clicking on the link below. Students in Year 10 and 11 need to provide evidence to support this form as per the College Assessment Policy.

If your son or daughter becomes unwell during the school day, they need to inform their teacher and move to Student Services where one of our Administration team will contact home. Students are not to use mobile phones to message home during the school day. Our staff are here to support students and will take all appropriate measures to ensure students are safe and comfortable until they can be safely collected.

Thank you for your continued support of St Bede’s.

Catholic Formation and Mission – Andrew Slater

St Bede’s Feast Day

On Wednesday 25th May, the College celebrated St Bede’s Feast Day. This was a double celebration, as it was also Catholic Schools Week. After a long period of time with many restrictions, this was a chance for us to come back together as a College community. The reading used at our liturgy, Ephesians 2:4-10, challenged us to be alive in Christ, and to live a life of good works. Our students lived out this call through the running, and support of, market stalls which were held after the liturgy. It was through these good works that we again raised money for the Holy Child Program in Bethlehem. This year, we were able to donate almost $3800 to the Holy Child Program.

Year 9 and 10 Reflection Days

Both Year 9 and 10 are participating in Reflection Days during the month of June. Year 9 is on Wednesday 8th, and Year 10 is on Wednesday 15th. Student Formation, through Reflection Days, is an important aspect of the Catholic identity of our College. Reflection Days enable students to reflect on their relationship with God, themselves, others, and the environment. The expectation is that all students will participate in their Reflection Day. Students are required to bring their morning tea and water. Lunch will be provided.

St Marcellin Champagnat Feast Day

Next Monday, 6th June, we will celebrate the feast day of St Marcellin Champagnat, who is the patron saint of Marian house. Students are invited to wear blue and make a gold coin donation to Vinnies Winter Appeal.

LEARNING DOMAIN

Five Key Questions – Louise Robertson

“What did you learn about today at school?” This question is often followed by the response, “Nothing”.

At St Bede’s, our shared belief and understanding is that all students can learn given the right time and support. The 5 Key Questions for Students, Parents and Teachers, assists us in knowing more about our learners, how they learn, and what further instruction and support they need to be successful.

So, remember, don’t only ask your child, “What did you learn about today at school?”, ask them the ‘5 Key Questions Parents Can Ask Their Child’.

Parent Teacher Interviews

During our upcoming Parent Teacher Interviews, we welcome you to ask your child’s teacher the following questions:

• What is my child learning?
• How are they doing?
• How do you know how they’re doing?
• How can they improve?
• What support do you provide if my child is struggling?

English – Tamara Powell

STUDENT INCURSIONS

Over the last term, St Bede’s hosted the performers from Poetry in Action and the Bell Shakespeare Company. Students in Years 7, 9 and 10 attended these performances which complement their learning in English. These experiences are a wonderful opportunity for our students to see live theatre and engage with literature in dynamic and interesting ways.

Entertaining and engaging the students, the Bell Shakespeare actors performed a range of scenes and speeches from Shakespeare’s plays for Years 9 and 10. Year 9 were delighted by the audience participation and three brave, daring students took the performance to the next level through their enthusiastic participation in the show. What they saw and learned will support the students’ upcoming study of Romeo and Juliet in Year 9 and Macbeth in Year 10.

Additionally, three talented Poetry in Action actors energetically brought poetry to life through their performance to Year 7. Students learnt about the wonderful world of poetry and many literary techniques in preparation for their poetry unit.

Year 8

In Humanities, Year 8 have concluded a lengthy and intensive integrated cross-curricular unit on the Medieval World. As part of our learning, we concluded the unit with a series of fun activities which celebrated Medieval Europe and Shogunate Japan. One of them was the construction of samurai origami helmets which, while not to scale, were elaborate and still worn with style!

Music @ St Bede’s – Michelle Burgess and Russell Thornton

Year 7 Music

Year 7 have had a positive and productive start to their music education at St. Bede’s. In Term 1 students were introduced to Secondary Music Education through the element of performance. Students thoroughly enjoyed being introduced to a variety of classroom instruments along with understanding more about themselves through the pieces of music they connect with. Year 7 finished their term 1 work by submitting an analysis of their favorite song within the cross KLA “This Is Me” project.

Students are currently in the midst of an intensive performance unit of work. Every two weeks students are given two samples of Australian music to select from to learn, then present a solo, duo or group performance for assessment. Students are required to work independently within this task to build self-learning skills. Mrs. Burgess, Ms. Foster, and Mr. Thornton have been extremely pleased with how well students have taken to this task and the musical growth and maturity they are developing through these choice filled learning experiences.

Year 9 Music

Year 9 have made a great start to their elective music studies, with two classes of students selecting Music as an elective. In Term 1 students studied the topic of Popular Music with a focus being on the music of the Beatles, because … well … one should start there! All students found a personal connection to this varied, deep and positive music repertoire through their performance assessment where students selected a piece by the Beatles to perform. Students were also encouraged to think outside the box and consider finding arrangements of Beatles songs to perform, which saw some students explore Jazz, Rock, or Folk arrangements from the Beatles repertoire.

In Term 2 Mrs. Burgess and Mr. Thornton wound back the clock through the study of music from the Baroque and Classical era with the two classes. It was so pleasing to see many students recognise pieces from these eras, whilst they may not have known melodies by name, they could definitely recount hearing some of these famous works before. Students are learning compositional skills through this unit of work via a series of exercises based of the works they are studying allowing all to break down the fear barrier that can typically come with a composition assessment.

Year 10 Music

Year 10 commenced their second year of elective music studies by partaking in the “Look At Moi” cross CAPA KLA unit. Answering the question “How do we reflect character?” students composed a piece of music to accompany an Australian character or actor of their choice. Students were able to engage with modern music making experiences via the use of technology and loop-based applications to sync their composition to their selected scenes. The level of focus, diligence and creativity across the class was extremely pleasing to see, with students producing outstanding individual works by the end of the unit.

Jazz Music has been the focus of Term 2. After partaking in multiple and collective performance-based learning experiences that incorporated the foundations of learning how to improvise, students are now preparing for their final performance-based task to conclude the unit.

Year 11 Music

It has been an exciting time commencing our first Stage 6 Music classes here at St. Bede’s. We have two elective Music 1 classes filled with keen and eager students. In Term 1 the students studied Methods of Notating Music to help prepare their analytical skills for their eventual HSC Listening examination. Within this unit of work students composed a short piece of music to represent their understanding of the use of the Concepts of Music in conveying musical intentions through notation.

In Term 2 students have continued developing their Listening Skills via focused analysis of selected pieces of repertoire representing the topic of Music for Small Ensembles. This unit will culminate in students presenting a 6-minute Viva Voce assessment, which is a discussion on a selected area of interest and how the Music Concepts function within it. The standard of engagement from our foundation Year 11 students has been quite high and positive, with Mrs. Burgess and Mr. Thornton employing many strategies to deepen, strengthen and extend the cohorts musical capacity.

Adam Miller Masterclass

Early in Term 2 Year 11 Elective music students, along with our guitar students from Year 10 attended a Guitar and Performance Masterclass with local Guitarist Adam Miller. Adam has worked within the local music industry for over 20 years and was able to impart professional knowledge, experience, skills and mindsets to our older students. Besides treating the students to some live performances of some of his works Adam discussed what it is like to tour with Tommy Emmanuel, how to market yourself as an independent artist, how to “perform” a song, and how to combat nerves that come with performances, something he openly admitted he still gets. Adam then asked some of our students to perform and was very grateful to both Marcus Legaspi and Thomas Thorpe for their courage in performing on the day. Our students were a buzz with motivation and inspiration at the conclusion of workshop. We thank Adam very much for giving up his time to connect with our community and students.

Sport – Belinda Watts

Bill Turner Cup Girls

The Bill Turner Trophy side had their 2nd round match against Maitland High School. While the first half might not have gone our way, the girls rallied at half time and come out with all gun blazing. Our girls started playing with a lot of confidence, they were winning tackles and working well as a group. Mackenna Sutton followed through on a great pass from Grace Cornwall to score our first goal. Not long after, Lily Sutton stepped up to take a penalty kick. She did not mention prior that she had never scored a goal, but keeping a cool head, she put in the top left corner. Lily was also named as player of the match. If the match had have gone on for another 10 minutes, I believe that we may have won the game. The final score was 4-2 to Maitland High. All the ladies were a credit to themselves and the college.

Gymnastics

Aimee Harper (Year 9) competed at the Australian championships on the Gold Coast on Saturday, May 21. The Level 9 NSW team came 2nd overall and Aimee will bring home a silver medal.

In the individual events Aimee placed 6th on bar, 13th on floor, 16th on the Vault and 17th on the beam.

This was Aimee’s first time competing at Nationals and she placed 6th in Australia overall for her division and will bring home a silver medal.

Aimee is now motivated to learn new skills to upgrade her routines and is looking forward to next year. Aimee has worked her way up throughout the years and there is only one more level for Aimee to conquer; 10, then international levels come after that. We wish her all the best!

NNSW School’s Futsal Championships

On the 24 and 25 May, six teams from St Bede’s Catholic College competed in the NNSW Futsal Schools regional championships held at Maitland Basketball stadium. Five of the six teams make the semi-finals, with three finishing top of their pools. Two teams were successful in the grand final and progress to the State Championships.

Our 16’s girls’ team (Ava P, Mya G, Grace C, Janali H, Ameila N, Lilly S and Taylah L) were undefeated the entire competition, thanks mostly to latecomer Janali H playing her first ever futsal games as our keeper.

Our 14s ‘B’ (Year 8) boys’ team was also undefeated and faced off the Year 7 team in the semi0final to eventually go on and win the grand final. The team was made up of Ashton C, Tom C, Caleb B, Lenny H, Liam C, Bailey H, and Harry L.

All players represented St Bede’s with sportsmanship and courage, apt given it was St Bede’s feast day. There were so many individual moments of brilliance over the two days that it cannot be captured here but will surely be retold by the players themselves. I would, however, like to highlight Ashton C and Tom C, both from the u14s team They played every match in both their own team and filling as keepers in the u16s team. Tired and weary, they covered each other in the grand final when both sustained injuries.

A big thank you to Mr Greg Thomson for coaching the Year 7 team, and for Mr P. Murphy for stepping up at the last minute to assist on the day. Also thank you to all the parents and supporters who came to watch and cheer on the boys.

We wish our U14’s (Year 8) Boys and U16’s Girls the best of luck at the State Championships in Maitland in late June.

SERVICE & GOVERNANCE DOMAIN

School Fees – Kirsty Taylor

2022 school fees have been invoiced for the full school year.

If paying fees by instalment, your payments should have commenced and are to be paid in full by 30 November 2022.

If paying fees in full in one payment, please finalise prior to 30 June 2022.

Our preferred method of payment is either BPay or direct debit.

A new direct debit can be established or an amendment to an existing direct debit is an option, please complete the form on the Catholic Development Fund website.

For those families experiencing financial hardship, or wishing to discuss other payment arrangements, please contact the school office to arrange an appointment with Kirsty Taylor and Mr Murphy.

The school fee management process has commenced if there hasn’t been any contact with the school office or no initial payment received.

Please contact Kirsty Taylor at finance@chisholmsb.catholic.edu.au if you are requiring assistance in setting up a payment arrangement.

Joint Account Access Form is available, please refer to the Compass notification in March 2022, complete form and return to cso.sassupport@mn.catholic.edu.au

An event for the Diocesan Pastoral Contribution has been created, this is a voluntary fee that assists the Diocesan Pastoral Support Programs, you can elect to pay or decline via the Compass Parent Portal.

An event for the Diocesan Pastoral Contribution has been created, this is a voluntary fee that assists the Diocesan Pastoral Support Programs, you can elect to pay or decline via the Compass Parent Portal.

Other News

Canteen Helpers Needed

Uniform Queries

All uniform queries are to be directed to Williamson International.
Williamson International Contact Details:
Phone: 1800 815 571
Email: greg@williamson.com.au
Online Uniform Orders: https://shop-williamson.com.au/