St Bede's Catholic College Newsletter 6 - 5th May 2023

PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE – JOHN MURPHY

PRAYER  

Loving God, 
We praise you during this Easter season.  
Change our lives and change our hearts,  
to be messengers of Easter joy and hope.  
We make our prayer through Jesus Christ,  
our risen Lord forever.  
Amen 

St Bede… Pray for us

START TO TERM 2

Congratulations to everyone on the way Term 2 has commenced. Staff returned last Monday and positively engaged in the staff development day. The focus of the day was the redevelopment of our College Vision Statement for implementation from the start of next year. Some of our Student Leaders also attended the day and their contributions ensured that it was a success. Work on this new Vision Statement is continuing, with the opportunity for parent input at the upcoming Term 2 Parent Forum Meeting.

Students returned last Wednesday in good spirits and quickly settled back into school life. Students are to be commended on their positive start to the term.

BUILDING UPDATE

With the third of our four buildings now in full operation, the building works have now shifted to the fourth and final building, the Marian Building, and the Chisholm Chapel. The Flexible Learning Village, which included our original demountables from 2018 and some additional demountables from 2019, have now been removed. The demountables installed at the back of the Benedict Building in 2021, will remain in use until the completion of the Marian Building.

During the Easter holidays, road works on Heritage Drive occurred with the construction of a concrete island preventing cars from turning into and out of the new carpark entrance/exit. This will overcome the issues of cars turning right into and out of the carpark, with only a left-hand entrance/exit possible.

Island adjacent to the carpark entrance – no right-hand turn into and out of the carpark.

To ease parking issues in the surrounding streets, arrangements are now being made for our Year 12 students to park in an allocated section of the carpark.

Early earthworks are progressing at a rapid pace in preparation for the construction of the Marian Building and the Chisholm Chapel. The Marian Building and the final stage of the Peregrine Trial are expected to be completed late next year. Additional landscaping has also occurred at the front of the school, including the area around the new bus shelter.

Construction of the Chisholm Chapel will commence later in the year and will become the spiritual hub for both our school and our primary feeder school, St Aloysius. On Tuesday 18 May, a special Sod Turning Ceremony occurred to mark the start of works of the Chisholm Chapel. The event was attended by Bishop Michael Kennedy, Chief Executive Officer Sean Scanlon, representatives from SHAC Architects, Richard Crookes Construction, and Members of the Diocese. The turning of the soil by Bishop Michael and Sean Scanlon marked a significant moment in the history of the Diocese. When completed, the Chisholm Chapel will be a circular building with the Stations of the Cross displayed on its undercover exterior. Landscaped gardens, a reflection pool and the statues of St Bede, St Aloysius, and Mary will enhance the reverence and visual splendour of this joyous addition to our school community.

Please click on the links below for two media articles on this event.

STAFF NEWS

Congratulations to Ms. Maddison Collison on the birth of her second child, Troy. Ms. Collison will be on parental leave until the end of the year. Mr. Nicholas Marsh will assume shared leadership responsibilities, with Ms. Sarah Millen in their job-share position, as Personal Development Health & Physical Education (PDHPE) Leader of Learning for the remainder of the year. Ms. Millen will fulfil this role on Mondays to Wednesdays, with Mr. Marsh on Thursdays and Fridays. Mr. Marsh will maintain his current Year 12 Leader of Wellbeing & Engagement position while fulfilling this additional leadership role.

Welcome Mr. Jason McRae as the temporary part-time PDHPE Teacher, working Thursdays and Fridays until the end of the year. Mr. McRae, who commenced last week, has a Bachelor of Human Movement/ Bachelor of Teaching (Secondary) and additional training in strength and conditional training. He has had extensive teaching and leadership experience.

Name: Jason McRae

Family background:  

Father, Mother, my brother, and I.

Scottish heritage - grew up in regional New South Wales before moving to the United Kingdom.

My hopes and dreams in coming to St Bede’s:  

To have a lasting positive impact on the culture, staff, and students of this vibrant community.

Teaching Qualifications:  

• Bachelor Human Movement
• Bachelor Education (secondary)

Teaching experience:  

• 15 years of teaching experience in London, United Kingdom.
• 13 Years of middle leadership experience, based around Pastoral Care, Student Wellbeing and Mental Health.

Personal Interests/Passions:  

• Keeping fit /Weight training
• Walking my dog
• Creating special memories with family and friends

Advice to Students:  

Never let success get to your head and never let failure get to your heart.

Welcome to Ms. Gladys Roser as a Learning Support Assistant (LSA). Ms. Roser, who commenced last week, is a highly regarded, experienced, and qualified LSA. She is enthusiastic about the importance of education and supporting students with additional needs.

Name: Gladys Roser

Family background:  

I am originally from Kurri Kurri, but I have spent most of my adult years in Newcastle.

My hopes and dreams in coming to St Bede’s:  

I am excited to be part of a growing community and impacting young minds.

Teaching Qualifications:  

Certificate 3 in education support.

Teaching experience:  

Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College.

Personal Interests/Passions:  

I love my NRL, weekend markets, and family trips.

Advice to Students:  

Knowledge is power.

In an exciting development, the Maitland Newcastle Catholic Schools Office and Catholic Care Social Services Hunter-Manning have formed a collaborative partnership, called Beyond the Gates. This program provides a School Case Worker to specific Diocesan schools to enhance the wellbeing of students and their families. It is with much pleasure I announce the appointment of Ms. Sophie King as a School Case Worker at St Bede’s. Ms. King has commenced her role and will remain with us full-time for the remainder of the year. She will join our wellbeing team and will support students and families who are experiencing exceptional difficulties. Ms. King has a Bachelor of Psychological Science and has extensive experience in youth case management and pastoral care roles.

Name: Sophie King

My hopes and dreams in coming to St Bede’s:  

With this new role, I am hoping to help bridge the gap between the school and the wider community regarding wellbeing supports being provided for the students and families of St Bede’s. Beyond the Gates has the capacity to provide case management not only onsite but outside within the family’s homes.

Qualifications:  

• Bachelor’s Degree in Psychological Science

Work experience:  

Over the last 3 years, I have been the Pastoral Care Worker at St Joseph’s East Maitland. When I was not in this role, I was working as Case Manager at ITEC Youth in the Windale Community. This is where I provided case management support to young people in that area and surrounding suburbs through the community-funded program ‘The Gathering.’ On Friday Nights, I developed and facilitated a Youth Drop-in Centre where young people from 6 – 18 years old could come to a safe place to have something to eat, be social and provided hours of respite to local families.

Personal Interests/Passions:  

On the weekends you will usually find me walking my spoodle Gracie, at the beach, binging the next best tv show and playing in my soccer team.

Advice to Students:  

It is always okay to ask for help and support in times of hardship. No problem is too small or too big to ask for a helping hand.

PARENT FORUM

I warmly invite parents/carers to attend our Term 2 Parent Forum on Tuesday 23rd May. The meeting will commence in the College Library at 6.00pm and will finish shortly after 7.00pm. To access the library, walk up the main path to the Benedict Building and turn left into the first room at the top of the stairs. Staff will also be located outside the Office to assist you if you need assistance locating the library.

The Parent Forums are an important way of parents/carers engaging with the College. The main item will be the development of our new College Vision Statement for implementation from the start of next year. Our external consultant, Mark Spencer who is assisting us in this process, will be the presenter and facilitator of this session.

No registration is required to attend, so simply turn up if you would like to join us.

SAFEGUARDING

For some free, reliable, up-to-date, and independent information to help families grow and thrive together please refer to the Raising Children website.

This site is funded by the Australian Government and is designed for busy families.  There are some excellent user-friendly tips and interactive resources tailored to different ages and stages.  Access to this site can be found as a related link in the Child Protection section, located under the ‘Student Life’ tab on the College Website.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Assistant Principal Report – Brett Donohoe and Emma South

Stage 6 Course Information Evening 

On Tuesday evening we opened our Learning Spaces so that our Year 10 students and others who are interested in joining us for Year 11 2024 were able to learn more about the range of courses on offer. It was a wonderful evening with current Year 11 and 12 students working alongside our expert teachers and Leaders of Learning to share their experience of Stage 6 at St Bede’s Catholic College.  

Year 10 students and their families were able to sample food from our Hospitality class, tour through our state-of-the-art facilities and hear from a range of speakers about the many options available so that we can design the perfect individualised course for every student. 

We thank our families for their commitment to this process and look forward to seeing our Year 10 students through a rewarding and enjoyable Stage 6. 

Artificial Intelligence in Education 

The number of artificial intelligence (AI) tools has grown significantly over the past few years. Some of the most popular tools can create seemingly original content, like images or text.  AI comes in many shapes and forms and is very real and powerful. Generative writing tools such as ChatGPT and Bard create whole essays based on a simple prompt. This is a very new frontier for schools and as technology evolves and becomes more sophisticated, it's understandable that we're uneasy about actual and anticipated challenges.

Here are some current concerns: 

Plagiarism: One of the biggest worries for educators is plagiarism. In schools across the country, students are already handing in AI-generated essays and presenting them as their own.  

Ethics: As AI tools gather content from a wide variety of sources, the material produced is a mixture of many other people's work, yet there is no reference or credit to the original sources. 

Biases and misinformation: AI can only learn from its source(s), so it takes on any biases, misinformation, and problematic content of the original material. Implicit bias will almost always be woven into the framework of the AI tool. 

St Bede’s is consulting the Diocese and NESA as we all carefully consider the place of AI in education. Over time, AI is only going to get more powerful and further woven into everyday life, probably in more ways than we can currently expect, both positive and negative. 

St Bede’s will always maintain a strong stance on academic malpractice. The clear message to all students is that the work they produce in Assessment Tasks must be their own. When tools such as Turnitin detect the use of AI in student work, the school will take this seriously. 

Catholic Formation and Mission – Andrew Slater

Easter Season Liturgy  

Last week, the College celebrated the Easter season with a liturgy. Easter is a season of the Church which goes for 50 days, culminating at Pentecost. Easter is more than just Easter Sunday, as we continue to celebrate the time that Jesus spent on Earth after his resurrection. The Gospel reading at the liturgy was Jesus appearing to Thomas after his resurrection (John 20:19-29). Thomas doubted that the man he saw was Jesus, until he saw the wounds that were left on his body. It is normal for people to want evidence that something is real. People continue to seek evidence that Jesus rose from the dead. Unlike Thomas, we aren’t lucky enough to experience the resurrected Jesus. We can’t see the physical evidence of Jesus’ resurrection, but rather rely on the testimony recorded in the Gospels to uphold our faith that Jesus was crucified, died and then resurrected. Faith is the fundamental aspect of being a disciple of Jesus. And while our faith can sometimes be shaken by doubt, it ultimately keeps us searching for our own encounter with Jesus ‘Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have come to believe’ (John 20:29). 

Year 12 Reflection Day 

Year 12 participated in their Reflection Day on Monday 1^st May at Kilaben Bay. The day revolved around the College pillars of courage, knowledge, community and faith, with the theme ‘The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed’ (Matthew 13:31). Students used teamwork to build bridges, reflected on courageous people, and participated in the Stations of the Cross.   

Year 8 Reflection Day 

Year 8 will be participating in their annual Reflection Day on Monday 8^th May (Week 3). This will be held at the Therry Centre, East Maitland, with students departing St Bede’s at 9am and returning by 3pm.  

LEARNING DOMAIN

Year 7 Leader of Wellbeing & Engagement – Michael Eccleston       

Year 7 Camp 

I am excited to share with you all about the Year 7 camp that took place at the end of last term. The camp was a huge success, filled with adventure, learning and fun experiences.

The camp was held at the beautiful location of Point Wolstoncroft which provided the perfect setting for students to bond with each other and learn new skills. The camp included various outdoor activities such as rock climbing, canoeing and mountain biking. These activities were designed to challenge the students physically and mentally, but also allowed them to build resilience and teamwork skills.

Overall, the Year 7 camp was an amazing experience for everyone involved. It allowed students to step out of their comfort zones, build new friendships, and create memories that will last a lifetime. We are grateful to the staff who made the camp possible and look forward and look forward to future activities that foster personal growth and development.

Wellbeing Committee – Abby O’Connor 

Welcoming Refugees Project 

Earlier this year, students in the Wellbeing and Social Justice Committees began promoting the Students Rebuild Project for 2023. St Bede’s registered as a team in the ‘Welcoming Refugees Challenge’. This is a challenge one of learning, empathy and art! 

Students have been channelling their creativity to welcome people displaced by war and other crises by creating postcards that will be sent to young refugees around the world. The Bezos Family Foundation is donating $5 to refugee-aid organisations for every postcard created. 

During the school holidays, the Wellbeing and Social Justice Committees worked with Art staff to submit 80 postcards that were created at St Bede’s. Our submission was on a ‘double the dollar’ day, meaning we managed to raise a whopping $800!  

Art students and staff, alongside our committee members, originally set a goal to make 100 postcards and raise $500. Although we have achieved our dollar goal, we are yet to reach our postcard goal! Each Thursday, the Visual Arts Rooms are open during Break 1. Bring your friends, and your lunch, to get creative and help raise money to support refugees. We must remember to stand in solidarity, as members of one big human family.  

Refugee Week will be held from Sunday 18 June to Saturday 24 June 2023. We have 48 days left in the challenge! St Bede’s aim is to have their second lot of postcards sent to Student Rebuild at the start of June.  

Let’s get creative! Let’s support social justice! 

PS: For the whole month of May, ‘double the dollar’ submissions will also be promoted. How amazing would it be to make a postcard each week, knowing you just helped to donate $10 to someone? Our students have the power to make a difference! 

Sport – Belinda Watts

St Bede’s Catholic College Cross Country

On Thursday the 30^th of March 60 students from St Bede’s participated in the school cross-country carnival at Whitewater Park. Congratulations to all the students that nominated to participate in this event and make this a very successful morning.  Thank you to our Year 11 SLR class for your assistance on checkpoints, recording, timekeeping and setting up etc. 

Congratulations to the winning house for the Cross Country Carnival:

BENEDICT

A special congratulations to the following runners that placed first and runner-up in their age group:  

Age Champions - Male

 Age Champions – Female

The top 8 runners for each age group will represent St Bede’s at the Diocesan Cross Country Carnival to be held on the 4^th May at Lake Glenbawn Dam. We wish the competitors all the best.   

Senior Mixed Touch Gala Day Report  

On Tuesday 4 March, 14 students represented SBCC in the Yr 11/12 hunter mixed touch football competition at Newcastle. With limited preparation leading into the gala day our team brought plenty of enthusiasm and a wide range of experience. 

Our first game was against Francis Greenway High School of Woodberry, and it was a great start with some great agility and speed from Java Jefferies who scored our first try with St Bede’s hitting the lead. After an equaliser, Lucius Cable scored to put us up 2-1 for most of the game and some great offensive organisation by Leila Kelly. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be, with the opposition scoring after the hooter to level the scores for a draw in our first game 2-2. 

Our Second game saw us go down against heavyweight favourites Hunter Sports High in a game where St Bede’s showed great resilience and tenacity. 

The third game was against Tomaree High School, who would go on to finish second in the pool having many representative players. It was Marcus Legaspi and Leila Kelly who stood up defensively to hold out a very polished opposition on several occasions. 

The final round match saw St Bede’s come up against St Joesph’s Lochinvar and it was a very competitive game with the lead changing multiple times throughout. Java Jeffries scored our first try. Ben O’Loughlin finished off a good attacking play out wide showing a clean set of heels to race away to score in the corner to level the scores at 2-2. It was then Ashley Price who scored our third and final try with a great effort to slice through the Lochinvar defensive line tying the scores at 3-3. A big defensive effort saw us hold on late to a draw. 

Congratulations to all our senior players who represented the College with great pride and showed great sportsmanship on the day. The amount of improvement as the day progressed was exceptional and we look forward to our Junior teams competing next term. 

Bill Turner Cup (GIRLS)

On the 5 April, our girl's soccer team played Rutherford High School at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility in the first round of the Bill Turner Cup (Knockout competition). Congratulations to all the girls who walked away with a WIN, 4-1. Abbey Redgrove scored 1 goal, and Lily Sutton scored 3. The girls played well as a team and gave 100% throughout the entire game. SBCC will now progress to Round 2 in the competition and will play against another school (TBA) early next term.

Cochrane Cup (14 Boys Rugby League)

Our Under 14’s Rugby League team competed in the Cochrane Cup on Wednesday the 5 April. A big congratulations for their valiant effort. There are sure to be a few sore bodies as their determination and efforts throughout the day were commendable. Unfortunately, the boys failed to make it out of the pool stage, but they gave it their best shot and showed outstanding sportsmanship.

Student Achievements

• Congratulations to Cobi Young who placed 5^th at CCCNSSW Swimming in Sydney in the Senior Boys 100m breaststroke.
• As a result of his outstanding achievements, at CCCNSW Cross Country Championships in 2022, Coen Morgan (Yr10) has been invited to join the Cross-Country Athletic Tour America in 2023. He will travel to America in September, and we wish him all the best.
• Chelsea Bartolo (Yr10) was selected for the CCC Rugby League team and will now be involved in the NSWCCC 16s Girls Rugby League Selections at St Mary's Stadium, Forrester in August. Good Luck!
• Harry Lidbury (Yr9) was selected for the CCC Touch Football team to compete at the State Carnival in June. Again, all the best!

Upcoming Sporting Events: Term 2

SERVICE & GOVERNANCE DOMAIN

2023 Annual School Fee statements were emailed out yesterday. If you have a $0 balance, you will not receive a statement. 

If you indicated that you are paying your school fees in full, this payment is expected prior to the end of June 2023. If you are making regular payments towards your annual fees, these payments should have commenced by the 31^st of March with all fees to be completed by the end of November. If you need assistance in calculating a payment plan, please contact Finance. 

For those families that have not commenced a payment plan or reached out for an appointment, you are currently outside of a payment term, and you are reminded that this is a requirement of enrolment. 

If you have not nominated your payment frequency, please do so through the Compass Event – Payment Frequency (this was due by 31/3/2023 and is now overdue). 

For any queries please don’t hesitate to contact the Finance team. 

finance@chisholmsb.catholic.edu.au 

Other News

Aspire 2023

Canteen Helpers Needed

Chapel Jazz – School Bands Spectacular

Immunisations – NSW Health

School Student Travel May 2023

Volunteer Registration Link

Williamson International – 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: