St Bede's Catholic College Newsletter 8 - 2nd June 2023
PRINCIPAL’S MESSAGE – JOHN MURPHY
PRAYER
Lord God, bring us together as one,
Reconciled with you and with each other.
You made us in your likeness.
You gave us your Son, Jesus Christ.
He has given us forgiveness from sin.
Lord God, bring us together as one,
Different in culture, but given new life in Jesus Christ:
Together as your body, your church, your people.
Lord God, bring us together as one,
Reconciled, healed, forgiven,
Sharing you with others as you have called us to do.
In Jesus Christ, let us be together as one.
Amen
St Bede… Pray for us
ST BEDE’S FEAST DAY
Last Thursday, 25th May, was St Bede’s Feast Day. With our college named after St Bede, this was an important day where we could celebrate through prayer, reflection, and fund-raising activities. Thank you to all those who contributed to the success of the day. Approximately $5,500 was raised for our targeted charity. Please refer to Mr. Slater’s article in this newsletter for details.
PARENT FORUM
The Term 2 Parent Forum was held last Tuesday, 22nd May. The main item of the meeting was the implementation of our new College Vision Statement for 2024. Thank you to our external consultant, Mark Spencer, for facilitating this session and for the active participation of our parents/carers. Work will continue in developing the new Vision Statement which will be released later in the year. Please refer to the summary minutes for a brief outline of key points discussed.
AUSTRALIAN CATHOLIC SCHOOL PRINCIPALS (ACSP) STATE CONFERENCE
I had the pleasure of recently attending the biannual ACSP State Conference in Wollongong. Due to COVID, the ACSP has not been held for the past four years, however, it was an outstanding success with quality professional development, networking, and discussion of current and emerging issues.
Some interesting facts of the strength of Catholic school education:
- There are over six hundred Catholic Schools in Australia.
- Student enrolments, the number of Catholic schools and the number of Catholic staff are increasing at a rapid rate.
- Student attendance and retention rates are well above state average.
- Catholic school leavers earn above average incomes compared to all school leavers.
- Students with disabilities in Catholic schools have significantly increased.
- Aboriginal enrolments in Catholic schools have doubled since 2000.
In not so good news, there has been no growth in teaching training graduates in the last decade. This is contributing to the teacher shortage in many subjects and areas. Another issue discussed was the impact of ChatGPT on schools. As with the introduction of calculators in the 1970’s and Google becoming part of our lives in the 1990’s, Chat GP will quickly become another tool to enhance and deepen learning. The challenge will be to embrace this learning tool whilst maintaining the assessment credibility of set learning tasks.
STAFF NEWS
Ms. Eleanor Martin (Year 9 Leader of Wellbeing & Engagement - LOWE) and Ms. Amber Pyne (Year 11 LOWE) will both be on parental leave from the start of next term until the end of the year. We wish them all the best during their leave.
Ms. Eleanor Martin
Ms. Amber Pyne
Replacing Ms. Martin as Year 9 LOWE will be Ms. Lauren Power, who is the current Year 9 Assistant LOWE. Replacing Ms. Pyne as Year 9 LOWE will be Ms. Rebecca Dawber, who is the current Year 10 Assistant LOWE. Both Ms. Power and Ms. Dawber know the students of these year groups well, and with their experience and expertise, there will be minimum disruption to the students’ daily routine.
Ms. Lauren Power
Ms. Rebecca Dawber
Amanda Galbraith
Family background:
I am married and have 23-year-old twin girls. I have lived in Maitland most of my life. My father was a local Pharmacist and my grandfather a local GP. They were both highly regarded and served the community their whole lives. My mother was a local artist and author, publishing several books with her friend on their love of roses, mum was the illustrator.
My hopes and dreams in coming to St Bede’s:
I hope to inspire and promote the creative arts within the school to foster the student’s awareness of their world through visual mediums. This in conjunction with the spiritual ethos of the school will hopefully allow me to give students the opportunity to investigate meaning and educational outcomes through imagination and creative skills.
Teaching Qualifications:
- Bachelor of Arts – Visual Arts
- Graduate Diploma in Education – Visual Arts
Teaching experience:
I have taught in many schools both in a casual, temporary, and full-time capacity.
Personal Interests/Passions:
I am a practicing artist and have recently entered several art awards. This year I have been a finalist in the Muswellbrook ArtPrize and Ravenswood Australian Women’s Art Prize.
Advice to Students:
To be tolerant, respectful, and compassionate people in all aspects of school life. Use the educational opportunities provided to you to make a difference both within the school community and the world at large. Be accepting of others and not judgemental so that the differences we have are admired and recognised. This will make a diverse place where kindness can flourish.
ANNUAL SCHOOL VISITS
The Annual School Visit is a Diocesan led initiative to assist schools in their development. The visits consist of key personal from the Maitland Newcastle Diocese visiting all schools in the Diocese. The purpose of the visits is to assist in building a shared understanding of each school’s context, to identify key school strengths, challenges and next steps based on data and evidence. The visits are designed to allow the Diocese to gain a clear understanding of each school’s improvement journey, to ensure alignment of all support services provided to schools, and to build relationships across all teams.
The St Bede’s Annual School Visit occurred on Monday and was a great success. We were affirmed on our significant achievements and provided support in developing strategies to address some of our unique challenges as a growing school. The team of 16 Diocesan staff were extremely impressed with our wonderful learning spaces, the friendliness and work ethic of the staff and students, and the positive learning and well-being culture. Moving forward, the Executive will work with the Diocese to develop a plan that addresses our challenges and embraces the opportunities we have as a new and growing secondary high school.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Date | Event |
|---|---|
Monday 12th June | King’s Birthday Long Weekend |
Thursday 29th June | Year 7 – 10 Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews 3:30pm – 8:30pm |
Friday 30th June | Pupil Free Day Year 7 – 10 Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews 9:00am – 3:00pm Term 2 Concludes |
Assistant Principal Report – Brett Donohoe and Emma South
Safety at school
It is a key focus for us at St Bede’s that all staff and students feel a sense of safety in our community. This safety allows us all a strong sense of belonging to our community and connection to each other. Over recent days we have spent time in discussions with students across year levels around several areas that help our students feel safe.
- The College's hands-off policy is in place to ensure that our guidelines are clear – and ensuring that no one is hurt when a simple interaction becomes reckless and dangerous through the actions of another.
- Out-of-bounds areas are defined so that we can ensure that all students are suitably supervised during break times and before and after school.
- Our after-school buses and the arrangements around bus lines have been coordinated so that we do not see large crowds of students on the roadside as our buses approach of the afternoon. With only one busload of students waiting in the bus shelter at a time, we can provide a greater sense of safety for all.
- Online interactions, while they mostly happen outside of school hours, impact the sense of community at the College. Below you will see further advice about managing these interactions in the digital world.
We thank our students for working together to ensure the safety of all in our community.
Social Media – What’s the impact?
Social media is a big part of adolescent’s lives. It allows teens to create online identities, connect with others and build social networks. These networks can provide teens with valuable support. However, social media use can also negatively affect teens, distracting them, disrupting their sleep, and exposing them to bullying, rumour spreading, unrealistic views of other people's lives and peer pressure.
Teens need to understand their responsibilities in being a good digital citizen. They must think before they post and be mindful of their interactions and all they post and say online. Equally, they must be responsive to illegal, offensive or unethical material that comes their way.
The government eSafetyCommisioner website provides an easy-to-read useful guide to supporting students and parents on young people’s responsibilities in their use of social media. The website also provides a range of tips for parents in speaking to their child about the associated dangers.
We strongly encourage our broader community to use these resources and this site to report ANY online experiences that impact you.
Catholic Formation and Mission – Andrew Slater
St Bede’s Feast Day
On the 25th of May, our college community came together to remember St Bede’s Feast Day. This was a wonderful celebration of our great school and all the opportunities we provide, whilst also being a chance to honour the life of St Bede. The reflection during the liturgy reminded us that, just like St Bede, our lives can also be transformed by encountering Christ. The students and staff enthusiastically embraced the stalls which were run in the afternoon. Our community managed to raise a large amount of money for the Holy Child Program in Bethlehem, which will allow them to continue their role as educators. This allows us to stand together with their students and teachers, even though they are on the other side of the world. We thank everyone who generously donated to this cause.
Year 9 and 10 Reflection Days
The Year 9 (14th June) and Year 10 (7th June) Reflection Days will be held in the next fortnight. Please ensure that you have provided permission for your child to attend, via Compass. Students are asked to bring their recess and water with them. Lunch will be provided.
St Bede’s Youth Group
LEARNING DOMAIN
Year 9 Leader of Wellbeing & Engagement – Eleanor Martin
It is with both sadness and excitement that I write my last newsletter article for 2023! I will be leaving my 180 ‘kids’ to have the first of my own - a new adventure I am extremely excited about. It has been a beautiful journey having the Year 9 students celebrate this joy and anticipation with me, many of them continually checking in, giving name suggestions and guessing the due date.
It is with confidence that I hand the baton to our more than capable Assistant LOWE, Ms. Lauren Power, who will step in as LOWE for the remainder of the year. We have worked closely to create a culture with our students in which we celebrate their success, maintain high expectations, and build on the pillars of our community as we guide the students to live in community, speak up with courage, strive for knowledge and to step out in faith.
This term we embedded the pillars into our “Homeroom Bingo” competition.
Last year, the title was awarded to 8.1 and Ms. Shaw, and we celebrated with a “pizza and popsicle” party. The reigning champs have started the term fiercely competitive, however, there are a few contenders (Ms. Graetz’s 9.2 and Ms. Haines’ 9.3) smashing through our tasks.
I look forward to enjoying these last few weeks with Year 9 and will regularly check-in with Ms. Power for updates on the wellbeing of the wonderful Year 9 cohort.
If you would like to discuss anything prior to my leave, please do not hesitate to contact me on eleanor.martin@mn.catholic.edu.au or by phone 4088 8222.
Aboriginal Education – Karen Chapman
Last Saturday, 13th May, Our Lady of Lourdes Primary School, Tarro, held their annual Sustainability and Culture Day. Several of our Aboriginal students gave up their time to attend, to assist in running our St Bede’s stall.
The theme of this event was to showcase goods and ideas that have been made by recycling/upcycling materials or ways of using sustainable practises in our everyday living habits. The students thoughtfully created fantastic items to sell at our stall, including paintings and terrariums and spent the day mixing with community to promote these homemade items. We also sold seedlings and lemon myrtle cookies, a big hit!
The students were great ambassadors for our school and successful stall holders. This day provided a valuable experience in both job and life skills. Our stall was well received on the day, with Ms. Loretta Baker, Maitland’s first female mayor, paying a visit and commenting positively on our stall.
Welcoming Refugees Project
As our community is aware, the college has been participating in the Students Rebuild Welcoming Refugees Project for the past two terms. Every Thursday, students have been channeling their creativity to welcome people displaced by war and other crises by creating postcards that will be sent to young refugees around the world.
Students had some insightful conversations with staff about the current refugee climate, where their post cards are going and how their time and creativity can help raise funds for those less fortunate than themselves. The generosity of our students demonstrated their understanding of how important it is to promote social justice and help protect the dignity of God’s creation.
For the 2023 Welcoming Refugees Project, Students Rebuild are collaborating with a range of organisations who make real change regarding the critical needs of others on a local and global level. As a college, our postcards have raised $1250, in partnership with Students Rebuild. We are proud of the compassion, love and understanding shown by the students involved in this initiative. The Wellbeing and Social Justice Committees have worked, with Visual Arts, to submit these via post.
The Wellbeing and Social Justice Committees participated in the Welcoming Refugees Project to raise awareness of the issues affecting refugees and to help the current refugee climate. With Refugee Week on the horizon, students will continue to raise awareness of the issues affecting refugees and promote the theme: ‘Finding Freedom’ (2023-2025) - To live without the fear of war, to have your basic human rights upheld and to live in equality and without the fear of persecution.
Ms. O’Connor, on behalf of the Wellbeing & Social Justice Committee members, and Visual Arts.
2023 de Vinci Decathlon – Georgie Cairns
Year 7 student Ivy O’Callaghan participated in the 2023 da Vinci Decathlon competition representing the Maitland-Newcastle Catholic Schools Office on the 9th of May, held at Bishop Tyrrell Anglican College, Fletcher.
The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: Mathematics, English, Code Breaking, Engineering Challenge, Ideation, Creative Producers, Art and Poetry, Cartography and Legacy.
This year's competition was a great success, with many outstanding performances from the students. The competition was tough, and all the participants demonstrated their excellent academic skills, creativity, and problem-solving abilities.
The Year 7 CSO team won first place in Arts and Poetry by developing an original poem and connected artwork based on this year’s theme - CHAOS. Congratulation to Ivy on her involvement in this competition and outstanding achievement.
SERVICE & GOVERNANCE DOMAIN
School Fees – Kylie Murray
If you indicated that you are paying your school fees in full, this payment is required prior to the end of June 2023. If you are making regular payments towards your annual fees, these payments should have commenced by the 31st March with all fees to be completed by the end of November.
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. The Finance team are reaching out to these families individually, if you need assistance in calculating a payment plan, please contact Finance.
For any queries please don’t hesitate to contact the Finance team on finance@chisholmsb.catholic.edu.au
Other News
Aspire 2023
Canteen Helpers Needed
Coach 2 Cope: Families and carers
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: