On Wednesday evening, our Confirmation candidates gathered at the Cathedral to be Confirmed in the Spirit. There was an undercurrent of energy within the dimly lit Cathedral, an atmosphere similar to that in the Upper Room. Fr Trenton connected to this during his homily as this was a significant space for Jesus and his disciples.

Take fresh courage. Lean more on God and less on ourselves.

Mary MacKillop 21.5.1877

These wise words from Saint Mary MacKillop are pertinent to the newly Confirmed. This is also a message for all of us, regardless of where we are on our faith journey.  We open ourselves to goodness, beauty, and truth when we lean more on God and less on ourselves. Courage means to have faith that God is with us through the good times and the challenges.

Each candidate has chosen a Saint as a spiritual guide and role model according to their connection with the Saint and the qualities they demonstrated. Some of the names that were chosen include Bede, Nicholas, Mary Mother and Mary Magdalene, John the Baptist, Rosalia, Christopher, Anthony, Rose, Joan of Arc, Therese, John Paul, Bernadette, Francis, Valentine, Faith, Giles, Ignatius, Massimo, Marcellin Champagnat, Dymphna, Emma, Victoria, and Joseph.

The candidates were well prepared to receive the Gifts of the Spirit and are now called to be active members of the Church. The moment of Confirmation was one they will remember for a lifetime. Sponsors and parents were very proud of the students, and there was a tremendous sense of love and support in our community.

We were also reminded that Confirmation is for everyone as Mr Toby McNaughton made his Confirmation with the class and journeyed with them in a very special way. We congratulate all the candidates and pray that this moment ignites in them a hunger and thirst to put their Gifts into use in their lives. 

I thank Mrs Breen Fox, Mr Toby McNaughton, and Fr Trenton for their work preparing and supporting the students. I would also like to acknowledge our talented staff members, Adrienne Cullity and Patrea Johnston, for providing us with music on Wednesday evening.

Blessings

Nikki Dwyer

Religious Education Coordinator

Our Kindergarten classes and Year 5 led a fabulous mass celebration. Thank you to Katie Horsburgh, Jessica Mead, and Toby McNaughton for preparing the students and Fr Trenton for his wise words about St Bede. He certainly was a man of many talents, and one was translating the Bible into many languages. The highlight for me was the opening song that the children sang so wonderfully.

Our Super Year Sixes managed to pull off a fantastic fete of activities for all involved. The students had an afternoon of fun activities and treat stalls, lots of smiles and happy kids.

Nikki Dwyer

Religious Education Coordinator

At St Bede’s, we monitor our students’ development of literacy skills using DIBELS, Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills. Each of the measures are designed to be short and can be used regularly from Kindergarten to Year 6.  

DIBELS is used to inform decisions teachers make regarding instruction, intervention, and extension for reading. Students complete a one-on-one assessment, 3 times a year and we can continue to ‘progress monitor’ throughout the year.

There are 5 assessment measures included in DIBELS. They are:

• LNF: Letter Name Fluency. This measures students’ ability to identify and recognise that letters have names. It is one of the basic steps in learning the alphabetic principle
• PSF: Phoneme Segmentation Fluency. This measure is done orally and measures the student’s ability to identify and manipulate phonemes
• NWF: Nonsense Word Fluency. This measure provides information about a student’s skills in phonics – the ability to apply their sound-symbol knowledge in sounding out a word
• WRF: Word Reading Fluency. This measures a student’s ability to read high frequency words accurately and quickly
• ORF: Oral Reading Fluency. This measure provides information about a student’s ability to read a text accurately and quickly and comprehend the text
• Maze is an assessment that measures reading comprehension and understanding and ability to make vocabulary choices related to a text.

If you would like to find out how to develop these skills at and support your child’s reading at home,  please join us for our first parent workshop – How can DIBELS support reading skills at home?

When: Thursday 15 June (Week 8)

Where: St Bede’s Library

Who: This workshop will focus on K-2, but all are welcome!

What time: 4pm – 5pm

Please RSVP by Thursday 8 June by completing the Google form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1Wyo8yj2o-ZsGXgJWNdGk4PMpzN2qQVddjyLk3M6s5p0/edit

Looking forward to working with you at our workshop!

Haley Stonham

Curriculum Coordinator

KidsLitQuiz is an annual international competition where students aged between 10 -13 years engage in a quiz that focuses on a range of general knowledge and literature-based questions. This year the Canberra heat took place at Merici College on Wednesday 24^th May, and St Bede’s were fortunate to enter a team consisting of Sonny, Paddy, Agnes and Hugo K. The students did exceptionally well and had a great time while they were there. Thank you to these students for representing St Bede’s so well and thank you to Mr Jessee Wright for transporting the students.

Parent teacher Conferences are scheduled for Week 9 from Monday 19 June to Thursday 22 June. There are a range of times available to assist your scheduling of appointments. The Compass Parent Portal will open on Monday 29 May.

Please use the Compass App to book your appointment time by navigating to the Conference tab. This tab may be located in the more section depending on your device. Please reach out if you need assistance.

Parents who have met with teachers or have meetings scheduled to discuss learning plans are not required to book another appointment. 

I thank our teachers for their commitment of time and flexibility in accommodating these important learning conversations.

In partnership with Catholic Education, Archdiocese of Canberra & Goulburn (CECG), St Bede’s Primary is migrating to a new finance system, that will integrate with the Compass Parent Portal and Compass App. It is anticipated that St Bede’s Primary will begin to use this system in June, 2023.

The move to the new system will increase the integration of the school finances into Compass, with parents/caregivers also having visibility of financial transactions within Compass.

There will be changes to the design of fee statements, which will include a newly assigned BPAY Biller Code and Customer Reference Number (CRN), that will be issued to you once the system has migrated in June 2023 on your Term 2 fee statements.

The payment of school fees directly into a school bank account will no longer be possible in the new system, and the school bank account is being centralised across CECG. If you make regular payment of school fees via Direct Debit, please note that these have been cancelled and you will need to ensure that you move to an alternative payment option.

From June 2023, BPAY will be the preferred payment method for the payment of student tuition fees and levies. Most banks allow for regular recurring payment to be made via BPAY. For more information on how to enable ongoing payments using BPAY, please speak to your bank.

Payments can also be made online utilising CompassPay or directly at the school office utilising cash or EFTPOS. The following payment methods will no longer be accepted for the payment of school fees:

· Direct debit

· Direct bank deposit

· Qkr! (can still be used for boutique, the snack shack and other school payments e.g. fundraising and donations)

To assist with a smooth transition to the new system, can you please ensure that the school is aware of any updated contact details for your family.

We appreciate your support during this transition. If you have any questions, please contact our school.

Please be advised that the following 2 days will be Pupil Free Days.

Monday 17 July (Term 3- first day)

Friday 15 December (Term 4- final day)

Look no further than the Australian Girls Choir (AGC) because we encourage, challenge and inspire girls as they learn to sing, dance and perform. School aged girls are invited to come along to our June Open Day to try our fun and inclusive classes and learn more about being part of the AGC! Please visit our website to register to attend our free Open Day: https://ausgirlschoir.com.au/joinagc