The end of each year is always very busy and students become exhausted. Although your child is not currently experiencing all of the end of year evenets of St bede's, I am sure that there are a number of events at day care and preschols etc.

1) Kindergarten Nativity- students take part and reenact the Nativity play for our school. Every student is allocated a role and this is presented to our whole community in the hall or at a carols event.

2) Step Up afternoon- If there is the need for 2 classes, students are separated into classes prior to the end of Term 4. Teacher spend time constructing class lists and parents are notified via a letter. Each student will meet their classmates and teacher for the following year for about 1 hour. 

3) End of Year Mass/Awards Day- In the final days of the year we hold our End of Year Mass at St Christopher's Cathedral. This is the one time that we utilise the cathedral for mass. Parents and friends are invited to attend the mass. At the conclusion of the mass we announce the recipients of our annual awards. This is celebrated as a school comnunity. Parents are advised if their child is receiving an award.

4) Graduation Mass and Dinner- Year 6 students and their families take part in the Graduation Mass and a special dinner to celebrate the end of primary school. This event is organised by a committee of Year 6 parents each year.

5) Moving Day- each year there are a number of teachers who move classrooms for the following year. In the final days of the year, students clean their desks, pack classrooms and celebrate the end of the year with less structured activities. These could include watching movies, Christmas activities and more. 

Conversation points:

1) Reflect on the End of Year events and how that makes our child feel.

2) Advise that St Bede's will have end of year activities and what they may include.

3) Reflect on Christmas and preparing for holidays

The Uniform Boutique will be open on Thursday 14 December from 8:30am-9:30am for the last time in 2023.

Next year, the boutique will reopen in a brand new location! A permanent demountable structure has been installed behind the staff room and will be fitted out with brand new, customer-friendly layout. 

To access the new boutique, please head through the double frosted doors next to the staff room. These doors will have signage to help to guide you to the new location.

The boutique will be open before the commencement of school in 2024 at the following times:

Monday 29 January 9:30am-11:30am.

Tuesday 30 January 1:30pm-3pm.

Orders can also be made by Qkr! as a click and collect service. Orders for collection are to be placed by 10pm on Sunday 28th January and will be available for collection in the front office after 12pm on Monday 29th January.

Please do not come to the Boutique and ask for your order to be filled earlier than 12pm as we will not be able to fill it for you. You will be asked to wait until 12pm.

Please remember our Uniform Boutique is run by parent volunteers who donate their time to make sure the shop is stocked and uniform is available for purchase. Please be kind, patient and respectful of our team.

New Uniform Item

We received feedback that the current sports jackets are not warm enough and there was a need for a warmer option which can be layered in the cooler months. 

We ordered royal blue polar fleece zip up jumpers (same as the navy one) which can be worn with the sports uniform.

From 2024, students will no longer be able to wear the maroon or navy fleece with their sports uniform. The new royal blue fleece and the existing sports jacket are the only two jumper options that will be allowed on sports days.

Clear guidelines about the changes to the uniform policy will be available shortly.

St Bede's P&F

Why is reading so important?

With summer on the way, children (and parents) enjoy playing outside more and making the most of the longer day with exciting activities. It’s crucial to keep your child reading during summer, especially the holiday period. Children who don’t keep reading are at risk of losing important skills before school starts again. According to Scholastic, children who read just six books during the summer are less likely to have lost reading skills when they return to school.

This means that if your children can make a little bit of time for books and other texts each day, they’ll be much more prepared to start the next school year strong! It’s a simple and effective way to make sure your child will be ready to succeed in school.

What is the summer Reading Challenge?

St Bede’s is proud to be launching the inaugural Summer Reading Challenge to combat the ‘summer slide’ or summer slump’. It is very simple for children to participate and enter the draw to win 1 of 2 kindles or 1 of 20 book vouchers. Parents or older siblings are most welcome to assist by reading.

How to be involved?

Children will receive a checklist with 48 activities or suggestions on what to read and where to read. As your child completes a task, they check it off the list. Leave the list on the fridge or a safe place (we will have extra copies available). Once summer is over, children return their sheet to school and will be placed into a draw. Each task is worth 1 ticket.

We would love to see an enormous amount of engagement with reading. To assist in keeping momentum, we ask that parents share comments or photographs of some of the challenges being completed. Look out for our regular Facebook posts! Example: Challenge #1 Read outside, you could take a photo of your child reading outside or post a photo of the view without your child.

Key Dates:

Friday 1 December 2023: Challenge starts (first day of summer)

Thursday 29 February 2024: Challenge Ends (final day of summer)

Friday 1 March 2024- Friday 8 March: return checklists with name

Monday 11 March 2024: Prizes drawn and winners announced

The P&F are excited to announce that the St Bede's Tuckshop will reopen in 2024! Tess Green (Mum to Maddie & Chloe) will be taking over the manager position in the tuckshop operating from Friday 2nd February 2024 (Week 1).

The tuckshop will continue to operate on a Friday with a slightly reduced menu and the cut-off for orders will remain at 5pm Thursday.  Due to the large number of orders, this deadline remains non-negotiable. You will need to pack lunck for your child if you miss the deadline. 

All orders will remain non-transferable to future weeks and non-refundable after the 5pm Thursday deadline. If your child is sick on a Friday, you can notify the front office and your order will be given to the staff room or it can be allocated to another student by notifying the front office.

New Volunteer Roster for Tuckshop

In 2024, the tuckshop will work with a new structured roster for volunteers. We are hoping this new system will allow plenty of notice to families who would like to help in the tuckshop and be a parent/carer/grandparent superstar for the day!

All volunteers will be required to have current Working with Vulnerable People card.  These are issued by the ACT Government and are free for volunteers.

You can apply for a WWVP card here:

https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/business-and-work/working-with-vulnerable-people/apply-for-or-renew-a-wwvp-registration

Each class will be allocated one Friday per term where they will be responsible for providing two volunteers to assist in the tuckshop.

Below is a link to sign up genius for Term 1 2024 Tuckshop Volunteers. If you are interested, please enter your name and contact number into the document next to your child's class.  

We understand that some of the classes haven’t been announced yet. You will find out which class your child will be in very soon.

Tuckshop: St Bede's Tuckshop Term 1, 2024 (signupgenius.com)

We are very excited that our much loved tuckshop will continue to operate. Our new manager Tess has a background in nutrition. On behalf of the P&F, thank you to Tess for taking on this important role in our school community!

If you have any queries, please email parents.stbedes@gmail.com or speak to the front office.

Chat to your child about:

1) Discuss how often you intend lunch orders to feature for your family.

2) Discuss that not all children order lunch each week (some people may not have a lunch order, others will).

3) Eating food quickly at lunch time (preschools and day care allow longer for lunch).

Before and after school care is available each day at St Bede's and is supervised by an external provider rather than St Bede's. The school hall is utilised for before and after school care.  In the afternoons, the oval and equipment will often be used. The hall location makes drop off and pick up very convenient for parents. 

Casual and permanent bookings  are available and enrolment forms will be provided in due course. All information is currenlt being finalised for the 2024 school year. Care is available between the following hours:

Before: 7.30am - 9.00am

After: 3.10pm - 6.00pm

To discuss with your child:

1) use the label before and after school care (before and afters);

2) discuss early drop off or late pick up and inform them that school teachers will not be present;

3) discuss working with other students and collaboration;

4) talk about areas of interest with staff to see if these can be accommodated or included in activities (included in enrolment information)

Kindergarten is a very special year for every students and their families. St Bede's has a number of key events that our kindergarten children experience. These include the first day of kindergarten, school photos, 100 days of kindergarten, visiting performances, reading helpers, and the Christmas Nativity performance. There are many more opportunities as well.

One big highlight is the Christmas Nativity. Kindergarten children prepare and rehearse lines and scripts, learn songs, and also learn actions of movements to depict the Chistmas story. Parents and freinds are welcome to attend this very special day that is obviously held late Term 4, nearer to Christmas. Our Kindergarten teachers work hard to ensure that each student has their moment to shine.

Our wonderful students have settled in nicely to life at St Bede's. There are a number of school routines for parents to be aware of in relation to 2024.

Times 2023

8.30 - Supervision (playground)

9.00 - Morning session

11.00 - Recess

11.30 - Middle Session

1.30 - Lunch (eating 10 mins)

1.40 -Play (30 mins)

2.10 - Afternoon Session

3.10 - End of day

First Day

The first day will be identical to each week of Kindy-Set-Go. Parents will deliver students to the classroom. Students and parents are very used to this routine.

*Note: All other days - students will be delivered to the playground where they will place their bags in their class line and play prior to the morning bell.

Lunch/Recess

Students have been very competent with opening their lunch boxes and other lunch items. You can help by encouraging your child to eat sandwiches or the main lunch item prior to snacks or treats. Also children are encouraged to eat fruit prior to snacks, etc.

Weekly Memo/Newsletter

Each weeks the school will email a school newsletter. The Family Memo is a part of this newsletter and outlines the events of the following week. It also informs parents of what uniform student should wear each day.

Compass Parent Portal

In 2023 and 2024 parents will receive an email invitation to download the Compass App. St Bede's uses the app for most communication with parents. This app is also used to notify of student absences, book parent teachers conferences, give permission for school excursions and access your child's school reports each semester. It also serves as a message board for the school.

Stationery and Book packs

St Bede's Primary School provides all books and stationery for students. Parents are not required to purchase any items for students.

Religious Education (RE) is a key learning area at St Bede's Primary School. Children have short daily lessons which follow the Brisbane RE Curriculum which ties the teaching of religion with the Religious Life and Catholic Christian ethos of our school community in ways that are mindful of local contexts and the ecumenical and multi-faith realities of contemporary culture. As a community of faith, we pride ourselves on our values, pastoral care, and commitment to fostering the development of every child, challenging them to fulfil their potential in the pursuit of excellence.

Our Parish Priest celebrates multi grade and whole school Masses with the school community at a level that is meaningful and relevant to the children. This, combined with the children’s expression through song, movement, drama and art, adds colour and life to the celebration and enhances their appreciation and understanding of the Eucharist as a religious and faith experience. Our school chaplain is Fr Trenton Van Reesch.

We also celebrate the Feast of St Bede and other yearly feast days. The Feast of St Bede on 25 May is celebrated with Year 6 students organising a school fete. We also support Catholic outreach initiatives and causes through raising funds and awareness.

Catholic children are prepared for the Sacraments of Penance (Reconciliation) and Eucharist in Year 4, and Confirmation in Year 5/6. These programs are parish supported. Parents are invited to develop a better understanding of Christian life through family participation in Sacramental preparations and Parish celebrations.

St Bede’s School Prayer

God, Our Father,

You are with us as we begin this day.

May we show peace in our words and actions.

Help us to learn all we can and do our best always.

Mary, Our Mother, and St Bede help us to be considerate, courteous and cooperative.

We make this prayer through Christ Our Lord.

Amen.

Fr Trenton

Activities/discussion points:

• Join our family mass on Sunday at 9.30 (St Peter Chanel, Yarralumla)
• Identify the various churches as you travel around Canberra
• Talk about your own upbringing or school experience (if raised religious or went to a religious school)
• Talk about prayer
• Read a children's bible
• Discuss the 'uniform' that priests wear
• Talk about Jesus and God
• Talk abour Christmas and Easter

St Bede’s has strategically resourced all elements of technology in preparation for 2024 and beyond. Our school balances student learning with technology and ensures that they are not on screens for large parts of each day. In short, technology has an important role in learning, but isn’t relied upon heavily.

In 2024, students will participate in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) for 1 hour per week. Mr Macintyre will engage students in many STEM based activities that will increase their capacity to problem solve, collaborate, critically analyse and be creative. Our students will experience the use of iPads and Chromebooks as well as engage in opportunities to build, construct and code. Students in K-2 will use iPads in all areas of learning throughout the year. They will also experience coding and robotics.

The school provides all technology in the Years K-4 and are phasing out BYOD. Currently student have access to iPads and Chromebooks for learning purposes. 

Each classroom has an interactive screen that is utilised by teachers and students during lessons. 

Things to do with your child:

• Focus on learning apps and games when using iPads or other technology;
• Encourage children to play outside and be creative;
• Utilise boxes and other materials found in the home to build, create and have fun;
• Challenge your child to problem solve;
• Use technology to gather information and draw plans on paper for imaginary machines, etc.;
• Identify/discuss how technology helps people.

St Bede’s Primary School prides itself on the strong connection that is established and maintained with parents. These connections extend beyond the school to the formation of rich relationships between parents and families.

Parental involvement is highly valued at St Bede’s and there are a number of ways to be involved in our great school. These include serving on the Commnity Council, assisting in classrooms or with events.

COMMUNITY COUNCIL

The inaugural St Bede's Community Council will be established in 2024. This will almalgamate the current Board and P&F.

The Community Council provides a crucial point of connection between the school community and school leaders. The Council provides a framework for welcoming parents and other members of the school community to participate in school activities, to become actively involved in the life of the sachool and to support the mission of Catholic Education in the school.

The Community Council actively raise funds throughout the year and this is part of the service to the school. Every family at St Bede's is automatically a member of the Community Council. Your active participation is encouraged and welcomed.

At least one General Meeting per term is held at school offering you the opportunity to participate in the decision making process. The Annual General Meeting (AGM) is held in Term 1 each year to elect the positions of Chair, Secretary and Treasurer. Up to eight executive members can join the executive.  

The Community Council assists with Parent Information Sessions and Orientation Days with general school information, school canteen and clothing sales. On the first day of school for the Kindergarten class, morning tea is offered to welcome all new families into school life and to provide an opportunity to meet other community members.

CLASS CONTACTS

Each class has two parent representatives who provide a contact point for new families. Their aim is to promote a sense of community within our school and to coordinate pastoral care. During the year they organise gatherings for parents to get together socially at a class level.

In their pastoral care role they aim to be aware of, and respond to, family needs. A network of pastoral care volunteers can be called on to provide support and practical aid to families in times of need. A pastoral care contact person is able to arrange a meal, childcare or shopping as needed.

ST BEDE'S TUCKSHOP (‘THE SNACK SHACK’)

The Tuckshop is currently open on each Friday for lunch orders only. Orders are placed via an online app and prepared by 2 wonderful volunteers. All food is prepared and cooked to provide our students with healthy alternatives to processed food.  

PARENT ASSISTANCE

Parents are invited and encouraged to help at the school in a variety of ways. Parent help and support adds enormously to our learning environment and to building community. As a parent helper the need for confidentiality is emphasised.

In our partnership with you as a volunteer at St Bede’s we ask the following:

Working with Vulnerable People Card – legislation requires that all volunteers and helpers have a current Working with Vulnerable People card which must be carried with you when you are helping at school. A photocopy of this card should be kept in a secure file in our school office. Further information may be obtained through the school office.

Visitor Sign In – When helping out at school, you will need to sign in at the school office and sign out when leaving. This assists us in our compliance with legislation and also in ensuring your safety should there be an emergency or evacuation. Regular areas of participation encouraged at St Bede's include:

• sporting activities e.g. coaching, athletics and swimming carnivals
• excursions
• art/craft in the classroom
• working bees

Initialit is part of our Literacy session each day in K-2. InitiaLit is an evidence-based whole-class literacy program providing all children with the essential core knowledge and strong foundations to become successful readers and writers. InitiaLit is a three-year program, covering the first three years of school (Foundation to Year 2).

Initialit is implemented across four terms, InitiaLit–Foundation (Kindergarten) offers an explicit and effective model for teaching reading and related skills to children in their first year of school in a fun and engaging way.

InitiaLit–F focuses on two main components:

1. Phonics, to systematically and explicitly teach the basic alphabetic code in a set sequence. In addition to learning letter-sound correspondences and how these are applied to reading and spelling, children will be introduced to common morphemes and simple grammatical concepts.
2. Vocabulary, oral language and listening comprehension through quality children’s literature. Detailed lessons, including writing tasks, are provided for each of the storybook titles selected for use with the program.

InitiaLit-F program structure

The program is designed to be delivered in a 90-minute instruction block (ideally uninterrupted, but this can be broken up if timetabling requires). This will include:

• 20-25 minutes of whole-class teaching (ideally four times per week) using a detailed scripted lesson plan.
• 30-45 minutes of further literacy work (these are activities to consolidate the teaching, either completed independently or with a class aide/volunteer while the teacher works with groups on reading and wordbuilding).
• 15-20 minutes for a Storybook session. This literature component provides opportunities to develop oral language, vocabulary and comprehension, with one storybook used as a focus over four sessions.
• Regular progress monitoring using curriculum-based assessments (CBA) to identify needs of children.

Activities for you and you family

• Read to your child as much as possible.
• Encourage your child to make up stories.
• Identify letters in their name.
• Attempt to rhyme.
• Identify the first, middle and last part/sound of words.

St Bede's Primary School uses a platform called Compass to communicate with parents. The Compass mobile app can be accessed at your app store.

We utilise Compass to:

• send messages to parents (News Feed);
• organise parent teacher meeting (Conferences);
• prepare and distribute student reports;
• provide information and gain permission for excursions and events (Events);
• absentee notices;
• update parent contact information;
• student medical information.

Your child is already in Compass and you will receive an email  with login details. Please set up this access as you will need to book your parent meeting for 2024 asap. Please view the attached information guides when you have a moment. Please contact the office if you need assistance.

The first day for Kindergarten in 2024 is Wednesday 31 January. School commences at 9am and concludes at 3.10pm. The day is slightly longer than Kindy-Set-Go. The first week will be 3 days and will not include a rest day.

We find that our littliest students become quite tired when settling into school during the summer weeks. As such, please be advised that rest days will be scheduled for:

Wednesday 7 February

Wednesday 14 February

Wednesday 21 February

Wednesday 28 February

During these days, appointments will be made with families to have a parent meeting and to undertake some assessment activities. More information will be shared in due course.

Things to do with your child:

1) Talk about the purpose of rest days

2) Discuss that learning makes children tired

3) Reference tiredness throughout summer on hot days

4) have some summer rest days over the Christmas period

St Bede’s Primary School is proud to offer a broad curriculum that engages and educates the whole child. In 2024 children will participate in library, French, STEM and music. These lessons are taught by specialist teachers rather than the classroom teacher. 

French 

We believe it is important for all children to be given the access and knowledge to not only learn a new language, but to also gain an understanding of another county and their culture. French is spoken by over 221 million people across five continents and is the second most widely learned language after English. Instilling a love of language at an early age has many benefits, at St Bede’s we support this by having a specialist French teacher who teaches the children from Kindergarten through to Year 6. Through learning from an expert, the children become fully immersed in the world of language.  

STEM 

Science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education puts an emphasis on preparing future generations to be successful in their careers. The skills gained from STEM education extend beyond those needed to be successful in STEM fields, preparing children with varied interests who move into any industry to have valuable skill sets that allow them to be successful. The focus on hands-on learning with real-world applications helps develop a variety of skill sets, including creativity and 21^st-century skills. 

Library 

Our school library is accessed by all students each week. Our library is a unique space with a range of resources to enable students to develop a love of reading. Library lessons full of hands-on activities, busy research lessons using a multitude of resources, and times of silent personal reading. 

Music 

At St Bede’s, music is taught using the Kodály  program, inspired by the philosophies of the Hungarian composer and educator, Zoltan Kodály (1882 – 1967). Music serves to develop a person on all levels – emotionally, spiritually and intellectually. Kodály believed that every person has musical aptitude and that, ideally, a music education should begin as early as possible in a person’s life – firstly at home and then later within the school curriculum. Kodály believed that singing should be the foundation of all music education. 

Things to do with your child: 

1. Listen to music and discuss how it makes you and your child feel 
2. Identify musical instruments and sing songs 
3. Borrow books from your local library 
4. Complete some simple science experiments 
5. Talk to your child about languages and different countries 

Each day students have the opportunity to socialise with the people around them. This can be through a range of organised activities or unstructured play. We encourage children to be social and connect.

Children can play on the equipment, participate in a sporting game or create imaginary games with their friends. In coming months, we are adding a nature play area to our playground where kids can climb logs & rocks and play.

We have many clubs that occur at lunchtime each day. These activities are varied and should engage any student. We are always open to suggestions for new activities. Examples in the past include:

• Pokemon and minecraft
• chess and board games
• science experiments
• art
• colouring
• gardening
• bootcamp
• construction
• choir
• singing
• origami/craft

The library is also open each day at lunch. Children can visit the library to read, draw, play board games or to relax. They could even complete a puzzle!

Discussion:

1) Share this information with your child;

2) Discuss playground rules and how to make friends;

3) Role play how to join in games and invite others;

4) Discuss your memories of school and what you enjoyed at recess and lunch or little lunch and big lunch;

5) Ask children to open packets or peel fruit, etc to prepare for recess and lunch (start using a lunch box).

St Bede’s Primary School values the Arts and have great opportunities in the area of music. Students demonstrate their creativity in many ways. All classes experience music lessons on a fortnightly basis. Students can join a lunch time choir or have a singalong.

Each class experiences a wide variety of musical genres followed by a discussion about what they observe whilst listening and/or dancing to it. We learn about dynamics, pitch, beat, rhythm and tempo whilst moving, listening and playing. Students have opportunities to sing, dance and play instruments – and we have a lot of fun too!

Music education is important for improving children’s ability to learn. You are encouraged to read the following article by Dr Anita Collins who is an award-winning educator and researcher in music education and brain development.

https://education.abc.net.au/newsandarticles/blog/-/b/2974240/music-education-helps-improve-children-s-ability-to-learn

St Bede’s has a number of private music tutors that can deliver private music lessons should they wish to receive individual tuition of an instrument. More information will be provided in 2024.

You are invited to:

• Sing nursery rhymes with your child.
• Talk about and play your favourite song.
• Listen to music and discuss emotions and feelings.
• Use household items to make a beat or clap to the beat.
• Identify musical instruments.

St Bede's have reorganised how maths is taught across the school. At St Bede's we use research informed High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP) to ensure that children can grasp and apply concepts. Our teachers analyse student assessment data to plan mathematics programs for students. The assessment data clearly indicates individual and collective strengths and focus areas.

Our mathematics practices are based in the Science of Learning including cognitive load theory, interleaving (spacing out review questions) and retreaval practice developing automaticity (remembering and accessing).

There are 3 elements of each mathematics program at St Bede's:

Daily Review

Research clearly indicates that review should be systematically planned and incorporated into the instructional program. Daily review is a focus on the mathematical skills that have previously been taught. Long term retention is best served if questions on a particular skill are spread out in time, rather than concentrated within a short interval. Review immediately after instruction consolidates the ideas from that instruction, while delayed review aids in the relearning of forgotten material.

Review promotes continuity and helps students to attain a more comprehensive view of the mathematical topics covered. It helps them summarise main ideas, develop generalisations, and get an overall view of what they have been learning. Review helps students to assimilate or consolidate what they have learned, enabling them to fit ideas into new patterns and also serves as a diagnostic tool, revealing weaknesses and strengths to students and teachers. It helps teachers identify what is already known and what is not yet known; then reteaching can be planned.

Further, review assures that the prerequisites needed for learning new content have been mastered and adds to students' confidence in their ability to move successfully to new mathematical topics.

Heavy Lifting Lessons

These are the explicit teaching lessons that deliver concepts and introduce students to new concepts and skills. These lessons are designed to go deeper in the learning, establishing real world connections and provide feedback for both the teacher and student. 

Explicit teaching practices, including the effective use of feedback, are key elements of effective teaching. Such practices ensure that students have a clear understanding of why they are learning something, how it connects to what they already know, what is expected of them, and how to do it (explicit teaching). They also ensure that students are given opportunities to ask questions and get clear feedback about their performance against learning outcomes (effective feedback).

Cognitive load theory provides theoretical and empirical support for explicit models of instruction. The research demonstrates that for novice learners, explicit instruction, incorporating direct guidance accompanied by practice and feedback, is more effective than partial guidance.

Inquiry lessons

In inquiry lessons teachers use questions, problems and scenarios to help students learn through individual thought and investigation. Instead of simply presenting facts, the teacher encourages students to talk about a problem and draw on their intuition to understand it. Inquiry-based learning also focuses on letting students ask their own questions — essentially providing their own inquiry. Student led questions follow teacherguided inquiry.

Activities for you and your child:

1. Identify numbers in everyday situations and explain the meaning of them (menu prices, speed signs, counting, etc.)
2. Identify numbers by counting objects. Try and make different groups.
3. Attempt to write any numbers
4. Play number games. What number comes before and what number comes after?, etc. What is less and what is more?

St Bede’s Primary School strives for every student to be a successful reader. We are proud of our new Kindergarten to Year 2 Literacy Program that was implemented in 2022. We have some very confident students who love books and reading.

Each week all classes visit the school library for lessons. They also have the opportunity to borrow books to take home and share. Students love reading, especially to other people.

Our library is also open during lunch every day. During this time, students can read books, play games , colour or relax on cushions and seating.

Parents are invited to:

• Read the book "I Went Walking" by Sue Williams or click on the link below;
• Read books with your child;
• Take time to complete the additional activity prepared;
• Share your experiences of reading.

“I Went Walking” by Sue Williams

This book uses repetitive language and encourages inferencing to guess the animals that are coming up on each page.

“I went walking” read with me link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vryFPYJr7co

Oral language

Talk about the names of the animals on each page.

Identify the colours of the animals and find other items in the environment that are the same colour.

Use simple inferencing and find the clues on each page that indicate the animal that will appear on the next page.

Sing “Old MacDonald Had A Farm” and include the animals from the story.  For example:  And on that farm he had a red cow….

Draw and write

All of the animals in the book can be found on a farm.  Draw a picture of a farm and include the animals from the book.  Label the animals.

Change the setting and create a new version of the story…. Instead of at the farm try:  at the zoo, in my garden, at my school/preschool……

Each year St Bede's Primary School spends a week celebrating books, and Australian authors and illustrators. Teachers and librarians conduct activities relating to a theme to highlight the importance of reading. 

During the week, we have a character parade where all students from Kindergarten to Year 6 come to school dressed as a character from a book. This is always a big highlight for Kindergarten students and their parents. The teachers dress up as well!

St Bede's also has a Book Fair as a part of Book Week. Parents buy vouchers for students to select books and other items from the Book Fair. This supports a love of reading and also assists the library to purchase additional books for our great library.

Our school librarian also reads a range of the short listed books to the children in their weekly library lesson. There are always a range of activities for students to be engaged with. At times we may also have a visiting performer or an author visit. They will spend the day at St Bede's and work with multiple year groups.

Library lessons occur weekly. This is an opportunity for students to come and experience reading and share their love of reading with others. Children can borrow books weekly and take them home to share with their family.

The library is open each day at lunchtime. Students who choose to visit the library can read, draw, complete puzzles, play board games or relax. This is a terrific space for children to spend time in.

Other activities:

1) Spend time reading with your child;

2) Talk about your favourite book/ask your child about their favourite book;

3) Talk about dress ups;

4) Have a coversations to orientate children with books (front cover, back cover, author, illustrator, etc);

5) Make up stories using the pictures of a book.

Our Kindy Set Go sessions are not far away. Below is some information to help you and your child prepare for a smooth start.

The Kindy-Set-Go Program will run each week commencing on Friday 20 October (Week 2) and conclude on Friday 8 December (Week 9). The program will run from 9am to 3pm.

Arrival and Departure

The session is due to commence at 9am. You are asked to escort your child directly to the kindergarten classroom using the garden or courtyard entrance. There will be signage to assist you. To ensure a smooth transition/drop off, we ask that you say a quick goodbye and leave promptly.

Please note that parents who are happy to have their children play before school can drop off from 8.30am. This is best after children have completed a number of sessions.

The sessions will end at 3pm. Parents should gather in the garden courtyard and wait for their child to be dismissed. Your child will come out to meet you at the conclusion of the day.

Note: If your child is attending for a half day, please drop off at the classroom and present to the front office for pick up.

Signing In

Upon sign in, please list a phone number and the name of a contact person to be contacted should the need arise.

What to bring

Please ensure that your child has the following items each day. A smaller backpack is suitable for this.

• Water bottle.
• Hat.
• Fruit break (fruit).
• Recess fruit and a small snack.
• Lunch (please do NOT order lunch via the canteen) This opportunity will happen toward the end of Kindy-Set-Go.

Please ensure all items are labelled with your child's name.

Clothing

Please ensure that your child is dressed comfortably. They will be engaging in art lessons, sport and play on the playground. Your child will be given a Kindy-Set-Go shirt to wear as a uniform for the 9 days of Kindy-Set-Go. 

Preparation

• Continue to speak to your child about Kindy-Set-Go.
• Speak with excitement about dropping off and picking up.
• Start to organise the items listed above and have your child pack their bag.
• Continue to open packets, etc.

Children come to kindergarten with a wide range of skills and interests. At St Bede's we are inclusive and cater for the interests and skill levels of all students. It is exciting to see that we have a wonderful group of children coming to St Bede's in 2024. There are students who:

• are curious about the world and how things work;
• love to sing and dance;
• enjoy stories and being read to;
• are passionate about art and craft;
• enjoy drawing and playing games;
• love exploring and the outdoors;
• like to count and make patterns.

Many parents have asked "What does my child need to come to school with?" The short answer is that all children are different and will come with a varyiety of skills and abilities. Attached is a school readiness checklist to use as a loose guide in preparing children for school. This is not an exhaustive list and should not be seen as the minimum standard. Please do not be alarmed if your child is not doing all of the things on the list.

Feel free to practice some of the items on the list as you and your child prepares for life at St Bede's. If you have any concerns at all, please do not hesitate to reach out.

The first day of school is something special for every child. It is possible that your child is starting to ask questions about ‘Big School’ and St Bede's Primary School.

Welcome to the Kindy-Set-Go Online Orientation Program. This program is specifically designed to engage all members of your family through regular Kindy-Set-Go updates and articles. Over the next 6-7 months, you and your child will be invited to participate in a variety of activities to prepare for life at St Bede's. You are encouraged to prioritise time to engage in conversation with your child. It would be terrific if you include other members of your family as well such as siblings, grandparents, or close family friends.

I welcome all families to St Bede's, including new families, current families and those yet to decide. This is the start of a very important partnership where your child remains at the centre of all we do. Please do not hesitate to reach out via email or phone to ask any questions. 

I look forward to connecting with you throughout 2023.

Andrew 

The Kindy-Set-Go Program is a readiness program to prepare our newest St Bede's students and their families for school.

The Kindy-Set-Go Program comprises 2 elements: an online orientation program and an onsite student preparation program. The online component is an electronic newsletter containing helpful articles, school related information and activities to prepare for school.

The onsite component is a series of days in Term 4 whereby students come to St Bede's and work with their teacher/s to learn new routines and prepare for St Bede's. This is a great opportunity for students to meet their new classmates and for parents to get to know each other as well.  

The Kindy-Set-Go Program will run each week commencing on Friday 20 October (Week 2) and concluding on Friday 8 December (Week 9). The program will run from 9am to 3pm. Please note that parents who are happy to have their children play before school can drop off from 8.30am.

We hope that with enough notice, parents will be able to organise for their child to attend these sessions. These sessions are highly encouraged to assist in preparing students for 2024. Half days or fortnightly attendance can be negotiated by contacting the school office.