It has been a very busy start to the year with all classes settling into routines and students and teachers getting to know each other. Our Opening School Mass also saw the commissioning of our new school leaders and it was wonderful to hear the beautiful singing by the children. We were joined by Fr Trenton who presided over the Mass.

This week’s Focus Assembly led by Year 2 helped us to reflect on our school theme ‘be the light’. Thank you to Mr Heffernan and Year 2 for preparing such a reverent prayer celebration - it truly was very peaceful. We were invited to reflect on a story about a firefly who was ashamed to share her light with others. Luckily her friend helped her to understand that each of us is special and needs to share their light with the world. Thank you to those who were able to join us for our first Focus Assembly for the year.  It was lovely to see you there.

Ash Wednesday Mass will be celebrated at noon on 26 February in our school hall. Ashes will be distributed and Year 1 wil be hosting this Mass. Everyone in our school community are most welcome to attend to receive the ashes.

Bushfire Appeal – we are planning to hold a ‘movie afternoon’ fundraising event during the school day to raise money for families that have been impacted by the bushfires. We will be asking each child to donate $10 to see a movie at school. There will be three movies to choose from and they will receive a bag of popcorn, lollies and a fruit box to have during the movie. All moneys raised will be donated to our sister school in Braidwood and go towards supporting those who have lost homes and been displaced.

Have a peaceful weekend,

Nikki Dwyer

Religious Education Coordinator

Swimming Carnival

WHAT A DAY!!!!  Years 2 - 6 travelled to CISAC to compete in the swimming carnival on Tuesday.  It was a fantastic day and, as usual, the behaviour of our students was exemplary.  

I would like to extend a massive thank you for all the support I received from parents and staff.  Without this support, carnivals wouldn’t be possible.  Please pop the Athletics Carnival date of Wednesday, 11 March in your diaries as I will be calling for your help again.

ACT Hockey Schools Roadshow

Years 1 - 6 enjoyed the opportunity to attend clinics yesterday and get a feel for the game of hockey.  Everyone appeared to enjoy trying something new and we came through unscathed on the injury front!

Netball

Expressions of interest have been handed out to those students who would like to participate in winter netball.  Additional forms are available from the front foyer or contact Jenny Tiffen, Netball Coordinator on 0411 112 464   or tiffen@velocitynet.com.au

Have a lovely weekend and enjoy the slightly less hot weather!

Julie 

julie.douglas@cg.catholic.edu.au

NAPLAN Online will occur in our school between 12 and 22 May 2020.

NAPLAN Online is a more engaging assessment that adjusts questions to each student’s achievement level. It also delivers more precise results to schools and parents more quickly.

NAPLAN provides valuable information to schools and parents about literacy and numeracy achievement. It supports school improvement processes by enabling teachers to monitor student progress over time and to identify areas of strength and development.

All eligible students are encouraged and supported to participate in NAPLAN testing. Visit www.nap.edu.au to see interactive versions of the test and for more information.

St Bede’s will be hosting a ThinkUKnow presentation on Monday, 2 March at 6.00pm and all parents and carers are encouraged to attend.

ThinkUKnow Australia is a cyber safety education program that educates parents and carers of how people are using technology, the challenges they may face online, and how to help them overcome these in a safe and ethical way.

ThinkUKnow Australia is a partnership between the Australian Federal Police, Microsoft Australia, Datacom and the Commonwealth Bank. The program is delivered in collaboration with policing partners New South Wales Police Force, Northern Territory Police, Queensland Police, South Australia Police, Tasmania Police, Western Australia Police, as well as Neighbourhood Watch Australasia.

The presentation will be delivered by a local law enforcement member and an industry volunteer. The presentation covers issues relating to children and young peoples’ privacy and security online, their relationships with other users and their online reputation. It provides insight into the devices young people are using, as well as the popular websites, apps and social networking sites they’re accessing.

This is a fantastic opportunity for you to learn more about young people and the online environment, and how you can help them to be safe and responsible users of technology.

For more information, you can visit www.thinkuknow.org.au 

Do you or a friend have

an under school age child?

Playgroup is held in the Multi Purpose Room on Fridays from 9.00am until 11.00am.

Term 1             3 February – 9 April               

Term 2            28 April – 3 July                      

Term 3            20 July – 25 September

Term 4            12 October – 18 December

As a parent there is a great deal you can do to help your child adjust socially at the start of the school year. Here are some tips to help.

Encourage your child to be open to new friendships

An open, friendly attitude is a child or young person’s best social asset. Students who open to forming new friendships are more likely to succeed than those who seek solitude, who are critical and who limit themselves to just one or two familiar faces. Encourage your child or young person to seek out new friendships, even though they may feel uncomfortable or strange at first.

Encourage healthy relationships

Do all you can to encourage healthy relationships based on respect and common courtesy. Generally, when a relationship is healthy a child feels safe, valued and able to speak up. Unhealthy relationships, such as cliques, are restrictive, one-sided and are full of gossip and criticism.

Encourage inclusiveness

Studies have shown inclusiveness to be one of the prime social skills shared by socially successful students. Encourage your child or young person to include others in games, conversations, team activities and other group activities. Inclusiveness is not just a wonderful friendship skill, it’s strong leadership attribute as well.

Encourage friendships with both genders

If you are in a co-education environment encourage your child to form friendships with both boys and girls. This is particularly valid if your child has siblings of their own gender, or don’t have siblings. It’s through these early relationships that we gain the confidence to mix with different genders in the later years. Forming friends across genders helps to break down the mystique that sometimes forms, when a child has little contact with the ‘other’ gender.

Stay in touch with former classmates and school friends

Encourage your child to maintain friendships with former classmates and groups outside of school as this helps to insulate against unfriendly behaviour that they may experience with their close social circle.

Provide social scripts

Your child may benefit from being provided with some social scripts that they can use in common social situations such as meeting a new friend, joining in a game or asking someone else for help. Boys, in particular, can benefit when given the words to use in a variety of different social situations.

Forming new friendships can take time

Meeting new students and forming new friendships can be anxiety-inducing. If this is the case for your child, then it helps to acknowledge their feelings of discomfort, but also remind them that these feelings will pass. As well discuss the fact that feeling comfortable with new friends often takes time, particularly if your child by nature is reserved or slow to warm up in social situations.

Helping kids work through friendships can be tricky for a parent as you don’t have a great deal of control over what happens at school. However, with empathy, patience, encouragement and a supportive attitude you can do a great deal to help your child make a smooth social transition.

by Michael Grose