Dear Parents,

We had a beautiful mass last Tuesday ably led by Year 3 as we celebrated the feast day of St Mary of the Cross. It was lovely to be altogether again, especially welcoming Father Trenton back to the fold at St Bede’s. The only thing missing was the parents! We hope that family attendance can return soon to complete our community participation. We have the feast of our Lady’s Assumption mass this Friday at noon which will be another nice occasion for staff and students to be together.

The annual online school improvement survey went live last Friday. The link for parents was sent an email. The students in Years 3-6 will complete their surveys at schools through a web link. The final date for survey completion is 19 August 2020.  Each year, schools provide an opportunity for feedback through these surveys so we can consolidate on things that working well and identify areas that we could improve. Staff and students from Years 3-6 also complete the survey during this time.

We have had a flurry of media visits in the last couple of weeks. Last week, Win news came to highlight aspects of school life at St Bede’s as part their ‘School of the Week’ program. Many families made comment how wonderful the short clip during the local news was as well as the promotion on Facebook. The students that were interviewed were amazing and incredible ambassadors for our school. I would like to personally thank Mr Mac for being so accommodating at such short notice. If you haven’t seen the video it will come up if you put St Bede’s into a Facebook search.

Additionally, Andrew Barr visited yesterday as part of a string of visits to school in the next months. He met with school leaders, Maddie and Ty, read ‘Possum Magic’ in Kindergarten and watched the older students complete a task for Science Week. I gave a plug for Catholic Schools while he was here at an opportune time in the year.

There are 8 weeks until the ACT Election and am sure you are seeing candidates from all parties at shopping centres (or even receiving phone calls from them). I encourage you to approach candidates at the shopping centres and mention or discuss the value of ACT Catholic Schools and quiz them on their party’s support for ACT Catholic Schools. 

In the ACT, there are 29 systemic Catholic Schools who educate 15 000 students. In Canberra, Catholic schools are very similar to public schools, with our schools having almost exactly the same average ICSEA score (1077-1076). Our schools are inclusive, support families from all backgrounds and operate on a modest budget.

Did you know that when you compare the total funding that Catholic schools in each state/territory receive, the ACT are the second lowest funded Catholic schools in the country? This is particularly impacted by the ACT Government’s low funding of Catholic schools. Have a chat to the candidates and mention that you are a parent in an ACT Catholic School and funding of Catholic Schools is an important issue for you.

After a very unsettled beginning to the year, there is some wonderful learning around our school at the moment. With very few community or outside events this term, teachers has been able to really concentrate on teaching and students learning. There is a genuine buzz of engagement across all year levels. Our curriculum theme this term is ‘Discovery’.

I am interviewing over the next couple of weeks our new Kindergarten students for 2021. This process is taking place much later this year due to COVID restrictions. Typically, we have a lovely group of children eager to learn with parents looking forward to being part of our community.

To conclude, I have a message from the Parents and Friends Committee:

‘Many thanks to all of the families who contributed to a farewell gift for Linda Wells last term. Approximately $800 was donated, which was used to purchase vouchers for the David Jones store as well as some flowers. Mrs Wells was touched by this gesture of heart-felt appreciation of her. 

The P&F meeting for Term 3 will be held at 7pm, Tuesday the 18th of August in the school library and via Zoom. All interested parents are welcome to attend.

Have a lovely weekend.

Regards

Julie

School Captains meeting Andrew Barr on Wednesday.