Dear Parents and Carers,

May is often referred to as the Month of Mary – a month where Catholics across the world pay special devotions to our Blessed Mother Mary. As we all have in our own lives, in times of trouble we seek support, guidance and sometimes receive unasked for but needed tough love from our mothers. So it is as Catholics we pray to Mary and ask her to intercede on our behalf.

Next week on Thursday the school will host a Mothers Day Breakfast to recognise and give thanks to the mums, grandmothers and special women in our lives. The breakfast will start at 8.15 am and there will be a selection of pastries and slices as well as a tea and coffee. Students will also be able to purchase a small $5 gift. Details will be in a note home this week.

As part of St. Bede’s increasing sustainability by reducing paper usage in the school we are moving towards sending as much correspondence home using Compass and or Schoolzine, as part of this we will be sending home an invitation to the upcoming Mothers Day Breakfast via Compass as a trial. Paper notes will also be issued to ensure that information is shared.

On Monday this week Jordan who is an Instructional Lead from Shaping Minds Australia. Jordan is helping to continue to implement High Impact Teaching Practices (HITP) as part of the Catholic Education’s Catalyst Program. Jordan observed teachers presenting HITP in classes. As part of the staff meeting he also presented to staff and demonstrated how to differentiate during daily review. He was impressed by the school's implementation and progress. All of which will strengthen teaching and improve student learning.

St Bedes Open Day tours for 2024 enrolements, will take place on Tuesday 16th of May with student lead tours available from 9:30 - 11:00. We are of course happy to provide tours outside these times. Please contact the front office for details or email office.stbedesb@cg.catholic.edu.au  Any familes wanting to enrol a student in 2024 please use the following link for the online enrolement https://www.stbedesb.nsw.edu.au/enrolment

The building program continues with the demolition of the old Year 2 and 3 classrooms and sports shed. The sports shed will be replaced with a new sports shed that opens onto the oval.

Planning for the Year 5 and 6 Camp 2024 is well under way. The camp will be held from Monday 26th February till Friday 1st March 2024 in Sydney.

As always if you have any concerns please feel free to contact the school and have a conversation with staff.

Finally we give thanks to St Jude - The patron saint of loss causes for the stunning victory and season changing win of the West Tigers last weekend.