Dear Parents and Carers,

This morning our students joined the parishioners to celebrate the feast day of St Bede. St. Bede was a dedicated scholar and an influence on us all to be dedicated learners and an inspiration for our school vision. Children and teachers are encouraged to continually reflect on themselves as learners and set challenging learning goals, so they can reach their full potential, as St Bede did. Congratulations to all our students who received a St Bede’s day award today. Each student received their award due to their zest to ‘Live, Love, Learn’ and positive mindset. A special thank you to Ms Shaye Cooper, REC for organising the liturgy and the parishioners and staff for attending and preparing the beautiful morning tea. It was lovely to see so many parishioners attend to celebrate this special day with us. The list of St Bede's awardees is in the REC news section.

As a reminder the NSW Education Act (1990) requires parents to ensure that children of compulsory school age attend school on each day that the school is open for instruction. If children are absent from school, parents are required to provide the school with an acceptable explanation within seven days of the absence. We know that when students are regularly absent from school, they fall behind in their learning which places them at educational risk. We understand that on occasion children may need to be absent from school. Justified reasons may include being sick, having an unavoidable medical appointment, being required to attend a recognised religious holiday or exceptional or urgent family circumstances (e.g., attending a funeral). All leave is granted by approval from the school principal and the principal may decline to accept an explanation that may be provided by a parent or carer if they do not believe the absence is in the best interest of the child. In these circumstances a student’s absence is recorded as unjustified. If your child is experiencing challenges with coming to school, we are here to help!

The children are loving the new soccer nets and they are being well used during break times, with all students from Kinder to Year 6 using them across the week and during PE lessons. We were very fortunate to have received a Wellbeing Boost Grant from the NSW Government for over $6000 to assist with the purchase of the nets and additional sports equipment.

Tomorrow, we have our annual Athletics Carnival. We are extremely grateful to Katie Tooth for all her organisation and to our parents who have volunteered to assist as officials. All students will be given a free sausage sizzle, courtesy of the Community Council. We thank Kristi Morrison and Sarah Hickey for their organisation of the barbeque. If you can assist tomorrow as an official, please contact Katie Tooth. We look forward to seeing all our students dressed in their sports uniform and house colours and don’t forget to dress up the teddy bears for the best dressed teddy bear. Go Red!