Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome back to all our students, parents and staff. We hope you enjoyed the break and the warmer weather. The children have returned energised and enthusiastic for the busy term ahead with all students in summer uniform by this Monday. We have many events occurring over the next few weeks with preparations well underway for “Wonderwood” on Sunday November 3. Our teachers have done an outstanding job preparing our students to sing and dance in the performance. We look forward to seeing the final production and thank our talented teachers for all the work and time they have put into this. Entry to the event is free, but ticketing is limited, so be sure to book using the QR code. Please note that students involved in the performance do not need a ticket.

Last Monday, the St Bede’s staff gathered for a Staff Spirituality Day. The theme for the day was ‘Live, love and learning through the Heart of Jesus-reaching out to those stranded in the margins of our living’. We were extremely fortunate to have the Youth Team of St Vincent de Paul lead the presentation. We reflected on our story at St Bede’s, linking the past and the rich history of St Bede’s School and the Good Samaritan Sisters with the present day and the importance of practicing gratitude in our daily life. It was a wonderful opportunity to bring all our staff together in prayer and reflection and we thank Ms Shaye Cooper REC, for her organisation.

Plans are underway to finalise teaching staff for 2025. Following a recruitment process, we are pleased to announce that Ms Laurel Clark has accepted a position at St Bede’s as a classroom teacher, commencing in 2025. Laurel is an experienced teacher, having worked at public schools in Bungendore, Gundaroo, Sutton, Braidwood and catholic schools in the local area including St Bede’s. Laurel is looking forward to working at St Bede’s and meeting staff and children at the transition to school day on Friday December 13. We are in the process of finalising other positions.

Last Friday night, we had the most amazing disco and working bee. How fortunate were we to have the disco queen, Amy Doszpot organise the disco with the assistance of our teachers who stayed behind to bogey and supervise the children. While children were dancing, outside on the playground was plenty of action! We now have a new garden at the front of the school which looks spectacular. How blessed we were to have so many parents volunteer either with weeding or planting. We are extremely grateful to all our parents who assisted and Richard Bunn and Sarah Hickey for their organisation of the plants and gardening. It was wonderful to have parents cook and serve the barbecue to ensure that the children, staff and parents were all feed. Thank you to our many parent helpers who came along and joined in the fun and helped either at the disco, the barbecue or in the garden. It meant that all the jobs were done very efficiently and in less time.

Yesterday, we had our Walkathon to assist with raising money for the new Infants Play Equipment! It was postponed last term due to the chilly weather and what a great decision that was for all involved! Weren’t we lucky to be blessed with such a sunny day! The children looked the part in their house colours and participated with enthusiasm in the walk as well as the extra activities organised for them. All up, the children have raised $20,000 which is a fantastic effort. In addition to the money raised we have been most fortunate to have had a family match each child fundraising with an additional $50 per child which amounted to a $7000 donation. A special thank you to Rachel Farley, Kristi Morrison and Sarah Hickey for all their work organising and coordinating the walkathon and to our many parent helpers who turned up on the day to assist with check stations, the barbecue and refreshments. At this rate we will have our play equipment before the end of 2025.

Wow! What a great day everyone had yesterday at the Walkathon. The grand finale was seeing Amy Doszpot getting slimmed! Well done and thank you Amy! So much fun!

 We wish our students all the best tomorrow at the Boorowa Carnival and thank Mrs Tooth and Ms Crispin for their organisation, our parent helpers for assisting and Mr Fletcher for travelling to Boorowa and looking after our students on the day. Travel safely and enjoy the day.

God Bless

Marylou Gorham

Principal