Dear Parents and Carers,

Catholic Schools month commenced last week. Each year during May we celebrate the wonderful work that is being done in our school and all CE schools commence the enrolment period for 2023. Open day tours will be conducted this Monday, May 16 from 9:30am to 11am. If you have a child or know someone who is turning 5 before July 31, 2023, please fill out the online application for enrolment form which is available on our school website. Interviews will be conducted later in term 2 and in the following terms.

This week our Year 3 and Year 5 students participated in NAPLAN testing. NAPLAN assessment provides valuable information to schools and parents. It allows parents and carers to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress.

We are conducting an online survey to review our Homework Policy, which has not been reviewed for several years. We value the input of all our parents and carers and encourage you all to participate in the survey. St Bede's Homework Survey

The students are getting very excited about the Walkathon, which will be held on Friday May 27. We know our students have been busy seeking sponsors. Each week, the class who raises the most money will be given a special treat. Last week Year 4 raised the most amount of money, followed closely by Kinder. Well done Year 4! The children do not need to collect their money but update the class with their pledges. It would be great if we could get to $1500 for our first incentive this week which is a games and sport afternoon. We encourage all our families to get behind this great fundraiser and support our students. First prize is a Pushy’s voucher to the value of $500. The lucky draw prizes will be two Garmin watches. For every $5 raised a student gets a ticket in the lucky draw. We thank our Community Council for organsing the great prizes.

The Community Council met last night and discussed parent communication of school events. We are aware that not all parents are reading the newsletter and hence have decide to trial other options for communication. To ensure parents are kept informed of school happenings, St Bede’s will move to fortnightly newsletters. The week that the newsletter is not being published, we will email a weekly overview of upcoming events each Thursday, to all parents and carers on Schoolzine. This information will also be provided on our school FaceBook at the begiining of the week. This will commence next Thursday with today being our last weekly newsletter. We appreciate that parents are busy and we hope this change will assist everyone to be kept better informed of school happenings.

God Bless and keep safe

Principal

Uniform

Parents are reminded that all students should now be wearing their winter uniform. School photos are happening in the next few weeks, so this is a timely reminder to ensure that your child is correctly attired. We have a beautiful uniform and we encourage all students to wear it with pride! The Uniform Policy is available on the school website but for your convenience it is as follows:

Winter

Girls

• Navy princess line tunic
• Long sleeved Midford 1012 BGPM School Blue Shirt School
• navy tie with red stripe, correctly tied
• Navy tights
• Navy v-necked jumper with red stripe OR Navy sloppy joe with logo
• Black leather/vinyl shoes or ‘work’ boots, no heel. No black sandshoes or sports shoes
• Navy slacks and navy socks may be worn INSTEAD of tunic [not underneath]
• Navy beanie with embroidered school name; legionnaire or bucket style hat
• Navy coat

Boys

• Navy cotton drill trousers
• Long sleeved shirt: Midford 1012c Colour School Blue School
• navy tie with red stripe correctly tied
• Navy v-necked jumper with red stripe OR Navy sloppy joe with logo
• Black leather/vinyl shoes or ‘work’ boots, no heel. No black sandshoes or sports shoes
• Navy socks
• Navy beanie with embroidered school name; legionnaire, or bucket style hat
• Navy coat

Coinciding with National Families week - Australia's annual celebration of the importance of families, The Council of Catholic School Parents Archdiocese of Canberra and Goulburn (CSPACG) in collaboration with Catholic Education are hosting an online family event on 16 May.
This event is an opportunity for families to learn more about the Catholic School Parent Council and the ways it provides advocacy, leadership, representation, and support for families in our Archdiocese. There will also be an opportunity to discover some practical ways for families to engage in their child's learning.