Dear Parents and Carers,

This Saturday at 6pm, several children in Year 3 will be making their First Communion. The children have been busy preparing over the past few weeks and we are extremely grateful to Cathy Ffrench and Anne Tracey for taking the children before mass each week to prepare the children. We thank the parents of the children for supporting them throughout their preparation. Please keep the children and their families in your prayers during the next few days.

Our builders have been extremely busy during the past few weeks. They have installed two water tanks and a sprinkler system for our oval. Fortunately, the rain we received over the past two weeks has already half-filled the tanks and the oval is looking much greener. The old front office refurbishment and new staff toilets are nearing completion and this week they commenced work on the Year 5 and 6 classrooms.

Our Community Council work extremely hard for our school. The participation and involvement of parents, carers and guardians in the life of the school is integral to building an open, inclusive, welcoming and collaborative school community. They attend and support school events, support school decisions and are committed to our meetings which occur twice each term.

Last week, the Community Council held an open meeting. Parents enjoyed some food and wine and viewed the new classrooms and front office as well as the touch screen televisions, devices and charging carts, which we have recently purchased to the value of over $43,000. The Community Council provided $10,000 towards the technology purchases which was raised from fundraising this year. Well done to all our parents and for supporting the fundraising committee with their initiatives. This has ensured our students are well resourced with technology to support their learning.

During 2024, all CECG schools will be implementing a new Community Council Constitution. During our Community Council meeting last week, Sarah Meyer, CE General Counsel and Governance, Risk and Policy Manager, provided information to assist us with the implementation of the new constitution next year. We currently have two positions vacant on our Community Council for 2024, a secretary and a parent representative. If you are interested in either of these positions, please submit an expression of interest to office.stbedes@cg.catholic.edu.au by Friday, November 24, 2024.

The Colour Run: Tomorrow, we have the event we have all been waiting for, the Colour Run! The children are very excited and the fundraising committee have been working overtime behind the scenes to prepare for this big event. A huge thank you to Marita Fuhrer, Kristi Morrison, Rachel Farley, Shaye Cooper, Sarah Hickey, Beck Thistleton, Nicole Vardanega and Millie Di Maio for their enthusiastic support coordinating and organising this event and to the parents and carers who are volunteering on the day with the BBQ and various jobs. A special thank you to our community and family sponsors: BGS Braidwood Ground Spraying, Braidwood Rural Mitre 10, Braidwood IGA, Community Bank Braidwood, Braidwood Veterinary Surgery, Len Mutton and Co, Becks Hair & Beauty , CINNAD pty ltd, RF Supply Chain Expertise, Morrison family, the Lions Club Braidwood, Bevege Mechanics and Overdrive Performance mechanics. We have raised over $5000 which is fantastic! We hope to see you all at school tomorrow, cheering on the children and joining in the fun!

Have a great weekend

God Bless