Dear Parents and Carers,

Yesterday we had our Parent Teacher check-in meetings with our parents and carers. Thank you to all our parents for taking this opportunity to check in, introduce yourself to your child’s teacher and obtain an understanding of how your child is progressing academically and socially, and their attitudes and goals for learning. If you were unable to make a time this week, can you please email your child's teacher and arrange a time, as soon as possible. Next Friday, Interim Reports will be sent home with each student. This will provide you with an overview of their work habits for this term. Should you have any concerns for any of your children or require a longer interview, please do not hesitate to contact the teacher and arrange a time either before or after school.

This term all CE schools are focusing on Behaviour Mastery. Behaviour Mastery cultivates a greater acceptance, understanding, and compassion towards the children in our care and aims to foster respectful and supportive relationships both inside and outside of class – between students, teachers and parents. Our focus for behaviour management is to ‘Live, Love, Learn’ and PBL (Positive Behaviours for Learning) which is supported in addition with our house points system. The students have been concentrating on moving around the school silently in lines and entering the classroom calmly.

Next Wednesday, February 28, Shaun and Campbell from the CE Compass team will be conducting a Compass workshop after school for all parents from 3:30pm to 4:30pm. If you are attending, please contact the front office to confirm your attendance by 3:30pm Monday, February 26. We are fortunate that we have the experts at St Bede’s to assist but we need to ensure we have sufficient participants to make their trip worthwhile. We are aware that some parents are having issues accessing Compass and this is a wonderful opportunity to develop your knowledge. Please bring a device or your mobile.

The children from Kinder to Year 6 have been busy preparing their writing and artwork for the Braidwood Show on Saturday March 2. We thank Ms Krys Wise our Librarian who has been busy putting the display together. We hope you can all come along and see their magnificent work.

Next Thursday, Students from Kinder and Year 6 will be attending the launch of the Braidwood Writers Festival at Ryrie Park at 11am. The students have commenced drafting their stories for the Writers Festival and are looking forward to sharing their finished work with everyone. The Writers Festival will be held next term.

This week we welcomed Mr Bob Fletcher to St Bede’s. Bob is teaching PE to all students K-6. The students from K-2 have two PE sessions per week and the students from Years 3 to 6 receive a double session of PE on either Tuesday or Wednesday, which combines their PE allocation into one session. During the PE lessons the students are taught skills and games and are preparing for the Cross Country later this term. The K-2 students are focusing on a gross motor skills program to assist with balance and coordination, strength, awareness, and movement. Bob is an experienced educator and has a passion for teaching and sport.

During term four, St Bede’s will be having a concert which all students from Kinder to Year 6 will participate in. We have an expert team in the performing Arts who will be at St Bede’s for a week auditioning and practising for two performances, a matinee and an evening. More information is to be provided closer to the event.

Supervision for all students commences at 8:30am each morning. Students should not be arriving at school beforehand as there is no supervision. We have had children regularly dropped off from 8am which is concerning as there may not be any staff in attendance. Parents, we would appreciate your assistance with this for safety and duty of care.

Last night our Community Council conducted their first meeting for the year. A big focus for the meeting was fundraising. We have a few initiatives planned for this term. Parents we need your help with the kiosk for the Show on Saturday, March 2 and the Camp Draft on Saturday March 9. If you can assist, please contact Kristi Morrison on 0410902965 or a member of the Community Council. Our Community Council members are Richard Bunn-Chair, Kate Ellis -  Secretary, Katie Lyons-Treasurer, Sarah Paciorek-Parish Representative, and Sarah Hickey, Clare Young and Emily Krout-Ryan parent representatives. Many hands make light work!

God Bless

Principal

Our School Counsellor, Faith, will be visiting St Bede's on Wednesdays this year. Please see the below information from Faith regarding the service and how to make an appointment.

Greetings from the School Counsellor and important information about how to access School Counselling.

Hello lovely St. Bede’s families. My name is Faith and I have been part of the Marymead CatholicCare Student and Family Counselling team since 2019. During such time, I have worked in our regional primary and secondary schools as a student and family counsellor.

I am a social worker; I have previously worked in legal, AOD, and homelessness sectors. My passion for my role stems from an innate desire to help. I strive to assist my clients in acknowledging their strengths and realising their potential. I love working with diverse needs and have particular interest in neurodiversity.

In my school counselling work, I provide short term client centred support to children and their families drawing from Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), Strengths Based, Mindfulness and Trauma informed approaches in a developmental context. For more complex issues I also provide referrals and information/parent consultation.

Please feel free to touch base with any questions or concerns relating to the counselling service. I am at St. Bede’s on Wednesdays each week.

How to make an appointment.

If your child was seen by the school counsellor in previous years and you would like them to receive support in 2024, we require you to complete a new counselling registration form. The link can be found below. New referrals and requests can be made via the same link.

Parent consent for counselling continues to be required for all primary school students and will be sought and provided via email. Where parents are separated, we require the written consent of both parents. Once the referral has been received, I will contact parents on a Wednesday to further discuss the referral and determine whether school counselling can meet your child’s needs or if an external referral may be more appropriate.

Referrals can be submitted here https://mccg.my.site.com/housing/s/school-referral-form

More about School counselling/how to access school counselling at St. Bede’s.

As part of the pastoral care program for students at St. Bede’s, students have access to a Student and Family Counselling service provided by Marymead CatholicCare Canberra & Goulburn (MCCG). MCCG are contracted by the CEO to provide a counselling service to students and their families on site. There is no fee to access this service. The service offers short term counselling support (5 – 6 sessions per referral issue, totalling one term worth off support on a fortnightly basis) to children and their families – the counsellor can also provide referrals or advice for more complex issues requiring intensive or long-term therapy/support.

The role of the counsellor is to focus on the emotional, social, and educational well-being of the students. Counsellors welcome contact with students having difficulty with some part of their life, the concern does not have to be a big one. It is better to seek help sooner rather than later. Some typical concerns that counsellors work with include anger, anxiety, behavioural problems, low mood, family changes/separation, grief and loss, learning and educational challenges, parenting challenges, peer and other social relationships, school avoidance, stress and study skills. As well as individual sessions with students, counsellors consult with parents and teachers and make referrals to other services and supports. 

Student and Family Counsellors subscribe to a set of professional ethics that include duty of care and respect for the individual rights to privacy and confidentiality. The counsellors’ obligation is to ensure the safety, wellbeing, and confidentiality of the student they are working with. All counsellors are mandated to report any disclosure or sign of abuse (including self-harm) or neglect to Child Protection Services. Outside of these mandated requirements, all counselling sessions are confidential, and the details will not be discussed with other parties unless consent is given by the client.

Faith Costigan – Student and Family Counsellor.

The St Bede's Community Council Fundraising Sub-committee are seeking volunteers to assist on the Drinks and Ice Cream Stall at the Braidwood Show on Saturday 2 March, 2024. We will be operating from 9am to 9pm. 

We are also assisting the Year 5/6 Camp Fundraising Parents in the Campdraft Canteen on Saturday 16 March from 7am to 4pm. We are seeking volunteers to run the Drinks and Ice Cream Stall. 

Both events are held at The Braidwood Showground.

Please contact Kristi Morrison on 0410 902 965 if you are able to assist with either of these events. Thank you in advance. 

Parents please note: St Bede's is a Nut Free school and as such the sharing of any food, lollies or confectionery is not encouraged, as we have several students that have severe reactions. Therefore Nutella, Peanut Butter and any other nut butters or nut products are strongly discouraged.

Len Mutton & Co are the supplier of all St Bede's uniforms.

We also have at St Bede's a 2nd hand Uniform Pool that is run by the Community Council and coordinated by a parent volunteer. It keeps a small supply of 2nd hand uniforms that are available for sale. Please note that as we rely on uniforms being donated that supply is limited and we do not have all sizes. If any families have uniforms that they are no longer using and would like to donate them, please drop these into the office.

If you would like to place an order for a 2nd hand uniform, please either email the office on office.stbedesb@cg.catholic.edu.au or call in and complete a request form.

At St Bede's canteen is run every 2nd Monday and the running of canteen is dependant on volunteers - we require at least 2 parent volunteers per canteen.

Please see the roster below - if you are able to help please contact Brenda, Trish or the office to have your name added.

If canteen is cancelled your child will need to bring their own lunch, as per a non canteen day. 

If you have any questions about what is required to help on canteen please contact Brenda on 0438 275 032 or Trish on 0412 889507 or 02 48422027.

Please note that any parents volunteering for canteen must have a current Working With Children Check (WWCC). WWCC can be applied for through Service NSW (link) applying for a WWCC. Once you have received the clearance please send a copy of the email + your date of birth to the office as the clearances are checked.

Term 4 Canteen