Student Stories & Community Updates

Indigenous Immersion Experience 

Last month, a group of Year 10 students were fortunate to take part in an Indigenous Immersion camp at 'Saltbush’ in Balnarring. One of our students, Harry McCawley shares his experience with us. 

"The Indigenous Immersion camp was an amazing opportunity to experience one of the world's richest yet ignored cultures that has existed for over 40,000 years. Under the guidance of Adam, a proud member of the Bunurong People, our group from St Bede’s and Kilbreda College participated in numerous activities in the countryside of Balnarring.

From smoking ceremonies, to creating fire with sticks, learning about geology, painting artwork in a meditative space and baking traditional indigenous cuisine; all in a picturesque natural environment - these activities kept us immersed and served as a valuable insight into a thriving culture. My personal favourites were learning about the numerous bush medicines that were used as ancient remedies from Shaun who was very passionate about his craft. It was also great to perform firestick farming, maintaining and transporting a campfire to control burn all the dried grasses.

Besides the activities, I found this camp an invaluable retreat from the overstimulation of the modern world. The escape into the natural scenery, away from the urban environment and technology was refreshing. Before this camp, I used to be quite ignorant of Indigenous culture, but this experience has made me view the practices of the Aboriginal peoples as simple, yet so purposeful. Unlike the Western World, they didn’t want much and fulfilled their lives with a communal and spiritual connection to the country. It truly made me rethink what I value in my life.

Finally, this was a great opportunity to spend time with friends back in the cabins and even make new ones. I had numerous profound conversations and laughs during this experience that I will remember for a lifetime. I also want to thank Mrs Zigouras for going to the extra effort just to make my birthday so special!

This camp was an insightful and fun time that I am glad I had the privilege of experiencing. I thank Mrs Zigouras, Mrs Griffiths as well as all the other staff and facilitators who made this camp possible."

Year 8 Medieval Day 

As part of their History studies and in particular the unit on Medieval Europe, our Year 8 students participated in a Medieval History Day run by ‘Medieval Education’ at our Bentleigh East Campus in July. This interactive learning experience allowed students to better understand social, economic, political and cultural achievements and changes that were occurring during Medieval Europe.

Grouped by their Houses, students enjoyed great opportunities to get to know each other, and participated in four activities and a combined tournament to end the day. 

By all accounts, everyone enjoyed a fun day of learning, catching up with their House peers and making new friends. 

“Medieval Day was interesting because we got to learn about many different things that happened in medieval times. Archery was really fun because we got to learn how to shoot a bow and arrow and see how far and high we can shoot the arrow. For Crime and Punishment, we got to learn about how people were tested and prisoned in medieval times. We also got to learn how to fight with swords and what knights used. It was a really fun day to learn because we get to learn about the topic and get to do many activities involved with each topic. Our favourite activity was Archery - it was really fun.” Akira Thai & Lucas Ricci (8.3B)

“The weapons and armour showcase was by far our favourite part of medieval day. The weapons looked realistic and gave a good insight of how weapons and armour advanced and changed over the years during medieval times. We even got to wear and hold the gear; it was very heavy! Overall medieval day was a very good experience and we would definitely do it again.” Ethan Nguyen & Aidan Johnson (8.3B)

"We visited Bentleigh East Campus to engage in different activities designed to further our knowledge of medieval Europe. In archery, we lined up our shot and got to shoot at a practice dummy roughly ten meters away, it was challenging but fun. We also learnt many different things in some theory lessons, and my favourite was the armoury and weapons . It was interesting to see the timeline of weapons and armour and learn what each weapon did. Last was the tournament which was definitely one of the best, people selected from the crowd got the opportunity to fight a person in armour, it was a great spectacle to see everyone attempt to hit the knight. Overall the day was a success, it taught us many things about medieval times and was a good escape from normal lessons in school."Noah Sheahan (8.1M)

“I really liked Weapons and Armour because people put armour on and we got to hold it. Crime & punishment- It was really brutal to see all of the ways people punished others. Sometimes they would get punished for being too loud. The medieval games were really fun and I did pretty well in them, but they were challenging because of the people I was against. In troubadours class it was all about entertainment. We watched a skit about the different types. There was a juggling competition and I won. It was a fun day.” Luke Haydon (8.4M)

“My favourite activity on Medieval Day was archery because it was good to use the bow and arrow for the first time and launch it as far as I could. The lady teaching us made it really fun and interactive. Archery is not a sport you usually do every day, which made the experience even better, even though I was terrible. Therefore, in my opinion archery was by far the most fun activity out of them all.” William Jones (8.1M)

Mathematics Incursions 

Students have enjoyed a recent flurry of fun activity and special events centred around mathematics. Highlights included maths comedian Simon Pampena (Numeracy Ambassador of Australia) and a Mathematics Enrichment session with University of Melbourne's School of Mathematics and Statistics. Now, over to our students to tell you about these experiences. 

Maths Comedian Incursion 

"Year 9 had the opportunity to watch a ‘math comedian’. Our initial impressions were “this is going to be a waste of our time” or “how could a math comedian be funny”. However, from the start, Simon came in with confidence and full of energy which immediately lit up the room. Considering our group of 14 and 15 year olds, he managed to capture our attention and engaged us with funny jokes that involved different aspects of math and involved us in some of his jokes as well. He invited Thomas McDonell backstage and when he came back out, he was dressed in a pi-man costume that made everybody laugh. Simon used his clever humour and math skills to create a memorable performance that was enjoyed by everyone." Lachlan Dooley (9.5)

"Maths comedian Simon Pampena came and entertained us nonstop for a whole hour. His enthusiasm was infectious and made everybody laugh. It was very interesting how he related sports to maths and got everyone involved, whether it be in the crowd or as volunteers." Will Aufner  

Mathematics Enrichment Program 

"The University of Melbourne Micro-Mathematics incursion served as a great opportunity for the development of many students’ skills. The team from School of Mathematics and Statistics travelled to our Mentone campus  to challenge, educate us and extend our learning. The theme was finding patterns in problems, something that some students took to easily and some students not so well. I was part of the group that didn’t understand the area of maths explored, which puzzled me because I had always enjoyed problem-solving in maths before. It was only after reflection and conversations with my teacher that I came to a realisation about my strengths and weaknesses as a mathematician. I now realise that I prefer being given a question and finding an answer to the cryptic problems scrutinised in this workshop. I certainly gained a valuable message about my strengths and weaknesses in maths, which I can use to improve my skills in the future. Thanks to the University of Melbourne for leading the session and Mr. Davis, Ms. McCullagh, and the other staff members." Will Aufner 

"Throughout the day, the University led us through many exercises meant to show us new ways of looking at statistical problems. They let us experiment in groups with hands on exercises, before reeling us all in and showing us a new way of approaching how to solve each problem. After we figured all of that out, they also showed us how to connect the problems through binary representation, and how each problem was actually the same. It was a very eye opening day, and we came away from it with new ways of thinking." Ethan Molina 

Andrew Davis & Patrick Rejman                                   Brenda McCullagh 

Learning Leaders - Mathematics (Years 7 to 9)           Gifted and Talented Program Director 

Gifted & Talented Program 

Program Naming Competition 

As we embark on the inaugural implementation of our Gifted and Talented program at St Bede's College, we've engaged with a group of Year 11 and 12 students to develop a name for this program to truly capture the essence of our highly capable students.

Their brief is to create a program name that infuses the distinctive spirit of St. Bede's, and aligns with our faculty's values and purpose. At our College, inclusivity isn't a catchphrase; it's a core commitment that we value and celebrate, putting student voice front and centre. 

By giving our students agency in this process, they get opportunities for leadership, creativity and strategic thinking - as well as leaving a legacy that will be passed through future students for many years to come. We're already so impressed with the extraordinary submissions from our participating students so far! 

The winning entry will be awarded a personal reference from Principal Frizza and myself, a Certificate of Achievement and a program name immortalised in a logo design for the program. 

We look forward to sharing these with our senior consulting panel and our Community. This collaborative effort represents another stride towards building on the inclusive and supportive environment for all here at St Bede's College. 

Stay tuned! 

Brenda McCullagh 

Gifted & Talented Program Director 

Celebrating Student Excellence

Congratulations to Jack Surkitt and Max Matthews, who won the National Championship for Victorian U15 AFL team on Saturday. Brilliant work boys! 

ACC Sport  

WEEK 3 RESULTS 

Some great results by our Beda teams! Keep up the good work. 

Highlights from our Bentleigh East Campus teams

• Year 7s continue to produce dominant performances in their ACC Divisions, with Week 3 wins in both Table Tennis and Basketball. 
• After some soul-searching over the past week, the Year 9 “A” and “B” Basketball Teams achieved their first wins, comfortably beating St Joseph’s FTG. Their improved focus on defense was the difference, bringing a higher intensity and more organised approach to the court.  

Highlights from our Mentone Campus teams

• Michael Bohan and Erin Napier have the Year 8 Basketball team humming at the moment! 
• Coach G (Nick Gleeson) remaining positive despite a couple of early season losses for the Year 9 Basketball team. He said this after the loss to Parade last week -  “The way I see it, if you want the rainbow, you gotta put up with the rain!”
• Our junior Table Tennis teams coached by Jess Kirk and Bridget Day both undefeated this season. Could we have a couple of challengers to Mazenod’s stranglehold on Table Tennis titles?

Guy Martyn                                                         Steve Laska 

Director of Sport                                                 Learning Area Leader and Sports Coordinator 

Environment Update 

War on Waste - Season 3 

The ABC's War on Waste returns with a powerful depiction of Australia's waste problem. 

In typical form, the show cleverly uses staggering visuals, such as a 50m long table laden showing 500kg of food that the average Australian family discards each year. Not to mention daring stunts to expose industries that need to do more to reduce their waste production.

This season sees host Craig Reucassel challenge pharmaceutical companies for failing to recycle medicine blister packs, returning boxes to them for emphasis. He also takes on fast fashion, gatecrashing Melbourne Fashion Week wearing a plastic dress to raise awareness about fashion waste. 

The show's undeniable impact has led to positive change in Australia, such as the reduction of single-use plastic bags and increased awareness about waste reduction. While COVID-19 and other setbacks have hampered progress, the show aims to reignite the public's interest in waste reduction and encourage governments, councils, and businesses to take action. 

Reucassel encourages viewers to recognise what they can do individually and call for collective action to tackle waste issues. The show is eager to engage with the audience, just as young viewers' "pester power" led to household changes in the past. 

Through online sharing, hashtags, and social media, they hope to inspire people to demand more responsible waste practices from retailers, fashion houses, councils, and other entities capable of making a significant impact. We encourage you to watch this series as a family, and help create positive change for the environment. 

War on Waste Season 3 airs July 25 at 8.30 pm on ABC TV and iview. 

Kylie Paterson-Zigouras & Ross Hunter 

Integral Ecological Leaders 

Enrolments Reminder Year 7 2025 

Applications close 18 August, 2023 

A reminder for families with children who will be enrolling for Year 7, 2025 to complete their application online here.

We acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land, the Bunurong people of the Kulin Nation, whose ancient wisdom nurtured these lands and waters for millennia.