Bonjour tout le monde

I hope you all survived the wild weather yesterday and did not experience any damage. We were fortunate at school that our biggest problem has been litter and plant debris blown across the grounds.

Guiding Our Children in the Digital World

At the eSafety Summit last week, Nicky Sloss, Education Manager at eSafety Commissioner Office, spoke about social media, young people and the dangers they have seen children exposed to in the online world.

As parents and educators, we want our children to grow up as confident, kind and discerning young people that able to make good choices in every part of their lives, including online. Social media can offer opportunities for creativity and connection, but it also brings risks that our children are not yet ready to manage on their own. Legislation to be introduced on December 10th, will restrict under 16s from creating or keeping accounts on many social media platforms. This age restrictions recognise the dangers children are being exposed to such as adult content, targeted advertising, developing online addictions, and artificial intelligence chatbots that can engage in conversations that feel real but may not always be appropriate, safe or truthful. Many of the social media spaces have not designed for young minds still learning how to judge what is true, safe and respectful.

School and home partnerships in this space means helping our children understand the difference between what is real and what is not, what is acceptable/safe/respectful/appropriate behaviour and what is content creation, and encouraging them to use technology in ways that build up others rather than distract or harm.

At school we explicitly teach the students about safe online behaviours and regularly review these. At home you can help by:

Talking regularly with children about what they see and do online.
Setting clear boundaries around app use and screen time.
Modelling respectful and balanced use of technology.
Encouraging time for real conversations, play and rest.

By working together, families and schools can help children develop healthy habits and a thoughtful approach to the digital world. We can guide our children to use technology wisely grounded in safety, kindness and respect for themselves and others.

For more information about the Age Restrictions, visit the following page on the eSafety Commissioner website: Social Media Age Restrictions and your Family

Division Volleyball

On Wednesday our Year 6 Boys Volleyball team competed at the Division Volleyball competition. The team played really well and showed great sportspersonship, demonstrating the St Bede's values of Being Respectful and Resilient. Thank you to Justin McFarlane that coached, supervised and supported them.

Confirmation

Congratulations to our Year 6 Confirmation candidates. There is more about Confirmation on the Reflection page.

Colour Run

The Colour Run is on next Thursday 30th October. Please make sure you sign up to support this event. The SRC are currently surveying their classes to gather the 'Wish List' from the students on what they would like to money raised to be spent on. The PA are looking for helpers on the day. Please see the Colour Run page for more details.

School Closure Days

Monday 3rd November (day before Cup Day) - Time in Lieu (TIL) acquittal

Monday 24th November - Religious Education/Faith Development Professional Learning

Class Groupings for 2026

In preparing for the 2026 school year, our teachers will soon begin the process of placing the children into class groupings. As you can appreciate, there are a number of considerations for classroom placement, including but not limited to the following:

• Gender balance

• Academic ability

• Social and Emotional learning needs

• Behavioural needs

• Separation of siblings / relatives

I ask you to trust the teachers’ judgement and professionalism in making a decision that is in each child’s best interest. However, if you have any relevant information regarding the placement of your child, please email me directly on principal@sbedesbn.catholic.edu.au to request a ‘Consideration for Placement of Student Form 2026’. This information will be taken into account when teachers are placing children in classes. The form needs to be submitted directly to me, not to the classroom teachers, by Friday 31st October. Any previous discussions with your child’s teacher/s, must be redirected to me via this form. No requests will be considered after this time.

Please note, requests for children to be placed together or with a specific teacher are not relevant factors and will not be considered. The students have the opportunity to request students they work with and teachers are aware of the children’s friendships. Social factors such as children not relating well together may be considered, but this reason must be submitted on the official form.

If you are not planning to return to St Bede's in 2026, please let me know as soon as possible.

Que Dieu bénisse

Kathryn

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