Principal 

Welcome back to the College and welcome to our new school term.

We have enjoyed the recent holidays and I hope that you all had the opportunity to do the things you love with the people you love. Holy Week and the Easter period fell in the middle weekend of this break.  For all Christians, Easter is a solemn time when we reflect on the Passion narrative and remember the suffering and death of Jesus Christ before celebrating his triumphant resurrection.  On the evening of Holy Thursday, we specifically recalled the Last Supper and the simple, yet powerful, example of Christ ‘breaking bread’ and sharing a meal with his followers. On Good Friday, many Catholics “walked” the Stations of the Cross, deeply reflecting on the suffering of Jesus and of all humanity. Easter Sunday allowed us to celebrate Jesus Christ rising again - his death and subsequent resurrection are central to our Faith and a reminder that we too can begin anew. 

At our assembly in the final week of term, students were challenged to reflect on the personal challenge of renewal that Easter brings.  I pray that we can all experience the hope and renewal that comes with the celebration of Easter.  In fact, given the circumstances that our world continues to find itself in, amidst the ongoing challenges of our global pandemic and the unfolding tragedy of the conflict in Ukraine, the Easter message of hope and new beginnings assume even increased relevance.

The St Bede’s College community recently received the news that we have been accredited by the Council of International Schools. This is a tremendous achievement for our college community. My deepest appreciation to those involved in the process and my sincere congratulations to all. The letter informing us of our accreditation included the following:

 “Warmest congratulations to you, your staff and the entire school community on achieving accredited status. In reaching its decision, CIS took into account the Evaluation Team’s commendations which were based on evidence of excellent and effective alignment with the standards for CIS accreditation. In granting the award of accreditation, CIS believes that the commendations – or strengths of the school – far outweigh areas where the school does not align with the standards. These strengths should be celebrated by the school community. 

The award of CIS accreditation recognises your school’s commitment to student well-being and high-quality learning and teaching as well as to global citizenship and intercultural learning.”

The biggest strength identified was that of the strength of the community and the relationships between the different groups that make up our community.  Alongside this, the College was strongly commended on its approach towards child safety. These elements will assist us to work on those areas that have been identified for further improvement (which align with those areas listed later in this report, so had already been self identified by the College).

There are benefits to our students and parents to being a member of the Council of International Schools.  Primarily these are:

• Connection with universities across the world, including support to apply for universities overseas.
• Resources relating to global issues.

Further information can be found at this site:  https://www.cois.org/for-students-and-parents/students

Late in the holiday period, we had the opportunity to recognise and pay tribute to those who fought for our country to provide us with the freedoms we enjoy today.  It was an honour to attend the ceremony on April 25th at the Mentone RSL. St Bede’s students participated in the ceremonies at both the Mentone and the Bentleigh RSLs.

The following has been taken from the Australian Government Department of Veteran Affairs, ANZAC Portal, to remind us of why we commemorate ANZAC Day on April 25. 

“Before dawn on 25 April 1915, the first soldiers of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landed on the shores of the Gallipoli peninsula.  The men were part of a British and French led invasion.  The Allies' mission was to destroy Turkish guns that were preventing naval ships from reaching and bombarding the Turkish capital, Constantinople.  If they succeeded, Turkey might be forced out of the war and Germany would lose an important ally.  Some 2000 Australians were killed or wounded on 25 April.  It was a day of confusion and fear.  One soldier called it ‘a day of sorrow' as he remembered the dead and wounded. At Anzac Cove, the Australians were the first to land.  The New Zealanders followed later in the day.  They advanced about a mile in some places, less in others, but they could go no further.  For the next eight months, the campaign was a stalemate.  In December, the Anzacs were evacuated. By then, about 8700 Australians and almost 2700 New Zealanders had been killed.  They were some of at least 130,000 soldiers on both sides who lost their lives at Gallipoli”.

I have now completed a term at St Bede’s College and have thoroughly enjoyed my time. The people who make up the community are outstanding, and it has been a privilege and an honour to be able to count myself as a member of this College.  Later in the term, when restrictions eased, we were able to hold our opening school assembly and to welcome parents and families back on site.  A few years ago, we may not have considered this to be anything unusual; now, it has become so special.

Even though it is early in my term as principal of the College, I am completing the “360 degree-reflection tool”, designed by the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership.  This will provide me with valuable feedback and assist with my ability to identify my initial strengths and learn of areas needing improvement. I will complete this again within the next 12 months or so to identify any changes that have followed from the initial feedback.

We are now zeroing in on four of the main areas identified for attention as part of the Campus amalgamation process.  These are:

• Middle Years Pedagogy (how and what are we teaching in the middle years and our use of data to inform our practice)
• Senior Years Pathways (identifying the different pathways available to our students to ensure they can follow the pathway most suitable for their post-secondary schooling life).
• Student Wellbeing (Respectful Relationships, The Resilience Project, preventative approaches to wellbeing).
• Community (an identified strength of St Bede’s College, but how do we go about rebuilding and renewing school community life following the disruption of the pandemic).

Committees have been established for each of these four identified areas and goals are being developed for each.  There will be times we will ask for feedback, but I also encourage anyone who wishes to provide feedback in any of these areas to contact me on principal@stbedes.catholic.edu.au 

Per Vias Rectas

Deb Frizza

Principal