Greetings from St Bede’s College.

There are signs of the seasons changing, evidenced by the leaves turning and falling, the wet weather and falling temperatures and the change from summer sports programmes to the winter codes. Summer sport finished on Saturday. The fields didn’t get much respite as winter sports are well under way this week!!

On the cultural front, this weekend the Bishop Lyons Shield will be staged at Catholic Cathedral College. This is a competition of Catholic secondary schools from the Diocese, featuring public speaking, debating, scripture reading and religious questions. It is not only a competition that is sometimes fiercely contested, but also an opportunity for the Catholic school community from the Diocese to come together. The schedule for the weekend is attached below and anyone is welcome to attend.

Also in the newsletter we will detail the very good results of the summer sports tournament week. The rowers and the athletes performed most creditably, and the water polo team won the South Island Championships for the second year running.

At the end of this term and the beginning of the second term we hold our Learning Conference Days. Next Friday, junior students and their parents have the opportunity to meet with teachers to discuss their progress, and on the first day of next term, senior students have a similar opportunity. Whether parents can attend or not, we expect all students to come to the conference.

We see these days as being very important, even more effective if all parties - teacher student and parent are in the same conversation. We have seen that there is greater learning from those conversations if all three are round the same table. The hope is that as a result, your son’s progress and achievement is tracked and monitored effectively throughout the year.

As the year progresses, we think it beneficial for parents and students as part of that ongoing conversation to not only cover what is happening this year, but also in the future. The meetings with subject and form teachers are also the opportunity to talk about the future. What are the possibilities of pursuing a certain subject or group of subjects, and what are future career prospects as a result? Often those conversations sow a seed for future decisions.

Until next week.

Justin Boyle