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St Bede's College
 
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Greetings from St Bede's

Mr Justin Boyle —

We end the 5th week of the term, and along with the rest of the Catholic Community look forward to the ordination of Bishop-Elect Paul Martin which occurs tomorrow.

It is expected that over 130 priests will be in attendance. Three of those visited the College today. 93 year old Fr Bob Lee taught at St Bede’s College in the 1950s as did 86 year old Fr Pat McCann, who were accompanied by Fr Rod Milne. All three live in the Home of Compassion in Silverstream. It was the first time Fr Bob and Fr Pat had been back to the College and they co-celebrated mass in our temporary chapel as part of their visit.

Of note too is the 90th birthday celebrations of Fr Manning, who still leads Benediction every Friday morning at the College.

We honoured our top academics at assembly yesterday. The introductory message was shared by year 13 students Robert Methven, Karl Mulholland and Alan Alex, and I include excerpts of their messages which are worth reading.

Robert

The boy in the front left side got excellence endorsement last year... The boy in the back corner got achieved for everything he did... In the middle, just over there, that boy worked extremely hard last year… Another boy just a few boys down from you, started off his year real cruisy but came home strong. I point out all these outcomes of academic success because they all have one thing in common. All these boys achieved their personal excellence. Excellence is not only a type of credit you can earn, but it is an attitude in which you can conduct yourself into achieving your own personal excellence. 

First and foremost, congratulations to all the boys walking the stage today to receive their awards, for the achievements we are here to recognise; whether that be a merit or excellence endorsement. You’ve achieved at a high level and deserve this recognition. Furthermore, congratulations to all those who tried hard to achieve their excellence in the classroom last year no matter what year level. Your efforts are not forgotten because achieving highly isn't something that comes along easy. 

The greats weren't great because at birth they could paint. The greats were great because they painted a lot. The boys achieving their personal excellence didn’t just turn up and do it. They were great because the put in the hard work. Alongside that, the greats were great because they had great teachers who we as the student body would like to recognise and thank. The boys walking the stage today are a reflection of all the effort you put into making St Bede’s wonderful learning environment.

Karl

Establishing a positive self learning environment is important to achieving your individual excellence. Striving for success, embracing opportunity and everyone matters. These are all key BLE - Bedean Learning Environment aspects in which tie in with your individual success here at St Bedes college. We can all choose to implement these particular BLE values into are learning to insure we achieve our personal excellence as Robert spoke about. Learning is an opportunity provided to all students attending St Bedes College, but we, the student body have to be willing to embrace this opportunity with open minds. A quote from Abraham Maslow says, “In any given moment we have two options: to step forward into growth or to step back into safety.”

Alan

Today you will see a lot of guys walk this stage for their success and it's quite easy to get lost behind the meaning of the word excellence, so it only seems appropriate that we heed to the words of the great Aristotle. “we are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act but a habit.” We become what we practice in all aspects of our life. So excellence is not just a grade but it’s a way of living. It’s the way we conduct ourselves not just with the blazer but also without it. It's not just the work inside the classroom but its maintaining that BLE – Bedean Learning Environment in all aspects and at the end of the day that is what translates into our grades and more importantly the men we become.

Until next time

Justin Boyle