Greetings from St Bede’s College.

Best wishes to all of you in your respective bubbles.

In these unprecedented times, as we come to the end of the first week of the second term, I am conscious that prior to this newsletter you would have received many other communications from us. As we work through Level 4 and towards Level 3, we will continue to communicate with you as further implications will need your input.

While the education of your sons remains very important to us, so does their well-being and the well-being of families. As a school we are very conscious of the role we play in the wider scheme of things, as we do what we can to help get the country up and running again. We will be guided by the Ministries of Health and Education as we prepare to open our school for learning whether that is online, or for those Year 9 - 10s who elect to come back to school when we go to Alert Level 3. Communications to junior parents have been sent out this morning as regards this, and Mr McDowall will send out further communications to senior parents very soon regarding the boys learning. Please respect that at a national level we only know as much as you do, and hope to work closely with you to navigate through these next stages.

I want to assure parents that we are being guided very well by the Ministry of Education. In a time not dissimilar to post earthquake, their response in helping schools negotiate the challenge, won’t place unrealistic expectations on staff and students. In their thinking, they are factoring in the extra strain placed on families endeavouring to re-establish their own livelihoods, and the additional stress many are facing. We follow their lead in the decisions we will make as we progress through this period. We want to reassure parents and boys that their education, while disrupted, will not be disadvantaged by this event. This was the case in 2011, where there were major disruptions to the school year, and there is no reason why this won’t be any different this year.

I encourage parents to be in contact with the school, and if you have any pastoral concerns relating to your son and family, we will endeavour to help. We also appreciate your feedback as regards to online learning. It has many challenges but we are learning and adapting quickly!!!

Our aim is to remain connected in a variety of ways with the student body, led by the senior students we are preparing a student assembly which will inform and perhaps entertain!! It invites boys to be engaged in a number of ways, but is also another way to pass on messages as well. One we wanted to impress upon the boys was the role they continue to play in their own bubbles. Another is the importance of getting some routine, taking into account that every bubble is different. We have already seen that our young men will learn self-regulating skills and resilience that they may not have otherwise gained, and in the end this experience will help shape them as men, one of the most important roles we have as a College in partnership with you the parents. These are some of the potential benefits we see already emerging that will stand them in good stead in the future. 

All the best and God bless,

J.G. Boyle