St Bede’s College

At St Bede’s, we take seriously our obligations to the Church and to society to prepare a future generation of highly-educated young Catholics who aspire to the highest positions and whose lives are infused with the values of Jesus Christ. As with Jesus Christ, so too with us: a profound respect for the individual is central to all our endeavours. In the community that is St Bede’s we engage actively in creating an environment that is safe and secure, profoundly respectful and nurturing, challenging and affirming for the individuals in our care. Only in such an environment do we believe that individuals can see afresh the faith that is their heritage, and can develop a mature and theologically informed appreciation of that faith.

Our objectives are very clear. In the first place we attempt to provide an experience of the Church that is positive and formative for the lives of our students. By this we mean that in every area of school life, there is the recognition that what we do is done in the name of the Church and that Church is a caring loving community which enables our coming together precisely because we share a belief in Jesus Christ as the one through whom the whole world has been transformed. The reality of this experience touches every dimension of our academic endeavour: its presence is signalled most especially in the quality of the relationships that exist in the school community and the way in which we as a community celebrate our life together in liturgy.

Secondly, we believe our students have the right to experience an understanding of their faith that is commensurate with their intellectual abilities as persons. We seek to create theologically literate young adults, who not only understand their faith but have the ability to articulate that faith in an ever increasingly secular world. It is their right, whatever their personal faith positions, to understand the philosophical and theological principles that form the basis of Catholic doctrine.

Thirdly, we take seriously our responsibility to assist in the growth and development of each individual in wisdom and grace, into happy, mature, and responsible adults - at peace with themselves as persons and in harmony with other human beings. We want all our students not merely to feel respected, but cared for and loved throughout their stay with us.

Finally, we seek to imbue our students with a burning sense of anger, and a concomitant sense of responsibility, for the injustices that are manifest in our world. The future belongs to them, and their mission in the world is to build a better future for all of God’s people, whatever their profession in life. We want them to understand that God has no hands but our hands, and the Kingdom of God cannot be built except through a self-sacrificing commitment to Gospel values in their personal lives.

Enter the doors of St Bede’s and experience a quality of industriousness and a quality of happiness in the whole school endeavour. Witness the relationships between students, between students and staff, between staff and staff. Marvel at the whole school involvement in raising consciousness of the less fortunate of our world. Experience a community that is clear in its value, purposeful and professional in the pursuit of excellence, confident of its calling by God ‘to make all things new’.