Week 4 Term 2 2022
Aboriginal Acknowledgement
We acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land throughout Australia and their continuing connection to land, sea and community. We commit ourselves to actively working alongside Aboriginal people for reconciliation and justice.
Dear Families,
I have recently had both the privilege and pleasure of meeting some of our new Kindergarten students and their families for 2023. Many of them are new to our school community and when asked why they have chosen St Carthage’s for their child/children they have unanimously said that they have heard great things about the school. Word of mouth is our best advertisement and it is affirming to hear that our parents are speaking so highly of our school to others and I thank you for continuing to support St Carthage’s.
St Carthage's Feast Day
Monday 16th May was the Feast of St Carthage. St Carthage is the Patron Saint of our parish and our school. Bishop Doyle and the Presentation Sisters who established our school 135 years ago decided that the Cathedral School of our Lismore Diocese should be named St Carthage‘s in honour of a great Saint who was an inspirational leader and a great teacher. St Carthage, whose name is also given as Mochuda, was born of a good family, in what is now County Kerry, Ireland, about the year 555. Mochuda’s father was an important man in the village so he was given everything that he wanted or needed. When he was young, a group of priests were walking through his village singing songs of praise and he was so fascinated that he followed them to the monastery gates. A while later he decided to join this group of priests and was ordained as a priest in 580 when he was thirty years old. Mochuda was very close to his head priest and took his name, Carthage. Later on young Carthage founded a monastery for young priests and he lived there for forty years. Carthage was an inspirational church leader who set up a monastery that attracted 1000 young men to the priesthood. He set up a school that produced many excellent scholars and the school became famous around the country for encouraging a love of learning.
Later in life, Carthage was consecrated Bishop of Lismore, Ireland. He died on May, 14th 637. After his death the church and school were named St Carthage’s in his honour.
St Carthage's Family Night
As a community and as a school we have faced a lot of challenges and changes. Parent Assembly are providing an opportunity for St Carthage's school families to come together to share a meal and listen to a short presentation to help families learn ways to manage the 'Big Feelings' associated with changes and challenges.
This will be a great opportunity for our school community to come together and enjoy some social time and share a meal.
As we are still limited for space the Family Night will be at held at Invercauld House on Wednesday 15th June from 5.30-7.30pm. Everyone is invited.
Please see the flyer and click on the link if you are able to attend.
Covid-19
We have a significant number of students with Covid-19. As we know this virus is very contagious and spreads quickly. We ask that you continue to monitor your child/children for symptoms and test as necessary. Please advise the school if the results are positive.
Close contacts may attend school but must have a negative RAT for 5 school days. We have a limited number of Rapid Antigen Tests for students. If you require these please contact the school. Visitors who are close contacts must advise the office staff and wear a mask when indoors.
We also have a couple of students who have been diagnosed with Influenza A.
If your child/children have cold and/or flu like symptoms they should not attend school.
St Carthage's Learning Statement
Staff developed the following Learning Statement a couple of years ago and it is something that we remind our students of as they continue their learning journey. I thought it appropriate that we share this with our families so this message can be shared at home.
At St Carthage's we believe all students will learn with high expectations, focussed intervention and a collaborative culture.
NAPLAN
Congratulations to our Year 3 and Year 5 students who completed the National Assessment in Literacy and Numeracy over the past 2 weeks.
We thank Mrs Deeps, our Year 3 and Year 5 teachers for ensuring the assessments went smoothly.
Professional Learning Days for Staff – (Pupil free days)
- Friday 1st July (Last day of Term 2)
- Monday 18th July Term 3 (First day of Term 3)
- Friday 23rd September (Last day of Term 3)
Flood Updates
We are slowly returning to our regular classrooms. Our Year One and Year Two students should be able to move back into their rooms in the next couple of weeks. There is work progressing in our hall and administration areas.
We are hopeful that when our bottom playground is dry enough to mow we will be able to use this again. We are grateful for the work that is continuing to happen to get our school operating as normal. We thank our students, staff and families for your patience and flexibility at this time.
There is work also in the Cathedral and the hope is that it will be operational again in September.
Please click on the link to see some photos of our school during and immediately proceeding the flood.
School Protocol
There are times when issues may occur at school, both in and out of the classroom, which may need clarification for parents/carers. It is important that concerns related to school are directed back to the teacher or the Leadership Team. If your child goes home and tells you of an incident that you are concerned about please follow our school protocols of ringing the Office to make an interview time to talk about your concerns. Under no circumstances are parents permitted to approach a student to gain information or deal with such issues.
I appreciate your understanding and support in dealing with these matters according to school procedure.
School Reports and Interviews – advance notice
School Reports will be emailed out on Friday 24th June (Week 9) and interviews with teachers will be held in Week 10. We will again be using the online booking format for Parent/Teacher interviews and more information will be sent home with the Event Code and a reminder on how to book these interviews electronically as the time draws closer.
School Improvement Review
Our school will undergo a School Improvement Review early next term. All Lismore Diocesan Schools undergo this process every three years. School improvement is a continuous process, centred on maximising outcomes for all students, and sustaining this improvement over time.
School improvement;
- is not an event that happens every few years, it is regular and ongoing
- involves all stakeholders; students, staff, parents, the community.
- is about looking forward not back.
- is driven by data and research.
The ultimate purpose of the School Review is to improve the learning and wellbeing outcomes for all students.
The School Review uses the National School Improvement Tool (NSIT) and looks at the following 9 Domains:
- An explicit improvement agenda
- Analysis and discussion of data
- A culture that promotes learning
- A targeted use of school resources
- An expert teaching team
- Systematic curriculum delivery
- Differentiated teaching and learning
- Effective pedagogical practice
- School-community partnerships
More information to follow.
NAPLAN
Congratulations to all our Year 3 and Year 5 students who have now completed their NAPLAN tests. They all did us proud in the way they approached all the tests and tried their best.
Thank you to our Year 3 and Year 5 teachers who ensured that the tests ran smoothly throughout the last two weeks.
School Uniforms
We have been made aware that our school uniforms are now available for purchase at Lowes in Ballina Fair Shopping Centre. We also still have a number of second hand uniforms available at school from the Clothing Pool. The Clothing Pool is open between 10:00am – 12:00pm Wednesday & Thursday.
We encourage students to 'look with the eyes of Jesus' and ACT to make their world a better place...
So...what can we learn about St Carthage? Who was he? What does he have to tell us about acting to make his world a better place??
The life and example of St Carthage can teach us many lessons. In our discussion at school, we placed an emphasis upon his love for learning and devotion to study and prayer.
Does our school encourage a 'love for learning and devotion to study and prayer'? It certainly does!! Here are a few photos from my week at St Carthage's as I walked around and visited a few classes! We put into practice what St Carthage loved.



























Stormbirds Program - Update
The Stormbirds Program will be offered to support students at St Carthage's who have experienced loss and grief as a direct result of the recent flood events. Families will be contacted to invite nominations of children for the program in the coming weeks.
The Program was developed following the Black Saturday fires In Victoria and is based on the belief that change, loss and grief are a normal and natural part of life.
The program offers students an opportunity to:
1) Share their experiences of loss and grief in safe ways
2) To understand and attend to their feelings
3) To learn skills for adapting and recovering
Incitāre - Great Memories!
Incitāre means to stir up, incite, urge, spur - when the Holy Spirit comes into our lives we are invited to spread the good news to all we encounter.
So...I saw students and teachers having a wonderful time at the recent Incitare Retreat at Tullera hall.
The students enjoyed the variety of activities and games, meeting students from other schools, playing games and engaging beautifully with the concluding prayer at the end of the day!
One of the scripture passages focussed their thoguhts upon what does it take to be a 'good' Christian and there were lots of contributions!
Some of the comments the students gave as feedback when I asked them what they learnt from the Retreat...
'to have courage',
'to say yes instead of no,'
'to do things at home without having to be told!'
'to look after your brothers even though they have just been mean to you'!
“AND LET US CONSIDER HOW TO PROVOKE ONE ANOTHER TO LOVE AND GOOD DEEDS, NOT NEGLECTING TO MEET TOGETHER, BUT ENCOURAGING ONE ANOTHER.” Hebrews 10:24
Some photos of our experience at Incitare 22















































Our Lady, Help of Christians - Tuesday 24 May
The feast day of Mary Help of Christians has been celebrated in Australia since 1844.
The infant church in Australia had a special reason for turning to Mary. No priests were sent to the colony in its early days and Mass was not allowed except for one brief year until 1820. It was largely the Rosary in those early days that kept the faith alive.
Catholic Australia remained faithful to Mary and was the first nation to choose her under the title Help of Christians, as principal Patroness. St Mary’s Cathedral was dedicated in her honour by the Irish pioneer priest, Fr John Therry, who arrived in Sydney in 1820 and assumed responsibility for the planning and initial construction of the Cathedral.
When Australia became the first country to have Mary Help of Christians as Patroness, it became the first country to have a mother-cathedral under the same title.
In the Month of May we continue to pray for Peace and Justice in Ukraine
God of peace and justice,
who change the hardened heart
and break the power of violence,
we entrust the people of Ukraine to you.
Protect them in this time of mortal peril;
let them know not death but life,
not slavery but freedom.
You are Father of all;
we are brothers and sisters.
Give us the strength
to live that truth in love,
choosing peace not war.
Through Christ our Lord.
Amen
A reminder that the 26th of May is Sorry Day, and this begins Reconciliation Week
Dates
- Tuesday – 24 May - Our Lady Help of Christians Feast Day
- 26th of May is Sorry Day, and this begins Reconciliation Week
- Sunday 29 May - Ascension of the Lord
- Family Night - Invercauld House - Wednesday 15th June from 5.30-7.30pm
Whole School Writing Focus
In 2022, Writing has continued to be a focus for staff professional learning. This year we have started to explore Lyn Sharratt's Assessment Waterfall Chart which incorporates five components of effective assessment practice. Although the components of this chart will be used across all curriculum areas, our learning is specifically focused on building students who are 'Assessment Capable Learners' when writing.
What is an Assessment Capable Learner?
- Establishing learning intentions that are drawn from the relevant syllabus and clearly describe what students should know, understand and be able to do at the conclusion of a unit of work
- Creating success criteria that describe what success looks like in relation to the learning intentions and are co-created by students and teachers
- Providing explicit descriptive feedback to students in a timely manner and ensuring that it is clearly understood by students
- Building the capacity of students to peer assess and self-assess using the success criteria as a reference
- Developing the capacity for individual goal-setting by students, which includes students asking questions such as ‘What do I need to improve?’ and ‘What is my next step?’.
Richmond Zone Cross Country
After being postponed 3 times and numerous venue changes, the Richmond Zone Cross Country was finally held at Hepburn Park on Wednesday 18th May. 42 students from St Carthage's participated in the cross country. Congratulations to those students who attended the cross country and those who were eligible to attend but were unable to due to illness or other commitments. Your effort, behaviour and sportsmanship was outstanding once again.
Ebony Andrews, Zander Annetts, Louis Bailey, Henry Begley, Lexi Behan, Cooper Bennett, Kaley Bennett, Billy Bradfield, Lara Brown, Hayley Cittolin, Nadia Cittolin, Miller Clarke, Emma Clement, Gus Collings, Vito Cook, Mali Cooper, Alexander Crane, Jack Elphick, Caitlin Gapes, Chelsea Gosling, Ruby Hall, Luella Harris-Kerr, Zara Hellyar, Jonah Hudson Sheaffe, Sammie Jones, Ava Lane, Isla Lindsay, Luca Lombardo, Veiko Lovell, Gene Lovell, Oscar Maher, Jimmi Matthews, Archie Matthews, Eloise McFarlane, Zarni McGregor, Tyler McLennan, Grace Mills, Cooper Munro, Dylan O'Brien, Mila Olivieri, Archie Pietzsch, Bella Sauer, Owen Sauer, Archie Sauer, Amirah Shah, Lacey Simpson, Sarran Thind, Louie Ware, Myles Weekes, Mya Weekes, Isaac Wicks, Jordy Williams, Zavier Zorzo and Eliza Zwiers.
Congratulations to Luella Harris-Kerr, Zara Hellyar, Ava Lane, Luca Lombardo, Veiko Lovell, Gene Lovell, Archie Pietzsch, Archie Sauer and Amirah Shah who placed in the top 8 and will now travel to Grafton on Tuesday to participate in the Lismore Diocesan Cross Country.
















SAVE THE DATE
St Carthage's Athletics Carnival
The St Carthage's Athletics Carnival will be held on Friday 17th June at Hepburn Park. The carnival will look different to how it has in previous years. Unfortunately Riverview Park is unavailable and the only suitable grounds for us to use are Hepburn Park.
The students in Years 2-6 will commence competitive shot put and long jump during sport time in the coming weeks.
Additional information will be provided in the Week 6 newsletter.