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 Parents,

On Tuesday 21st November, the Presentation Sisters around the world will celebrate their Foundation Day, known as Presentation Day. Our school was founded by the Presentation Sisters 138 years ago so their history and involvement in our school, is an integral part of our history. Nano Nagle founded the sisters and we now have a Colour house named after her – Nagle House. Nano Nagle was born in 1718 in Ballygriffin in Ireland. She had 4 sisters and 2 brothers. Catholic schools were not allowed so Nano attended a forbidden ‘hedge’ school. When Nano was 12 she was smuggled to France for the education forbidden in Ireland. She was well educated, talented and enjoyed life in France but she decided to return to Ireland and teach the poor children. Nano found that this was not possible as the strict laws had not changed. She returned to France in order to become a religious sister and to be able to pray for her Irish people. Nano could not settle to this and knew that she had something important to do. She returned once again to Ireland and lived in Cork with her brother Joseph where she secretly taught children. Soon there were 7 schools being taught by Nano and some other ladies. When she wasn’t teaching, Nano was visiting the sick, poor and lonely around Cork. When it was dark she carried a lantern and soon she was known as the “Lady of the Lantern”. At age 57, Nano Nagle founded the Order of the Sisters of the Presentation of Mary – the Presentation Sisters. There were three ladies with her and she knew that a Religious Order was needed to carry on the work they were doing. She was a sick lady and on the 29th April 1784, she died. In 1886, a small group of sisters left Lucan in Ireland and came to Lismore to establish a Convent and schools. On 11th October 1886, St Carthage’s School was opened.

We will celebrate this special day with a prayer service. We will have representatives from the Presentation Sisters join with us.

May the Spirit of Nano Nagle and her Sisters who have been a part of our school’s history, continue to grow in each of us.

$20 Boss Day

Congratulations to the students from Year 5 who participated in the $20 Boss Market Day today. 

The program was developed in consultation with students and educators and was designed to build the enterprise skills of young people, better preparing them for a future of work.

The program gives students $20 of funding per student to create, launch and operate their own venture over the course of a semester. Students were encouraged to work in groups and have been learning key elements of social entrepreneurship. They have also focussed on how to create social good by benefiting humanity and/or the environment through their business. 

It was a great event that brought the whole school together to celebrate hard work, creativity, innovation and social good. The social entrepreneurship created by students far exceeded expectations, and many charities and organisations will benefit from the students' efforts. 

There are many ways that family and friends have supported the students in the $20 Boss Journey. 

• Thank you to the family and friends who were able to join us on the Market Day and make it such an amazing celebration. 
• Thank you to the family and friends who have assisted our Year 5 students in idea development, planning, production and implementation for their businesses. 
• Thank you to parents and carers for allowing your children to visit the Market Day, this greatly supported the Year 5 students and the charities chosen by each group. 
• Thank you to the Year Five teachers for supporting our students in their creative endeavours.

Year Five Camp
Year Five students will be going to Lennox Head Sport and Recreation for their annual camp in a couple of weeks. They are very excited and are looking forward to participating in the many activities they will be participating in.

School Leaders 2024

Over the past week and next week we will be listening to our Year 5 students campaigning for leadership roles within our school for 2024. Speeches have been presented for School Captains and Vice Captains. These students were nominated by their peers and all students should be very proud of the way they presented their speeches. Colour House Captain speeches will be presented next week. Colour House Captains are students who display school spirit across all areas of the school.

When I spoke to the Year Five group at their Leadership Retreat I began by telling them that leadership is not about being the most popular student or the best athlete or the best scholar but it is more about the qualities, attributes and values that you can bring to the role and about inspiring people to do things they never thought they could and supporting them along the way.

They were asked questions at their retreat such as; what makes a good leader, who is a role model for you in your leadership aspirations and what qualities do you bring to the leadership role you seek. As we know, leadership can be very rewarding but it can also be very challenging, sometimes lonely but always a privilege.

It is exciting to know that we have a group of children who are very excited to be a part of this journey of leadership within our school. I know that any of the children chosen for leadership positions will represent the school well and most importantly represent themselves and their family.  We look forward to congratulating the new leaders in a few weeks time.

Christmas Concert
Our school Christmas Concert will be held on Monday, 11th December starting at 5:15pm with a BYO picnic tea. For those families who are not coming to the picnic tea, we will require all children to be at school at 5:45pm for a 6:00pm start. All our families are invited to bring a chair or picnic blanket along to enjoy the evening’s performance. Students are asked to wear their yellow sports shirt and blue shorts with their black sports shoes. Year 6 students who have a character role will have their costumes provided. All students are expected to participate in this concert, but if your child is unable to do so, please advise their teacher in writing by Friday, 1st December. An invitation is extended to all our new families who will be joining St Carthage’s School community in 2024.

End of Year Mass
On Thursday, 14th December we will celebrate the conclusion of our 2023 school year with Mass at 9:30am in the Cathedral. At the conclusion of Mass, we will farewell the 2023 Year 6 students and the 2024 student School Leaders will be announced. All members of our school community are invited to join
us for this important celebration.

School Reports

School Reports will be emailed home on Friday, 8th December. Some parents may not feel that an interview is required at this time and may prefer to wait for our interview period early in Term 1, 2024, to catch up with your child’s new teacher. If you feel the need for an interview, please contact your child’s teacher directly.

St Vincent de Paul Society

St Vincent de Paul Society Lismore is working to make things a little easier for back to school 2024. They are inviting local families to apply for Back to School assistance.