Term Three Week Four 2023
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,
It is hard to believe that we are almost half way through the term! There has been so much happening and so much more still to come! Our students are very engaged in their learning and working hard to achieve their Semester Two goals and we applaud their effort and hard work.
The Feast of the Assumption
On Tuesday 15th August, the Church celebrates the Feast Day of the Assumption of Our Lady when, according to our faith, the Holy Mother, “having completed her course of her earthly life was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory".
The Assumption signals the end of Mary's earthly life and marks her return to heaven to be reunited with Jesus. While the bodies of both Jesus and Mary are now in heaven, there is a difference between the Assumption and the Resurrection. Where Jesus arose from the tomb and ascended into heaven by his own power, Mary's body was taken up to heaven by the power of her Son.
Year Six Gala Day
Our Year Six students participated in a Multi Sports Gala Day today. Catholic schools from our local area joined together to participate in a variety of sports where they learnt skills and played mini games. The students had a great day learning new skills, meeting new friends and playing games! Thank you to Mrs Lynch, Mrs McFadden, Mrs Jeffery, Miss MacDonald and Mr Morrissey for accompanying our students.
Our school had a Netball Team participate in a competition against other local Catholic Primary schools. They played extremely well and were successful in winning this competition. The final was played against St Mary's Casino and the score was 13-10. We thank Mrs McRae for accompanying our netball girls.
Our school Football (soccer) Team competed at Rovers soccer fields also against local Catholic Primary schools. They also made the finals and narrowly won in a very tight game against Holy Family 2-1. We thank Mr Matthews for accompanying our Football team.
Both these teams will progress to the Diocesan finals in Grafton later in the term.
NAIDOC Week
Last week we celebrated NAIDOC Week at school. The students were involved in lots of activities throughout the week. We thank Mr Condie for organising our special visitor- Aunty Thelma. Mr Condie was very busy visiting classrooms and talking with students, sharing art and craft activities and leading our NAIDOC assembly.
Each class designed a mural with the NAIDOC theme of For Our Elders.
The students loved wearing casual clothes in the indigenous colours. We thank you for your donations of over $500 that will be sent to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation
We thank Mr Condie for his continued passion, hard work and commitment to ensuring our indigenous students are acknowledged and valued and for sharing his knowledge and wisdom with all students - great job!
St Carthage's Kindergarten 100 Days of School Celebration
What a wonderful celebration we had last week with our Kindergarten students and their families coming together to celebrate 100 days in Kindergarten! It was exciting seeing so many people there not only partaking in the celebration but also enjoying each other's company. Everyone joined together to share a meal, participate in some fun activities and get to know each other.
A very big thank you to Mrs Jo Kelly, our Parent Assembly Coordinator and Parent Assembly school representatives for making the evening such a fabulous community event.
Thank you also to our kindergarten teachers; Mrs Yates, Mrs Farmer, Mr Evans, Mrs Strong and Mr Hatchman for their organisation to ensure the night an smoothly.
Grandparents Prayer and Shared Morning Tea - Friday 18th August
Grandparents are invited to come along to our Grandparents Prayer on Friday morning 18th August at 10.30am in the school hall.
We invite our grandparents to bring along morning tea to share with their grandchildren.
A flyer has been sent home with the details.
School Community Group Meeting - Tuesday 22nd August
We will be having our 2nd School Community Group Meeting in the School Hall on Tuesday evening 22nd August at 6.00pm.
During the meeting you will hear school reports, our School Counsellor will be talking and there will be opportunities for our parents and carers to collaborate on future meeting topics important to your child/children.
A flyer has been sent home for your information.
2024 Enrolments
If you are aware of anyone who may be considering enrolling at St Carthage's please encourage them to make contact with the school or go to our school website and complete the online enrolment form. Enrolments for Years 1-6 for 2024 are also open.
Kindergarten Parent/Carer Information Evening
We will be having our Kindergarten 2024 Parent/Carer Information evening on Tuesday 29th August at 6.00pm in the school hall. Our families will receive valuable information about our school and what our new students will require to begin their educational journey at St Carthage's in 2024.
Book Week
This year's Book week theme is “Read, Grow, Inspire”.
Book Fair
We will be having a Book Fair in our Library starting on Wednesday 23rd August through to lunchtime on Friday 25th August. Book Warehouse are supplying the books that will be sold.
Children will have a walk through to see the range of books on the Monday or Tuesday before the fair begins. Parents are welcome to come along and buy a with your child/children or alternatively send along some money for them to buy a book of their choice.
Book Parade
We will again be having our Book Week dress up and parade at school. This will occur on Friday 25th August a 9.15am.
Parents are very welcome to come along and view the parade and pre-schoolers are invited to come along dressed up as well.
Fathers’ Day Sausage Sizzle Reminder
A flyer went home this week about our Father's Day sausage sizzle. This will be held on Thursday afternoon, 31st August. Responses are due back at school by Friday 25th August for catering purposes. This will be a great opportunity to catch up with other families and to celebrate our dads.
We will also have our Fathers’ Day Stall on this day. Please bring along $5.00 to buy a gift for dad or grandad.
Cyberbullying: Being Mean is Never OK
As a parent, you play a vital role in helping your child develop digital intelligence, which encompasses the social, emotional, and practical skills needed to navigate the digital world successfully. To start the conversation about kindness, ask your child how they would like to be treated by others face-to-face and online. Have they witnessed someone being mean either online or in person? Discuss the values they should remember when they are online, such as compassion, empathy, and doing the right thing.
Take the time to talk about what constitutes mean behaviour. This could include saying hurtful things, sending hurtful messages, deliberately excluding someone, spreading lies, or being unkind while playing games.
To help your child recognise if they are being mean, ask them how they would know if they are hurting someone's feelings. They may mention outcomes such as the other person being upset, telling a teacher, crying, or refusing to play with them anymore. It's important to help them understand the concept of getting personal, which involves making comments about someone's appearance, speech, race, disability, or family background. Explain why this is never acceptable.
Here are some ways you can support your child:
- Sit with them and review their online conversations, as well as their interactions with friends and family face-to-face. Discuss what they are saying and help them understand the impact of their words.
- Encourage and praise their kind behaviour at home and beyond.
- Talk about accepting differences in others and discuss strategies for dealing with people who annoy them. Openly coach them through specific situations.
- Guide your child to imagine being in someone else's shoes, promoting empathy and understanding diverse perspectives.
- Explain that there are consequences for mean online behaviour, even if it occurs outside of school hours. Emphasise that schools may intervene and address such behaviour if it is towards a school peer.
By having these conversations and providing guidance, you can empower your child to navigate the digital world with kindness and respect.
Resources to use with your child
- esafety kids Someone is being mean to me online
- esafety kids How do I know if I have been mean to others online?
Attendance Matters
A Focus on family partnership
Families have a critical role...
...as the first educators of their children in our faith. In support of families, St Carthage's school and Parish seeks to offer families an experience of a Catholic community focused on the formation of the whole person and to partner with them to enable your children to achieve the ‘fullness of life’ (John 10:10).
In this endeavour, we are extremely grateful to the...
Catholic Schools Parent Assembly
...for their support of all our initiatives related to engaging families into the community of St Carthage's.
The Diocese of Lismore is one of the few school systems in Australia to have a strategic, resourced and effective parent organisation that solely serves the needs of the parents.
The Parent Assembly strives to offer families accompaniment, support and assistance on their spiritual journeys by:
- offering opportunities at school, regional and diocesan levels for parents to learn more about their faith
- including meaningful and varied prayer experiences at all parent events
- by praying for the families in our parish schools.
Some of the Parent Assembly-supported faith enrichment opportunities our school families can experience include:
Parent/Carer Prayer Groups
The Parent Assembly team facilitates parent and carer prayer and spiritual formation groups at different times throughout the year. Advent and Lenten groups are advertised to parents through the school and on the Parent Assembly Facebook page. All parents are warmly encouraged to engage in these welcoming groups appropriate to all levels of spiritual formation.
Family Retreats
Parent Assembly hosts an annual Family Retreat both north and south of the diocese. The Family Retreat is an opportunity to gather as families to explore our Catholic faith together. The retreat includes a fun and engaging faith formation program for children and a spiritually enriching program for adults. There are also many opportunities for families to engage in fun family activities, including crafts, adventure activities, and nature walks.
The next Retreat is on 9th & 10th September. Please see the attached flyer for more information and to register. We warmly invite all families to attend this retreat.
Family Faith Resources
The Catholic Schools Office Parent Resource Centre provides families with faith formation resources, including simple and engaging prayer ideas for home and information about the special times in the Church year.
If you would like to learn more about any faith enrichment opportunities available to you as a parent of a child at our school, contact the Parent Assembly at cso-parents@lism.catholic.edu.au or follow the Parent Assembly Facebook page.
On a school level we would like you to feel welcome to come to our School Community Group meeting!
This is not a committee and you don't have to come along to endless meetings!!
Come along to the next one - meet a few people and listen to what's going on at school, discuss strategies to promote student resilience with our School Counsellor and collaborate with other parents on future topics of interest for parents.
August 22 from 6pm-7pm at the school.
Calling all Grandparents!
Grandparents of children enrolled at St Carthage's are invited to our morning prayer which commences at 10:30am in the Hall. There will be a shared (BYO) morning tea to celebrate the gift of grandparents afterwards!
Friday 18th august
- 10:30am - we commence prayer in the hall
- 11:00am (BYO) shared morning tea!
Thank you to Eva Witchard and Sienna O'Driscoll Wilson for a beautiful hand-made Cross brought to me as a gift! Thank you girls!
ARC Dad's Group
Parental Support - "Anxiety and Autism" "Aggression & Autism" and "School Avoidance & Autism"
NAIDOC Day - Thank you!
Our Naidoc casual day for a gold coin donation raised over $500! Thank you for your generosity - all money raised will be donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation who provide reading books to children who live in remote communities.
Sacramental Retreat - Eucharist and Reconciliation
Our Sacramental Retreat for students making their first Reconciliation and Eucharist will be held next week. Please pray for these children as they prepare for these important Sacraments. We will have photos and some feedback from the students in the next Newsletter!
The Story of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary
On November 1, 1950, Pope Pius XII defined the Assumption of Mary to be a dogma of faith: “We pronounce, declare and define it to be a divinely revealed dogma that the immaculate Mother of God, the ever Virgin Mary, having completed the course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul to heavenly glory.” The pope proclaimed this dogma only after a broad consultation of bishops, theologians and laity. There were few dissenting voices. What the pope solemnly declared was already a common belief in the Catholic Church.
We find homilies on the Assumption going back to the sixth century. In following centuries, the Eastern Churches held steadily to the doctrine, but some authors in the West were hesitant. However by the 13th century there was universal agreement.
Scripture does not give an account of Mary’s assumption into heaven. Nevertheless, Revelation 12 speaks of a woman who is caught up in the battle between good and evil. Many see this woman as God’s people. Since Mary best embodies the people of both Old and New Testaments, her assumption can be seen as an exemplification of the woman’s victory.
Furthermore, in 1 Corinthians 15:20, Paul speaks of Christ’s resurrection as the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.
Since Mary is closely associated with all the mysteries of Jesus’ life, it is not surprising that the Holy Spirit has led the Church to believe in Mary’s share in his glorification. So close was she to Jesus on earth, she must be with him body and soul in heaven.
Aside from every Sunday of the year, there are two “Holy Days of Obligation” in Australia. These are Christmas Day (25 December) and the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (15 August). These two holy days are to be observed each year, regardless of the day of the week on which they fall.
Anniversary of the Consecration of the Cathedral (Wednesday 16th August)
From the Parish Bulletin
The Consecration of St Carthage’s Cathedral actually took place on Friday 15 August 1919, the feast of the Assumption, when the full consecration ceremonies were performed and the three new marble altars as still existing (High Altar, Lady Altar and Sacred Heart Altar) were consecrated simultaneously by three bishops.
These ceremonies are described in the Northern Star of Saturday 16 August 1919. The ceremonies because of their complexity and the number of clergy involved in a limited space, took place with only a small congregation present.
However, Bishop Carroll had written to the clergy (8 July 1919) asking them to celebrate the Consecration “publicly" two days later on Sunday 17 August, and celebrating also the visit to the diocese, the first ever, of the Apostolic Delegate (Archbishop Cattaneo). Very significantly also the bishop exhorted the priests to take up a generous collection around the diocese to help defray the costs of the event. This celebration two days later is probably the source of later confusion about the date. Because of the importance of the feast of the Assumption each year, it was decided to transfer the annual celebration of the Consecration in the diocese to the next day, 16 August.
Important dates:
- Friday 18th August -Grandparents Prayer (10:30am) followed by shared Morning Tea
- 15th August - Assumption of Blessed Virgin Mary
- 6th August - Anniversary of the Consecration of the Cathedral
- 7th August - Yr 4 Sacramental Retreat
- Tuesday 22nd August - School Community Group Meeting
- 30 August - Sacrament of Reconciliation
- 22 October - Sacrament of Eucharist
Technology with Mrs Loadsman
Year 4 - Drones
Year 4 has continued to explore flying and programming drones. Students have had lots of fun developing their skills.
Year 6 - Drones and Spheros
Year 6 students having fun programming Spheros
Year 6 flying their drones
Year 2 News
Mrs Overell, Mrs van de Walt & Mrs Rogusz
Year 2 has been learning about combining materials to create mixtures. We know what mixtures can be used for, where we can find them and we can describe their different properties. We have enjoyed experimenting to create mixtures for different purposes, although our school cleaners have not enjoyed the aftermath quite as much!
In English, Year 2 created hybrid texts about Seals. Students have drafted, edited, published, and illustrated their first hybrid publications. They are now all published authors!
Congratulations to Jimmi Matthews who will attend the State PSSA Football (soccer)
Lismore Diocesan Athletics Carnival
Next Tuesday (15th August) 20 St Carthage's students will travel to Coffs Harbour to participate in the Lismore Diocesan Athletics Carnival. If successful at this carnival, students will have the opportunity to attend the Polding Athletics Carnival in Sydney on Friday 13th October. We wish the following students the best of luck for Tuesday.
Ebony Andrews, Tyler Bell, Mali Cooper, Ella Davey, Taleah Eades, Reggie Field, Ruby Hall, Henry Hogan, Juno Magnay-Ravel, Bonnie McCluskie, Bella McNamara, Grace Mills, Isabella Moretti, Archie Pietzsch, Kyna Rhodes, Erica Robinson, Archie Sauer, Daisy Smith, Noah Tatton, Mya Weekes. (Jimmi Matthews is unable to attend due to PSSA Football commitments).
NSW Netball Schools Cup
On Thursday 10th August St Carthage's Netball Team went to the Casino Netball Courts to compete in the NSW Schools Cup. All the girls played exceptional netball. They were focused and committed to getting the job done and they are all to be commended for their outstanding sportsmanship, enthusiasm and teamwork displayed on the day. The girls won all of their games and therefore progressed to the regional finals in Casino on Wednesday 13th September.
Thank you to Mrs McRae and our umpire for your support today!
After School Cricket program at St Carthage's Primary School
Cricket NSW will be running a 4 week after school cricket program on the St Carthage’s bottom playground.
The program will run from 4pm to 5pm on a Wednesday afternoon starting on the 23rd August and ending on the 13th September.
It is open to all boys and girls aged 5-12
Participants are to be registered using the link below. Please ensure you choose St Carthage’s as the Lismore option..
https://www.playhq.com/cricket-australia/register/46c679.
Little Athletics
Autism Webinars for Parents
ARC Dad's
