Newsletter

Wednesday 4th December 2019

St Carthage’s Primary School

Address: 2 Dawson Street, Lismore Phone: 02 6621 5529

(P.O. Box 1114, Lismore)

Website: www.stcarthlism.catholic.edu.au

From our Principal Mrs Janelle Heffernan

Dear Families,

Last weekend we began the season of Advent in the Church Year. The four weeks of Advent allow us time to ponder how Jesus came into the world in such a stunningly humble way. As we contemplate His birth in a bed of straw, in a messy stable, perhaps we see our own life as being a little messy too. Our life is often distracted, self-centred and sometimes leaves us wishing we were better people. If we can slow down and refocus our attention, we might realise that God is there, waiting to love us, even though we have so many unfulfilled good intentions.

ADVENT: WAITING IN JOYFUL HOPE

Sometimes it seems as though we spend our lives waiting. Daydreaming about an

upcoming holiday, worrying over a medical test, preparing for a birth, waiting for

important news - our days are filled with anticipation and anxiety over what the future

holds.

As Christians, we too spend our lives waiting. But we are waiting for something much bigger than a trip, bigger even than retirement or a special occasion - we are waiting for the return of Jesus in glory. Advent heightens this sense of waiting, because it marks not only our anticipation of Jesus’ final coming, but also our remembrance of His arrival into our world more than 2,000 years ago.

Overwhelmed by the demands of the season, we can wait for Jesus in a state of anxiety, cynicism, or harried indifference toward the miracle that is upon us or we can take our cue from the prayer we hear every Sunday and ’wait in joyful hope for the coming of our Saviour, Jesus Christ’. Welcoming Jesus into our homes and our hearts, full of hope and joy, prepares us to properly celebrate Jesus’ birth and anticipate His return.

The stories of Advent help us strike the right note for our wait: the prophecies of Isaiah and John the Baptist, full of their own stern hope; the pregnancies of Mary and Elizabeth, each as joyous as it is unexpected; the miracles, cures and other signs pointing the way to the Saviour.

Let us try and focus on the real meaning of Christmas as we lead up to this special celebration. It is important that we don ’t get caught up in the commercial side of the Christmas season and forget about the reason for our celebrations.

“It’s sharing your gifts, not purchasing gifts. It’s not wrapping presents, it’s being present and wrapping your arms around the ones you love. It’s not getting Christmas cards out on time, it’s sending any card, anytime, at the right time. It’s not having the best Christmas light display; it’s displaying the Christ light that comes from your heart. It’s not Santa coming down the chimney, it’s Jesus coming down from heaven and giving us the gift of Himself.”

Bushfires

We pray that the bushfire dangers have eased in our local areas (and around the nation) and that all families affected can now begin to return to normal. We are aware that some of our families were affected in some way, whether it was evacuation, loss of land and/or stock, buildings etc. I urge families who have been affected to please contact us if we can support in anyway.

Bushfire Disco Appeal

Thank you to all our families who were able to come along to our Disco last week. It was a great night filled with much dancing, laughing, music and overall fun! We raised $1,002.00 which we have sent to the Diocesan Bushfire Appeal. Thank you for your generosity in assisting those who need our support at this time. Great effort everyone!

Leader of Pedagogy

We welcome Mrs Abbie Matthews into the position of Leader of Pedagogy at St Carthage’s for the next two years. Abbie will replace Mrs Samantha Lynch who has accepted a position as Teacher Educator at the Catholic Schools Office. Abbie is currently in the role of K-2 Instructional Leader at St Mary’s Primary School, Casino and she comes to us with a wealth of experience, having undertaken many different roles throughout her career. I know you will join with me in welcoming Abbie to our school community in 2020.

Music Concert

A very big thank you to Mr Earl for preparing and organising his annual end of year concert for our music students. The students love performing for their families and showcasing their many musical pieces which they have learnt throughout the year. Thank you Mr Earl!

Year Five Camp

On Monday 5TB and 5JS are heading to Lake Ainsworth for their camp which was postponed a couple of weeks ago. I know they will have a great time and we look forward to hearing all about their experiences when they return next Wednesday.

School Reports

School Reports will be sent home on Friday, 13th December. Some parents may not feel that an interview is required at this time and may prefer to wait and catch up with your child’s 2020 teacher during our Term One interviews next year. If you would like an interview, please contact your child’s teacher.

Christmas Concert

Our school Christmas Concert will be held on Monday, 16th 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 Sports shorts and shoes, with a green or red T-shirt, Christmas T-shirt or Colour House shirt. They may wear a Santa hat or tinsel on their head. Year 6 students who have a character role will have their costume provided.

Christmas Raffle

All students will receive a ticket in our Christmas raffle. There are three prizes which will be drawn at the Christmas Concert. Thank you to Furniture Wiz and Mary G’s for their donations and to Emma Tulk and Sonya Osborne for putting these together for us.

Retirement

It is with great thanks and sadness that we say goodbye to Mrs Wade and Mrs Bartlett at the end of the year. Both Margherita and Sue have been dedicated Teacher Assistants at St Carthage’s for many years. They have supported students in many areas and have always gone about their daily work in a professional and committed manner. Both Marg and Suzy have endeared themselves to students, families and staff by their care and concern for the students in our school. Both of these ladies have undertaken many roles over the years and they have seen their role grow and evolve during their time here. We wish Margherita and Sue and their families all the very best as they begin this new chapter in their lives and know that this time will be filled with many new adventures!

Farewell

We also say farewell and thank you to Kirstie McCluskie and Justine Brown whose contracts finish at the end of this year. Kirstie has worked in our canteen and Justine has worked as a Teacher’s Assistant. We thank them both for their dedicated service to our school.

Whole School Assembly

Our final Whole School Assembly for the year will be presented by Year 5 and will be held in our School Hall on Friday, 13th December at 1:45pm. All are welcome.

School Canteen

Thank you to our families who responded to our Canteen survey recently. After much deliberation and with the data provided by the survey we have decided to close our canteen on Mondays and Tuesdays. Therefore, the canteen will only operate on Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays in 2020.

From our Assistant Principal - Mission Mr Danny Hatchman

Family School Mass Chloe Ryall read our Prayers of Intercession at our final Family School Mass for 2019! A BIG thank you to all who support this event and a BIG BIG thank you to the wonderful teachers who continually turn up to prepare, cook and serve our delicious Sausage Sizzles! Presentation Sisters Our Prayer Gathering to celebrate the Feast Day for the Presentation of Mary was a prayerful occasion and connected the story of Mary saying ‘Yes’ to serving God, through to Nano Nagle and the way she also said ‘Yes’ to serving the Poor. St Carthage’s carries on this service to the poor by our Christmas Hamper Collections!! Prayer Journalling!

Year 5 Leadership Retreat

Congratulations to the Year 5 teachers - Jack, Tanya, Toni and Michelle - who together with Tayla, collaborated, planned and worked so hard to ensure the success of the Year 5 Leadership Retreat yesterday. The preparation needed to ensure the success of this day reflects the dedication and commitment of these staff members to our students. The day clearly outlined to the students expectations around the values supporting good leadership at St Carthage's. Inviting Parents and Families into the life of the school Recently our new Kinder parents were invited to a session at school entitled Helping Your Child Thrive at St Carthage’s and then given a special presentation by their children. A flyer outlining this wonderful time is included in our newsletter today. We thank everyone who made a special effort to welcome these new families - especially Mrs Janita Thomson - Family School Partnership Consultant at the Catholic Schools Office.

Reminder: St Carthage’s Christmas Hampers

To support LOCAL FAMILIES IN NEED, St Carthage’s families are asked to provide items to fill our Christmas Hampers. These hampers help families celebrate Christmas and know that there are members of our community who care for them. The students in our school Minnie-Vinnies will assist in organising this collection and our local St Vincent de Paul Conference will collect these items on the 13th of December.

There is a focus on food rather than toys. Woolworths have kindly donated all the Christmas Puddings we need, so these are no longer needed. We cannot distribute products containing nuts in our hampers and soft drinks, chips, lollies and bon-bons are only needed in limited quantities.

In order to assist you we have included a list of essential items you may wish to contribute.

From our Assistant Principal Miss Amanda Egan International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (I.C.A.S.) 2019 The last of our ICAS assessment results have now been made available, so we are pleased to be able to share them with you. The certificates and individual information for students who were involved in these assessments have been given out at the last few assemblies. Congratulations to all the students who sat these assessments. You should all be proud of your results.

Writing Participation Certificates - Poppy Andre, Murphy Ware, Georgia Herman, Isobel Rose, Stella Burke and Ethan Byerlee Merit Certificates - Elijah Hogan, Darcy Healy, Ziggy Lake, Mikayla Yates and Liam Torrens Credit Certificates - Ellie McKay and Scarlett Ware Distinction Certificates - Mia O’Reilly and Oliver Rose High Distinction Certificates - Chloe Ryall Mathematics Assessment Interviews As you are aware bookings closed for our Mathematics Assessment Interviews on Wednesday 27th November. If our booking records show that you have not made an interview for your child/ren you will receive a pink note home this week with the time allocated to you. If this does not suit please call the office as soon as possible, as available times are limited.

From our Leader of Pedagogy Mrs Samantha Lynch Kindergarten - Geography Kindergarten students attended an Excursion to the local parks in Lismore as they explored places they live in and belong to. They were looking for what makes a place special, talking about how to look after the parks and identifying information in the park that helped them to use the park safely with the community.

tinned fruit long life custard packets of popping corn Christmas cake coffee rice mixes

baked beans tea soft drinks packets of jellies breakfast cereals soup

biscuits-sweet and savoury pasta pasta sauces

jams sauces/marinades tinned vegetables

tins of spaghetti tacos etc jars of salsa

Year 3 - Visual Arts Year 3 students have been exploring the art of blanket stitch as they create Christmas Stockings ready for under the Christmas Tree, awaiting Santa’s arrival! I

hope Santa has received his letter so that he knows how to fill those stockings!

Year 5 - English Year 5 students have been exploring how authors compose hybrid texts and the effects of these texts on different audiences. Hybrid texts are a single text that creatively weaves together a narrative and informational text using a variety of design elements. Year 5 have researched, planned, composed, illustrated and published their own hybrid texts as part of their English unit. They will be sharing their hybrid texts with Year 1 reading buddies during the week. We have budding authors at St Carthage’s!

From our Leader of Sport Mr Brendan Tickle

Diocesan Summer Sports Trials The Lismore Diocese Basketball Trials were held on Tuesday 3rd December. Students

from Port Macquarie to Tweed Heads travelled to Lismore for the trials. Zane

Anderson, Darcy Drooger and Seth Landers represented the Richmond Zone at these

trials. After a long day of drills and games Zane Anderson was selected in the Lismore

Diocesan Basketball Team. Zane will compete in the Polding Basketball Trials early in

2020.

Thea Blok compete in the Lismore Diocesan Tennis Trials

on Tuesday 26th November. A sweltering 36 degrees,

made the competition extremely difficult. Thea won 3 of

her 4 pool matches and progressed to the final phase of

the trials. Thea won her playoff match and was selected in

the Lismore Diocesan Tennis Squad. Thea will compete in

the Polding Tennis Trials early in 2020. Congratulations

Darcy, Seth, Thea and Zane!

Cricket, Softball and Touch Football were postponed due to smoke and road closures.

These trials will be held early in 2020.

St Carthage’s Stage 3 Colour House Competition

Congratulations to Doyle house, who were awarded

the St Carthage’s Stage 3 Colour House Champions for 2019. Each colour house

competed against one another in six different sports; AFL, Cricket, Football,

Netball, Oz Tag and Softball. On behalf of the Stage 3 teachers, I would like to

congratulate the students for the way in which they participated in the

competition. It was enjoyable to see the friendly rivalry amongst the houses. The

games were full of cheering and laughter. What a great display of sportsmanship

from our Stage 3 students!

St Carthage’s Swimming Trials

The St Carthage’s Swimming Trials will be held this Friday. Over 90 students have nominated for the trials. Thank

you to the parents who have volunteered their time to help on the day. If you are attending the trials and can

spare some time to help, please see Mrs Dardengo at the finish. A few final reminders:

Students are asked to meet on the steps outside the Library as soon as

the first bell rings (8:55am).

Students are required to wear their sports uniform (colour house shirt).

Students must bring suitable swimwear, towel, school hat, water bottle,

sunscreen, necessary medication (asthma inhaler) and lunch or money to purchase food at the canteen.

Times will be used from the carnival to select the St Carthage’s Swimming Squad which will compete at the

Richmond Zone Swimming Carnival. Notes will go home in Week 2 of Term 1, 2020.

2019 Important Dates

Term 4

Fri 6th Dec Swimming Trials—time TBA

Trinity—Woodlawn Orientation for Year 6

Mon 9th/10th/11th 5TB & 5JS Lake Ainsworth Camp

Thur 12th Dec Year 6 Dinner Dance—5.30pm Worker’s Club

Fri 13th Dec Final Assembly (Year 5) 1:45pm

School Reports go home

Mon 16th Dec

Going up Day (Y1-Y6)—11.15am—1.15pm

Going Up Day (Kinder) - 11.30am—1pm

St Carthage’s Christmas Concert—6pm start

Tue 17th Dec Year 6 Fun Day

Wed 18th Dec Final School Mass—9.30am

LAST DAY FOR 2019

Happy Birthday! Happy Birthday to the following students and staff who have had and will celebrate their birthdays:

Jimmy Field, Noah Gilliland, Jack Bryant, Luca McLaren-Phillips, Isobel Rose, Anthony Salaun, Isabella Andrews, Michael Bullpitt, Bailey Hughes, Samuel Brown, Eliza Moloney, Aramaya Priestly, Freya Rogusz, Reggie Field and Ella Magnay.

St Carthage’s School

CANTEEN ROSTER TERM 4

Week 9

Thursday S. Volpato

Friday S. Brady & M. Nolan

Sympathy

Please keep Makinley Darragh and Kristine MacDonald

and their families in your thoughts and prayers, following

the recent loss of their grandfather and grandmother.

We extend our deepest sympathy.

2020 School Dates

Staff return Tuesday 28th

January 2020

Years 1-6 MAI Wednesday 29th

and Thursday 30th

January

Years 1 – 6 commence Friday 31st

January

2020 Kinder

Best Start Wednesday 29th

January until

Tuesday 4th

February

Kinder students commence

Wednesday 5th

February 2020

5MS and The School Environment 5MS students have been talking about what we could do to help our environment. We decided we should all do some-thing to make our school environment a better place to be in. Our group is helping out by putting signs on all of the bins which will instruct everyone what bins to put your rubbish in so we will have a clean school. Barbara Jensen from the Lis-more City Council came in to help us with ideas of designing some new stickers. First we collected rubbish from our school bins and took photos to put on our stickers. We then found some characters and slogans to help remind us which bins to use and Lismore City Council got them printed for us. Here is what our new stickers look like and some photos of us putting them on the school bins. Sophia, Chloe, Hayden, Masen, Myles, Tyler from 5MS